17. Natalie Roy
NATALIE ROY PROFESSIONALLY PLAYS.
I met Natalie after impulsively putting her 3 -week ‘Activated Actor’ acting class on my credit card in December 2018. I was extremely burned out from going so hard after a career in music, and I was in the middle of making a lot of life changes-- interviewing for a full time job, replenishing my savings by working temp jobs, and taking a hard stop break from making music of any kind. I was running on empty, and one of the only things I could think to do was try something totally different, so I googled acting classes. Enter Natalie -- a radiant and buoyant person who encouraged our class to find the joy and the fun in acting. She made everyone in the class feel at ease with her positive coaching, and the class felt like a creative life raft for me just when I needed it. Natalie is a talented teacher, actor, and writer. She also has a lot of knowledge on spirituality, yoga and chakras. (She recently talked chakras with Rob Bell on one of my favorite podcasts out there. It’s a great listen.) Her answers below emulate the vibrancy I got to enjoy every Monday night in her acting course, and I’m thrilled to share her good vibes with you in the interview below!
Illustrated by Dani Alvarez
This interview has been edited and condensed.
What is your name?
Natalie Roy
What do you do?
I’m an actress.
How long have you done it for?
All my life :) I have always created and been creative.
Why do you do it?
It is an inner impulse. The Muse inside loves to play with me, and I with her.
Where did you grow up and how does that influence your work?
I grew up in a very small community in Canada, Keswick Ridge. It has always influenced me to be connected to nature. Also coming from a place that is so small and disconnected from the rat race of the industry, I could always focus on the joy and play of the creative process for its own sake.
What project are you working on now or will be working on that you are most excited about?
I always say my favorite project is the next one because whatever role or project comes my way is always aligned with what I most need to learn or explore in my leading edge of growth in my life. Next up I am pitching a television show, co-writing a film and will be acting in an upcoming short as well. I love to be creative in all ways possible to stretch myself.
If you could listen to only one song for the rest of the year, what would it be?
Oh, I could never choose just one. Song monogamy is not for me. :)
Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
I would love to have a big old round table of powerhouse women: Oprah, Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Gilbert, Glennon Doyle, Marianne Williamson, Beyonce, Nancy Pelosi, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. All the queens.
Who is living woman do you most admire, and why?
I admire ALL women. The invisible and the visible. The courage and strength it takes for all of us to stand in our lives and live each day.
What is your greatest fear?
Regret
What is your greatest extravagance?
Travel! I love to endlessly travel and spend money on once-in-a-lifetime dinners, spas, and experiences. Although I don't frame any of this as "extravagant" but rather as living :)
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Hard work
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A dolphin in the Mediterranean sea, a bird flying over Santorini, a seal floating around in Malibu, a tree in the redwood forest, a dog in a beloved home, or the moon, because she's the original goddess.
What is your most treasured possession?
The people in my life.
Who is your hero of fiction?
My heroes are all flesh and blood, but I will say Nora in the play A Doll's House, Part 2 was bad ass.
What is it that you most dislike?
Domination, control and self righteousness -- all of which enforce separation.
How would you like to die?
Doing what I love with people i love
If you could fix one thing in the world, what would you fix?
The story we have been fed that there are certain races, gender identities, classes or cultures of people that are better or worse than others. The idea that humans are superior to mother nature herself. We do not get that we are all ONE, and what we do to another we do to ourselves.
What is your mantra these days?
My only job is PLAY.
What's the first CD you bought? What’s the last CD you bought (or streamed)?
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (and I still LOVE it) My most recent purchase was Lauren Daigle, Look Up Child.
What is the last thing you searched for on Google?
Devices to lower the impact of radiation and technology from our phones and wifi.
What's the wallpaper on your phone and/or computer?
A screenshot of Paris from my dear friend’s terrace in the 10th Arrondissement where I have had so many happy memories.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
Say thank you.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being fully immersed and engaged in the present moment.
Natalie is an actress, author and spiritual teacher. She's performed and taught all over the world on stage and screen and has appeared on Blindspot, The Affair, Law and Order: SVU, The Detour, Power, The Following, Being Erica, Murdoch Mysteries and in two films directed by award-winning director Sidney Furie. She authored her first book: "30 Years, 30 Lessons" several years ago and has since collaborated on The "I’mPossible Project" and the upcoming CREATE Book: “Let’s Play!” She’s also a 500 hour certified Yoga Teacher and a meditation teacher specializing in Visualization technique, positive psychology for actors, the Yoga Sutras and taking ancient Eastern philosophy and practices and playing them into the audition room and onto set. Natalie brings together the practices and techniques of meditation, mindfulness and “learned optimism” with the artistic process. She Co-Founded C.R.E.A.T.E with her best friend Kristin Hanggi and created the acting technique The Activated Actor.