Baba Tavares: Acting on Broadway Musicals and National TV to Becoming Kumu of the Next Generation.
Baba Tavares has reached insurmountable acting heights from levels of Broadway-wide performances, co-starring on National TV, tackling New York’s Acting Scene for 8 years, and so much more.
Hawaiʻis one and only has returned to his homeland of Hawaiʻi with one goal in mind: To be that very Kumu of the next generation…
Who are you?
Aloha, I’m Joshua “Baba” Taveres, everyone calls me Baba and I’m 34 years old. I’m an actor and a singer. I grew up here in Hawaiʻi on The Big Island, Kona, and I also am an acting teacher at The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa!
How long have you been pursuing your career in acting and teaching?
So I started acting in High School, my junior year of High School, so I guess if we’re counting from then.. it’s MANY years ago *laughs* but professionally, I’ve been pursuing acting for about - 10 to 12 years. And I’ve been only teaching acting, at the University as the Assistant Professor of acting for… not even a full year yet, so I’m in my first year.
And what got you into acting in the first place?
My parents are both performers, my Dad’s a musician. He’s one of the founding members of the band Hōʻaikāne, and my Mom is a hula dancer, and so kind of just growing up with them always singing, dancing, cruising with the family, and I didn’t really get into acting until my junior year of High School at Kamehameha, and they were having auditions for High School Musical.
So I went out for it! I felt like it was like a perfect world of all the things I loved - Singing, and dancing and performing, and also acting - getting to become another character. And so from then on I was just like “this is fun!” It was ALWAYS just for fun for me, it was never like something I thought I was gonna pursue, until after I graduated - A bunch of us from the drama club went to New York, and we saw a bunch of Broadway shows. It was my first time really seeing… you know that CALIBER of storytelling, and live, on stage.
And I said “that’s what I wanna do.”
Wow, so from there, ever since you saw those shows that this is it for you, and never looked back?
For sure! Yeah and I also felt like “Oh I THINK I can do that!” You know? There wasn’t like a disconnect for me, it wasn’t like “OH that feels like something that’s out of reach” it was like “Oh, I can do what they’re doing! Gimme a chance, lemme do it.” And so I decided to study that and train IN that, so from then on straight into college, I studied Performing Arts and Hawaiʻi at Hilo so I wasn’t quite ready to leave yet.
And then right after I graduated I bought a one-way ticket to New York and lived there. I went to drama school in New York, and then was living there for 8 years - Auditioning, working, just you know doing odd jobs here and there and living that kind of “Struggling Artist” life *laughs* up in New York City.
Wow, and what was it like living in New York? How did you have to adapt to their environment compared to Hawaiʻi as an actor and just as a Kanaka and a human? Especially being away for that long…
So I always knew I was gonna move away, but right out of High School, I wasn’t quite ready to go. So, that’s why I stayed and got my undergrad and kinda wanted to get a more solid foundation as an actor. That was the first time I was really taking acting classes and you know really learning about the methods and APPROACH to acting and the techniques.
And dancing - I was taking ballet classes and voice lessons for the first time, so that was all here. I always like to say that my ‘Kahua’, my Foundation, has always been in Hawaiʻi, has always been here… And then I went to Drama School in New York, I went to the American Musical Dramatic Academy and TRAINED in Musical Theater.
So from like 8AM to 11PM every day, just VOICE lessons, ACTING classes, learning how to do Accents, learning how to do like Fight Scenes! Tap Class, Ballet, Jazz, so just ALL day long, just full on immersed in performing arts and prepping, to compete at that Global Level. Cause you’re in the Heart of Broadway, NEW YORK CITY.
Everybody from around the WORLD is there. So the competition, to me is like top tier, in the world. So for me, it was a struggle, but it was also like I was SO stoked to be there cause I was just HUNGRY for it. I was like “let’s GOOOO” like I wanna put my name in the hat, I wanna show up at auditions I think I have something unique to offer.
And so it was never like “I don’t think I’m good enough”, but I think there was that sense of “Oh I started MUCH later than everybody else around me.” Everybody that was there like you know they were studying and training since they were like 3 or 4, like REALLY young… And again I only started my junior year of High School and it was really only for fun.
So I felt behind in a sense. I felt like everybody else is a little bit further ahead! And knew what they were doing, but I didn’t let that discourage me I just was like “Okay, charge large. Try em!” And yeah… in regards to just surviving, New York is EXPENSIVE, so working pretty much just any kind of ‘survival job’ retail jobs, babysitting, just working different actering jobs. You know kinda like every week there was random “what kind of job do I have this week to pay the rent?”
Some years were pretty tough, and then on top of that AUDITIONING. Trying to get auditions, trying to get scenes, tryna book work. I did everything from like Children’s Theater to National Tour of a Broadway Musical. So the SPECTRUM was all over the place it was kind of whatever I could do. Background work in TV shows, yeah.
Digging a bit more into your struggles in just trying to make it in acting, ESPECIALLY being somewhere as competitive as New York, can you share a story where something didn’t pan out the way you wanted it to, and how you overcame that in your own way?
