Everyday Encounters: An aspiring actor encourages others to follow their dreams

Tiburon resident Karen Gomez sits on the banks near Railroad Marsh on Nov. 4. Gomez is an actor and recently traveled down to Los Angeles for her first paid acting gig, playing a zombie in a commercial that will appear on TikTok. (Francisco Martinez / The Ark)

Karen Gomez says she’s wanted to be an actor since she was a kid.

Now, the 31-year-old Tiburon resident from Tijuana, Mexico, is making progress toward that goal. She recently secured her first paid gig in Los Angeles — something both exciting and macabre: Gomez played a zombie for an ad that will appear on TikTok.

“It makes me feel like this dream was always possible, and that you, me and all of us have the ability to do it,” Gomez says in an interview conducted in Spanish as she sat on the banks near the Railroad Marsh Nov. 4. “It’s a matter of focus or, rather, truly following your dreams. I believe when you’ve got clarity on what you want, you’ll accomplish it.”

Gomez says she’s always loved to write and sing. Her mother shares those creative impulses, she says, taking pictures, reading and writing. Gomez remembers watching her mom do dubbing work as part of her university studies, an experience that wowed the young girl.

“I feel I got that from her,” Gomez says of her mom’s artistic interests.

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