From her appearance on prime-time hit _Modern Family_ to a leading role in _The Purge_, the charismatic Dallas-native, Jessica Garza, has hit her stride in the golden age of television. Flaunt had the privilege of catching up with the young actress, who gave us a lesson in pursuing your passions, living confidently, and finding balance between work and family.
**_What was life like growing up in Dallas? When did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in acting?_**
Throughout my whole life, this has been something that I have been doing and have always wanted to do. My younger brother, who is also an actor, and I were very theatrical growing up as kids. We would love to put on plays in our house for our family with costumes, music, props, and sets and would really try to make it a whole production. As we got older, I met someone in like fourth grade who would go to acting classes and auditions and it clicked in my brain, this is something people actually do for a living. I found it amazing that I could do what I loved and turn it into a career. When high school came about, you start to think about your future right? College? No college? What college? My dad was very adamant about me going to college, so I made a deal with him, which was if I graduated a year early, I could spend the year in LA auditioning, therefore I wouldn't be behind and if the year didn't go well then I could move back to Texas and go to college.
And he agreed, so me, my brother and my mom temporarily moved out to LA where we took classes and went to auditions, we tried it out and it went well enough for my dad to be like ‘ok… try another year’ and then another year went by and then four, five years later and we are still here. I feel like it's been implemented into mine and my brother's genes. I could never imagen doing anything else.
**_Playing the role of Anabel in ’_SIX’ _was probably a very big break for you in your career, that must of been quiet an intimidating role to play? What was the transition like going from guest starring major TV series like_ Modern Family _and_ NCIS _to actually being a crucial figure in the cast?_**
So _NCIS_ was my very first job, it was extremely intimidating, to say the least. It was my first time being on a full-fledged set, so it was definitely scary. Then about two years later, I just started working on _SIX_ during the spring of 2016 and I had just turned 18. It was filmed in North Carolina and it was the first time I had to travel alone which was a very intimidating factor for me. Not being able to have my mom around, I had to figure it all out on my own, it was scary but also so exciting. What i felt so proud of with my role in _SIX_ was to see how it really transformed over the two seasons, because when I initially auditioned, it was only for a co-star for two episodes. I kind of knew that it would probably be more than two episodes because the two people who play my parents, were key characters in the series.
It was such a small role at first, I would literally come in and have one line like ‘Hey dad, what's up?’ but then as the season progressed and the time progressed that role really expanded. From two episodes as a co-star to 10 episodes later as a major guest star and just recurring every single episode. And that was the first time I really learned what was to do good work and be rewarded for it. That expansion would not have come had I not been prepared and put hard work into the character.
**_How would you say being in_ SIX _has changed your path? As a person or in your career? Would you say the role gave you a door to more opportunities?_**
It definitely transformed me in so many different ways. I was the only kid there surrounded by a set of all adults. But my stage parents were excellent role models to look up to. I gained a strength of independence in my own personality and who I wanted to be as an actress. I learned how to conduct myself on set and also how a set actually works... If you have ever been on one, you know how chaotic it is. You see everyone running around like crazy in their own little bubble but there is always a formula to the madness. In all of the chaos created on set something so spectacular always comes out of it.
**_Starring as the female lead in ‘_The Purge’_, it's obviously a big role to play, how did you prepare for that? What was your creative process? Were you nervous? What was the experience on set?_**
‘The Purge’ felt like that dream come true but when I booked it, I felt such a pressure straight away that I had never felt before. First of all, because it’s a dream to be cast as a series regular in a TV show, period, and then to be cast as a series regular in a huge franchise that’s already so picked up where you don't have to go through that process of filming a pilot it felt like a dream.
I actually didn't know too much about my role in particular when I first booked it, even through-out the filming process, we would only get scrips every couple days before we would film the episodes so we would be in the middle of episode three and would just get episode four. I love my character, I loved the arc and the transformation that she has gone through, every single script that would come out felt even more exiting, like a total dream because it kept getting better and better. And its always nice to see how everyone reacts, to see how the audience go through it while I was filming.
