The Talk With Elizabeth Grullón - Actress

INTERVIEW by Giulia Juliet Belkin

Photography: ASHLEY NGUYEN

From young girl dreaming of becoming an actress to her own action figure, actress Elizabeth Grullón is the definition of self-made in Hollywood. A product of humble beginnings, she is a first generation American born to Dominican parents in Queens, NY. Since an early Elizabeth found films as an inspiration in life and her parents supported her dream. Elizabeth pursued her acting by attending the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater B.F.A Actor Training Program where she met Ken Washington, the father of the program and mentor to the likes of Oscar winner Maheshala Ali. Ken encouraged Elizabeth and her parents to send her to the program.

Elizabeth career began with a series such as FX “Mayans M.C.,” ABC “Scandal,”, ABC “The Catch", CBS “Criminal Minds.” She was also the voice of ‘Camilla’ in Disney’s “The Owl House.” Some of her latest achievement include landing the role of Abigail Hayes, wife of a newer character Dr. Hayes, played by Richard Flood on the “Grey’s Anatomy” show.

Elizabeth also performed full motion capture for the highly anticipated video game “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” as the central antagonist ‘The Second Sister;’ aka 'Trilla Suduri,' once a promising Jedi, now an Inquisitor for The Empire and the final boss to beat the game. With this role Elizabeth Grullón has become a fan favorite and is officially part of the Star Wars canon including her very own action figure.

When Elizabeth is not acting she teaches meditation and mindfulness in Los Angeles. An avid meditator, Elizabeth empowers herself through meditation which helps her to find her authentic voice in the industry.

Giulia: How did you start your Hollywood career? 

Elizabeth: My mentor at the actor training program I attended at the Guthrie Theater, Ken Washington, introduced me to my first manager while I was still living in Minnesota. A year later, I moved to LA without a single connection except for that manager. We met and they started sending me out on amazing auditions right away but I don’t think I was ready at the time. It took years of slugging away at auditions, doing small guest roles here and there, commercials and trying different approaches before things started falling into place a bit more. I credit meditation with helping me release into a sense of alignment and flow. As I became more intimate with myself and began valuing myself more the jobs roles got better and more “me.” Ultimately, I think success is about feeling worthy.

Ms.Grullón is committed to using her voice to help protect the planet and the environment. She believes Earth is the most sacred gift that we have been given and therefore will be lending her voice to the issue of climate change as well as pushing for legislation to protect the planet. Elizabeth also plans on joining forces with her mother, Mercedes, a retired head start teacher for low income families, to help children of undocumented parents gain access to basic resources and medical care. 

Giulia: How does it feel to become part of the iconic TV series, "Grey's Anatomy"? 

Elizabeth: It’s such an honor! I have so much respect for the show and everyone involved. It’s impressive to witness the evolution of a series like that over so many years. I feel grateful to be a small piece in a magnificent puzzle.

Giulia: Can you share a little about the character you are portraying?

Elizabeth: Yes! I play Abigail Hayes, wife of a newer character on the show, Dr. Hayes, played by Richard Flood. The audience gets to see our relationship develop over a series of flashbacks which give a lot more insight into Dr. Hayes.

Giulia: What’s it like preparing for a role?

Elizabeth: Shout out to the writers of “Grey’s Anatomy” - they gave me such a gift. The moment I read the words for the first time I was bawling my eyes out. Writing like that makes my job a lot easier.

Giulia: What is your dream role? 

Elizabeth: I’d love to bring a role I played in the Star Wars universe - a woman by the name of The Second Sister - to the big screen. That would be a ‘pinch me’ moment for sure.

Giulia: Who inspires you in Hollywood and why? 

Elizabeth: My friend Lena Waithe inspires me - she’s so dedicated to her community. It’s very powerful to have someone firing on all cylinders who genuinely puts “us” before “me.” I also love Regina King, another phenom. King does it ALL and she makes it look easy. There are so many women who blow me away every day! Women of color in particular are simply miraculous.

Giulia: What did your every day look like before the Coronavirus started?

Elizabeth: I’m an actor so no two days are ever the same. Generally I would meditate, have coffee, get ready and go to an audition or to meet a friend for lunch. Probably run a few errands, chat with family. Some days I’m on set making Star Wars or Party of Five or Grey’s Anatomy but those days are less common. Most of an actor’s life is preparing for those days. 

Giulia: How does the current situation in the world affect you personally? 

Elizabeth: My entire industry has slammed to a halt, but more importantly I have a lot of family and friends in New York City - that’s where I’m from. I have a cousin who works in a Covid-19 hospital in Brooklyn and has contracted the virus. Personally, I am one of the lucky ones - I have what I need and I am afforded the luxury of staying home. It’s definitely been a strange and surreal time. I’m just taking it one day at a time, as gently as I can.

Giulia: I hear you are an avid meditator. How do you think meditation can help us in the situation of this pandemic? 

Elizabeth: I am! Mindfulness can help to ease our anxiety. It empowers us to unhook from fear which is widespread in our media and culture, especially now. When we soften our anxiety in this way, we are able to hold a loving space for ourselves and others which is sorely needed right now. Nurses, first responders, doctors - the people on the front lines need our calm, peaceful, loving presence. Adding more fight or flight response to the collective does not help. I could go on and on - mindfulness really changed my life.

