Props are being placed around a room, fixed into their respective places, as actors and actresses are given their final touch-ups. The director pushes them in front of the camera, and yells, “Action!” The lights turn off, and Charter alumnus Ricky Herrera tells his story of an acting adventure.
Herrera’s performing arts journey didn’t begin until after graduating from Charter in 2006. “I never took drama in high school. I never had the guts to do it,” he says, yet he still took classes that sparked his acting interest. “It was a media class, and one of our assignments was to make a video… so I used that as an excuse to be a character and act in videos.” Taking this class made him rethink his decision.
While grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, “I just wrote out all my goals,” Ricky says, despite, back then, not knowing how or when his accomplishments would be fulfilled.
Herrera’s education journey traveled far and abroad attending, “Broward Community College, then… the University Center of Performing Arts. Next, I went to short programs in London at Rada and the University of Royal Central, then to New York [and studied] at a well-known improving school called UCB [The Upright Citizens Brigade].” Understanding new acting techniques, as well as improving himself, were all opportunities that were marked as ‘completed,’ on his paper.
Audition after audition and some offered projects to act in, Ricky Herrera already has a long list of acting in “a bunch of independent short films and feature films in the last year that are hopefully coming out in 2024.” He acted in the Peacock show Wild West Chronicles. “I was in two, three, or four scenes and it’s a cowboy show.” Each passing film helped him improve his acting résumé for more auditions to come: another check on his paper.
However, the acting path is a meandering line, and only some auditions will go to plan. Ricky mentions a small scene he had in an HBO show: “It didn’t end up cutting, but I still got all the experience from it.” Living another goal: acting on a big set. He never lost his commitment to his career, and it helped him overcome this obstacle. In the acting business, “You have to be fully committed, don’t listen to anybody. If you really love it, you’re going to give it your all, and you will make it no matter how long it takes because it’s all about the journey.”
Charter assisted Ricky in building “a core foundation in working hard and studying to accomplish [my] goals and whatever [I] set out to do.” His determination is an inspiration for all students; with enough hard work, anyone can accomplish their greatest goals.
Ricky’s journey has only just begun. His pursuits persist, such as wanting to “take his career to the next level and to be in films and go watch myself in the movie theater… that’s a great achievement.” Never forgetting to admire his accomplishments, he states, “Sometimes, you have to step back and see how far you’ve come, keep going, and appreciate it.”
His sheet of paper allowed him to savor the moments of his biggest and current accomplishments, and make more as time goes on. Wherever his voice and his experiences take him, his goals begin on a sheet of paper, and, one step at a time, it leads him in the right direction.
