Gabriela Milla of Acapulco S2: The Paradox of Creative Fulfillment That Draws Major Opportunities

As a part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Gabriela Milla of Acapulco S2.

This year actress on the rise Gabriela Milla can be seen starring on season 2 of Apple TV+’s hit bilingual comedy series, “Acapulco.” The show follows Máximo Gallardo, whose dreams come true when, in 1984, he lands the job of a lifetime as a cabana boy at the hottest resort in Acapulco. He soon realizes the job is far more complicated than he ever imagined as all his beliefs and morals come into question. Gabriela joins the cast in a standout role for season two as Isabel, Maximo’s outspoken and mischievous new love interest that soon knocks him off his feet.

Created by Austin Winsberg (“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”), season one of “Acapulco” was met with rave reviews, being called: “a skillful comedy… tenderhearted” (Indiewire), “a well-balanced show… with a whole roster of equally charming supporting players” (AV Club), “Acapulco has a ton of heart, plenty of humor and looks stunning” (The Globe and Mail), and “a surprisingly charming trip back in time to the Mexican resort town in the 1980’s” (TheWrap). “Acapulco” also picked up a handful of award nominations at the 2022 Imagen Awards, including Best Primetime Program — Comedy. Season 2 is slated for release on October 21, 2022.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana Gabriela was immersed in the arts and a melting pot of culture from a very young age. Her Venezuelan mother and Honduran father decided when she was seven years old to make the move back to Honduras, where she spent the rest of her childhood and attended high school. Growing up in Latin America, Gabriela was surrounded by a supportive family who cherished the arts and made sure she cultivated that love and passion — solidifying her future career path in acting. She made the move back to the United States for college attending Emerson in Boston, Massachusetts where she studied Broadcast Journalism & Acting and began the auditioning process to land her first job.

After several years of auditioning and coming close to many projects, Gabriela decided to take a break and in 2019 stepped away from acting and moved to Miami. There, she spent two years writing and creating, even launching a podcast based on the lessons she learned from recent breakups. She became passionate about empowering women through the content she wanted to make. In 2022, Gabriela came back to acting after receiving an audition opportunity from Susan Vash, the Casting Director for “Acapulco.” Gabriela sent in a self-tape for the role of Isabel and landed the job, the rest is history.

While working in film and television keeps Gabriela busy, she is a big believer in giving back and volunteering. She has been actively involved with “The Miracle Project,” a fully inclusive theater, film, and expressive arts program focused on building communication, self-esteem, job and social skills for individuals with autism and all abilities — speaking and non-speaking. She started out as a volunteer and then taught for several years. Gabriela also loves to play tennis, cook, dance, and go to yoga classes. Traveling is also one of her greatest passions, she loves to explore museums, discover new restaurants, and sift through bookstores. Gabriela currently lives in the Los Angeles area.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Would love to! I was born in the town of Jazz and magic- New Orleans, Louisiana. I have a Honduran dad and a Venezuelan mom. When I was 7 years old, my life changed forever when we moved to Honduras where I grew up and went to school. My dad really wanted us to grow up connected to our roots, so I was surrounded by a large close knit family, a ton of cousins and lots of love. I like to call myself “Mezcladita” or “Little Mixed One”, because of my mixed background and being born here in the US.

The first language I ever heard and understood was Spanish, but the first language I spoke was English, I’ve always lived in between one world and the other and I think it’s really shaped who I am at my core.

After graduating high school I moved backed to the US. I lived in Miami for a little bit before I started college in Boston and then moved here to Los Angeles. I think living in such different places really shaped who I am and how I see the world today day.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

It sounds cheesy to say it like this but I was really born with an acting itch. I remember I was 5 or 6 years old when I realized “Disney princess” was not a career option so acting became my immediate second choice. By the age of 6 I was writing my own plays, casting my neighbors in them and “hiring” my mom as a prop master. We would invite our neighbors to be our audience.

Growing up in Honduras, I wouldn’t let up. I hosted my own “Talk show”- “Hoy con Gabriela” (Today with Gabriela) and invited all my neighbors and cousins to be guests on it.

In middle school, I belonged to a theatre company that toured around the country preforming Satirical Comedy, the plays we preformed criticized the exploitive side of the government through laughter. I could see that the audience was much more affected by the messages in our Comedy than they were by the news.

By high school I was able to host on little TV shows on local networks, debate shows, really anything I could get my hands on.

You have to understand, growing up in Honduras and aspiring to a career in the arts is VERY rare, it’s definitely not a career that is taken seriously or seen as viable. But my parents were unbelievably supportive and always encouraged my passion. Which again, was SUPER RARE not only in Honduras but within my family.

