Lorenza Izzo Is Ready for Her Moment
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Lorenza Izzo is the kind of budding “It” girl who is just simply fun to talk with. She’s warm and casual and, though at the onset of her Hollywood career, already has plenty of wisdom and knows what she wants.
When WWD speaks with her, Izzo is about to head back to L.A. after a trip to New York with her partner, Unemployed Magazine cofounder Sophie Tabet, for a party the magazine threw. Even though Izzo is L.A.-based now, New York is where she began her time in the U.S. and she remembers it fondly.
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“I studied acting here in New York when I was really young. I had just graduated high school, not even two weeks. And I came to study at Lee Strasberg,” the Chilean actress says over the phone. “And I felt like I was too young to really appreciate it. I was quite overwhelmed by it. I went back to Chile with a tail between my legs because I didn’t ‘make’ it. And so now every time I get to work here or come for fun, we have a lot of friends and family here. It’s very dear to my heart and I have a feeling I’m going to end up here soon.”
Izzo was born and raised in Santiago; at the age of 12, her stepfather got a scholarship to finish his PhD in Atlanta and so off the family went to Georgia.
“It was a huge culture shock. I could speak English but I had a very thick accent,” she says. “I feel like today, moving there was what made me be where I am today. It was my first journey into experiencing America and the American dream, and learning to speak English like an American because I was bullied hardcore. And it was such a crazy, intense, beautiful three years of my life.”
When she was 16 she went back to Chile for the rest of high school but already had the bug of wanting to live in the U.S. and work as an actor there.
“And I ended up with those crazy chances that you would never think would happen,” she says.
She auditioned for a role in an English-speaking American-written film that led to her getting a call from agents in L.A. who wanted to represent her.
“And I packed my bags and never looked back. I had zero fear. I had so much confidence. I remember I landed in L.A., they signed me, I was so happy. And I think a month later, I booked a pilot. And I remember so vividly saying, ‘Oh, this is so easy. I’m going to win an Oscar in a year,’” she laughs.
“Brave would be a word that I would call me now, but at that time, I just, like, my ego. I just thought I was the best thing that had ever happened and I was so sure of myself. And by the way, thank god because I would never do it today. I’m so much more careful and fearful and thoughtful. And in some ways, that’s great. And in some ways, I’m just so grateful for that fearlessness and understanding that I had what it took to do this crazy job. And I really had no idea.
“Now, I look back and I’m like, well this is a very difficult career. You need to really figure out why you’re in this. Because if you’re in it for the fame or the attention, really quickly it’s not going to work out. Or if it does, it’s not going to fulfill you. And thank god I’m just really in love with my craft and I love suffering for it.”
Izzo was most recently seen in “Confess, Fletch,” alongside Jon Hamm. She’d been interested in doing comedy and was immediately intrigued by the idea of immersing herself in the world of the Fletch novels by Gregory Mcdonald.
“I’m also not at a place in my career where people are offering me things up left and right. I’m still very much hustling and working hard for the auditions I do get. But I think it was exactly what I was looking for. I was truly looking to do a character piece without really even knowing what that would look like. And I was trying to step outside of my comfort zone and try something different. And I think Angela, the character I play in ‘Confess, Fletch,’ is definitely that.”
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