Elian Rivera

Elian is a Puerto Rican actor born and raised in NYC. He was raised by teachers, so he spent most of his summers doing extra summer reading, which only fueled his imagination and creativity. Elian started performing in his elementary school cafeteria with his most challenging role to date: Tweedle Dum in Alice in Wonderland. When entered high school, he grew more serious about theatre and decided to pursue acting in college.

During his time at Fordham, he has become very passionate about new works. His love for new plays sent him to the United Nations for a staged reading for World Refuge Day. The new work process is important to him as he feels that every time he builds a character with a playwright, he creates space for Latinos to take on the role after him.

He hopes to be able to act as a source of inspiration for any Puerto Rican kid considering this career path and significantly uplift voices like his. Elian is also dabbling in playwriting and has completed workshopping his new play DAVE 2, which he is very excited to share with the world.

When Elian isn’t acting, he can be found in a rock climbing gym, reading or writing, or watching as many films as possible. His biggest inspirations in the industry are Lin Manuel Miranda, Joaquin Phoenix and Nathan Fielder.

Acting is his passion and he is very thankful to all the people in his life who can make his dream a reality. "We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?”