Maria Riboli in "The Baby Dance"

A teaching that formed me as a person was given to me from my amazing mother.
She always used to say to me:
”Maria never judge anyone, always try to understand them”.

That was eye opening to me and it’s something that I always teach my students…
You cannot judge your character!

It doesn’t matter how evil the person you’re supposed to play is…you cannot judge him, or her.

The moment you decide, as an actor, that he or she is a “bad person” you will lose your path in creating this character, you will look at him/her from the outside and as an actor you cannot do that, you have to embrace the character from within, from the soul…and it’s your job to find that soul.

Some of the things you’ll be working on, might be just for you to know, and that is fine, you are the one who’s going to need them, those are the things that will make you stronger the moment you’ll step into your character’s life.

But again the most important thing is not to judge who you’ll be creating.
Not too long ago I was casted as Rachel, the female lead, in “The Baby Dance” by Jane Anderson: a beautiful and very touching story.

At a first glance I could see how someone could’ve played all the characters in it, in a very detached and cold way, but I was so very happy to also be surrounded by some amazing actors, and none of us looked at our personages in that way. We all saw the human side in them, and I truly believe that it was that reason why the production was so powerful.

We didn’t judge them.

Maria Riboli & Suzie Cho in "The Baby Dance"

I feel this is something so very important, I know we are the generation who is going to make a difference with the ones who will follow us, we have the responsibility to keep teaching our children the importance of living in a world, with no labels!

In a world that is One World, for everyone…where there’s space and love and respect for everyone.

“Never take a person's dignity: it is worth everything to them, and nothing to you.”
 (Frank Barron)