VEIN Magazine‘s cover-girl, Spanish talent Alicia Gutiérrez is experiencing one of her most intense chapters yet: balancing modeling, acting training, and her life in NYC. In this conversation, she speaks openly about growth, fear, creativity, and the power of truly listening to yourself. Photography by Julen Martin.
Fur jacket and dress by H&M STUDIO
You’ve been studying acting for a year now. What made you take that step, and what have you discovered about yourself in the process?
It came from a moment where I sat with myself one day and thought: I need to take a step further, be more, give myself more, surprise myself more, grow more, learn more… this can’t be everything. It comes from a place of curiosity and a desire for self-exploration. From a deep passion for human beings and their most complex emotions. I’m not the biggest cinephile — it doesn’t come from that. It’s a form of self-expression: using myself as a channel to show and communicate what I carry inside and learning to relate to my emotions and how I’ve built them. Honestly, it’s giving me so much information for life itself. And especially for sharing on and off set — working as a team on set is something I’m passionate about in every possible way. I’m happy whenever I’m on any kind of set. It’s the entire creative process that I’m in love with in this new adventure.
It’s become a very deep personal-growth journey, one I had no idea I was stepping into. And at the same time, I’ve realized it’s more important to use your imagination than your own experience, and just do, without caring. That’s acting: losing the fear of fear.
When you understand where everything comes from, you also understand which tools you have to move forward in your life. In this profession, you have to know yourself really well, because *you* are your own working tool.
In our daily lives we try to hide and minimize our emotions, but when you act, a space appears where you’re allowed to feel everything — where you even *need* to. It becomes a place where bringing out everything you normally hide is liberating.
It took me a while to explore it, but acting has called to me since I was a child. It always scared me, embarrassed me… It’s a profession that, when you don’t know anything or understand the technique, makes you feel cringe with yourself. You don’t believe what you’re doing, it feels uncomfortable. And now I’m far from that. In a very short time, I’ve found a confidence in acting I didn’t know I had, and I’m excited to keep learning and challenging myself. I’m also learning in both Spanish and English at the same time, and it’s actually becoming easier for me in English, because speaking in English already feels like a form of acting — it adds another layer to everything.
I’ve discovered a lot about myself and also about my classmates. Sometimes, thanks to others’ experiences and vulnerability, you understand things you could never see alone. And that’s part of the magic too.
Cardigan FRANKIE’s BIKINIS, black top ZARA, skirt DAMSON MADDER, heels LARROUDÉ
You come from the world of fashion, where the body is the starting point. How has your relationship with it changed as you explore yourself through acting?
I think the main reason I began exploring acting was because I felt this inner voice asking me to express something more — something that was already in me and my personality, and that over time needed to come out. I’m very expressive: I talk a lot, I feel a lot, I move a lot… and actually, being like that has also opened doors in modeling because of my spontaneity.
You might not be the “perfect fit” for what they’re looking for, but they get to know you, they connect with you — with that spontaneous, human part we all have and that we tend to censor in order to fit in or be “appropriate.” That same authenticity is what has always pushed me forward faster: when I’m not trying to be someone else and I relate to everyone as naturally as with someone I already know.
Whether in a casting, a meeting, or after booking and shooting a campaign, people know that besides your energy and talent, you’re going to make their day easier and more fun. And then they call you instead of another model because you bring something different and you genuinely care about connecting with people.
In fashion, the body is the starting point: you pose, you show yourself, you expose yourself — but from a much less vulnerable place, sometimes even superficial. But through acting, the body stops being an object and becomes a channel. It’s no longer just posture or photo, but emotion and energy.
I realized that when something starts to feel too small or limiting in certain ways, your own personality pushes you to take another step. For me, that step meant facing fear, discipline, and learning. In fashion I always had a natural aptitude… I wouldn’t say the road was easy, but there was something innate that held me and gave me strength and confidence throughout the process. But in acting, I’m starting from zero, learning to understand my body differently — and my emotions too.
I never thought I’d be good at acting. It’s been through studying, practicing, and allowing myself to fail that I’ve realized the body can also tell stories, not just be looked at.
Modeling is something I deeply enjoy, but acting is showing me that my body is not only for being seen — it’s for saying, transforming, and revealing parts of myself I didn’t even know existed!! I truly feel like I’m starting from scratch again.
There’s a clear narrative intention in this photo series — almost cinematic. What role do images play now in your way of telling stories?
I love creating, I love telling, and I love experimenting and playing through photos — I’ve done that since I was a teenager. Always. I had my own camera and almost every day I’d upload self-portraits to my social media from full photoshoots I did at home with a sheet as a backdrop and different props. For me, photos are a VERY intuitive narrative form — sometimes I don’t plan much, I just vibe with ideas, colors, aesthetics. Sometimes there’s a clear storyline, other times they’re born from play, from freedom, and leave space for everyone to interpret them in their own way. That’s storytelling too.
These photos weren’t super planned, actually. I shared some initial ideas with Julen Martín that were quite different, and we ended up flowing into something very New York and very cinematic. He doesn’t only shoot fashion; he also works as a still photographer on film sets, and he told me he’s also in a moment of creative projection and experimentation towards something bigger, so it was a perfect match to build a visual language that wasn’t just aesthetic.
I think these images translate really well the place I’m in right now: a mix between what I feel, what I imagine, and what I’m still discovering.
Dress and jacket VINTAGE
You’ve had a major transition: from Mallorca to New York. What has that change meant to you personally and artistically?
Wow. It’s been so much and so fast at the same time. The speed here is something else. So many images cross my mind — you really have to *live* this city, day after day, to understand what I’m not saying but still saying, hahaha. It gives you, it takes from you, it pushes you to your limits — living in NYC is like a toxic relationship. And one you always come back to despite everything.
