The Unstoppable Rodrigo Varandas!

The sensational and multi-talented Rodrigo Varandas!

We recently caught up with the incredibly talented Rodrigo Varandas, who is a professional actor, singer and dancer who has worked in some incredible productions. We recently caught up with Rodrigo and spoke to him about his favorite experiences performing, his inspirations growing up and plans for the future. Here is what he had to say:

Please introduce yourself to the readers and how and when did

you first get into performing?

 

My name is Rodrigo Varandas, I'm a 23 year-old actor, singer, dancer and entrepreneur. I am originally from Brazil from a town called Santos. I was a Tennis player and was ready to continue on my family business until my mom took me to see Phantom of the Opera, then my life changed. I fell in love with it and suddenly had this crazy desire to do what they were doing on that stage. After that, I found myself dancing at school and performing routines anywhere I could. This all happened when I was around 9.

 

What inspired you to get into the entertainment industry?

 

As I stated previously, Phantom of the Opera was my first inspiration, but no one can deny Disney movies are a huge part of a kid’s life so I got a lot of inspiration from those movies. Then slowly I started refining my taste until I found my home in musical theatre inspirations such as Jeremy Jordan and Patina Miller.

 

What kind of training have you had, if any?

 

I started my training in Brazil at the School for Actors Wolf Maya. I studied everything related to film and TV then had some introduction to the musical theatre world. I moved to NY to study at NYFA (New York Film Academy). I studied strictly musical theatre there. Then I moved to Los Angeles to earn a BFA in musical theatre.

 

What has been your favorite role to play so far?

 

I would have to say the Sound Engineer in Singin’ in the Rain and the cameraman in Original. The Sound Engineer was a very funny part and I am a clown so it was very delightful to hear the laughter from the audience every night. In Original (world premiere), it was kind of the same feel because the cameraman was the comedic relief of the show. I also loved the role because it required me to be on stage the whole show, so it was extremely challenging. In the end I loved the experience. And who doesn’t love a starring role in a new musical, huh?

 

What has been one of the most exciting achievements of your career so far?

 

The main one was and still is to be one of the few students that graduated college and was able to work constantly since graduation. My class graduated with a lot of actors but not more than five were able to work constantly and some already gave up on their careers. The second one was to be able to tap in a lot of different sides of my career such as being the lead voiceover actor in two TV shows. I shot a TV show in which I am the lead, I was part of a commercial for Netflix, I performed in several musicals as a featured singer/dancer, soloist, starring role and critical role; And I just shot a movie in which I am the lead.

 

What projects do you have coming up?

 

I have a lot of projects coming up but unfortunately the majority of them I can’t share yet because of confidentiality. All I can say about them is that I was blessed enough to film everything and you might see a familiar face in a few commercials soon. However, the projects I can talk about are super exciting too. I am developing a few things such as a brand new web series and a North/South America Festival that will tour nationally and internationally. On top of that, I have been in the works for my book and soon I will have my first draft ready.

  

Who would you most like to work with?

 

Ok, this is easy, Beyonce'! Now, let’s be a little more realistic haha. I would love to work with J Elaine Marcus, Nick Adams and Tony Sheldon. I also would love to work again with Wendy Rosoff, Nick DeGruccio, Leslie Stevens, Jon Engstrom and Hector Guerrero.

And can you get me Lin-Manuel Miranda’s number? (laughs)

 

What are your plans for the future?

 

I want to develop my name into a brand here in America. I am being able to approach things differently like that and once I am able to do so, I want to transition into directing and producing. That is for the far future! The near future holds my move to NY and my new journey to Broadway.

 

What is your advice to aspiring performers?

 

So many things! First of all, trust your instinct. Trust yourself. No one believes in you more than you. Secondly, share love and good energy with the world, it will make things easier and you will get the same in return. Third, work as hard as you can. You can get where you want in so many ways but your hard work and work ethic will be the two things that will make you maintain your success.