Adam Ambruso: Learning to Fly

Adam Ambruso: Learning to Fly

Helping to spotlight Hollywood’s reckoning in the wake of the #MeToo movement, actor, producer and gifted entrepreneur Adam Ambruso stared and holds a producer credit in the Sony Pictures award-winning film, BUTTERFLY CAUGHT.

Written and directed by Manny Rodriguez Jr., the film follows three bright-eyed women with dreams of making it big as actresses. Each is pushed past breaking points when they’re tempted with promises of fame and will be forced to decide how far they’re willing to go to become actresses. BUTTERFLY CAUGHT explores the dark underbelly of glitzy Hollywood and illustrates with deafening power, how the cut-throat industry makes victims of naïve newcomers. Touching on drugs, sexual advances, and make-or-break career decisions, the film’s artful take paints an all too real portrait of Hollywood’s deepest secrets.

Drawn to projects that passionately move audiences, Ambruso also recently starred in and executive produced Will Wallace’s thrilling drama, TRAFFICKED. Starring alongside Ashley Judd and written by a Harvard professor who wrote a book about human trafficking, TRAFFICKED explicitly details the story of three young women who are abducted and thrust into the vicious underworld of sex trafficking. TRAFFICKED made it’s premiere in 2017 and found the perfect balance to portray the horrifying truth of sex slavery while also not pushing the audience beyond its limits.

Originally from Austin, Texas, Adam graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and has since made deep roots in Los Angeles, and while not on-set has also balanced a career as a successful entrepreneur; building properties and dabbling in investment real estate. Adam is also a strong health advocate and maintains a rigid fitness routine complete with Bruce Lee ab workouts.

We sat with Adam to talk about it all and gain an honest perspective of what he sees as a problem and his obligation to help rectify.

SUAVV: When did you become an actor and how did you get into the industry?
Adam: I became an actor actually when I was taking drama classes at The University of Texas at Austin, as I started auditioning there during college. I got into the industry by just packing up my life in Austin and driving it to Los Angeles in a U-Haul Truck and just plain making the decision to act professionally.

SUAVV: Butterfly Caught has a very relevant place in the Hollywood Industry. How does it feel to be a part of a movie that is such a powerful movement right now?
Adam: It is truly an honor to be a part of BUTTERFLY CAUGHT not only because it is a great film that has a raw truthful voice, but also because it has such a relevant place in the Hollywood Industry. I am so proud of the movie, and I am so proud to be a part of it.

SUAVV: When did you become an actor and how did you get into the industry?
Adam: I became an actor actually when I was taking drama classes at The University of Texas at Austin, as I started auditioning there during college. I got into the industry by just packing up my life in Austin and driving it to Los Angeles in a U-Haul Truck and just plain making the decision to act professionally.

SUAVV: Butterfly Caught has a very relevant place in the Hollywood Industry. How does it feel to be a part of a movie that is such a powerful movement right now?
Adam: It is truly an honor to be a part of BUTTERFLY CAUGHT not only because it is a great film that has a raw truthful voice, but also because it has such a relevant place in the Hollywood Industry. I am so proud of the movie, and I am so proud to be a part of it.

SUAVV: What would you say was the most difficult aspect of breaking into your career in Hollywood?
Adam: Finding out how to do just that…break into my career. Like almost everyone who decides to make the journey to Hollywood and act, I didn’t even know where to start. There really is no roadmap for this…or at least one that is glaringly obvious.

SUAVV: TRAFFICKED is another film based on a really hot topic right now. How does making a film like this impact your private life?
Adam: Making the move TRAFFICKED, based on such a hot topic right now really has not affected my private life in a huge way so far. I sat down with the rest of the producers before making this film, and we discussed the very real danger of our shining a light on this terrible problem and how that could possibly endanger and negatively affect our lives. Thank God, that has not happened so far. If anything, making TRAFFICKED has impacted me in a very positive way. It has forwarded my career as an actor and a producer and has led to a lot more opportunities for me. I also feel really good about making a difference to help shed a light on what is in my opinion the worst human rights violation plaguing the world today.

SUAVV: Do you have any plans to do any type of philanthropic work regarding both topics?
Adam: I do have plans to do philanthropic work in the area of Human Trafficking and am open to doing work in the “Me Too” movement. I’m just not sure how else I could help with the “Me Too” movement other than trying to expose it through cinema and by continuing to share my personal story, whenever possible, at this point.

SUAVV: Tell me more about your real estate ventures. How did you get involved in the industry? What about a home sticks out to you? What is your favorite room in a house?
Adam: One of my biggest and most loved hobbies is real estate and in particular developing it. I am developing a high-end luxury house in the Hollywood Hills at the top of Runyon Canyon that should be finished around the December/January timeframe. I have a goal to do 29 more. I am also planning on developing the John Varvatos Hotel in Malibu next year and maybe even the Robert Mondavi Winery renovation in Napa Valley. I will be ultimately building large commercial residences in Hollywood and the surrounding areas as well. I got involved in real estate by buying my first home in the Hollywood Hills and knocking it down in order to build a brand new on at triple the size. When I was a child I would build toy log cabins and with Legos. Now, I am essentially building life-sized log cabins and Lego buildings. What sticks out about a home to me is its uniqueness, how it makes you feel, and its livability. I want it to feel modern and sexy while at the same time feeling very cozy and warm and some place you just want to lounge and hang out. Lenny Kravitz Interior Design has done a very good job at mastering this art I think.

SUAVV: What is the Bruce Lee ab workout? Would you be willing to have some of our followers try it out as well?
Adam: I love to work out and challenge my body to its maximum potential in order to be in the best physical shape possible. Consequently, I am very much inspired by Bruce Lee’s mindset and what he was able to accomplish with the human body. He was particularly obsessed with his core and abdominal muscles in particular. He felt the core was the epicenter of the body and were the only muscles that were used during every other exercise. For this reason, he spent an inordinate amount of time developing his abdominal muscles. The exercise that he liked to use to do this was called the Dragon Flag, which I believe he created or at least popularized. I watched him do them in a video online once and was immediately mesmerized by the difficulty of them and his strength as he did them seemingly effortlessly. I became obsessed with them and now do them almost every workout. At first, I could not even do one properly, so I would do three sets of ten with horrific form. I have worked up to three sets of 20 with great form now. My stomach is usually pretty sore after this, so there is no need to keep going, haha. I highly suggest them as a goal to do a few sets of ten with good form ultimately. I would love your followers to give them a go, so to speak.