Please introduce yourself. What do you do? Why? What do you want people to know about you?
My name is Nicolas Hospitael. I am a French actor who moved to Los Angeles in October 2018. I am originally from a business background.
What qualities make you different and unique from everyone else in the industry?
If you want to know me, you have to learn how it all started… After I received my master’s degree in International Business Management, I went through a life coaching as I wasn’t sure of my future.
From that moment I decided to let myself dream and dare to live to a higher potential. I tried acting for the first time and I felt in love with the craft and life style it brought me.
Therefore, I did everything I could to live up to that potential. I want people to know that just because you have chosen a path that don’t suit you anymore, doesn’t mean you can’t do something else.
You CAN always start a new story in your life. Don’t be stuck and settle for a life you don’t want anymore just because society wants you to do so. It is ok to dare dreaming and trying. No matter where you are in life in your 20s, 40s or even 60s.
I’d say that my strongest asset would be that I always try to stay positive and be nice to everybody and I’ve heard it is essential in this industry.
Describe THAT moment when you realized you’re doing what you were born to do.
When I tried my first acting workshop in Paris, I asked myself so many questions, but I guess the most recurrent one was “Do I belong here”?
Maybe I didn’t get the answer to that question after my first class but, it piqued my interest and I kept wanting more and more. One day, I had an epiphany, and I realized that all things that an actor should implement into his daily life in order to grow, well, I was already implementing it into my own life.
For example, sometimes I love to just sit at a coffeeshop and observe people’s behavior and I try to understand their intentions through their body language. Nothing creepy here haha, It inspires me a lot when I act.
Also, sometimes I play the game of imagining what they are saying to another and perform a little scene in my head. I really love this game and I actually enact it with friends that are with me. I love to think that it helps with my improv skills a lot.
What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to go through and how did you grow through it?
Ummm, I’ve always seen challenges as part of the growing process in life. I actually remember one of my teacher saying that “if it scares you, do it. You’ll only end up stronger after this.”
In my case, my biggest challenge here in LA has been and still is to stand out as a young foreign actor, I mean as oppose to local American actors.
The thing is that I still have a French accent and most of the time, it doesn’t help to get the part.
But you know what, I tell myself that I have to work three times more than an American actor, therefore, every day, I work on my accent so that ultimately, I can do parts with and without accent.
Who are the TOP 3 people you’d want to meet that could elevate your career or business? Why these specific individuals?
Vincent Cassel – A superb French actor who made it in Hollywood and could help me move to the next level in my career.
Quentin Tarantino – To me the greatest director I wish I had the chance to work with. I believe his shooting style elevates the actor’s work and gives their monologues so much power.
Meryl Streep – She has such an incredible talent to play different type of roles, so she could help me improve my skills to embody multiple characters.
What is your social media handle?
https://www.instagram.com/nyko_o