{"id":28319,"date":"2021-07-06T19:42:07","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T19:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=28319"},"modified":"2021-07-08T15:25:32","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T15:25:32","slug":"such-great-heights-leslie-grace","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/such-great-heights-leslie-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Such Great Heights: Leslie Grace and the Role of a Lifetime"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Leslie
Leslie Grace, photographed by Max Hemphill and styled by Dani + Emma. Dolce & Gabbana bra, $945, skirt, $1,995, belt, $725, S<\/a>HOP NOW.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BY\u00a0CHANNING HARGROVE
\n<\/b>PHOTOGRAPHER MAX HEMPHILL
\n<\/b>STYLISTS<\/span>\u00a0DANI + EMMA
\n<\/b>HAIR<\/span>\u00a0JOHN D
\n<\/b>MAKEUP<\/span>\u00a0CAROLA GONZALEZ
\n<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

In partnership with Dolce & Gabbana<\/b><\/p>\n

Leslie\u00a0Grace\u00a0is in Los Angeles just trying to stay cool. Sure, it\u2019s middle of summer and temperatures are rising in L.A., but she\u2019s also hot off a press run for the sizzling blockbuster\u00a0In The Heights<\/i>.\u00a0Grace\u00a0is getting rave reviews for her first feature film performance in Lin-Manuel Miranda\u2019s musical adaptation of Quiara Alegr\u00eda Hudes\u2019s book. Playing Nina Rosario, \u201cthe one who made it out\u201d of Washington Heights\u2014a Dominican neighborhood in Upper Manhattan\u2014was an experience\u00a0Grace\u00a0says she\u2019s been preparing for all her life.<\/p>\n

For the Bronx-born and Florida-raised Afro-Latina actress,\u00a0In the Heights<\/i>\u00a0truly mirrors her own lived experience, from \u201chaving parents that were born in the Dominican Republic, and being first generation growing up in New York,\u201d to \u201cthen moving at 10 to Florida,\u201d she tells\u00a0Grazia Gazette: The Hamptons<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Grace\u2019s mother owned a neighborhood salon and it\u2019s there that she absorbed many crucial life lessons, she says, such as \u201cnavigating how to explain myself to people in certain spaces and really leaning on the value of community that my mom had built.\u201d Those lessons, of course, found their way into\u00a0In the Heights<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Not only did the cast film the movie near one of her mom\u2019s first salons; but also,\u00a0Grace\u00a0called upon the experience of her own journey to inform Nina\u2019s on-screen path.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this story you see there\u2019s so much value in chosen family and community and in feeling validated in who you are and where you come from and the things that your ancestors have done for you when you\u2019re free,\u201d\u00a0Grace, 26, explains.<\/p>\n

\"Leslie
Dolce & Gabbana top, $875, shirt, $1,245, briefs, $995, bracelet, $645, SHOP NOW.<\/strong><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI wanted to display Nina\u2019s kind of identity crisis and her feeling of not belonging anywhere, because she has dreams bigger than her block,\u201d\u00a0Grace\u00a0continues, \u201cbut also all her dreams are\u00a0for\u00a0<\/i>her block. She feels like all her family and her friends\u2019 dreams are on her shoulders to kind of make a reality by going out into the world, even though she\u2019d rather stay right where she\u2019s been raised all along.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a sentiment that hits home for the actress. \u201cI still am a person that\u2014even though I was raised kind of half in Florida and half in New York\u2014when I go to New York, I feel like that\u2019s home for me,\u201d\u00a0Grace\u00a0says. \u201cI\u2019ve been searching for that kind of feeling of home and taking that with me as much as I can all my life, no matter where. I\u2019m in L.A. now. And, like Nina, I\u2019m still trying to find my community.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s probably because she grew up with such a strong sense of community that\u00a0Grace\u00a0seeks it out wherever she is. At a young age, she felt the value of finding a sanctuary among chosen people at her mother\u2019s hair salon in Florida. For her, visits to her mom\u2019s shop illustrated what she called \u201cthe sacredness of setting time apart and going to a place where you take off the mask,\u201d because \u201cyou not only figuratively, but literally have somebody touch your mane\u201d\u2014an incredibly intimate process, especially for women of color. \u201cIn certain spaces, you go out and you mask a lot of who you are to assimilate into the space,\u201d\u00a0Grace\u00a0points out.<\/p>\n

