Authority Magazine
Inspirational Women In Hollywood: How Sol Romero Is Helping To Shake Up The Entertainment Industry
[as originally published on medium.com]
Aa part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Sol Romero.
Sol Romero is an actress and international recording artist from Mexico City. She’s appeared in such films as “Casino Royale” (Daniel Craig), “The Legend of Zorro” (Antonio Banderas), “Edge of Darkness” (Mel Gibson), and most recently “Memory” (Liam Neeson, 2022). Sol became an instant sensation in Switzerland when she released her hit single “Turn It Up” in 2015 which shot straight into the top ten on the Swiss music charts, followed immediately with the release of “Money Makes the World Go Round” featuring renowned Moroccan-American rapper French Montana, who also appeared in the video.
Born in Mexico City, and of Mexican and Swiss descent, Sol began singing when she was 13. But when her family moved to the Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende is where she had her first brush with the entertainment industry when she fortuitously found her way onto the set of the Robert Rodriguez film “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” The budding actress wound up working on the film as a camera double for Eva Mendez, one of the film’s stars. Sol decided to pursue the career and went on to study acting at the world-famous RADA Academy in London.
Sol’s debut onto the music scene came in 2011 with the release of her first single and video “BiPolar Love” from her premiere album “Dark Fantasy.” The album was released independently to great success, along with a second video shot in Switzerland for the song “Y Did You Leave.” In 2015 she released the chart-topping single “Turn It Up” and “Money Makes the world Go Round,” and in 2016 released the full-length album of the same title, “Turn It Up.”
Sol currently resides between Los Angeles and Switzerland with her husband of 16 years, director Martin Campbell, known for his work on the “Zorro” and “James Bond” films. For more information on Sol, please visit: solromeroofficial.com.
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?
Igrew up in Mexico City and partly in Switzerland. We later moved to San Miguel. And when I was 18, I went to London too, then back to Switzerland, London, and then Los Angeles. So I’ve done a lot of moving around. Growing up in Mexico was super fun because everybody was so happy and it was always a party with my dad’s family. We would have family get-togethers on the weekend. It was just really nice. Then, when we would travel to Switzerland, it was all very Swiss. We’d go for hikes and stay with my mom’s family. We’d have a little lunch, then we’d go back and hike, and then back to our home to read. That was pretty much how I grew up.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’ve always loved doing art or acting or singing or poetry. It’s always been my dream. It’s been in me since I was a little girl.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I think the most interesting story was how I met my husband. I was an extra in “The Legend of Zorro” and he wanted two girls to be walking with Catherine Zeta Jones in a scene, and they chose me and another girl. The other girl kept asking me if I knew English. I told her I did. I was in the Swiss college in Mexico and they taught a lot of languages there. When Martin came and asked, “Who speaks English?” the other girl was said she did. And I stepped in and said, “Oh, heck no! You don’t! I do!” Martin thought that was super funny. I think that’s what made him interested in me. After an entire day of working, he asked me for my name and contact information. I thought that was kind of cute and funny.
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 I make mistakes all the time. Way back, before I was working with Martin, I was asked to do a commercial for an American company. I remember I’d put on bright pink pants with a bright pink t-shirt. I knew they were shooting something so I walked right in front of the director wearing it and the director was said, “Oh perfect! You stand out. Go there and be an extra.” So, I did. But I kept looking at the camera. He said, “No, no darling, don’t look at the camera.” So, I kept giving him my back and he said, “No, just give me a little bit of your shoulder.” He spent an hour trying to teach me how to act. Then at the end, he said, “Listen, you’re gorgeous, but I don’t have the time to teach you. I’m going to put you in the commercial.” I didn’t even know what commercial it was. Obviously, I screwed it up completely, A to Z, but it was just funny and I loved it and realized I wanted to do more.
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?
Definitely my family. 100%. My mom always made sure I was well looked after on all of the shoots and sets. Also, my baby daughter. She’s always so helpful. Whenever I have to work, she’s there to support me. And obviously my husband.
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?
Try, try, try, try. Even though it looks impossible. You will achieve your dreams. And why wouldn’t you want to achieve your dreams? If you can dream, you’re alive, and if you’re alive, it’s because of your dreams. Challenge yourself every day and achieve your dreams.
Every industry iterates and seeks improvement. What changes would you like to see in the industry going forward?
I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about it. I think it’s nice to have a challenge and you can improve yourself. If you don’t have challenges, then you can’t improve.
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?
I have a few! Definitely. One is going to be shooting at the end of the year. I have another one too. We’re doing a song with a corporation, with an amazing producer. He’s epic. So those are the things that I am excited about. Always working with anybody new, it is always exciting. I see myself headed to the top baby!
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?
Diversity is what makes our whole world. If there is no diversity, then it’s not a united world. If there’s diversity, people will be more open about everything. That’s what makes it more Interesting. There will be more love among everybody.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
Be patient. If you’re not patient with yourself and with others, you can’t progress.
Be responsible. For example, I remember I needed new photos, and my boss, the head of the modeling agency, said, “So, you’re going to do need to do it.” And I was ashamed to tell him I didn’t have the money, because by then my dad had passed away so we didn’t really have much money. So, I kept dallying and didn’t tell him. Then he got pissed at me and said, “You’re not doing it, so you can go.” I apologized and told him I just didn’t’ have the money. And he said, “You should have told me before! You’re still fired.” I realize now that I needed to be honest and communicate what was happening.
Have perseverance. Be always pushing forward. Because if you don’t, how can you maintain your dreams?
Have good connections in the sense of good friends around you to push you and make you grow.
Have a good family and listen to them. If you trust in your family, then you will reach for the sky!
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.
I would definitely say to watch what you eat, exercise, and get out into nature. Because if you don’t go out into nature, you can’t renew your thoughts, your body, your soul. You really have to be in touch with yourself and feel happy about who you are. Educate yourself. You don’t have to read quantum physics. You don’t have to read how the colors of the rainbow change according to the light and the droplets. If you’re interested in that, then by all means learn it, but just educating yourself in general is important. Read a little bit. It doesn’t have to be a book if you don’t like books. Read online. There are also documentaries to inform yourself. I think that’s really important. I definitely love to watch what I eat, but I don’t force myself to not eat anything or everything. I do a little bit of what the Asian proverbs say: “You eat everything you want once, and you never finish everything. Just always leave a little bit.”
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Dream. You can always dream. Be positive. There’s good in everything. Always think the best of people. You’ll be happier. If you think the worst of people, then you’ll be sad. That’s what I think.
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?
I think I would start a movement about a day where you just think the best of everybody you see. You don’t judge, you don’t do anything mean to anyone. You just think the very best of others.
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!
I would love to have lunch with Pedro Almodovar because he’s such an intelligent director and I always admire people like them, just like my husband.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
I’m on Instagram @solromeroofficial. On Facebook, I’m at Sol Romero. On YouTube, it’s SolRomero. And my website is: solromeroofficial.com.
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!