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Christina Mauro - Actress, Writer & Producer |
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There are many facets to Christina Mauro’s career as an actor,
screenwriter and a producer and there are also many facets to her life
and so it was with great interest that we sat down with this native
Texan, now living in Los Angeles. Life began for Christina Mauro in
Beaumont, Texas, before her family moved to Falfurrias and then to
Conroe, Texas. Her family tree on her father’s side has roots in Texas
before it was Texas. Her heritage on that side is Colonial Tejano or
Tejano Texians, who were citizens of what was then known as the Kingdom
of Spain and who moved into the territory now yet known as Texas,
started settling there in the 17 the century and through to the Texas
revolution during the 1800s.
As for her mother’s side of the family she says, “My mom’s family is
English, Scottish and Irish. They are a very different kind of people
and they are a lot quieter, whereas my dad’s family is more
opinionated. When I think of my dad’s family, I think of these warrior
people who are not afraid to voice their opinions and to get into the
frontline. Many in my dad’s family are activists. The people in my mom’s
family are more soft-spoken. I come from two different cultures.”
In conversation with Christina Mauro some things immediately become
apparent, she is passionate about the things that are important to her,
family, career and her involvement with Peace Over Violence,
which on April 29 th, which just past used Denim Day to draw attention
to and to educate people about gender violence.
When I came to LA, I started looking for an organization and I was so
busy I was not able to get started until 2010. I kept circling Peace
Over Violence and everything about them (reflected) my views. It was a
comfortable place for me. It was a place where I could have my voice and
share my voice with people who maybe weren’t able to talk yet. I could
lend my voice to those people. I thought maybe I could make a
difference.
I am a storyteller and I have always been a storyteller, whether it is
somebody else’s story or whether it is my story. We are all in it
together. You have seen the statistics (concerning) sexual assaults and
domestic violence and teen dating violence. We would like it to go away,
but it just won’t. Until it
goes away, I will be talking about it and educating people about it. I
think so much of it is about education. So much of it is giving people
the vocabulary to know what is happening to them.
When I think back to when I was younger, I didn’t know that I was in a
teen violence dating relationship. I didn’t know there was such a thing.
I knew there was domestic violence, but if you aren’t married (you
think) it is not domestic violence, but I didn’t know what it was. Once
you have a term or the vocabulary to wrap around it, it is easier to
move forward and to get something done about it.”
The projects that Christina Mauro works on also have social context. For
instance, Rachelle Masters’ (producer and writer) short film
Americult, that is in
pre-production and which is being treated like a pilot, with hopes of
turning it into a series is loosely based on Masters’ own life.
When contacted Rachelle Masters described film as, “Gretchen is a young
girl whose life is dramatically and forever changed when her parents
move the family from their home on Rhode Island to the compound of an
evangelical cult in upstate New York. Her parents fall under the
charismatic spell of Pastor Joe, who uses religion to blur the lines
between devotion, and a dangerous and intoxicating eroticism. Gretchen
loses her parents to a seductive ideology, while growing up in an
abusive world that justifies patriarchy through religious belief, and it
uses power to silence her.”
Christina Mauro says, “They called me one day and they said we are
looking for a particular person to play Gretchen’s aunt.
When I read it, I felt like I had been there and the aunt was
somebody that I knew, if that makes sense. It resonated with me. Cindy
is a good character for me.”
We agree that it really amounts to modern day enslavement and then she
continues, “Gretchen feels trapped and she feels like she doesn’t have a
voice. It is the idea of having our voice taken away and I think that is
something that frightens all of us. When you talk about modern day
enslavement, (it is about) you not having a voice. You do what you are
told and that is a horrifying thought for us now, isn’t it? Right now,
with everything that is going on it is not so farfetched.”
As for how she thinks people will respond to the film she says, “I think
it is going to be dependent on where the person who is watching it is in
their life. I think some people will look at it from the little girl’s
point of view and some people will look at it from the parents’ point of
view. Depending on who you are and where you are in life and with some
of the trauma you have experienced you may not like it and you may feel
aggressive towards it. I don’t think Rachelle, or I will be surprised at
any reaction. I think we
are expecting all sorts of reactions to the film.