Reflecting back on a lot of my acting experiences, ALOT of it is rejection right? You hear a lot of that with actors but it really is true, that the most thing that you get, is rejected, in this industry. You GOTTA be able to root for yourself… And I think that kinda becomes the biggest lesson, especially as an actor, and a TEACHER who teaches acting, right?
To young people who are trying to break into the industry: The thing that I always try to celebrate, and bring out of everybody, and do for myself to is, you know - If the job’s yours, you’ll get it.
Sometimes, there’s things moving around that is out of your control... I remember going in for like a final callback for this show and I REALLY thought I was gonna get it and I was like, “I’m PERFECT for this role”… and they kept calling me back so I was like “they like me! I’m gonna get it!” And, I didn’t prepare enough for the audition. I just was kind of like “Okay, they keep calling me back, they LIKE what I’m doing, it’s just gonna be mine” and, I didn’t work as hard as I should have.
And I remember really stumbling in the room. I wasn’t memorized and I just kind of… was relying on my natural talent (which I think is not a bad thing!) but it wasn’t right for that audition. And I didn’t get it.
And I remember being really disappointed in myself, and then it taught me like “Ay, you can’t just be talented, you gotta be hard working too.” Because you’re in New York City, and there’s a thousand people who are JUST AS talented if not MORE talented than you are, but they’re also working hard.
That just kind of lit up a flame for me... And you know I moved SO far to get here I’m a hard worker! But, there was just THAT particular audition that I didn’t work as hard as I should have. So I think you gotta be able to call out the bullshit for yourself -
When you’re NOT working and you’re just kinda relying on whatever your natural talent or your natural charisma or your natural charm (Which, those things are beautiful! Rely on those things, LOVE those things, celebrate those things), but also it’s not enough. You gotta work hard. And what does that look like, right?
“How do you break down a script? How do you come in really CONNECTED to the character? How do you understand the world that the director is trying to create here?” Those are things that I try to pass on to my students and remind myself right. You gotta work hard, and that’s only gonna ELEVATE you and give you more opportunities.
Sorry, I HAVE to ask this personally just out of my own curiosity - What in the hell was your parents’ reaction to you telling them you want to move to New York after graduating, just like that?
I’M OUT! I’M OUT *throws up shaka*.
LMAO.
*Laughs* Nah nah I’m really lucky. My family’s always been super supportive. I didn’t grow up KNOWING I wanted to be an actor, it wasn’t like something I knew when I was really young. I always knew I was into music, my Dad’s a Musician so I was ALWAYS in the performing world I suppose, but once I fell in love with acting and I saw it on stage, and I knew that that’s what I wanted to do,
My parents knew. And they were supportive! So throughout all of my undergrad at UH, THEY knew that when I was pau I was gonna move… At first I thought it was gonna be LA, I was more kind of gonna go the TV/ Film route, but then I fell in love with Live Theater and just kind of like:
“People are in one room, for a limited amount of time... Couple hours, together.
There’s this unspoken agreement that we’re ALL gonna buy into this world together, for this 2.5 hours.”
Which HAPPENS in the Cinema too right? But it’s like this energetic, live thing that’s happening! An exchange between the actor, and the band, the musicians, the crew, AND the audience… So for me, there’s just something magical about Live Theater. And you don’t get another take. You don’t get to go “CUT, Can we try that again?” You just gotta find a way to go through.
LITERALLY LAST NIGHT we’re in the theater right now (We’re in the Theater at UH Mānoa) I had to swing in and cover for one of the PRINCIPLE roles, just cause that’s how it goes. “The show must go on” as they say and so, I kind of love that energy, and I love just all the people coming together to make this story work.
And make the story as beautiful and as honest as you possibly can in that time. So that exchange to me is exciting, and why I LOVE Live Theater... So I always kind of knew (at that point) that I was gonna pursue more the Theater route for that early start in my career, New York was always on the ‘list’, and my family was super supportive.
In all of the different types of avenues to go down to be a storyteller (Directing, Screenwriting, Dancing, Singing etc), what makes acting IT, for you? Was it just because of the way you can tell these stories that you don’t get with pursuing any other medium?
I love acting. I think that in that notion of telling stories, we’re all storytellers in our own way, and so, you kind of find YOUR way to express yourself… Whether that’s through painting, art, it’s a way for you to express yourself. For me, acting felt like the most bravest and courageous thing I could do! Which is to like open myself up to understand how other people think, how other people walk through the world, how other people make choices, right?
To be vulnerable, and then to realize that I’m not really that special. We ALL as humans have very similar things that we go through. Yes, we have different life experiences, different struggles, we speak different languages, we look slightly different, whatever it is, right? But, at the end of the day, when you watch a movie or a TV show and you SEE somebody who’s a villain, or you see somebody who’s a bad guy, right?
When you really break them down, you can FIND similarities and you can find things like “Oh, I understand maybe WHY they’re making the choices they’re making!” And to me, THAT’S what excited me about acting.