There were so many key people in my life who I can thank for either telling me not to go for it (and therefore lighting me up) as much as I am grateful for those who encouraged me to pursue what I loved.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

What is really interesting to me, is that whenever I have been at my happiest in my life, like- when I am in the middle of a creative spurt, writing and shooting my own comedy sketches, or shooting my podcast- opportunities kind of flow to me.

When I am happy and comfortable in my own skin is when all these crazy cool things happen;

Like working with or auditioning for IDOLS like Eva Longoria, Paul Feig or Eugenio Derbez. But again, it’s always happened when I am feeling fulfilled and joyful with what I create on my own and I find that hella interesting.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I think my biggest mistake was (and sometimes still is) living in my head and overthinking things instead of being in my heart. I used to go down a rabbit hole of what could go wrong in an audition and obsess over worse case scenarios instead of just being open to the experience. That really psyched me out when there was no need to. So I guess my biggest mistake was not trusting myself, not letting go and enjoying the present and what could actually go right in an audition. Because I wanted to control situations instead of just enjoy them. People actually like watching actors have fun while they act,I know I do. No one is really looking for perfection, they’re looking for joy, and watching an actor having fun with while they act is hypnotizing.

And the thing is, everything is always going to work out for the best, always, even when at first it doesn’t seem like it. I know now that a role is either meant for me or it’s not, no matter what I do. Now that I know that I am able to have more fun while I prepare and enjoy every process much more without taking myself to seriously or letting fear get in my way.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Oh my gosh, so many people! I really can say I have been blessed from so many people’s generosity and kindness. Teachers, mentors ….But just to mention a few essential people;

My parents- for their unwavering support. I don’t think they’ve ever even suggested I choose a different career path. They are my most ardent believers.

My closest best friends- they believed in me more than I believed in myself sometimes.

The most important thing for me to have in in my life is deep loving connections with genuine people. Because at the end of the day the people that surround me are going to help me make my dreams come true every day, not only in acting but in every area of my life.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

It’s normal to be scared of failure. I was for sure, but then I realized not wanting to fail or be seen as a failure really kept me stuck and hiding from the world. If you’re not failing you’re not really living.

What I realized is that the people who have failed the most tend to be the people who are most successful.

All success is made up of failures. I don’t even think success can really happen without failing. I also think failure and success are completely subjective. What is success to you might be misery to me and vice versa.

Having said that I KNOW that as scary as failure was for me, whenever I did fail it was never as horrible as I thought it was gonna be. Sometimes missing out on a role was devastating to me, but I got better and beet at failing. Even when I was devastated by “failure” I didn’t die and the world never fell apart.

At the end of the day failing has made me cooler and stronger, I started building my confidence on my own worth and not on how many “yes’s” I got.

I still fail every day, but I think I’ve gotten better at it, I bounce back faster and I welcome it!

So set out to fail! And fail big! Because the bigger the failure, the bigger the transformation. It’s really up to you to allow it to transform and elevate you, or keep you in fear.

Every industry iterates and seeks improvement. What changes would you like to see in the industry going forward?

A variety when it comes to diversity of faces on screen. Yes, we are seeing more Latinos on screen but most are still negative stereotypes. Hey, I know drug dealers exist, but do I HAVE to see MOST Latino characters on screen be gang members, hookers or drug dealers? I’d like to watch the Latinos and Latinas I grew up with and live surrounded by.

It’s one of the things I LOVE about Acapulco. It portrays that Latin warmth, sense of humor, elegance and heart so beautifully. And it shows so many more colors and nuances to people. Sure! Show me stereotypes! At the end of the day they exist for a reason, but mix it up a bit, there aren’t only two or three to pick from. And there are as many Latino stereotypes as there are colors in the rainbow, so I’d love to see more than just a few colors.

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

Right now I am really want to focus on the content I am creating, I am very passionate about creating bilingual content. I speak in “Spanglish” and so many people I know do as well. There are whole generations of Latinos like me who grew up in a mix of both worlds and our hearts belong to both of them. Acapulco really speaks to me because of that, because it’s a show that flows so easily between the two worlds and it tells us stories in both the American tourist world and the Mexican world. That’s the content I would love to create. I am working on a new Spanglish podcast now where I cover all kinds of topics- from spirituality, to religion, The divine Feminine, to mushrooms, to fashion to dating. I will keep you posted!

We are very interested in looking at diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture and our youth growing up today?

