From the Dominican Republic to Hollywood, Ranier Acosta is a rising star who is achieving greatness. In this interview, Ranier shares his journey as an actor and his determination to become the first-ever born and raised Dominican actor to achieve worldwide recognition. With a background in theater, voice acting, and even boxing, Ranier’s versatility has had a significant impact on his acting career, allowing him to bring a unique set of skills to his roles.
HI RANIER, WELCOME TO ABOUT INSIDER! THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHAT WITH US! CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF, WHO IS RANIER ACOSTA IN YOUR OWN WORDS?
Ranier Acosta to me is an actor born and raised outside the US trying to create history by becoming the first ever born and raised Dominican actor to achieve worldwide recognition.
CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND HOW YOU GOT INTO ACTING?
Surprisingly, I started at the age of sixteen which is very late. Throughout my childhood, my mom used to bring me to the theaters to watch the superhero movies that came out. After getting into high school, I tried the theater program and became obsessed with it. Chose acting as my profession and the rest is history.
YOU’VE BEEN TRAINED IN A VARIETY OF SKILLS, FROM VOICE ACTING TO BOXING. HOW DO YOU THINK THIS HAS IMPACTED YOUR ACTING CAREER?
Immensely. It makes me more versatile and versatility is always a plus in anything you do. Voice acting gives more color and helps in camera acting too since it helps you perform better vocally and boxing is a sport I’ve always enjoyed doing. When it comes to choreography, physical acting and muscle memory, boxing has given me the ability to learn physical choreographies quicker than most people and it’s a plus when it comes to stuff that involves stage combat, action scenes or anything along those lines. I haven’t used my boxing skills in any project as of yet but I’m still waiting for it! And we all know that boxing movies are always being made. So expect to see me in one soon.
YOU’RE ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF GREAT CINEMA ALLIANCE. CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE COMPANY AND YOUR VISION FOR IT?
GCA was founded by a good friend of mine from school and he offered me to join as one of the founders of it. After that we added one more member with us who is also a very good friend. It’s composed around the three of us Giancarlo Arrunategui, Santigui Camara and me. We focus more on short films and we shot one in January written and directed by San. Came out beautifully and should be coming out soon. The rest of the year we plan on filming three to four more and we also plan on doing a theater production by the end of the year. We want this to go big, like A24 or Nine Stories Productions.
YOU’VE PLAYED ROLES IN THEATER PRODUCTIONS SUCH AS ROMEO AND JULIET AND LIFE IS A DREAM. HOW DOES ACTING ON STAGE DIFFER FROM ACTING ON CAMERA?
A lot, but it’s still acting. The stage is bigger and you have to show everything to even the last person seating all the way in the back. You have to be big with your actions so they can physically see what’s going on and you have to be loud so everyone can hear unless you have mics for the show. But also, you have to live in the moment because with theater you can’t try again. You’re live and if there’s a mistake you have to fix it on the spot and you can go from beginning to end which is a nice momentum acting wise. Camera on the other hand is the opposite. Depending on your frame you have to be small. Volume doesn’t matter, since you have mics, so you can do with that what you will. Camera is tougher, because you can tell when someone is lying or not performing well based on their face and the good thing is you can have as many takes as time allows but you don’t have that momentum that theater gives chronologically, so you have come with those emotions on the spot or prep before going up. They’re different, but like I said, it’s still acting.
YOU’VE BEEN PART OF AWARD-WINNING SHORT FILMS LIKE “EL CARRITO”. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WORKING ON THOSE PROJECTS?
El Carrito was actually the first gig I booked after I graduated in New York. I was nervous and it was new because I didn’t know anybody there and it was right when the pandemic was starting, so there was a lot of uncertainty. Filming is very fun as I expected but what I never knew was how much waiting there is because of set up. That is for lights, sound, camera and more. There’s a lot of moving parts in films and people tend to forget that it’s not only the actors there, there’s more. The actor is just the messenger of everyone’s good work.
YOU’RE CURRENTLY PREPARING FOR A THEATER PRODUCTION OF TWELFTH NIGHT. WHAT CAN AUDIENCES EXPECT FROM THE SHOW?
Entertainment. It’s Shakespeare and it’s being done the way it was originally done. Outdoors in parks. It’s going to be fun and a good experience. You don’t tend to see much theater outdoors, so this is a good time to do it and enjoy that summer weather. It is a comedy but also it has some tragedy and my character goes through the toughest things in this play, so get ready to feel more me.
YOU’VE WORKED ON PROJECTS IN BOTH NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES. HOW DO THESE TWO CITIES DIFFER IN TERMS OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY?
We all know New York has more theater because of Broadway. We know Los Angeles has more film because of Hollywood. It’s always the rivalry of Hollywood vs Broadway. That being said both cities have it all. New York has a good amount of film and tv all year round so work is always there when it comes to camera or theater. Same with Los Angeles, a lot of film and tv but not as much of theater. Theater seems to be small here. There’s a lot of theater productions but they are small. Most of the big productions tend to be from tours and they stop here for three weeks to a month and a half. Which is a shame given the fact that LA, like in Downtown and other areas have so many massive theaters that are completely abandoned or barely open throughout the year. If you ask me, its a missed opportunity. LA could have its own Broadway but that’s just my opinion, I’m just an actor.
ANY UPCOMING PROJECTS/ROLES YOU CAN TALK ABOUT?
Twelfth Night in which a play Antonio, a sea captain and friend of Sebastien. We’ll be touring around Orange County and Los Angeles for the whole summer under the company Shakespeare by the Sea. The rest as of now I can’t really talk about them since my partners and people I’m working with want to keep it secret until we actually start filming but it’s a few shorts under GCA and a feature film next year.
WHERE CAN OUR READERS FIND YOU ONLINE?
I’m not online much but the few places that I am, you can find by typing my name in Google. But I’m mostly on Instagram @ranieractor, @ranieracosta. Just make sure to spell my name right!
You can connect with me on IMDb @Ranier Alfonso Acosta