Getting to understand the REASON why a character is the way they are. Breaking them down. Understanding their childhood traumas. Cause we’re all unique. Reasons of why we make the choices we make, down to the clothes we wear. So, all those things express a part of who we are and the life experiences we have. So for me, it’s just enlightening as an artist; it makes me feel connected more to other people. I think it ultimately comes down to healing:
Being able to heal the broken part of who we are THROUGH art, and for me, that’s through acting.
For anyone who doesn’t act, trying to look from the outside in, what is it like? To enter a character’s world and become this other person who isn’t yourself, whether in rehearsal, reading a script in practice, or even on stage? What does acting feel like?
I think it’s a spiritual thing, really. You’re becoming another character. Not to get like “oooooh” with it, cause you know it’s a technique. It’s something you put on; you just put on the character, and then you walk off stage. HOPEFULLY, you can just release it, right? But, you do work ALOT to understand the character.
We rehearse for like 3 MONTHS to put on a show usually. Here at UH, that’s how much time we typically use for a show. So REALLY analyzing the character, the script, the lines, the music (if it’s a musical), the blocking (how you’re moving) ALL those kinds of things. So yeah, I think you just have to kind of TRUST the work…
Trust that you’ve done all the work, and then you just RELEASE it. Your responsibility doesn’t become more about you, it becomes more about sharing it with the audience. You become a servant to the story. And so, it’s like “How can I serve the story? Can I make it simple and honest, so that the audience can follow what they need to follow? Without pushing and insulting their intelligence? Without giving them too much? Let THEM figure it out for themselves.
My job as an actor is not to dictate how you feel. My job as an actor is just to be truthful and honest about what I believe the character is going through in the scene, and how it’s been written and directed. And to let YOU decide how you feel about it. So YOU take it and something might resonate with you, from your own personal life, where you’re like “Ah man, that’s EXACTLY how I feel about this situation” or, totally disagree, right?
What it does is it strikes conversation... It makes you maybe think a little bit deeper about your own perspective, or confirms how you feel. So I think that’s what the power of art is, and the power of acting. The power of theater is: Hopefully getting people in a room and hopefully you walk away you know, thinking a little bit differently.
What was it like pursuing acting in New York, thousands of miles away from home, compared to where you grew up in Hawaiʻi? Was/is there a different style of acting and even a general lifestyle that you had to adapt to that you were or weren’t ready for?
I grew up here in Hawaiʻi, Big Island. Kona now, southside of Kona. And, VERY country, very relaxed, very local upbringing. I went to Pūnana Leo, Hawaiian Immersion from Preschool til 8th grade, so I was RAISED in like ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and Hawaiian, and also - My Mom’s a hula dancer, my Dad sings Hawaiian music/Reggae music, so my Kahua, my foundation, was always very paʻa/solid in my connection to my culture and who I am as a Hawaiian which I know is a privilege and an honor.
Not EVERY Hawaiian gets to have that opportunity, right? So, I don’t take it for granted, and so it’s something that really is an anchor for me in my life. So even when I was living in New York, I was VERY much rooted. I believe in who I am as a Hawaiian, but I also was taking in the BEAUTY of New York City and ALL the possibilities that are present there. So, I wasn’t trying to disconnect from the reality of LIVING in a big city, I was excited about that.
“Being in the mix”, I was just a Hawaiian in New York! And, it wasn’t like a big deal or anything to me. And then, coming back home after living in New York for 8 YEARS (pretty much all of my 20’s) I moved back home during COVID, thinking I was only gonna be home for little bit, because I was still, you know: building my momentum as an actor up there, breaking into the theater industry a little bit.
Once I moved back home, I was like “Woah, I’ve been gone for so long.” Even though it was still in me, I felt really connected, but you know, COVID was such a weird time for everybody. I was back home, and I didn’t know, exactly, where I belonged anymore? And what I was supposed to be doing here? So, I taught 1st grade at my elementary school that I went to: Ke Kula ʻo ʻEhunuikaimalino, the Hawaiian Immersion in Kona, and started speaking Hawaiian again. Teaching these little kids how to speak Hawaiian! Little kids that was just like me back in my time, you know.
And THAT just re-grounded me. Reconnected me to who I am as a Hawaiian, and it came back just like that *SNAPS*. Even though it was like 8 years I was away, on and off! I was still speaking and talking to my family and my friends, and staying connected. But, wasnʻt using it nearly as REGULARLY as I do now, and as I did growing up. So, there WAS this kinda disconnection and kind of a relearning, but it was so rooted in me that I was able to kinda just snap back into it.
Thatʻs when I decided to come to UH Mānoa for my Master’s program. There’s a Hana Keaka program: Hawaiian Theater program, it’s fairly new, run by Kumu Hailiʻōpua Baker, and that’s where I got to kind of connect my love of storytelling, of theater, of acting from the HAOLE side (the Western side, the American side) with the Hawaiian side. Through hula, through ʻōli, through chants and dance. ʻŌlelo, and old stories - Legends, myths, kind of looking at that and how we can tell THOSE stories…
What does the routine of an actor typically look like?
