It is no secret that everyone watches youtube, we all have our favorite podcasts and mukbangs. Some of us watch beauty stars to learn how to cut a crease, others of us watch comedians do skits to get a good laugh. However, there are those rare YouTube stars that showcase their talent in every single one of their videos. One of those Youtubers is Scott Mena. The Youtuber reviews acting within Broadway and local Theater on his Youtube channel Theater Guy (Scott Mena). He also discusses everything there is to do with acting; which involves books, screenplays, and even short films. Mena has quite the acting career himself. He has self-produced and directed his own short films and has been in many others.
Acting has always been something very important to Scott, “What I love most about acting and theater is the ability to create.” Mena started when we spoke. The idea of being the “conductor in your creation” is what the high is for him. For Mena, acting and theater are not just pictures on a screen or a stage to distract the audience for a while. It is so much more than that. When speaking with him Mena stated, “Whether it’s in the theater, a student's shorts, or even film; the viewer could be impacted by the piece or even help them view the world through someone else’s eyes and learn something they wouldn’t have in any other way.” The chance to enact change and bring light to certain subjects is what is important.
Mena talks about how one of the most important things within acting is teamwork. When you are on a project, you must all work together to bring in this director’s vision and dream of what he wants the play or film to look like. To Mena, acting and theater is a living, breathing thing, “One thing about theater is you never see the same show twice.” Which is very true. There are those performances that leave you thinking, or pondering. Those are the projects that stick with you.
As an example of this constant changing within the theater, Mena discussed his own experience with an unforgettable show, “ I remember playing Mrs. White for the show Clue: The Musical, and this show was peculiar because it 216 possible endings.” For that particular play, the director lets the actors have as much creative control over their lines. The actors were allowed to improvise since there were so many possible outcomes that it was too difficult to script.
Scott Mena has a very close relationship with acting because it played such a vital role in his life. Acting helped him through a very hard time in his life, “When I was 12 years old, I told my sister that I was gay and to not tell anyone. But the next day my mom asked me if what my sister said was true. I told her she was lying.” This situation left him with mistrust and fear to showcase who he was. Through acting, that true self was able to shine, Mena found a sense of “artistry in molding the character” that he fell in love with the feeling. During this time he was dealing with a lot of insecurities and not loving who he was but “through acting I was able to shed myself away and be a whole other identity.” Mena states that acting saved him.
One of the hardships that Mena has met within acting is the audition process, “the hard part is not the memorizing but not knowing exactly what the director wants.” This can be frustrating because you can give an amazing performance on a self-tape but if you are not what they are looking for you won’t get the part. Another hardship is the waiting process after an audition.
This is not the end of the road for Mena however, if anything, he is just getting started. Mena discussed his upcoming projects for the next year, “I spent the month of June Kickstarting my Theater Guy videos for my Youtube Channel focusing on Pride Month and my love of LGBTQIA+ films, books, music, and theater.” Mena is one of the popular creators who brings attention to the LGBTQIA+ group and is striving for equality for all. He strives to do this because of his personal background with his sexuality. “ I am also putting together a documentary called The Mission Before the Misson” Stated Mena, this documentary talks about his coming out story to his mother and his bishop. It also discusses the very serious and delicate topics of therapy sessions and addiction recovery meetings.
After this documentary Mena also has plans for a short film, “I will follow up with a short film, Flaxen Cords, about a man’s confessions at an Addiction recovery Meeting and how COVID has affected them.” But that is not all he is doing, he finally plans to put together a feature film he has been working on for several years, “Trying Julliard tells the story of a young man putting everything on the line to audition for one of the most prestigious acting schools in the United States behind his fathers back who disapproves of his decisions.”
In no way shape or form is Scott Mena slowing down within his ever-growing acting and performing career. Now is the time to focus on what his creative mind is about to put out in the world because in a couple of years Mena will be taking the world by storm.