Jasmine D. Lowe: I wanted to talk about your upbringing and like what led you to become an actor.

Giovannie Espiritu: That's kind of a weird situation. I have a really weird past. When I was younger, I was part of a super fundamentalist Christian cult. I was in the mountains learning survival skills when I was a teenager. And then I used to talk on the phone a lot to telemarketers because they were my only link to the outside world. And one of them was like, you have a really interesting voice. I think you should go to voiceovers. And at this point in my life, I did not have any money. And I looked upon the interwebs, what voice-overs were. I sent in a really geeky recording to the biggest one I could find, which was Stars Agency in San Francisco. At this point in time, I was living in the mountains literally. The guy that I was married to--I want to say the guy I was married to, because it's only been in the last two years that I've really kind of reflected on it and been like, Holy crap, he was a pedophile.

I was a teenager at this point and having those realizations in the last couple of years has kind of been a weird thing for me because at that point in time I thought that I was lucky because this elder in the church thought that I was awesome. I didn't really know about acting, and I sent a voiceover recording to Stars Agency. They called me in, and at this point in time, I wasn't making any money. The guy that I was married to wasn't making any money because we were in the woods and he had quit his job because he thought that the second coming of God was going to happen.

I was like, well, this is an opening. Maybe it's a sign from God. So, I went down there, we drove four and a half hours to San Francisco. I went in for the agency interview. They signed me right then and there. They sent me on my first audition and I ended up booking it and it was a video game, but I was like, Oh my gosh, it's a sign from God. That's why my husband at the time allowed me to quote, unquote, allowed me to continue in the business. I was making money doing voice-overs. I was like, Oh crap. I got to actually get good at this. So, I went to a class in San Francisco that was more film and TV-based. And that's when I started getting to know the outside world.

When people were saying that it was weird that I had to be downstairs at the door, otherwise my husband would be mad at me, you know? And then he'd drive erratically. I didn't know that that wasn't a normal way of being. And then one of the people in the class gave me a book called “Free Yourself from Abusive Relationships.” That's when I went through all the lights of checklists. I had to hide the book and I went through all the checklists and I was like, Oh crap. I'm in an abusive relationship but then it takes you time to get out of that and out of that mindset, but that's how I started my journey into acting, so literally like acting kind of saved my life.

Jasmine: Is that the reason why you've become an acting coach. Was that an opportunity to give back to people who may not be able to jump into acting? 

Giovannie: You know, the reason why I became an acting coach was I fell into a lot of things. At the school that I went to and that class that I went to, the teacher, took an interest in me, and she said that I should start teaching. At this point in time, I didn't know if I could do it, but I started teaching for her initially, and then it just kind of became, you know what? I did it. That's all I knew how to do. I didn't graduate high school because I was in a cult. So, this is all I literally know how to do. I'm continually learning skills, but acting is kind of all I had at that moment in time. So, I became a teacher, and then years later I started to teach for different schools, and then I started on my own. 

Jasmine: So, America Ferrera’s agent signed you for more on-screen acting roles in Los Angeles. As someone who identifies as queer is that something that you try to implement or integrate into your work as an actor? 

Giovannie: Yeah, I've been really fortunate that a lot of the roles that I played are queer. I'm bisexual myself. I knew it when I was younger, but I didn't have the words for it, and then when I got into the cult, everything that was quote-unquote unbiblical was frowned upon. I don't know who I would have been if I didn't get into the cult. Cause I remember being in middle school and I was such a fricking dapper little kid.

I remember going to church and the elders just shaming me and were like you shouldn't be wearing suits. That's pertaining to a man. I was so proud of getting dressed and going to church like that. I didn't know what was bad. Then as I got further into the cult, that was all squashed out of me. So, when I came out of it finding myself again and, and being honest about my attraction to women and just being okay with that and letting go of and shame, the shame has been really, it's been, it's still been a journey. It's still a journey. So it's a journey for me, but I've been fortunate to play roles where I am bisexual and I don't have to hide that. In Dyke Central, which is the show that I'm in on Amazon, the character that I played Gin is genderqueer.

I got to lean into my more masculine side. I'm more femme in real life, but that was really fun for me. A lot of the stuff that I write is gender-expansive. The thing that I'm getting a lot of awards for right now Ally3000, it's not necessarily queer, but my main character's name is Jerry. I always thought the name was gender-neutral. Nobody else is going to pick up on it, except for me. 

Jasmine: What advice do you have for young people who may or may not have access to the world of acting as you did? How can they break out and start chasing their dreams? 

Giovannie: Look for the scholarship and the camp programs. This is why when I teach, I do have a scholarship component to my classes. I always give out scholarships all the time because I know how hard it is. When I was younger and I was just getting started, I would reach out to the photographers and say, Hey, you know, I really like your work. Can I trade you some of my time for a photoshoot? There was this lady named Cynthia Smiley in San Francisco. I didn't have any money, but I was like, okay, what is it that I can offer to trade for it? Because I know how important it is.

A lot of the kids that are successful in my school--it's because their parents have money to pay for the classes. They have the money to pay for the photography that gets them the agent. I know that there's a component of financial access for success. So, the people that don't have it that, just like where I was, where you don't have a family or the means. She drew out how to have the workarounds to get around it. Approaching photographers, that do headshots that you love and seeing, okay, what can I do? Can I do a marketing campaign? Just figuring out the workarounds and then go for the scholarship. A lot of the schools have diversity initiatives where they're trying to get more people because they need to shake things up.

They really need them to shake things up. Also, don't listen to the statistics. If there is a desire that is building in you that makes you say, I want to go pursue this, follow it. I feel like some of my naivety served me because I didn't listen. I didn't even know about the statistics about women in film and about the number of characters versus actresses or actors that are out there versus the number of queer characters versus size and shape you need to be. I was blissfully unaware of that when I first started. If you have a desire to be in this industry, pursue it because you are so needed. We need to have more stories that make the next generation feel like they belong.

Giovannie Espiritu coaches kids and teens online nationwide through HollywoodActorsWorkshop.com and was just named as one of the top 40 Audition Coaches in Los Angeles by the Hollywood Winners Circle founded by Wendy Alane Wright, a top talent manager. Her students are represented by the top agencies in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. You can follow Giovannie and her projects by visiting her website at giovannie.com.

Read the full interview and other stories by downloading a copy of QTYPE’s summer issue!