The life of an actor is a lonely one. You know you’re all on your own, really, as you’re going through it all. I remember a teacher telling me that “If you can be happy and fulfilled doing anything else BUT acting, do that” because you have to be a little Delusional to be an actor. Cause you’re all alone, and you know there’s so much rejection, and you’re signing UP for that. You’re putting yourself out there in such a vulnerable way, it’s like “Hey, here’s my art, which is me, I’m the artist. I am BREAKING down this character, I’m showing you my take on it, and then you’re telling me no,” *laughs.*
“Not good. I don’t like it.” *Laughs.* And you’re doing that day in and day out, sometimes HUNDREDS of times in a month, depending on how often you’re auditioning and putting yourself out there. So the life of an actor is not an easy one, and that’s even for people who are booking things regularly! You STILL have moments of dry periods where it’s a struggle, so you have to have tenacity. You have to have kind of that drive, and you have to be able to decide for yourself WHY you’re doing it. What makes it fulfilling for you?
So yeah! Day in day out, kind of normal day of an actor: If you booked a role for a play, in a musical, you get the script, you have some time to prep for it. You’re just kind of analyzing the script, that’s the first thing that you do - just read it, over and over and over again. Highlight your lines, start memorizing, start making some LINKS of where they start and where they end, because the character should change from the top of the show to the end of the show. That’s something I always like to do is figure out: “Where are they starting at? And where are they ending at?”
And then THAT gives you your arc. You memorize, and then you start having rehearsals, depending on how long the rehearsal process is. It can be something as short as couple weeks to put up a show to a few months! Usually, before a University production, we’ll work for a few months on a show. Professional productions can work as short as 1-2 weeks, so you’re memorizing and you’re rehearsing ALL day. It’s a FULL work day, 10AM to 6PM.
You’re just working all day - Memorizing learning the show, getting it on its feet, blocking, learning where you enter, where you exit, what props you’re using, all that kind of stuff, and you do that pretty much every day. And then, on your day off, you’re reviewing, and you’re memorizing lines and you’re PREPPING, you know, getting more into character.
Once you get to opening night, the show is yours. It gets handed off to the company of actors, and you just let it go. Release it to the audience. As long as you’re running, you know if it’s 2 weekends, I did this show for 9 MONTHS, so you’re just kind of on the road, doing the show over and over again, so then, how do you keep it fresh? That’s where the technique comes into play.
How do you tell the story 8 times a week? Over and over again, but STILL make sure it’s fresh and it’s for the 1st time, for the audience? So THAT’S where a lot of the acting techniques come into play, and that’s the life of an actor.
When you’re practicing a role for a long period before it goes live, do you only get better and better with that practice? Or do you find more critiques about it the more time you have with it, and potentially get tired of the role?
I think the goal is to try and keep it pretty steady. Cause by the time you’re at opening night, you should have gotten all the notes that your director wants, you’re honoring the story in the way that the director wants to tell it, and so you kinda want to keep it consistent. You don’t wanna do anything too CRAZY to add into it, but I do think you get more comfortable in it, right? OR, you discover new things. You discover new glances from a scene partner that you never noticed before, or somebody comes in a little bit EXTRA PASSIONATE in a scene that changes you. You gotta also be open to change in what’s happening ‘the night of.’
So each show IS different. Even though it’s blocked exactly the same, and you gotta hit the same marks (cause the light’s coming in from that angle), there’s all those technical things that you HAVE to keep consistent, right? You gotta hit the right notes when you’re singing the song and that kinda stuff, but I think the technique comes in:
Can you still be vulnerable and open every night, to receive something different? If something different comes from another actor or you know… just, from the audience, maybe! So yeah, it’s kind of this dance that you do throughout the whole run. But, I DO think you get better because you get more comfortable. And then you become more OPEN to all of the things that are happening around you.
And how does the film side differ from that?
Film acting, TV acting is much different. It’s MUCH faster…
You don’t get to typically live with a character for so long. When you’re called to set, you kind of shoot your scene that day, and then it’s done. You get retakes (which is always nice), in theater, you don’t! But, the preparation I would say is similar: You get your script, you break it down, highlight, discover who your character is, how they make sense in the world. That same note about “Where do they start? Where do they end? What’s the arc?” I still do that for ANY kind of role I do, whether it’s in Film or TV.
But it’s just much faster, and then you have different ANGLES, right? So you have your close-up, you have your wide, so being able to preserve your energy: If it’s a SUPER DRAMATIC scene, and you know you’re gonna do 12 different takes from 5 different angles, and you gotta be crying dramatically cause you know, your son died or whatever it is in the scene! Technique comes to play in that regard too, right? You learn how to preserve when it’s wide shot, maybe. Or it’s on the other person.
So, for this scene I can do what I need to do, but maybe don’t need to tap in FULLY. Then, when it’s the close-up, that’s probably when you wanna really tap into where you wanna get (emotionally). You discover what works for you. If you wanna give it EVERY TIME, cause that’s just how you wanna do it, then that’s good! You know, you discover what you need to be able to do it. Cause the days on set can be VERY long. You get there, y’know, at 6 AM, and you’re like “READY LET’S GO”.
