I was able to sit down and talk with Claudia Zevallos who has appeared in such films as ‘A Better Place’, ‘Day of Days’ and ‘Tyson’s Run’. She currently stars as Angelica in the new film ‘A Snowy Day in Oakland’.
Richard: I am Richard Schertzer of The Knockturnal and I have Claudia Zevallos with me. So, miss, where are you from and where did you grow up?
Claudia: So, I am originally from Arequipa Peru and I grew up in Arequipa Peru. I was raised by my grandparents because my parents got divorced when I was five months old, so my mom became a single mom and she has literally been working non-stop ever since she was 17 years old. I was the only little one at home with my grand-parents and my aunt Lulu.
Richard: So, how did you get started in the business of acting?
Claudia: Well, what happened was, as I’m telling you, I grew up and I was raised by my grand-parents , so there was always an extra hour that I was left by myself, when I was five years old because I was put to school really early. So, I would stay home by myself and I was watching this soap opera with Victoria Ruffo back then and I would run to the bathroom, do my makeup, put on these head rollers — they were my aunt’s — and I would memorize the entire scenes that were in between commercials and run to the bathroom and I knew I was Victoria Ruffo and the mirror was Jose Antonio. There was no doubt in my mind. So when I would finish doing my scenes, I would come back and keep watching the Novella because I need to keep learning my lines. So, that’s what when I was five years old and then out of an accident, I was here on vacation visiting my aunts and my cousins and this lady happened to come up to me as I was walking into a store in this century city mall and she asked me if I was some type of model and I said no I’m not. “Well, here’s my card. If you are ever interested, just give me a call”. I remember coming home that night and then I thought what happened to my dreams that I used to have when I was five years old? I have been so busy going to school, taking care of my grand-parents until they passed away and just very busy helping them all the time and that’s when I went back home to Peru and really asked myself because my grand-parents ran two businesses back in Peru and so I know what it takes to run a business. At least, that’s what I would like to think of what I learned from them and I asked myself if I really wanted to do this and I said yes. This is my dream. This is the dream that’s been sleeping within because I’ve been so busy being a grand-daughter, a daughter and a caretaker also for my grandparents. So, I came back and I decided to give it a shot and I happened to, out of a complete accident, bump into the former showrunner for Telemundo and it was one afternoon that he needed an assistant and I didn’t know by whom I was getting interviewed.
Richard: Tell us more about the film ‘A Snowy Day In Oakland’ and your character.
Claudia: ‘A Snowy Day In Oakland’ is an urban, magical comedy and it’s all about hopes, desires, dreams and I really think that people are going to feel inspired, happy and heard because this is a black and brown movie. So, I, as a latina, felt so heard when we were on set.
(Rest of the interview is in the video)