1. It makes the world a MUCH more interesting place to live in. Living in a world where there is just ONE type of person is like eating food with only one flavor every day. It’s BORING.
2. It’s easier for me to laugh at a joke if I’ve lived it before, if I can connect through my own experience on a personal level. So the more diverse content is, the more different people will connect on personal level. There should always be a joke for EVERYONE to laugh at, if you know what I mean.
3. For me I can see the direct effect growing up in Honduras had for my sense of identity, my sense of history and background… for those who haven’t gotten a chance to connect to their background in the flesh- connecting by seeing themselves on screen is so important to help their own identity and their own sense of self and self.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

What’s meant to be yours is yours- what’s not meant to be is not. Nothing and no one can change that, so stop trying to control everything.

The best thing about you (and anyone) is how true you stay to yourself.

Focus on your happiness today- not on what’s coming in the future… easiest way to do that? Be grateful, there is always something to be grateful for right now, I promise. A meteor could hit you tomorrow and you worried about tomorrow for no reason, so make a habit to stay in gratitude, it’ll help you stay in today and enjoy it.

As long as you’re enjoying the ride, you won’t care about timelines.

Just breathe, you’re ok. You are ALWAYS OK :)

Can you share with our readers any self-care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.

First and foremost meditation and breath work.

I totally get it when people say it’s not for them, they just can’t or don’t have the time. Those are normal excuses or blocks we give ourselves. It took me a long time to actually start doing it but once I did IT CHANGED MY LIFE.

Right now I feel like more and more people are catching on to meditation practices which is great, but that can also feel overwhelming to someone new to it all. People sometimes treat meditation and breathing as this “difficult practice” when really its super simple.

So the way I would recommend it is: Just stop yourself whenever you remember to or whenever you’re overwhelmed, take ONE big deep breath in, hold it at the top for a few seconds, and then let all the air out. Doing that even just once, can change your entire day.

There are so many things that I do for self-care but I really think connecting to your breath is the groundwork for it all. I remember one day I was feeling super anxious, really tight and overwhelmed. I was talking to a friend of mine, and I remember her asking me- “are you breathing? Are you breathing deeply and connecting to your breath?” That took me aback because honestly, I barely was, my breaths were so shallow, and it was feeding my anxiety. I’ll never forget what she said next; “Make sure you’re connected to your breath. Your breath is your spirit when you connect to your breath you connect to your spirit.” And I really believe that.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Bliss is any feeling fully felt.” — by Joseph Campbell

I find that to be such a beautiful way to appreciate life, it helps me be grateful for EVERYTHING that happens to me. Because there is just as much value in my sadness as there is in my joy.

I used to prescribe to this “stay positive no matter what” mindset that honestly was pretty toxic for me. I felt like I was scared of feeling feelings that “weren’t the right ones”. I think it came from this culture I prescribed to that really rejects all “bad feelings” and it was making me a little crazy. I feel like I just kept suppressing myself. Of course, it’s great to be positive, but it’s also great to be sad, it’s great to grieve, it’s great to feel anger. That’s life. Every feeling has worth and deserves to be expressed. All and I mean ALL feelings color our lives and make it brighter. Without sad moments we don’t have happy ones, and vice versa. My anger, sadness and even anxiety have shown me situations in my life I hadn’t really looked at that I needed to change or that needed some love and healing, maybe a boundary needed to be set. So yeah, feel that bliss, feel it all

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

This might sound cheesy or obvious but- a movement of LOVE. I feel like so many movements nowadays say: “this is my side, what’s yours?” Or- “I am right and anyone who disagrees with me is wrong AND an awful human being.” Or — “Are you going to be on the right side of history?” I think instead of us being so worried about being right or wrong we should just focus on LOVE. I don’t want to worry if I have the right opinion or the right beliefs, I just want to practice being able to give and receive more love. It’s super basic but essential. And I think the most important person for me to love is myself. Love starts from within, if I am understanding and compassionate with myself it’s MUCH easier for me to be compassionate and understanding towards others. And I think a lot of us don’t really know how to love ourselves unconditionally. We put caveats to our self-love like; “oh when I am at the perfect weight I will love myself” or “when I am successful I will love myself.” And that’s a never-ending hamster wheel, not to mention it makes it harder to love others or spread love around the world.

So let me synthesize by saying this: I would love to inspire a movement of LOVE- starting with- SELF LOVE.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

ISSA RAE! ISSA RAE! ISSA RAE! And why? I mean I feel like it’s obvious, but she is hilarious and a comedic genius. I feel like to have the career she’s had you have to have a lot of self-belief and confidence. She really found a place on TV by staying true to herself and showing the world a girl, she wasn’t seeing on screen- herself. I felt so connected to the comedy in “Insecure” as her character was so endearing and adorable, her flaws made her so real. At the same time, I had honestly never seen black people portrayed like that on television and it was so refreshing to see! It’s the way I would love to see more Latinos portrayed on television in a different light as well.

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

I am on social media! Your readers can follow me on Instagram or find me on my YouTube channel or podcast!

This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!