You went to yoga, you had a beautiful breakfast, you’re LOCKED IN for your character! And then, you’re sitting on set… waiting to get called… and you don’t get called til like 3PM.
Now you’re just like “Ah man, I was ready at 6, so what do I do now?” So you gotta be ABLE to TAP into that too, right?.. It’s a different skillset. But I always say that - Acting is acting.
Acting for the stage and acting for a film, the goal for me personally, and what I try to teach my students, is to keep it simple and to keep it honest.
And that should work. You know? If you keep it simple and honest, then that’s your job. So whether it’s for screen or whether it’s for stage, keep it simple and honest. For the stage, you gotta play to the back of the house, right? I’m in the 3rd row right now… there’s people sitting all the way in the back in the 20th row, whatever it is. So on stage, you gotta PUSH a little bit more so that they can hear everything, you know. Maybe you OVER-articulate, maybe you have a gesture that’s a little bit bigger than you normally would do.
But, it’s STILL. Gotta. Be. Honest.
And then in TV/Film, you can be much subtler. You don’t HAVE to work as hard cause the camera’s right there. So you can kind of not work as hard in regards to gestures, perhaps, or volume, cause there’s a mic or a boom over you (so a whisper WILL work). Whereas on stage, a whisper, you STILL gotta have energy in it, right? I had an acting teacher who told me, “In Acting, you become a painter.”
There’s different brushes that you use. You know exactly when you need the BIG brush that kind of paints the whole canvas, and then you know when you need the small brush that’s more detail-oriented. So you use which one’s appropriate.
What is it like TEACHING acting as opposed to just acting?
So, being a Kumu for me is a huge responsibility. Huge Kuleana. You know, and I don’t take it for granted. I’m very lucky and I feel VERY blessed, and I also feel called to be a Kumu. I didn’t go into school THINKING that that’s what I wanted to do necessarily. I was really driven to be an actor, and I discovered along the way that I had some skills as a natural leader, and as a teacher, too. For me, when I think about my childhood I think of my Kumu. I think of my teachers. And I think my parents, who are also Kumu in their own right (Our parents are our OWN teachers) and so, it’s kind of like this super underpaid, under appreciated *laughs* but, INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT role in society, in all of our lives.
Our Kumu… And we have excellent Kumu, and then we have Kumu that can be detrimental, who can REALLY discourage us. So for me, when I think of my childhood, I think of my Kumu. I think of my teachers who molded me, who shaped me, who rooted for me when I didn’t root for myself, who saw things in me that I didn’t see in myself, and PULLED OUT this potential. And that’s why I’m able to do what I do, it’s because of my Kumu. So finding my path to become a Kumu myself is really interesting, and I always use that as my anchor and as my compass.
When I feel lost, I think of “Oh, how did MY Kumu handle these things? And what were the things that were effective for me as a haumana, as a student? Was it when my teacher was really STRICT? And that made me like “Oh, I don’t wanna mess up, I don’t wanna let Kumu down”… Cause that can work, for certain people. Or, was it when my Kumu was super gracious and kind? Even though MAYBE I didn’t deserve it because I didn’t do my homework, but they gave me some slack.
Then, I never wanna let them down again because of the way THEY handled it. So, how we treat people, is ultimately what it’s about. So that’s kind of what I’m learning about myself, you know. I’m NEW in this role as a Kumu, I’ve been teaching now in this particular role as an assistant professor of acting at the Unviversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for… what is it 8 months, 7 months? So still fresh! But in my masters program, I was teaching throughout the past 3 years, I was teaching like a beginning level acting class.
So, you know I had those 3 years to kinda discover my style as an acting teacher, and whatʻs effective. How do things land, and how do things not land on students, right? And I can see it in their faces *laughs.* I can see it when Iʻm describing something, and theyʻre like *gives a blank expression*. OR, when I describe something and they DO it, and thereʻs a lightbulb moment and theyʻre like *gasps!*
And then they get excited and they can’t wait to keep studying, so, you know being observant of what’s effective and what’s not... Still learning my style as a Kumu, but for me I try to ground everything in aloha. You know, being there for my students, and holding them to a level of EXCELLENCE… I WANT them to be excellent. I don’t wanna settle for mediocrity.
I want them to PUSH. If they come to rehearsals and they’re not ready, or if they come to class and they’re not prepared, I’ll ask them to leave. I’ll ask them to leave class. I don’t wanna waste anybody’s time. It’s not in a mean way, it’s in a “hey, if you’re not gonna” you know - it’s accountability. I think, you know, we gotta be able to call out the bullshit.
And then for me, I wanna be able to call out the bullshit for myself! When I’M not showing up as an actor, as a teacher to my fullest potential, then I gotta do that for myself too, right? Like “ah man, today was… stumbled through. I wasn’t as PREPARED as I should have been.” So then, the next time, you address that. And same for my students! My actors (if I’m directing a show) you know maybe you don’t know your lines and we agree that you’re gonna be off-book… then we gotta talk about it like “how come?”
