Today we’d like to introduce you to Erik Sopracasa.
Erik, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born in Pordenone, Italy. My father is Italian and my mother is half Belgian and half Danish. Pordenone is a small city an hour away from Venice. When I was ten years old, I moved with my parents to Belgium where I lived until I was 29. In Belgium, I studied marketing and worked in tech for Samsung and later in finance for BNP Paribas. In 2016 I moved to the United States to study acting at The Stella Adler Academy of Acting and Theatre in Los Angeles and later graduated as the first Belgian actor from the conservatory at The Stella Adler Studio in NYC in 2019. I lived five years in NYC and moved to Austin in September of last year.
I’ve always been interested in the arts and always been very creative. I remember that when I was very little, I think just 6 or 7 years old, I was putting together some little shows with friends and we would perform and sing and do magic tricks in front of our parents and grandparents. I also liked to draw, write and I started playing the piano when I was six and later the guitar when I was 14. It was then that I actually started dreaming to move to California one day, because of the punk rock band Blink 182, which was my ultimate favorite at that time and was playing all their songs on my guitar 
.
Another big passion of mine is football (soccer). My biggest dream was actually to become a professional soccer player. I quit playing the guitar because I wanted to spend more time playing soccer and one day I received the opportunity to play for a big Belgian team. My parents were not supporting the idea of me playing soccer and becoming a soccer player, they’d rather see me go to University and get a “real” job. I was 18 at that time, and maybe too young to make the decision on my own to leave everything behind. I thought: “I’ll save a little and by next year I can go and play there”. But unfortunately, chances like that come only once and don’t wait for you… I still regret I didn’t go when I had the chance.
I believe that experience shaped me into who I am today, to take every chance I get to pursue the dreams that I have. It’s because of that experience that I eventually made the move to pursue my other dream and moved to the US, study acting and start a business here. It was a big risk, I had to invest all my savings to pursue it, it was scary, but I didn’t want again that feeling of “what if” again.
Leaving everything behind. Leaving behind a pretty good and easy life, a regular job and a decent income to take the biggest risk I had ever taken: moving to the USA. And not to pursue a “normal” job but a job in the arts, Only a few people that knew me very well – some close friends and my parents – didn’t think I was crazy . But most people thought I was. You will see that every time you do something different than the “normal”, people will try to not make you do it, or laugh or not take you seriously. It’s because they are afraid of taking risks. It is scary and it can go wrong. I auditioned at Stella Adler, packed my bags, booked my flight and flew for the first time to Los Angeles, Hollywood. And that’s when everything really began.
It has been an incredible journey so far. It hasn’t been easy, far from it, but when you don’t know what’s coming you can be very brave haha . Studying at Stella Adler in LA and NYC was amazing, when I was in school I also started working for The Acting Company, a 50 years old theatre company in NYC that focuses on the development of young actors. Unfortunately shortly after I graduated the pandemic started and the world shut down. Luckily I had started preparing for my application for my work visa the moment I actually arrived in the US and I used the years I was in school to gather all the stuff I needed. If I hadn’t done that it would have been all for nothing and wouldn’t have been able to make it. The pandemic pushed me even more to be creative and I started a small production company where we are currently in the production of the first short film and I also opened the first branch in the US for a Belgian business to business creative marketing agency where I’ve been doing all kinds of voice over work. I also signed with a management company in Los Angeles, The Robb Company, led by the amazing Sherry Robb, who has been guiding the career of actors for 25 years.
Now that I made it this far I want to audition as much as possible, get involved in the industry here in Austin and build out the small businesses that I started.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was not really a smooth road. When I moved to LA, I thought it wouldn’t be too difficult to move to the United States and start this new career. If I want to pursue a career as an actor or simply in the entertainment industry, the US is the best place to live. It’s simply the biggest market. The entertainment market in Belgium is basically non-existent, so for me this is simply the best place to pursue this career. But not being able to work as an international student was really tough, it pushes you to the limits and you have to stay focused to achieve your goals. When some of my friends in school were going on vacation I was doing an internship at The Acting Company, a theatre company in NYC and preparing for my application for my work visa. If I would take off I would feel bad because every second counts and if I would have missed the chance to get my work visa I would have invested everything for nothing. Eventually, I made it but I was a tough road but I’m proud I didn’t give up.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m currently in the production of the first short film I wrote together with a good friend, Tom Sys, who is graduating from the AMDA in LA. The film is a drama discussing the problem of child trafficking and the corruption behind it. I’m also starting another small business here in Austin but it’s in the very very early stages so that will be for another episode in VoyageAustin . I can only share it will be organic, made in Austin and Italian .
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t really believe in only “luck”, yes being in the right place at the right time is important and always helps of course. But luck is a combination of talent and very hard work. Especially hard work. I consider myself lucky that I have met some of the best actors, directors and producers in the time I’ve been here but I’ve also been studying and working seven days a week for five years and only took a vacation once. It was because of that dedication that I had the chance to be in the right place. I look up to entrepreneurs as Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, actors as Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, and Directors as Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. If you look at their careers, you won’t find just luck. You will always find hard work, training and perseverance. The trick is to learn from the bad moments you will for sure encounter when you take big risks because it won’t always be a smooth road but you have to keep moving forward to succeed and pursue your goals.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cupicocreative.com and www.eriksopracasa.com
- Instagram: @eriksopracasa