Giulia: How do you wish to use your voice? 

Elizabeth: I want to empower young brown-skinned girls everywhere to follow their hearts and know that they are worthy of all of the best life has to offer. I want to help people feel seen and understood through my work. I want to use my voice to help protect and restore our environment.

Giulia: What is next for Elizabeth? 

Elizabeth: That all changed when Covid-19 stormed on to the scene. I have some projects on the docket at the moment but they are all on a long quarantine pause. The only thing that matters now is our health and telling the people we love that we love them. Now is the time for us to sweep the fear from our hearts.

Giulia: Well said!

The Talk With Brian A. Metcalf

PHOTOGRAPHY/ Karina Dobra EDITING/ Mark Saprykin
INTERVIEW BY AND ART DIRECTION /Juliet Belkin
HAIR / Dimas Korneychuk
MUA / Kseniya Durst
STYLED by Juliet Belkin

Brian Metcalf , is an Asian-American artist, director, film producer, actor and screenwriter. His work includes directing, producing and writing the micro-budgeted drama/thriller The Lost Tree and Living Among Us starring John Heard, William Sadler, James Russo, Esme Bianco, Andrew Keegan and Thomas Ian Nicholas.
Metcalf also helped produce a documentary called Little Gandhi which was submitted by Syria for consideration for an Academy Award in the Foreign Language Film category. It was the first entry ever by Syria and won the Murray Weissman Award for the poster Brian created for Little Gandhi.
His latest film “Adverse” is about a man who tries to save his younger sister after he discovers she is addicted to drugs and caught in a seedy underworld. Mickey Rourke stars as Kaden, the underworld boss who runs operations and who hires Ethan (Thomas Ian Nicholas), a rideshare driver who discovers his younger sister (Kelly Arjen) has become entangled in drugs and debt.

He is currently writing a screenplay for his new film he is producing with actor Mickey Rourke.

Juliet: Tell us more about your new film "Twilight Into Darkness" ?

Brian: Twilight Into Darkness is a film about a detective who is trying to stop a serial killing who is going around terrorizing the city while at the same time, trying to solve his own demons.

Juliet: You currently finished filming Adverse, in one word tell us what it's about? 

Brian: One word, wow. Okay I would say that word is "protective".

Juliet: You've got an amazing cast including Penelope Ann Miller,  Lou Diamond Phillips, Sean Astin, Thomas Ian Nicholas and Mickey Rourke who is now producing your new film. How did you two meet? 

Brian: Mickey and I met on the film Adverse. We were doing a lot of scenes together and we really hit it off. There was a mutual respect for each other and similar vision. 

Juliet: What is it like to work with Mickey Rourke? 

Brian: It is a dream come true to work with him. As a child, I watched Mickey Rourke in many films and always admired his acting ability. I knew he was quite talented and I had always dreamed of working with him. Between takes, we discussed doing another project together and I jumped at the opportunity.

Juliet: What were you like as a child?

Brian: I was very shy. I didn’t have many friends. I would just stay home and draw a lot of times in the summer and watch countless amounts of films. 

Juliet: Was there a pivotal moment when you decided to follow your passion for filmmaking?

Brian: I remember as a child I would watch movies all the time while drawing. I knew during my 12th birthday that if I was ever given the opportunity, I would make feature films but I did not think that opportunity would ever come.

Juliet: When do story ideas usually hit you? 

Brian: Story ideas hit me at all hours of the day and night. There are times when I will wake up from a dream or nightmare and then I’m obsessed with writing it down so I won’t forget. Other times, I think of past experiences and that’s when I feel I have something to talk about. And other times, I might see something on the news and come up with an idea based off of that. Most of the time, I try to base all my ideas in some way on some past experiences.

Juliet: Whose directorial work are you most inspired by? 

Brian: I have been inspired by many directors for different reasons, not just one. Francis Ford Coppola, Spike Lee, Paul Thomas Anderson, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick are all fantastic directors for their different visions. They all have different reasons as to why you can learn from them.

Juliet: Your dream collaboration?

Brian: This film with Mickey Rourke is one of my dream collaborations along with the great cast we intend to bring on board. There are so many great talents out there but this collaboration is one of my dreams come true.

Juliet: Where do you want to go from here? 

Brian: I want to keep working on a variety of interesting and different projects. I would like to keep collaborating with great, diverse talent while having larger budgets to work with and I want to keep enjoying what I do.

Juliet: What advice would you give to a young person following in your footsteps as a film director?

Brian: My advice would be to keep honing your craft and keep learning. If you want to be a filmmaker, do your research on the films you admire. Learn how those filmmakers did what they did. One thing I do is attend a lot of Q&As so I can learn from the filmmakers. I take every opportunity I can to ask those directors questions so that I can learn from them. I watch many films and feel I will never stop learning.  When you think you know it all then you stop learning and progressing. I want to keep improving my skills not just as a director but also as an actor, producer and writer. Learning everything you can in this business can be extremely helpful. Acting lessons can help you to communicate with other actors to get the performances you want. Writing helps you to understand structure in scripts. Producing can help you learn what you have to work with on projects. It all is important to learn.