Then I try to understand where people are coming from, but to me, it’s ownership: own up to it. “Oh I just don’t know it.” Or “I just didn’t work hard enough.” Okay, so, what are you gonna do to address it? To fix it? So yeah that’s kinda my style as a Kumu! I try to lead with first and foremost: Aloha, and kindness, then also: Kulia I Ka Nuʻu:
ALWAYS try to strive for the summit. “Strive for Excellence.” You gotta be honest. Was that REALLY excellent? Or, are you kinda floating by? Could you have worked harder? What does that look like? Tomorrow’s rehearsal… BRING me that excellence. From here on out, BRING that excellence, that’s my philosophy.
And would you say that your teaching style comes across to your students in the way that you want it to?
I think so. You know, I sit in this audience and watch the show -“Rent”, that we’re doing right now (as of recording) at UH Mānoa, and I feel so proud of all of the work they’ve done. You know, there’s been some struggles *laughs* throughout the rehearsal process. It’s a hard show. It’s a BIG show! It’s a Broadway hit… like a big show that’s not easy to put up.
We have 25 actors that are all at different levels. Some are VERY seasoned, have been working in acting/act professionally outside of University/have been taking classes for years, then we have people where this is their first musical they’ve EVER done! So figuring out, and MEETING people where they’re at is important to me as a Kumu.
I’m not gonna expect the same thing of somebody who ‘this is their VERY first musical’ and somebody who ‘this is their 20th musical, and they work professional.’ Right, there’s gonna be a different caliber. But, the SUMMIT of the person of the person whose first experience this is - What’s the best? I’m still interested in THAT…
For everybody, their Nu’u, their summit is gonna be different. But, I still want you to strive for it, and I SEE that in my students, so that makes me proud! And if there are moments where I feel like maybe I’ve fallen short as a Kumu, then that’s something for me to take ownership of as well, and figure out how to approach that moving forward. “Ah that didn’t work for that student. They didn’t connect to that!” So then, that’s MY Kuleana to figure out a different approach.
So yeah, still learning, we’re ALL learning, we’re all growing.
Give us a CRAZY time you remember from acting where something went wrong we don’t get to see everyday.
So CRAZIEST story for me on set was for Rescue: Hi-Surf, the series that’s OUT RIGHT NOW on Fox.
I booked a co-star which was like HUGGEEEE for me! My first co-star scene, I was so excited. It’s like this action scene, I’m SLIPPING SLIDING into the water, I almost fall on this kid and then the dad pushes the kid out of the way, so I land on the dad. The Dad’s like PARALYZED in the water and I’m like “AHHHH” I’m all like buss up!
I make it to shore, and me and the Dad kind of get into a fight. The Dad’s like FREAKING out, wondering where his son is… and he sees me (cause I’m the one who lands on him) and he comes for me in this whole like fight scene and I’m like “HOOO WOAH WHOA WOAH WOAHHH!” but I’m like still sore and like not expecting it.
So we’re shooting that scene! I’m like falling on the sand, the water’s like coming up on my face! *Laughs* I’m like drowning and spitting out water, we do it from multiple angles, multiple takes. And so we’re like - We have a fight choreographer who’s teaching us how to do the punch and the TIMING of it all, and I’m just getting BLASTED! Punch, punch, punch.
And one of the takes, the actor, he ACTUALLY punched me in the face, I actually got punched *laughs!* But, we kept going and I was like “Ah, fuck!” And then the Director calls cut. NOBODY KNOWS except for me and the other actor… and he’s like “are you okay? ARE YOU OKAY?” And I’m just like “Yeah yeah no yeah I’m good” I shake it off. He got me good… he got me good *laughs.*
I was like “As long as we get that shot.”
BRAH, and how long you felt that punch for?
I was like “OOH BRAH, IS IT RED?” He felt so bad *laughs!*
What do you enjoy doing for fun whenever you’re not acting, teaching or studying?
You know, for fun (like on my off days) what I usually like to do is just cruise, hangout with friends, you know I play music! So, I also write music, hangout, just kinda jam!
Get together with some friends who also sing and play music! That’s kinda like my FAVORITE thing to do, really. Again, grew up doing that with my family so that’s usually something I do with my day off… or take naps. I like that too *laughs.*
Yeah I’d say my first love is music! Just cause my Dad is a musician, so growing up I was ALWAYS following him around going to his gigs, singing with him. I just was naturally good at singing. I never really took voice lessons, learned from my Dad, he’s an awesome singer/musician so yeah.
Music was always a part of my life, and for me it was just a fun thing to do. And I discovered early on that it was something that I was GOOD at, so it’s nice to be good at something *laughs* so I just kept doing it, and as I learned kind of my love of acting, and theater (specifically musical theater), it was a way to combine the two, right?
So being able to sing a song AND act a song became kind of like the next level for me of storytelling.
I think more people than they realize, are actors. Are storytellers. Hula: We’re ACTING, we’re telling a story through our bodies, right? We’re embodying these myths, these LEGENDS, these Akua, these Gods, these Kupuna, these Ancestors in these Mōʻolelo. That’s acting to me - embodiment of story.