It is a hard topic. It deals with so much. It deals with abuse and it
deals with childhood abuse. It deals with parents who are not parenting
the way they should. You think of parents as people who are supposed to
protect you, but the reality is sometimes parents don’t protect you and
sometimes it is not their fault, but they don’t know how to protect you.
I am definitely not letting parents off the hook for things that
traumatize children. I think sometimes people make choices and they
think at the time they are making the best choice only to find out later
they did not. When they realize they did not make the right choice they
double down, as though they have done the right thing, because they
can’t handle the mistake they have made.”
In addition to another film in which she appears and that is in the
pre-production stage, which we will talk about in a minute, Christina
Mauro is currently involved with rewriting a short film and she is the
principal writer for a feature film.
“The short film deals with two sisters and homelessness. There will be
people who will go why didn’t you (the people in the film) fix that and
why didn’t you do that? Everybody thinks they can do it better until
they are in the situation.”
As for the feature film we cannot say anything more about that project
at this time, which just gives us a reason to invite Christina Mauro
back as our guest at a future time.
Let’s talk instead Christina about another film that you are in and that
is also in pre-production Granny Something.
Rachelle Masters described it as being about, “A woman who struggles
with the challenges of caring for an elderly woman with dementia and the
(caregiver) finds humor in what are often frustrating circumstances.”
Christina Mauro elaborates, “This is going to be a web series. Rachelle
and I were sitting together and talking, and it was one of those
beautiful moments when all of a sudden you realize that you are creating
something.
As we were talking the name Granny Something came up. When you
are dealing with your own immortality and dementia it is scary. At the
same time there is humor in life in certain moments. We were talking
about all of those things and that is how this project came about.
It is hard. I had
an aunt who had Alzheimer’s and she would get up in the middle of the
night and you would ask her who she was cooking for and she said she was
cooking for her young children. I had another aunt who didn’t have
Alzheimer’s, but she was getting older and it was hard for her to admit
that was starting to happen to her. She had always been in such control
of her life that it was hard for her to say, you know what I think I am
struggling now. It was a very difficult thing to admit.
It is very interesting, because there are two characters, but right now
we are considering the idea of me playing both characters. First, we
were talking about it and I was what? If this does go to a series, I am
not sure that is what they are going to want to do with it. (If we do
that) I would be the woman with dementia and also the younger caretaker.
When she brought that up, I was oh, I hadn’t thought of that. It sounds
like fun.
I think (the story) is real life and hopefully people see something in
it that resonates with them. Maybe it makes them giggle about something
that is a little bit difficult or makes them think about the idea that
they are not alone. There are so many people struggling with this.
It is the same thing when I am doing stuff for Peace Over Violence.
If you reach one person and they feel like they are not alone. If
something that you have said or showed to them resonates with them and
helps them to get over a hump, then you have done something good. I
think that is what brings me to some of these (film) projects and helps
me to think about what my job is as an actor.”
After Christina Mauro’s father died when she was six years old, her
mother who was an artist decided to go back to college and she attended
what would eventually become A & M University in Kingsville, Texas.
“She had to take me with her to class one day and it was a nude drawing
class. My mother was okay with me seeing females, but that particular
day she walked in and it was a male. She thought this is not going to
work.
Rather than going home and skipping class, my mother decided that she
would find a person to take care of me during her art class. She went
bolting into this library kind of a space and there was a girl there who
was taking a test and she says to her can my daughter sit here with you
are taking this test? The young woman said yes. My mom went to her
class.
When my mom came back the woman said I am a theater major and we are
doing the play Brigadoon and we need children. It happens around
this time. Do you think I could take (your daughter) and she could be in
the play? My mom said yes and that is how it started,” she says.
As for her own education after high school, Christina Mauro says, “I
went to the University of Houston where I studied with Carolyn Houston
Boone (theater) and Chuck Hudson (mime and movement). I studied theater
and I studied psychology. I have a double major.
