132. Misty Rosas: I Have Spoken

Around the Galaxy

Misty Rosas is the multi-talented artist who brought #TheMandalorian's #Kuiil and Frog Lady to life. She is a singer, dancer, actor, performance artist, motion capture artist, championship gymnast and stunt person. You've seen her in #Congo as Amy the ape, Sid the Science Kid and Gonzon from Muppet Babies. Most importantly, she is an inspiration and an amazing talent.
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Misty Rosas, a rare, one of a kind, multitalented artist. Her artistic endeavors are broad and varied, but one thing is for certain, whatever she chooses to do, she puts her whole heart and soul into it!
Misty's career began when she took her first gymnastics class at the age of 2 1/2. She loved it so much it was difficult to get her to leave at the end of the session. "There were tears involved!" Her gymnastics career spanned 17 years, and was highlighted when Misty was chosen to join the U.S. National Gymnastics Team as an Elite gymnast. Throughout this period, Misty continued to study dance, especially ballet, as an integral part of her gymnastics training. She combined her dance and performance skills to land her first professional job at age 18. She was hired to perform in a succession of Disney stage productions including, "Fantasmic!", "The Lion King Parade", and "The Very Merry Christmas Parade". "I love to dance, and getting the opportunity to be Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, and a dancing monkey (in "Fantasmic!"), was a wonderful job!" When Misty moved to Los Angeles, she began training at the Edge Performing Arts Center for dance, vocal studies with John Deaver, and acting classes at the Henke Acting Studio. It was there that Misty first heard the quote that has guided her efforts ever since, "Luck happens when opportunity meets preparation".
Misty landed her first major film role as the lead ape character, Amy, in the Paramount Pictures movie "Congo". This "break of a lifetime" thrust her career full speed ahead. "It was such a thrilling adventure!" The ”Congo" experience felt like an advanced and accelerated course in acting, learning and understanding blocking, acting to multiple camera angles, and of course, learning how to feel, breathe, and be a gorilla. To be quite honest, I was very overwhelmed and I struggled a lot at first, but it was a tremendous opportunity, so I worked very hard, and everyday I went into the work with this intention, “I will never give up!” This was also the point where Misty developed the ability to work "blind". The ape head was animatronic, designed with no accommodation for vision, so Misty had to memorize her physical position within the set, and in relation to that of the other actors, in order to make it appear that she was comfortably "looking" through Amy's eyes. Misty was under the tutelage of renowned movement artists and character actors, Peter Elliot and John Alexander. The techniques she learned enabled her to book several more jobs in partnership with the Stan Winston Studios (now named Legacy Effects). Misty considers her long-standing and rewarding relationship with Legacy Effects, to be one of the lynchpins of her success.
It was during the filming of "Congo" that Misty began to perform stunts. Her height and gymnastics abilities led to an ongoing inventory of stunt roles. Her stunts have been featured in dozens of films and television episodes including, "Van Helsing", "Casper: A Spirited Beginning", "Casper & Wendy" (stunt doubling Hillary Duff), "Three Kings", "Charlie Wilson's War", America's Most Wanted, Rescue 911, Sliders, and Boston Legal "I got to tackle William Shatner, Woohoo!". While working on the enormous sets of "Van Helsing", Misty added wire work and fire burns to her growing list of stunt skills. "It was radical!.......TOASTY!"
