From UCB to AFI to Showtime TV
How Stacy Pascal Gaspard went from dancer and improv actor to directing episodes of Showtime’s The Chi
Stacy Pascal Gaspard is a multidisciplinary actor, writer and director who ditched the pre-med track for the silver screen. Through vibrant color theory that feels like a hot air balloon ride at sunset, and fluid camera angles that take viewers from the salsa dance floor to the city skyline, Gaspard explores the intersection between Afro-Latin Caribbean heritage and Black girlhood. Even while tackling heavy themes of loss, exclusion and familial sacrifice, there is a pulse to Gaspard’s work that speaks to all dreamers and their inner child. Bright as a traffic cone, tinged with soap opera dramatics, Gaspard’s works never forget the importance of having fun.
Stacy Pascal Gaspard is Reminding Us To Have Fun With Art Again
Stacy Pascal Gaspard is a multidisciplinary actor, writer and director who ditched the pre-med track for the silver screen. Through vibrant color theory that feels like a hot air balloon ride at sunset, and fluid camera angles that take viewers from the salsa dance floor to the city skyline, Gaspard explores the intersection between Afro-Latin Caribbean heritage and Black girlhood. Even while tackling heavy themes of loss, exclusion and familial sacrifice, there is a pulse to Gaspard’s work that speaks to all dreamers and their inner child. Bright as a traffic cone, tinged with soap opera dramatics, Gaspard’s works never forget the importance of having fun.
Who is Stacy Pascal Gaspard?
Yeah, let’s get deep. Who is Stacy? My name is Stacy Pascal Gaspard, and I am a filmmaker, writer and newly a TV director! Surprise!
How and why did you start making films?
I always tell people that my origin story feels so unique because it’s about the power of others seeing something in you before you see it yourself. I moved to LA as an actor—I had been doing improv and campus tours at Groundlings and UCB—so I was the improv girl. But as we all know, as an actor, there are always typical boxes you have to fit in, and I felt I couldn’t really fit. I’m a child of immigrants who speaks all these different languages. I’m a dancer, but I’m a curvy dancer. But you know, sometimes with Hollywood, they’re like, “Well, if you can’t fit this specifically, no.”
I was working for AFI as a coordinator, and the dean of production would ask me questions like, “What do you think of this director?” “What do you think of this movie?” And I would literally just give her my opinions because I was preparing to apply to Juilliard and Yale. She looked at me and was like, “You should be going to school here, not working here,” and then took it one step further and talked to my boss; they gave me two application fee waivers, and I took a shot.
At that time, I didn’t have a movie, I didn’t have a portfolio. I was seeing people get rejected, and I was at the front desk, giving them tissues and saying, “I’m so sorry.” And I was so scared, but deep down I knew I had all these stories I wanted to tell. So I wrote, directed and acted in a five-minute short exploring the stages of grief, and that’s when I felt this alignment. All the things I was craving for casting directors to give me, I realized I could do myself. So, if you see the potential in someone, sing it loud for them because maybe they need to hear it outside themselves to believe it could be possible.
Knowing your work encompasses all kinds of production, what’s your favorite story from set or any project you worked on?
TV is a whole different beast. As a guest director of my episode I directed of The Chi, we had this older bus, and with old buses, sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. The whole crew is loaded on the bus, the number one talent is in their spot, and when I said “action,” the bus died. But shoutout to improv, I told everyone to start moving back and forth so it looked like the bus was moving, and then we rolled! Everyone was being team sports about it, but it was funny having all these older guys moving back and forth trying to shake the bus.
How do you think your multidisciplinary background informs your work as a director?
I think being an actor helps me not only create a connection on set, but also speak their language. I know the feeling of vulnerability of being a vessel for a character. Being an improviser and a dancer, I’m not afraid to move things around if it’s not working. Performing on stage with improv, you always have to be on your feet.
Film is an ever-moving, living thing. My dancer days help me not be afraid of moving the camera—I’m always looking for interesting ways of blocking and dancing with the cameras. I love color, I’m a color theory girl, so I’m always being intentional with what colors I’m putting in the frame and why.
I remember my first episode ever, I had this thespian person I was working with. For him, I kinda had to speak his language and paint a world for him that made him feel like it was something he could roll with. So I’m a chameleon, but I’m also always doing things that feel like me as a filmmaker. When you’re watching, you can be like “Oh, I can tell Stacy directed this because of the colors and the way the camera moves.”
What had been your most unexpected artistic inspiration?
Of course, fashion and styling, but I’ve really been going down the rabbit hole recently of collaging and mixed media to tell stories. I’ve been getting into the hobby of creating mood boards for my movies by cutting pieces of physical paper into different shapes to tell a story. Everyone loves a mood board, but sometimes it’s just squares. Now I’m like “Oh, what if I cut this little bit and put it in the middle of this photo, or this color on this photo?”
I’m also starting an oil painting class next week because I realized I missed using my hands to do stuff. So right now, I’m on this journey of finding ways outside of my brain to use my hands to express a feeling or a story. Sometimes when I get writer’s block, I think I need to double down and focus, but then I would take a dance class, or do yoga, or even go on a walk, and things would start flowing again.
We need to be gentle to ourselves as artists because sometimes when we’re pushing ourselves so hard, our inner child is just like “Yo, give me a break! Let me just have some fun and it will flow.” So with oil painting, although it is intimidating, I’m doing something for fun instead of to showcase.
What is something about you that people might not know?
I speak four languages. My first language was French, and that’s fun! Ooh, also I’m lowkey a rapper. If you go through my voice memos, there are just random tracks I’m rapping in. I asked my brothers and sisters, “Yo, should I drop an EP?” and they’re like “No…” My inner rapper dreams, I guess!