MUSIC is acting to me, cause what are lyrics? It’s a story that you follow along. It’s a way to connect something that REALLY hits hard because you resonate with that phrase, that lyric.
The musicality: when something crescendos and gets really loud, what is that doing? It’s telling a story…. When it gets really quiet, or the beat slows down… OR THE BEAT DROPS! Right? And then you’re like “Ayyyy!” That’s story.
That’s all Mōʻolelo. That’s all story. More people than they realize are storytellers. And that’s why I’ve always loved music, and that’s why I think I found my way to acting too. That’s kind of been my main venue, kind of avenue of really being able to tap into my storytelling. That always brings me back to you know: Do what you love, find your passion.
Find what you can’t go a day without doing, right? You’re always thinking about it… What I do for fun is hang out with my friends (my friends are actors), and we’ll just get scenes up, we’ll just practice scenes: A show that we really loved or a play (that we read recently) that we really loved, that’s what I do for fun *laughs.*
And that’s because I love acting, I love storytelling, and I love being able to TEACH that too because it’s just so fun. And again -
You gotta be a little bit DELUSIONAL to be an actor, so:
Be delusional.
So in a way, you’re acting even when you’re NOT acting?
I mean to me, yeah, I am… It’s life.
If you go and watch people on the bus, if you go and watch people at the mall, you go watch people in life, you’re gonna understand more as an actor. Why do people make the choices they make, right? Why do people BELIEVE… that they can say what they say?
Even in our own families, in our own lives, in our own relationships, not too be super analytical and then you’re thinking of EVERYTHING - You wanna live life FULLY, and TRUTHFULLY and be present.
You don’t ‘wanna’ be acting in life. You wanna be yourself and discover who you are, but, life imitates art… That’s what’s gonna make you more RICH as an actor, as a storyteller, is to understand why people are the way that they are, why YOU are the way you are.
Why do you make the choices you make, right?.. What got you to the point of how you express yourself the way you express yourself? That’s what makes you interesting. That’s what makes you unique. You have a different perspective on the world than anybody else…
That’s what you wanna bring to your roles. And that’s what you wanna bring as an actor.
NOBODY else can tell a story, the way you can tell it. So LEAN into that, celebrate that. Relish that.
That’s your superpower.
Being an actor, you’re the ‘pawn’ of the story. There’s less creative control than if you were a WRITER of that story, because as you mentioned: Your job is only to become what’s written. With the two roles being so similar yet different in how you’re both telling that story kind of on the front lines in becoming THAT character: Do you ever find things to give yourself more creative control over the story, such as IMPROVING a certain line that comes to mind, or doing an emotionally different take in a certain set of scenes?
Yeah! I think so… I think as an actor, your job is to serve the story. Again, you’re NOT the writer. You’re picking it up, and you gotta bring it off the page. That’s your skill. THAT’S what you’re doing. Writing is super challenging and you gotta trust that the writer know what they’re doing, and the writer knows the characters.
I think if something’s in development, and you’re an actor and you get to kind of LIVE with a character for a while: Say we’re writing a script and you’re like “Oh, I want you to play Koa… but this is my 1ST draft” and then like “Let’s work on this for the next few months and do a few drafts” then the two of us CAN collaborate - as writer and actor.
And then I can be like “Oh, this doesn’t make sense for me because maybe the way you’re writing Koa in THIS scene… he’s like breaking down here, but I don’t feel like we EARNED that yet. Like where is he breaking down? We don’t see that in anything else. Is that intentional? Or can you explain to me what’s going on there?” Right? So THOSE are kind of helpful questions as an actor, where if you’re IN a position where you can collaborate with a writer.
Often times you’re not *laughs.* Often times, again as an actor, your job is just to show up, to bring it off the page, to bring it life, to make it feel real, to make it feel nuanced and you know: to have depth and understanding. So I think that just kinda comes down to “Who is this character? What do they want in this scene?” And they gotta want it desperately, like a REALLY strong objective. And, what’s the relationship with everybody else?
If you kinda can clarify those things for yourself, then you can LIVE in the world.
BEYOND that, improv is a super helpful tip for actors…
I think the more you know your character, the MORE you can improv… and, kind of make choices based off of how YOU think they would behave. And you get that from the script! You get that from the writer, right? So, the MORE you get from the writer, the MORE you can understand the choices that that character would make so that you can improv something.
So yeah! I think that that’s a skill that comes with time and understanding, right? Sometimes a character feels really close to you, personally… That kind of can LEND itself. If I’m a lifeguard in real life, and I play a lifeguard in a TV show, I’m gonna be able to USE that kind of life experience. Whereas: If I’ve NEVER been in the water before in my life, and I’m playing a lifeguard on a TV show… I’m gonna have to do some more research. I’m gonna have to go study some things and learn how to get more comfortable in the water, so THAT’S how those things come into play.
What makes you Delusional in acting, and in being that very Kumu, TEACHING acting?