In 2002, Misty began her very successful association with the Jim Henson Company. First, in the Disney movie "The Country Bears", and since then in a number of realtime Computer Generated (CG) animation projects. These performances include the title roles of Sid, in the PBS series "Sid the Science Kid", and T.J. in "T.J. Bearytales", and most recently, the Jim Henson Company/Netflix collaboration “Word Party”. Misty is the motion capture/body performer for the lovable, yet feisty and irreverent character, Lulu. In preparing for "The Country Bears", "I took the skills I learned from "Congo" and "Instinct", and then was taught, by Michelan Sisti, the techniques needed to perform the character of Beary. It was different from my previous experience, so Micha spent a great deal of time patiently working with me to develop my skills. Acting in “The Country Bears" movie gave Misty the opportunity to meet Brian Henson. "Brian invited me to work on a Muppet Babies test shoot with Micha. It was my first Motion Capture (mocap) experience. WOW!, it was humbling! I had the hardest time finding the virtual camera! Micha kept pointing at the camera-like red lights 15 feet above me, all around me, saying, "Find your eye lines by looking at those", and I said, “I don’t understand? What camera? There is no camera? Where? The work in the motion capture space is both mentally and physically grueling! You cannot lose your concentration ever! Again, I was very lucky to have Micha there, teaching me his craft.” Misty soon mastered these techniques and continues to deliver fantastic, endearing performances with each opportunity that is presented to her.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian. Misty’s most recent role is a reunion with her friends at Legacy Effects, Kathleen Kennedy, and the Walt Disney Company. And now, she is also welcomed into the Lucasfilm/Star Wars family. Her hard work, training, and a lengthy resume, made Misty the natural choice for the already beloved character of Kuiil. Kuiil is voiced by the Oscar nominated and Golden Globe winning actor, Nick Nolte. Misty really enjoyed creating the perfect body for such a perfect voice. Kuiil has already coined his own signature line too, with the popular, "I have spoken". The Mandalorian premiered November 12th, 2019 on the Disney+ streaming platform. In the Fall of 2019, the company began shooting Season 2 which is slated for a Fall 2020 release.
Misty's music! Her most recent venture to add to her skill set: Singer, songwriter, recording artist. Misty recorded her debut album at the world renowned Henson Recording Studio (formerly the A&M Studios). She collaborated with Paul Graham, vocal producer of "Sid the Science Kid", and his music partner (currently on tour with Tim McGraw) Paul Bushnell. Together they have recorded and produced Misty’s album, “Life Lessons Love”, as well as, her new single, “Paper House”. Her music and music videos have earned her an HMMA nomination, 2 Telly Award wins, film placement, Spotify playlist placement, and features in various film festivals. What Misty is most proud of is the opportunity to open for her music heroes, Air Supply. She has opened for the band 3 times, and the highlight, so far, has been opening for Air Supply at The Starlight Bowl, in Burbank, Ca. She will be heading back into the recording studio to record her newest single! So stay tuned. You can hear Misty’s music on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Google Play Music, and YouTube.
"I consider each and every one of my jobs a stepping stone, a learning experience that guides me towards the next one. There are so many people that have weaved in and out of my life that have taught me, guided me, inspired me, and simply helped me to get where I am today. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them: My mom, Arlene, my dad, Carlos Sr., my brothers, Joey, Miklos and Carlos Jr., my sister, Gigi, Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell of Air Supply, Barnette Ricci, Nancy Thurston, Mark Wagner, Peter Elliot, John Alexander, Stan Winston, Mark Majarian, Jon Turteltaub, Anthony Hopkins, Mark Blanchard, Terri Best, Michelan Sisti, Christopher Walken, Dave "SuperDave" Fedele, Christie Williams, Bikram Choudhury, Eduardo Sanchez, Brad William Henke, Brian Henson, Halle Stanford, Paul Graham, Paul Bushnell, Tom MacLear, Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Deb Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, Bryce Dallas Howard, Peyton Reed. THANK YOU!"
When Misty isn't performing you can find her practicing and teaching Bikram yoga. She graduated from Bikram's grueling, nine week Teacher Training program in 2006, and she has been teaching ever since. Her favorite words of wisdom by Bikram Choudhury, "You're never too old, never too bad, never too late and never too sick to start from the scratch once again." To which Misty would add, "Don't think about it, just put your yoga clothes on, and do it! Practice Bikram yoga for your health and your happiness! It changes you from the inside out!" "DO WHAT YOU LOVE. LOVE WHAT YOU DO!"