Today we’d like to introduce you to Charla Bocchicchio
Charla, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Always interested in make-believe and performing, I got my start in theatre in high school and continued my love of acting into my young adulthood. I studied at the University of Utah where I earned my BFA in Theatre with an education emphasis. I have been fortunate to make a life in the arts; teaching, acting and creating. I performed in community theatre for years in Birmingham, AL, as well as creating a youth theatre company of my own there. While in Alabama I found my way to on-camera acting and fell in love with it!! There is something incredibly intimate about film acting that you can’t access while on stage and I was hooked (and still am)
I moved to Los Angeles to continue my newly found love of film acting and flourished there for a few wonderful years. I had the opportunity to train with some of the best in the industry, namely Anthony Meindl, who changed my paradigm completely and gave me a new way to work and teach. In addition, I was blessed to have Judy Kain enter my life as a mentor and dear friend. She offered me the position as lead youth teacher for her award-winning, Keep It Real Acting School in North Hollywood. Southern California also brought me my wonderful husband, John Bocchicchio, whom I met in an Improv class at UCB.
We eventually decided to return to a place I once called home, Salt Lake City, where I have continued my life as a working actor and acting coach. I am a multi award-winning actress, in commercials, TV, Film, Voice-over, etc. I work one everything from comedy to horror and everything in between. I’ve appeared in several Hallmark movies including a major supporting role in Check Inn to Christmas. Other highlights include: The Chosen, Yellowstone, Blood & Oil, and Granite Flats.
I am no stranger to the indie film scene and I love to collaborate on projects that I feel passionately about. I have some exciting new indie films releasing this year: Alien Country, He Never Left, Villains Inc and Masquerade Mix-up.
Some of my favorite projects have involved improvisation, which I adore, including viral internet ads for companies like Poopourri, Hello Mood and Real Genius. In addition to my acting work, I am also a highly sought after acting coach in SLC.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I am no stranger to hardship and yet I’ve been able to keep my chin up through it all and soldier on. I dare say that the struggles I have endured thus far in my life have made me the person I am today. And I like that person very much!
In 2016, I lost my only child, 22 year old daughter Cassidy Cochran, to a fentanyl overdose. Needless to say, this event gutted me. Somehow as I was grappling with the grief and loss, I decided to start writing about my experience in the form of a blog. It was mainly a tool for me to get all the garbage tumbling around inside of me, out into the world and on paper. I wanted to remember every detail of how I was feeling during that time. So I guess you could say it was like my diary. Well, other mothers who had lost children to drugs as well as addicts themselves were reading the blog and encouraging me to write a book. So I did. I hired an editor and book designer and got to work. On November 11, 2019 (exactly three years to the day after my daughter died) my book was officially published on Amazon. It’s titled: MY NEW NORMAL: A Mother’s Story of Love and Loss in the Opioid Epidemic.
I spent a few years speaking at treatment centers and schools to spread awareness about substance use disorder in an attempt to reduce the stigma that goes along with it.
A second gut-punching blow happened on May 19, 2023, when my beloved husband, John, took his own life after battling chronic pain and health issues for years. Of course when something like this happens, life seems to stand still, yet the world kept on spinning around me. Adjusting to life as a widow in my fifties has been a challenge to say the least. Not even a year after he died, I received a cancer diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma (an incurable blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow). I have been in treatment since March of this year and so far it’s working to keep the cancer at bay.
I know this sounds like a lot and it is. But I mention it all because this is life. We have to take the bad to recognize the good, the loss to recognize the love. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have had so much love in my life. Is life easy? Hell no. Would I change my life for anything? No I wouldn’t. I am who I am because of the loss and pain and hardship, every bit as much because of the love and joy and successes.
I have somehow managed to keep working through much of these struggles. My acting and teaching keep me smiling and bring me so much joy in my life.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As an actor, much of my work experience can be found on my IMDb profile.
I don’t like to toot my own horn so this is a hard question to answer.
Someone once wrote this about me:
“Charla’s on-screen presence is captivating. She exudes confidence, strength and vulnerability with a natural subtlety that will make you forget you are watching a performance. She is layered and emotionally grounded, with the comedy chops of an improvisational master!”
I am also an acting coach and offer private coaching sessions for actors to learn better on camera skills and audition techniques. I teach all ages (over 8 yrs old). I also provide demo reel editing for actors and audition taping services.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think as an actor I take a risk every time I audition. Haha. Truly.
I guess the biggest risk I have taken in my career was when I moved to Los Angeles. I just kind of went for it. I found an agent right away and hit the ground running. I don’t regret a single thing about that decision.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.charlaactor.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlaactor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlabocchicchio
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@charlaactor
- Other: http://www.imdb.me/charlaactor
