Gabriella Gonzalez Biziou ’12 recently completed an award-winning, whirlwind trip back to her hometown of Austin. A dozen years and a few miles away from where she earned an art history major and theatre minor at Southwestern University, Gonzalez Biziou was awarded with a trio of honors across two independent film festivals for a short film that she starred in and associate produced.

Foolhardy Love displays the complexities of marriage through the experience of two newlywed artists, Benny, a musician, and Ashley, a photographer. When Benny lands the gig of a lifetime, one that will pull him away from home for an extended period of time, the couple are forced to confront the future of their relationship. The film highlights the struggle between building a career and building a family and explores the sacrifices that are made for love.

“I fell in love with acting out of my love of stories, storytelling, a deep desire to understand and connect with people from all different walks of life, and to communicate that connection with others,” Gonzalez Biziou said. “I don’t remember who said this, but both theatre and film truly are ‘empathy machines’ that remind us all how we’re not so different. It’s a spiritual practice for me. The reality of working as an actor can mean that there are some jobs I take to help me pay the bills, and that’s great, but they may not be an arena for much artistic depth. In Foolhardy Love, I was able to dive into a story and a character that mattered to me.”

So far, audiences have raved about the film and how it has moved them. Foolhardy Love’s poignant look at love and sacrifice has been especially relatable to audiences, even invoking some tears.

“A lot of tears,” Gonzalez Biziou said. “I have had so many people come up to me and tell me how moved they were by the story and how much they relate to the characters. I love that. I am so thankful for that kind of feedback.”

Foolhardy Love is available to watch for free through the Tetragramm Studios YouTube channel.

At the Austin Spotlight Film Festival in mid-September, the film earned the Best Narrative award, while lead actor Richard Eick was nominated for Best Actor and Gonzalez Biziou was nominated for Best Actress. Just days later, at the Austin Under the Stars Film Festival, Foolhardy Love earned the international festival’s top honor, the Best Film award. Gonzalez Biziou was also crowned Best Actress, and Eick was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Director.

Foolhardy Love premiered at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in early May and was recently named as an official selection for two more upcoming festivals: the Artist Emerged International Film Fest in Santa Monica and the Diversity & Inclusion Film Festival at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

“We are very excited for them,” Gonzalez Biziou said. “I am Mexican-American, and Richard is half-Brazilian. There’s definitely a cultural undercurrent in the story, told through the characters. There’s pressure to follow the more classic dynamics for families and marriage and what that means, who’s supposed to be the breadwinner and who’s not. That element of the story, in combination with being intimately aware of how challenging it is to have a stable enough life, let alone a stable life as an artist to support a family, really grabbed me. I’m married, and a working actor in my real life.”

Gonzalez Biziou’s path to becoming an award-winning, Los Angeles-based actor was heavily influenced by her time at Southwestern. She signed with her first agent while still completing her undergraduate courses. She juggled classes and auditions while working three part-time jobs around Georgetown.

While at SU, Gonzalez Biziou booked several roles in television commercials, and looked primed for her big break when she received a callback for a recurring role in Friday Night Lights. However, the television show’s production ultimately decided to choose an actress out of Los Angeles, a moment that proved to be pivotal in her career.

“At the time, I was doing more theatre than film,” she said. “I love theatre, but I thought, ‘well, if this is what I want to do – and it was – then I guess I need to go to Los Angeles.’ So, I went out there with what I had at the time, which was basically nothing. I had a classic ‘starving artist’ story for the first couple of years. I didn’t have enough income or a safe place to stay for more than a little while and actually slept in my car for a few nights that first year. It was rough in the beginning.”

In Los Angeles, Gonzalez Biziou continued her education and built upon the foundation of skills learned at Southwestern. She completed the intensive Meisner Technique Program at the Ruskin School of Acting and has recently been studying at Berg Studios, an instructional, film, and television acting studio and theatre space led by former Yale School of Drama faculty member Gregory Berger-Sobeck.

“I’m always learning. I can always improve. I’m never totally satisfied with my work. I love that, because there’s always going to be something more to explore,” she said.

In addition to co-starring in Foolhardy Love, Gonzalez Biziou also served as the film’s associate producer, working on post-production and helping to raise funds for the completion and promotion of the film. Looking forward, she hopes to further broaden her film industry experience and explore directing, while continuing to act.

“What I’d like to do is continue working as an actor and an artist, primarily,” she said. “I want to enjoy my work, enjoy the process, enjoy the people that I collaborate with, and most importantly, enjoy my life. But I would also like to teach acting, and to start putting forth my own work. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a few teachers that have changed my life in profoundly positive ways, and I’d love to give back in that same consciousness. I’ve also been writing a bit and I see directing in my future. I think the next important project for me is going to be one of my own.”

As Gonzalez Biziou sets her sights on the future, she knows that she will be able to lean on her past, which includes important skills crafted in the art history program at Southwestern.

“I learned so much in art history that is important and relevant to what I’m doing in regard to visual storytelling,” Gonzalez Biziou said. “Understanding visual metaphor has been essential for me, especially thinking more as a director than an actor. As an actor, you really want to be present in the scene and in the moment. But as a director, visual storytelling is key. Southwestern definitely broadened my horizons, and in retrospect, it was a wonderful space for exploring.”