What makes me Delusional…
My favorite thing to be, is underestimated. I love when people underestimate me. And I would just be quiet. I’d just sit there… You know whether it’s a look, whether it’s something somebody says to me that carries this air of “Nah, you can’t do that.” Or, “You’re crazy to do that, you’re delusional to think that you can do that.” I love that... Because it’s all about “Okay watch. Watch me.” And it’s not to prove them wrong. It’s to be like - I CAN fuckin do this. That’s why I’m delusional.
I think we have to be our biggest advocates. We HAVE to fight for ourselves the most. We have people who will support us in different capacities, but at the end of the day - Only YOU really understand your vision…
Only you, REALLY, know what you’re going for. And you can SEE it in your head… and sometimes it doesn’t make sense in the world of reality. Sometimes you share something, and people will kind of look at you crazy.
As an actor, I feel that very much. ALOT of the times: In rooms that I’m in, sometimes I can tell that somebody’s looking at me, and they’re like: “You’re not gonna do that. You’re not good enough, you’re not HANDSOME enough, you’re not TALENTED enough.”
WHATEVER IT IS: “You’re not enough”… And a lot of times, I think that comes from our OWN saboteur. We’re sabotaging ourselves. Cause, we have our own kind of comparison to everybody else. “I’m not where that person is… I’m not at the same spot that person was at MY age.” So, we can kind of sabotage ourselves and A LOT of that I think is internal.
So we project a lot of things outward that we’re feeling about ourselves, our own insecurities. And so, you GOTTA be able to like attack those demons. Name them. I always say it out loud. Say it out loud to myself like “Ahh, I’m feeling this way. I’m FEELING not good enough.” I’ll say it so that it can exist in the space, and then I can THROW IT AWAY, so it’s not living in me anymore.
Being an actor, have you ever encountered times where you felt like acting maybe wasn’t gonna work out when trying to make it in New York, or in Hawaiʻi? And how did you manage to get through it and remember why you’re doing it all, and chasing after this?
A lot of times, I’ve felt like… “what are you doing? There’s so much other things that you could do, it’s so hard to make it.” Like whatever that means, right? Cause I think that that’s personal too.
What does ‘make it’ mean? What is ‘success’ as an actor? It’s gonna look different for everybody. And so, you GOTTA be able to define that for yourself. And for me, in the beginning it was always like “Oh, I GOTTA be on Broadway, I GOTTA be in TV shows, that’s the ONLY way to be successful. If I don’t do any of those things, then I’m not a successful actor.”
But, that’s not the case for me anymore.
For me, it’s: “Does the project feel fulfilling? Do I feel like I’m learning something from this project? Am I getting PAID from this project?” There are things that you GOTTA take into account, and it becomes clearer as you go along - What your vision is, and what IS FULFILLING to you as an actor, as an artist. And then it helps you guide.
Guides you for like what decisions YOU wanna make and what projects you wanna be a part of. There’s been MAJOR projects that’ve been pretty big names that are super fulfilling to me! Then there’s also things that have been my OWN, personal, small projects that are not funded, that have no money, that have no professional kind of backing, that have been the MOST meaningful projects for me.
That makes you renegotiate what you want to do, with your art, and with your storytelling.
How far do you see yourself really taking acting?
For me, acting is a LIFELONG profession. Im dedicated to it, y’know, however it manifests in different chapters in my life I’m open to it: Whether it’s theatrical productions… Whether it’s BIG MAJOR HOLLYWOOD MOVIES, I’m open to it all. I’m just kind of at the point in my life where, if it comes to me, I will take it.
I’d love to write my own stuff! I wrote a play last year: A family drama called “Glitter In The Paʻakai” and I’d LOVE to turn it into a film. So, yeah I would love to continue to write and act in whatever I can! So again, acting for me is a lifelong thing, right?
So I wanna do it forever. Long as I can in WHATEVER ways I can do it, that’s the goal for me. Acting never stops. The summit, that Nuʻu, it always keeps growing so once I reach the peak of one, I’m going for the next one.
Baba, what is your final message you want to leave with everybody in the palace?
My final message is: Be Kind.
Be kind to people, chase your dreams! Nothing’s too crazy. If you believe in it, go for it. And root for your friends, root when other people have success. Don’t feel like just because somebody else has success that that takes away from your own value. Everybody’s journey is different. Spend time with your parents, hug your parents, your ʻohana. Life is short… but life is also long.
It doesn’t matter where you come from, whether it’s on a little rock in the MIDDLE of the pacific ocean, NO dream is too big, you got it! There’s A LOT to do in life, so do everything. Do everything that feels good to you. Nothing’s too big, nothing’s TOO crazy, and…
Be Delusional.
follow baba tavares here.
Joshua “Baba” Tavares: Acting on Broadway Musicals and National TV to Becoming Kumu of the Next Generation.
“My favorite thing to be, is underestimated. I love when people underestimate me… You’re crazy to do that, you’re delusional to think that you can do that… I love that. Because it’s all about ‘Okay watch. Watch me.’”
- Joshua “Baba” Tavares
