Ten Minutes in Tinsel Town with Miz Meliz Interviewing Venus Leone

Source: Ten Minutes in Tinsel Town with Miz Meliz @VenusLeone #TenMiniTT @TenMiniTT

It seems like forever since I interviewed the talented and enchanting Miss Venus Leone! It was a long time coming. But, it is worth it! You will love the interview. Check out a snippet on iTunes! Yeah baby!

Now on iTunes! Ten Minutes with MizMeliz

Show Notes

What do you want to talk about?

I had to think about this one since what I do is my hobby but I realize there is something I love to do that doesn’t make me any money: I love watching movies and tv shows but I also dissect everything, like, how well do they act, how bad is the ADR, continuity mistakes (the last Transformer had a car driving on the freeway, the Deception stops it, crashing it… but there are no people in it… no one runs out of it and when the girl runs inside, no one there), score and sound, effects (Quentin Tarantino uses exploding sounds for bullets entering wounds), editing etc… and then I sit in the movie theater and read all the titles looking for the Jugoslavian name (a thing my besty from Switzerland and I have done since we were 16)

Tell me about yourself.

I am mixed Italian/black-brazilian, born in Italy and grew up in Italy and Switzerland. Studied business while going through rehab for my knee. I used to dream to become a ballerina and have practiced ballet since the age of 4 but my race and bad knees didn’t help me much on the way. I tore my acl 2 weeks after a Sleeping Beauty Theater performance, 2 months before my 17th birthday. So I had to shift my focus elsewhere.

Music is the main reason why we dance and I was already recording songs with some friends, so I ended up working on my demo. Later, I went back to dancing, but I never got back on my pointes besides for some photo shoots. At the age of 21, one of my best friends and I decided to go take some classes at the Broadway Dance Center in New York and booked a plane ticket to visit the US for the first time. We automatically got addicted.

I came to LA 4 months later to take classes at Millenium, Debbie Reynolds and the Edge and ended up flying back and forth for 3 years. It wasn’t easy because people’s mentalities are different. In Switzerland they tell you to keep your feet on the ground and not reach too high; in the US they promote that everything is possible. I fell in love with that way of thinking and through trials and tribulations moved and established myself as indie artist. The underground scene of Hollywood is getting to know my name. I have acted, danced, went to school for sound engineering and graduated as valedictorian. I used to look up to people like Missy Elliot, who are producers and can push other talents.

I am finally living my dream and wonder every day how I could have done it without my faith. One day, I am the boom operator on a film shoot, the next I am the actor, the other, I am a translator for a lawyer and his client (speaking 7 languages in this town is definitely a plus, when you are trying to pay your bills), the next I am mixing a song or recording some lyrics… It’s not easy to live as an artist but it’s what my heart tells me to do. I also just went back to painting and am writing my own little script. We’ll see what will fruit… 

Where can we contact you?

www.venusleone.com
www.soundcloud.com/venusleone
www.facebook.com/eyeprophecy
Twitter / Instagram / Thumblr: @venusleone
swizzpoetry.blogspot.com

download or order cd on www.cdbaby.com/cd/venusleone2

Do you have a favorite Hollywood Hot Spot?

*The Republic of Pie in Noho is becoming more and more the place to be but the best espresso you get at Marie & Cie on Colfax / Riverside

What is your favorite resto?

*Best Cuban Salsa Restaurant in Hollywood: El Floridita (oh I had such a great time there but threw up all my food cause I ate fillet mignon and had every guy twist me around… so watch what you eat or, eat a little and box it cause that food is deliciouuuus)

What do you do for fun and relaxation when you aren’t working?

*go watch a play at any of the Theater houses, e.g. The Falcon in Toluca Lake… you may recognize some of the actors from a tv show or a movie… cheaper than a movie theater and way more entertaining and humbling… those actors are amazing

***my best kept secret: Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ, on Van Nuys and Ventura Blvd: 2 dollar beers, 1 dollar sake shots, happy hour all night… just remember to RSVP because you may wait 45 min for a table on a Monday.