Interview with American Horror House Actress Isabel Cueva

After the recession hit and acting jobs were leaving for out of state incentives, American Horror House actress Isabel Cueva took matters into her own hands, and completely transformed herself as the star, director, writer, and producer of a short film which brought her international attention.  The multi-talented filmmaker tells CineMovie why she re-evaluated her career when the economy took a dive.

After gaining attention as the star of her short film, In The Name Of Freedom, Isabel opened up more doors for herself as an actress including starring on SYFY’s original film, American Horror House with Morgan Fairchild where she hints she may be doing a bit of the scaring.

Her upcoming projects also include working opposite Luis Guzman, Terry Crews, and Eugenio Derbez in the upcoming Lionsgate/Pantelion film Aztec Warrior, with Danny Trejo in Showtime’s American Flyer, and appearing in Jack The Reaper now on DVD.

When Isabel started out in Hollywood, she knew she would be a diamond in the rough.  If getting attention, as an actress with zero credits to her name, wasn’t hard enough, the economic downturn created a further shortage of jobs.  Isabel attributes the problem to the “runaway production” which left California for tax incentives offered by other states and countries.  

“All the work here kind of died,” she told CineMovie. “Business changed dramatically,” she adds, which prompted the Latina beauty to evaluate her Hollywood career.

“When you’re just waiting around for jobs, and putting it on someone else who is just getting you one or two meetings a year, you’re going to die creatively.”

How was she going to build relationships, and get her name out there given the harsh times?  Isabel’s answer – make a short film.  She knew it wasn’t enough to just write, produce, direct, and star in her own project, but it had to stand out.  “I have to do something shocking,” she revealed to us about her decision to take charge of her career.  

As the star of the short, In The Name Of Freedom, she completely transformed herself into a character very unlike herself.  During screenings at film festivals, attendees would ask Isabel the director for the contact of the lead actress. The praise gave her a boost of confidence, especially when she informed them that she indeed was that person on screen.

The rounds at the film festival also proved beneficial for networking purposes. Building relationships with other filmmakers, producers, and actors was a great value to the struggling actress, which led to more opportunities and meetings.

Regardless of the new opportunities as an actress, Isabel Cueva doesn’t plan on retiring the filmmaker side of her just yet.  She begins production in 2013 on her first feature film.  

For the multi-hyphenate, her formula to success includes having a positive outlook.

“Hard times brings great things out of us, but we need to not give up.”

Look for Isabel Cueva during SYFY’s 31 days of Halloween in the original film American Horror House.