I love both worlds so much; I’d even say I love Mallorca more now that I’ve left. It happens with family and friends too: distance confirms what you have, and makes you value it even more when it’s missing.
But New York gave me something I needed: confidence. Confidence in my career, in my character, and in my way of becoming an adult. New York let me *be* — that’s the sentence. Here I’ve explored real independence for the first time, emotionally and professionally.
I’ve lived incredible moments, dream-come-true moments, and also moments of deep frustration. But I’ve learned to move quickly through that emotion because I believe in what I do and I’m proud of my path. It’s funny: when everything goes well, no one asks why; but when life shakes, all the questions appear. And paradoxically, that’s exactly where you learn the most. That’s where the real challenge is — and that’s exactly where I’ve been this past year.
Fur jacket and dress by H&M STUDIO, heels LARROUDÉ
New York has such a unique energy — sometimes chaotic but always inspiring. How does the city influence your creativity?
Something I’m proud of is never falling into extreme FOMO. New York can be chaotic: sometimes you collapse, sometimes from all the things you *could* be doing you end up doing nothing for a while because you feel paralyzed… and then you move again, catch up, and keep going. That rollercoaster is also part of the city’s energy.
I’m very social and I do lots of things, but I also deeply value my solitude, my quiet plans, my time with friends. New York pushes you outward, but it also forces you inward. You do almost everything alone.
For me, the city influences my creativity exactly like that: it inspires me to be better, to explore myself, to listen to myself, and to observe everything. It confronts you, speeds you up, challenges you… and all of that becomes creative material. It’s impossible to live here and not transform a little every day. It pushes you to the limit. And you never get used to it — sometimes I’m like: wow, I actually live in New York. But it always asks for more and more, and maybe you never feel like you’re doing enough or making the most of your time… but honestly, I’m at peace with that now. Though yes, sometimes it really feels like the city eats you alive.
Would you say there’s a thread connecting the model you are and the actress you’re becoming?
Yes, there’s definitely a thread. Many times on set people have told me, “You should be an actress,” because I have this personality that makes the camera follow me. I think that comes from the spontaneity with which I’ve always related to it.
I studied journalism, I work as a model, and now I’m exploring acting. Each experience has taught me something different, but in the end they all connect: the camera is always there, and I’m learning to express myself through it — with words, with my body, or with emotions.
It’s funny because I feel like my longest relationship is with a camera, hahaha. But now I’m discovering it from a more authentic place, a place that feels more mine. The model and the actress don’t contradict each other: one gave me presence, the other is giving me voice and emotion. Together they’re helping me build who I am now.
I still have so much to do, learn, and build — and that excites me. Everything is still very uncertain, and I’m not in a hurry. When I started modeling, I felt pressure about age, about “having to work now,” but as an actress, there’s no limit: you interpret life itself, and life has people of all ages with all kinds of stories to tell.
Fur jacket and dress by H&M STUDIO, heels LARROUDÉ
In a world that constantly labels people, how would you define your artistic identity today?
I haven’t even dared define my artistic identity fully yet, because my art keeps evolving. To me, being an artist means exploring, expressing myself, and playing with identities and emotions I don’t always show. It’s a space where I can be authentic and vulnerable. This year I’ve been working hard on that — on exposing myself — because I think that vulnerability is the magic in the artists I admire and feel connected to. I’d love for that to be my core artistic identity: vulnerability. It’s also such a beautiful word.
I think what defines me is my curiosity to experiment and transform what I feel into something others can perceive. I love developing ideas, producing, and creating projects. Since I became a model, I always share my opinions, my tastes, what I want to do — I propose ideas, which isn’t super common for a model, but I do it for the pure pleasure of playing and having fun. That’s what I enjoy most, and I think it defines who I am as an artist.
Dress and jacket VINTAGE
Is there a role or a kind of story you’d love to play — something you feel especially connected to?
I’m open to everything. I’m still at the very beginning. I fantasize and imagine things, obviously. But for example, I’m very cheerful, I’m always smiling and joking around — I’m a zero-serious person… so I’d love to play the complete opposite, hahaha. Challenges are the fun part, and that’s why we do what we do: to step out of what we already know, that safe space, and explore what we don’t.
Dress and jacket VINTAGE
If you could talk to Alicia from a few years ago, what would you tell her about the moment you’re living now?
Oh. Even the Alicia from a few months ago — that girl knew nothing, she had no idea of the twists life was about to bring. But everything that happens brings us here: emotional crises, identity crises, work, finances… everything.
You always, always have to trust the process. Having people who love you, support you, and hold you makes everything more bearable.
I’d tell her to feel comfortable with herself and to find the courage to fail. I’m allowing myself to do that a lot lately. And not to try to understand who she is all the time, because often it’s much more useful to know what you can do… and do it, like Hercules.
Fur jacket and dress by H&M STUDIO
What excites you most about the future? Where would you like your work to evolve?
I’m excited by not knowing, and by new challenges. I don’t want to miss the doors that are open for me because I’m too focused on the one that’s closed. Learning new things excites me. Meeting new people. The connections I make with people are the things that excite me most in my life and in my work.
I’d like my work to evolve into something good that makes people’s lives easier, and something that helps me enjoy and appreciate life — its details, its beauty, its pain. It’s all intertwined. And for the first time in my life, I’ve let go of so many expectations, and my dreams have evolved into something more — something more human, more about living and feeling everything, rather than material things. And it has everything to do with where I am now. I think the real “plot” of being alive is nothing more than feeling everything and living fully.
Fur jacket and dress by H&M STUDIO, heels LARROUDÉ
Photography by Julen Martin for VEIN MAGAZINE