**_What do you look for, when you're looking at roles?_**
Well I think before, ‘Purge’, there wasn't a lot of room to say no to things, I mean sure, there was some stuff that I would turn down because it had no purpose what so ever, but when you’re starting out, there are roles that may not necessarily excite you, but you need to go for because you need the job and the money and then there are obviously roles that come along that will truly truly excite you, one of them being a small role I played on NBC’s AP Bio’s. When I read that pilot script, I can't tell you how excited I got, it was one of the best comedy pilots I had ever read, it made me laugh out loud and that's what I look for when reading scripts, to make me laugh out loud.
For drama, I look for stuff that terrifies me while leaving me feeling so excited. It gives me this urge to just want to do the role justice.
**_Do you always get to add your own twist to every character that you play?_**
I think for me, I put a lot of who I am in every role that I play and I guess that some stuff I audition for, I am just not gonna get because it's just not who I am at the core of me. It’s hard to just take away the vulnerability of who I am.
For Penelope, it worked so well because I played her in a very valuable light, which was a factor that the creators wanted which is why I guess I got picked for the job. That's why when you go for auditions and you get to the ending process of auditioning if you don't get picked, it's pointless to be like, ‘ahh, the other person got it because she is a better actress than me’ and yeah sometimes that totally happens but sometimes it just comes down to being different people, bringing different aspects to the table.
**_What is the most rewarding and most challenging part of your job?_**
The most rewarding part is the process that I am in right now, which is airing. Every Tuesday morning feels like Christmas to me, you wake up and you're like ‘I can't wait to see the episode, I can't wait for everyone else to see how much we have all poured our hearts and souls into this’. It's so incredible to see the finished product of something that you are apart of, seeing it all vanished with the sound and the music…
The most challenging part is probably filming it, for sure. ‘The Purge’ show, in particular, was extremely intense, emotionally and physically. There was a lot of night shoots as well as day shoots, so Monday you would star at 8 am, work for 12 hours but then come Friday you would probably start at 8 pm and work during the night. In the moment it feels exhausting but then you go home after a long day and you still don’t want to sleep because it’s just all so fulfilling and rewarding.
**_What advice do you have for all of the young people who want to pursue acting?_**
I think the most important thing is that you bring a level of confidence to everything you do, in any aspect of life actually, whether it's your career or even in dating. Confidence is always attractive and it can also fool a lot of people too. Being honest with who you are and showing confidence in that. Then the second thing I would say that is important is work ethic. When I was done with the 'The Purge,' I was straight back to acting class. Its all about working and learning while trying to improve yourself. And then when the time comes, showing all of that off in the auditioning room.
I remember watching this interview where this actor was talking about how auditioning was like dating and I never heard anything truer. He said you don’t want to go into an audition room like ‘Please hire me! Please, please please!’ like you don’t want to go on a date with somebody like ‘Please date me, please date me!’ When you do for an audition you want to go in and be like, this is mine or it's not …I want to tell this story, I hope that the way I tell it is your version of how you want to tell it, but if not, then no big deal. Confidence is key.
**_Outside of your acting career, what are your personal goals?_**
I would say I am a very career-based person, everything that I do in my life is geared towards my career. It’s stuff as simple as watching movies, going shopping, going out to restaurants and then I like to spend a lot of time with my family. That’s super important to me. We have a very small but supportive family. As I mentioned, my brother is an actor too, so we are always going through the same type of experiences and struggles. It's nice to be able to seek help and advice from him and I am lucky to have someone close to me to who I can relate too. It's always important to take advantage of the time you have with your loved ones.
**_What do we expect to see from you in the future? Any upcoming projects you can talk about?_**
For right now, we are seeing how the season plays out in terms with the future. I really want to do a project in comedy. I have done tiny bits and pieces here and there but not enough to fulfill that urge.
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Photographed by avethirtyfour.
Styled by Britton Litow.
Hair and Makeup by Nathaniel Dezan using Oribe and M.A.C at Opus Beauty.
