Widely Traveled Actor Grasso is Ready-Set-Go for Post-Pandemic World of Entertainment
Actor Linda Grasso can hardly contain herself.
And, she speaks for thousands of actors and even more on production crews who’ve been silent during the lockdown. But, the trucks and trailers are coming back to Hollywood’s streets, and actors like Grasso are pumped. She speaks for all us, saying, “I have really missed being on set during this pandemic. Being on set feels like home to me. I love the camaraderie amongst the cast and crew.”
But, during the pandemic, this Australian-born dynamo took the timeout to hone her acting chops, explaining, “I spent my time doing self-tape and zoom auditions. I polished my acting skills with online classes. I also learned techniques to do more professional self-tape auditions. I just wanted to expand on my acting chops, for both drama and comedy, which I consider to be a strength.”
However, irrepressible Grasso, who co-starred in the highly praised web series Starting From…Now which garnered a jaw-dropping 170 million plus views on YouTube, also worked on being proactive in other ways. Anticipating a need for female-driven stories, and inspired by A-lister women, like fellow Australian Margot Robbie, who have set up their own production companies to empower their own storytelling goals, Grasso also set up Jan of All Trades Productions. Under that umbrella, and with most auditions on standby during the lockdown, she has written her first two screenplays, explaining:
“I’ve been pitching my first screenplay, Her American Road Trip, to executives at production and finance companies. It’s a feature film and I’m geared to play the lead role in it. Indeed, my goal is to have these screenplays made into movies where I play the lead role in both. Post-pandemic stories like this will help create work for so many other actors and crews.”
Additionally, Grasso, who has previously won awards for her stand-up comedy in Australia, and for her acting, writing and filmmaking in Australia and the US, did a lot of thinking on what inspires her. She lists some motivational quotes to live by: the world would be a better place with less talk and more action; to achieve your dreams and goals you need to be consistent and persistent; trust your intuition, it’s always right, even if it doesn’t seem that way at the time; there’s no such thing as failure, it’s just another lesson learned.
And, she adds another one, explaining, “If I say I’ll be there, I’ll be there! Show up. Keep your word.” I believe some famous filmmaker similarly said, ‘Eighty percent of success is showing up’.”
Indeed, that’s one thing she always does, show up.
For example, Grasso has shown up for a variety of interesting roles, including: a comedy film called The Brothel where she plays a pristine and educated madam; and, a sitcom called Rock Chikz where she plays the lead singer of an all-female rock band, which screened at New York’s ‘Mamapalooza’ Festival. She’s also written, produced and starred in her own short films, My Two Lives, and Wishful Thinking with the actor portraying the character Jan who also appears in a spin-off, that Grasso recently wrote and produced, reprising the role of Jan in, Jan Of All Trades.
Furthermore, one of her recent projects was exec-produced by none other than Khloe Kardashian, the clan that always shows up. Grasso guest-starred in a true crime series, Twisted Love on the Investigation Discovery network. Even though comedy is her forte, always game Grasso has a chameleonic acting style, which explains her ability to comfortably switch from comedy to drama: “That so helped for my recent role as Karen Clowers in the Twisted Love series. It was a re-enactment of the real-life Karen Clowers, who was involved an all-too-real and deadly love triangle.”
Moreover, she’s excited about upcoming acting roles, including an hilarious workplace comedy, Buds, and also a fantasy TV anthology, Ghost Stories from the Beyond.
Most importantly, Grasso is big on teamwork, and on getting back to working with like-minded colleagues.
Grasso’s love of performing, which goes back to her childhood, developing an early passion to entertain in primary school where she would create and perform improvised comedy sketches. Now, her portfolio, which includes television, films, theater and stand-up comedy, also involves doing dozens of commercials including Colonial First State Superannuation, Purina Friskies Cat Food, Ingham Chicken, Vicks Vapo Drops, Yellow Tail Wines, and Quakers Cereal Bars.
Coming out of the lockdown, Grasso is stoked about the opportunities for women. For example, Nomadland’s director Chloe Zhao and lead actor Frances McDormand are gathering up the awards, including Golden Globes, and Oscar nominations, and that gives Grasso hope: “Now that women are getting more attention in front and behind the camera, I feel that I am in the right place at the right time to get my female-driven screenplay stories developed into movies. We have endured enough tragedy during this pandemic and now is the time to give audiences stories that will lift their spirits and I want to be one that does that.”
Check out Linda Grasso’s website, which includes a number of dramatic and hilarious clips, and look up her IMDb profile.