I loved it and it is a great school for theater. The teachers are great.
I had an opportunity to workshop, as an actor with Edward Albee. He did
a playwrighting class in the spring and then he would produce plays from
the class. He was also part of the casting. He cast me as a siamese twin
(Editor’s note: So, we are thinking playing two characters in Granny
Something should be easy right Christina?). That is always going to
be a big deal to me, because I thought he was pretty awesome.
I really loved movement with Chuck Hudson. He had studied with Marcel
Marceau. and he was his assistant in France for many years. He was a
University of Houston alumnus, so they brought him back. I had done
modern dance when I was younger. When he showed up at that school it was
amazing for me. I learned how to use my body in ways that I didn’t know
about. I could go on and on about the University of Houston and the
teachers, the curriculum and the plays. There are some phenomenal plays
that are directed and produced there. There are many people I am still
very close with today.”
Her other major, psychology has proven helpful throughout her acting
career, “You are often looking at people and at the things that are
(happening) in between what they are saying. You sit down with a script
and you think here is this line, but how many different things were they
thinking about when they said this? How many different meanings does
this line have? I think
about the character and I am able to put the character in the moment. (I
can think about) the life and experiences it had. Actors study character
anyway. That is what we do. We are trained to watch people and to look
at people, to watch interactions and to see how in a drop of a hat
things can change depending on what is being said or done.”
Then came the move from Texas to Los Angeles, “After my assault, I was
unsure about acting. I was unsure about putting myself in front of
people that I didn’t know. I survived the assault, but we never found
the perpetrator. During that time, I had been busy doing things in
theater. I didn’t know if I was ready to put myself out there. A friend
of mine wrote a play and he said I wrote this part for you and you are
going to do it (she laughs). At the same time my mentor one day she said
to me, you need to get the #% #@ out of here. She said you need to
leave. She said here are your choices you go to LA or you go to New
York. You have three dogs and you are going to California. I said okay.
I went home and I told a couple of my friends that this had come up. I
need to leave and go to Los Angeles. Before I knew it these friends of
mine started bringing me boxes, they rented a U-Haul and they took off
work. They scheduled everything that needed to take place to get me
here.
My friend Lew Temple was living in LA. My mentor told me to go out to LA
and stay with Lew until you find an apartment. I feel like at one point
I just woke up and I was sitting on a couch in Los Angeles. There was no
struggle except I had a hard time finding an apartment for three dogs. I
was about to give up and then a beautiful apartment showed up in my
life.
I studied at Playhouse West Repertory Theater where I studied with Chris
Liebe and Jeff Goldblum. I learned to be me and that it is okay to be
me,” she says.
What is the best thing about being Christina Mauro?
“I have a lot of love. I have been through a lot and through it all I
have continued to hope. I am always hopeful, even in the worst times,
both professionally and in my personal life. I have always had hope and
love. I have a full heart and it is full of family and friends. I give
to them and I get a lot of love back. I think that is amazing,” she
says.
Ten years from now Christina what do you hope people think of first when
your name is mentioned?
“She was an honest storyteller and she was authentic and real.”
Thank you and you are.
This interview is dedicated to the survivors and to the ones who feel
they have lost their voices and those who help them to discover it
again, as they begin their long journey back. Please visit the website
for
Peace Over Violence and also take time to visit Christina Mauro’s
IMDB profile.
#ChristinaMauroActress #ChristinaMauroFilmProducer #ChristinaMauroScreenwriter #PeaceOverViolence #RivetingRiffs #RivetingRiffsMagazine
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“I
am a survivor of teen dating violence when I was in my late teens. I am
also a survivor of sexual assault. I have always talked about it and it
is going on almost 29 years from my assault. I have been acting since I
was seven and I have always had a voice. I have always felt comfortable
in stating my opinion, so from the get-go I was talking about it with
friends and I was talking about it with strangers, because I think it is
an important topic. 