Meet Gabriel Furman | Filmmaker & Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabriel Furman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabriel, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
“Where you are is exactly where you are supposed to be”.

I think I have spent so much of my life trying to live up to a version of myself that is just not real. I was always so “goal oriented” but what I found was me not appreciating the journey. Once I attained a goal it never seemed enough, always onto the next one. I also judged myself for not “being” as successful as I should be. So when those voices in my head arrive, that affirmation always calms me and I feel connected to a truer part of me, a bigger part of me, and that helps me enjoy exactly where I am.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I was born and raised in Far Rockaway, Queens, which influenced my whole direction in life. I started off as a professional B-Boy aka “breakdancer” and DJ in the underground NYC dance scene. Hip-Hop saved my life and ultimately got me out of the hood.

Around 2006 I did an episode of MTV’s MADE. It’s a show where they get professionals to go to small town, USA, and train a High School kid that wants to do that profession. I did this reluctantly. My best friend Ed had an audition to be the BREAKDANCE COACH and I just happened to tag along. The casting director saw me sitting in the waiting room and asked me to audition. I said f*ck no. I’m not doing some commercial bullshit. I’m a real b-boy. Yea, Ego! Anyway, they got me in the room after my best friend told me to stop being a dick and I booked it. Cut to a year later and the episode aired. I got a fan email from a 12 year-old girl who said she saw my episode. She also mentioned that she wanted to kill herself but my episode inspired her not to. That broke something inside me or rather broke something open. I cried. It made me realize I wasn’t following my own dreams of becoming an actor. So I did. I trained in NYC, my home. A teacher/friend of mine then brought me to the Actors Studio which immediately felt like home. For those who don’t know it’s not the TV show. All though the show is affiliated with “the studio”, as we call it, it’s a creative gym where professional actors come to work on their craft in front of their peers. It’s where some of the worlds greatest actors come from like Al Pacino, Ellen Burstyn, Brando and so on.

It wasn’t easy. Acting is a hard career and a lot of “No’s” but my artistic home at the studio kept me going. All though I wasn’t “famous” and on TV I had a place to go an do what I love. That’s what it became about for me. How can I continue to train my instrument and do what I love. It wasn’t about the money. Acting is a spiritual practice for me.

Eventually I started booking some TV and film roles including And Just Like That, Law & Order SVU, Orange Is The New Black, CBS’s Blue Bloods, and Netflix’s Daredevil. But I got tired of waiting for an audition. So… In 2015, I wrote, produced and starred opposite Academy Award Winner Melissa Leo in the Award Winning Short, MOTHER’S DAY. The film took me to over 60 film festivals where I got the bug to continue writing. In 2018 I wrote, produced and starred in the short film WONDER, about a young boy from the hood who dreams of being Wonder Woman for Halloween. The film went on to win 21 awards, including Urbanworld’s Audience Award for “Best Short Film” and Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival’s Jury Award for “Best Short Film”, which qualified WONDER for Academy Award consideration and having it licensed by HBO and all of HBO’s streaming platforms. This is the film that really made me think I need to write. So my creative partner, Javier Molina, and I decided to write a play based on our lives called “Brother’s Keeper”. My now mentor, Bobby Moresco (Academy Award Winner, CRASH, Million Dollar Baby) happened to be at the first reading we did. He approached us after and said we had 50% of a play and he wanted to help us get the rest of the way. I need to say that I felt blessed beyond belief and this is what I learned along the way:

Bobby didn’t want to help us because we were some Hollywood shmoozers that were great at networking. Don’t get me wrong, this is a business and networking is important but… there is something more important and that is being real. Being true. Not pretending to know everything but instead creating art because it’s what your heart tells you it needs to do. Not trying to be a big shot or some “hollywood” personality is what I believe the key to it all is. That and therapy. Therapy has saved my life. It has helped me peel away the masks that I wear due to insecurity and feeling less than. It allows me to live as my true self… an open hearted, goofy, sensitive, artist. I hope that is what the world knows when they see my stories.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’d start off at Artichoke Pizza then go to Union Square and get some desert. Take a walk on the High Line and then check out Little Island on the West Side highway. We’d go to Brooklyn to check out some art and of course hit up FUNKBOX, and underground House Music party thrown by Tony Touch for all the real underground dancers in NYC. Might go to the MET museum and deff stop by John Brown BBQ in LIC.

The most exciting places to check out for me are the parties. The real old school NYC Hip Hop and House Music parties thrown mostly now in Brooklyn. If Quest Love is DJing at Brooklyn Bowl then RUN! That is real New York.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to shout out my mentors Ellen Burstyn and Bobby Moresco. The actor I am today is responsible in part to Ellen’s guidance. The writer I am today is mostly because of what Bobby taught me. Without them and my creative home the Actors Studio, I wouldn’t be where I am. Most of all, my partner Dani. She is the most loving, non-judgmental person I know. She knows the real me, my heart and I am grateful for her to be on this journey with me.

Javier Molina, my creative partner and brother from another mother. Thanks for rocking with me all these years. We got a lot more crazy to put out into the world.

Website: https://www.gabrielfurman.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabriel_furman/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabrielFurman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GabrielFurmanActor/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQy5w5ID9dR7Hk5yYy7HKYw

Other: https://www.realtalkfilms.com

Image Credits
Jeff Tan. Edward T. Morris