At the salon, though, \u201cI saw women of all shapes, and sizes, and colors, and shades, from different backgrounds come in one way and leave another, in terms of spirit\u201d as much as physical appearance, she says. Seeing her mother raise her clients\u2019 confidence with the simple act of grooming created in\u00a0Grace\u00a0a deep respect for the often-overlooked women who do that task, including her own mom. \u201cPeople think that it\u2019s just a magic wand and then the artist shows up,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut I always was in the back watching my mom and knew how much time, effort, and love it took and how delicate that process is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grace, on the contrary, is used to being up front and center as an actress and singer. In middle school, she released\u00a0Pasi\u00f3n<\/i>, a nine-song project with a family friend. \u201cAt that point in my life, if there was any opportunity that would allow me to sing and allow me to record myself singing, I was down,\u201d she recalls. A friend from church offered her a few songs he wrote and co-wrote, before turning a home closet in her parents\u2019 home into a recording studio where\u00a0Grace\u00a0would record every day after school. \u201cMy Spanish was not at all perfect,\u201d she admits. \u201cI was very insecure. And then I started. Once the CD was done, I started singing from church to church. I always knew how great I felt singing, how great it made me feel to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dolce & Gabbana top, $595, jacket, $2,645, pants, $945, necklace, $1,645, SHOP NOW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While that experience first taught\u00a0Grace\u00a0what a privilege it is to be able to transmit a feeling to people in the audience, she laughs thinking back on it. \u201cThat time in my life taught me a lot. But when I listen back to it, I cringe because I\u2019m like,\u00a0Oh my God, that is on Spotify<\/i>,\u201d she giggles.<\/p>\n

Indeed, she\u2019s come a long way from the days in her parents\u2019 closet: In 2013,\u00a0Grace\u00a0was nominated for a Latin Grammy (Contemporary Tropical Album) for her self-titled album, and in 2015, she was nominated for two (Contemporary Tropical Album and Tropical Song for\u00a0Lloviendo Estrellas<\/i>\u00a0and \u201cC\u00f3mo Duele El Silencio,\u201d respectively).<\/p>\n

Earlier this year,\u00a0Grace\u00a0released a song with rapper Meek Mill called \u201cConga\u201d as part of a global campaign with Bacardi.\u00a0Grace\u00a0had no idea that the Estebans were close with Bacardi (Gloria\u2019s husband Emilio used to work there!), so when she was offered the opportunity to remake the song, she was in disbelief. \u201cI was like, first of all, is this allowed? Because this song, I grew up on it,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s played at every quincea\u00f1era, every wedding, every family gathering. I\u2019ve never heard anybody even interpolate this song. That\u2019s one. And Gloria and Emilio on board. And three, are you sure you want us to do this? Are you sure?!\u201d The result was a resounding success for\u00a0Grace, and an opportunity to introduce a classic song to younger generations\u2014yet another example of what would be a dream come true, if she\u2019d even dared to dream it.<\/p>\n

It wouldn\u2019t be a stretch to say that these days\u00a0Grace\u00a0is walking in, well,\u00a0grace. As someone who\u2019s dreamed of singing professionally her whole life, she says, \u201cI know there are a lot of people that feel that way and don\u2019t end up having that life path that I did. I just feel privileged and blessed and want to pay it forward as much as I can, making people feel things with what I attach myself to, and also, just paying it back to my family. Really, without their support I wouldn\u2019t be able to be doing this at all. For real.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a lot of ways,\u00a0Grace\u2019s family members were her first fans. She says her performances were encouraged from a very young age but never in a way that felt unnatural. So, she learned to express herself through music, performances, dance, and whatever little thing she learned that week in her house. \u201cTypical Dominican home,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI feel so blessed that that was my circumstance. And that I never thought about\u00a0not\u00a0<\/i>doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Leslie
Dolce & Gabbana bra, $945, skirt, $1,995, belt, $725, us.dolcegabbana.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grace\u2019s audience spans beyond her relatives now, but she says she is still working hard to stay in tune with her roots as she grows. \u201cI was just talking about this yesterday,\u201d she reveals. \u201cI was like,\u00a0Yo, I\u2019m just trying to, in between all this work, stay human and give myself a little bit of time before I go crazy every day.<\/i>\u00a0Just in small increments where I can just tap back into myself because you could just easily create the distance of that breach when you\u2019re working, working, working, and you haven\u2019t tapped into your feelings.\u201d What does that look like? She\u2019s taking dance classes for fun, is in therapy, and is gearing up to release new music\u2014though she\u2019s keeping the details of that under wraps for now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t say what\u2019s next, but you will see soon,\u201d she hints. \u201cI\u2019m working on a music project but I don\u2019t want to give any dates because every time I do, it\u2019s an issue. But you will have new music soon from\u00a0Leslie\u00a0Grace\u00a0that I\u2019ve been working on for some time. I want to keep the element of surprise with what\u2019s going to be on it, but you\u2019ll be hearing it very, very soon. I know fans have been waiting for some new music for a long time.\u201d If her path so far is any indication, it will be the perfect mix of where she\u2019s come from, where she is today, and where she\u2019s headed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26633,"featured_media":28679,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[23,16],"yoast_head":"\nLeslie Grace reflects on how she made her way to the role of a lifetime.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leslie Grace reflects on how she made her way to the role of a lifetime.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/such-great-heights-leslie-grace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Such Great Heights: Leslie Grace and the Role of a Lifetime\" \/>\n<meta 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