One of the biggest lessons I have been learning in college is how important it is to prioritize experiencing the world as a human, not just a performer. We are surrounded by stories, and immersing myself in the adventure of living out stories of my own has made me a better artist. I am an extremely passionate person who loves a lot of things and loves each of them very hard. In addition to an adoration for acting, here are some of the other things that make up who I am:
Before I decided that I wanted to spend my life performing, I spent the majority of my time playing sports. Growing up, I think I tried playing almost every sport that I could. My favorite was always soccer. I played competitive soccer in the Houston heat for 13 years before I chose to focus on performing arts. Despite not competing anymore, I spent every fall of my high school years as a volunteer coach for the local recreational soccer teams, where I coached my younger sister's team alongside my dad. Nothing builds confidence and teaches you about standing up for yourself more than taking part in the soccer-dad’s-youth-recreational-league-draft-night at . Some of my highest highs and lowest lows have been experienced on a field or the sidelines of one. So many foundational aspects of who I am- my drive for success, emphasis on the importance of collaboration, and inability to ever quit even when circumstances get difficult- were established through my experiences as part of these teams.
As a college student, I still have the same level of emotional investment in soccer as I did when I was a player, which I express through watching the sport. So many of my friendships are forged through A) sharing the pain of rooting for the same team or B) playful yet honest banter with people who wish nothing but the worst for my team. Being a part of a team and being a part of a cast both build community over sharing common passions and goals, which is why I think I have been drawn to both worlds.
When I have the opportunity, I still try to find ways to immerse myself in the atmosphere that being at a live sporting event can foster. This past month, I served as a guest experience representative at the Formula One Miami Grand Prix. Formula One is another sport I devoutly watch and share numerous friendships through, and getting to see the passion and energy that goes into this event will be something that I will never forget. Sports, like film and theatre, are a collection of stories that are being displayed out in front of you, and seeing the potential these stories have to connect and inspire people is something that fuels me.
I do have a team that I root for for almost every sport, but in case you don’t like that team, I don’t want to sway your opinion of me before we get a chance to work together. If you’re interested in knowing, then I look forward to discussing it with you during lunch breaks on set!
There is nothing that makes me happier than connecting with new people and experiencing the world. I want to spend every day of my entire life doing both in any way that I can. Traveling has always been a huge thing for my family. So many of our trips growing up were the result of someone last-minute saying, “What if we went (insert somewhere we have never once expressed interest in going to),” and then rushing to find a way to make it all work in less than a few weeks. From weeks of road tripping to full days of our lives being spent on an airplane, our holiday breaks have never been casual. An appreciation for adventure and learning was something that my parents strived to make sure that I always had. There is so much that you can gain from stepping foot somewhere that you have never been before, and I am striving to re-learn that lesson as many times in my life as I can. Acting is an art form that pushes you to understand your character, and doing that requires a level of empathy and openness that comes from being exposed to ideas that are different from your own. Every person has a collection of their own stories, and as a storyteller, I am addicted to learning new ones.
Currently, I am preparing to backpack Europe with my friend Natalie, which I could not be more excited for. So far, we have one backpack, one on the way, a train pass, and a plan to begin in Porto and end in London. Everything else in between is all part of the adventure, and I cannot wait to see where in the world we end up (literally).
When I am not performing, I still love to find other avenues to be involved in developing projects and spend time on set. I have worked multiple crew positions on independent short films, with experience ranging from Assistant Camera to Producer. The experience of watching a project come to life from its initial conception to actual production days is an incredibly rewarding experience.
My adoration for being on set actually began for me in middle school, back before I ever took my first acting class and was still playing competitive soccer. When I was a kid, there was a community theatre that did a 2-week summer camp where kids would rehearse a show before performing it for an audience at the end of the program. I had multiple friends who were signed up for this camp, so my 12-year-old self with no experience onstage outside of school talent shows, wanted to be there. When I told my parents this, they jokingly replied: “Get a job.” This sentence is responsible for changing the trajectory of my life.
That day I typed into YouTube “how to be an actor,” which led me to a video of someone explaining their experience as a background performer on ‘Stranger Things’ and how they got that opportunity. I immediately visited the website they shared and applied for every background opportunity that was casting someone in my age range. The next week, I told my parents that I had followed their instructions and “gotten a job” as an extra, and that we needed to be in Atlanta, Georgia, for two days that upcoming week. That’s what led to my mom and me driving 12 hours from Texas to Georgia.
My experience on this set blew my mind. I had always loved watching movies, but had no idea about the process that went into making them. Getting to see actors rehearse with the director, the camera, stunt choreography, and numerous crew members, was unbelievable. After two days of absorbing as much as I could about this process, I knew that I wanted to spend as many days of my life as possible in this environment. I started taking every opportunity I could to participate in theatre at school, and a few years later I began taking acting classes.
My first set!!!
The desire to spend as much time on set as possible has not left me since the first time I stepped foot on one. I am fortunate that there is such a strong community of student filmmakers at my college, so I have had the pleasure of exploring the different positions required to successfully make a film.
Beyond filmmaking, I have also grown to be inspired by other facets of the performing arts in addition to performing. I love to do BTS photography and support my friends on their projects. One of my best friends, Isabella, is an incredibly talented musical artist who recently introduced me to the world of music production. I have spent hours with her in the studio observing her in her element, and through this experience and experiences like it, my love for the process of creating stories has grown. There truly are limitless mediums to convey a story. I am currently trying to indulge in every avenue of storytelling that I can to enable myself to be as fulfilled and well-rounded creatively as possible. Some of my current endeavors include trying to learn the electric guitar and working on my own screenplays. I try to draw inspiration for my own art, specifically my performance art, from as many places as possible, and I am so grateful to be surrounded by so many inspiring creatives who fuel my passion with their own.
Art History
I took one AP Art History course in high school, and it has been a foundational part of my personality ever since.
Physical art has never been something that I am naturally good at, which I believe is why I admire it so much. As I have said many, many times on this website before, I love storytelling, and both art and art history have some of the most fascinating stories. The idea that someone poured so much of themselves into every individual detail of a work of art is so inspiring to me. There is so much care that is required to create artwork of any form, and thinking about how much devotion was poured into the piece in front of you is something that constantly amazes me. Beyond the artwork itself, learning about someone who invested so much of themselves into crafting a physical piece of work that transcends lifetimes makes for some of the most interesting stories.
One of my favorite places to be is a museum. Everywhere that I travel, I try to find a museum to visit because they are such a source of inspiration. There are numerous components and processes I use when crafting a character, and one that I love is attaching pieces of artwork to the character that I think either represents them or they would like. Besides this, art history is an aspect of myself that is largely detached from acting, but it still is something that brings me a lot of joy and felt worth sharing on a webpage about things that make up who I am.
Star Wars
If there’s anything that you need to know about me, it’s that I can connect every moment of my life in some way to Star Wars. Yes, this is a very important part of who I am. I have no memory of my life from before I was watching Star Wars, and a big reason I want to be an actress is to tell stories that reach people in a way that this franchise does.
My whole life, I have loved media that builds extravagant worlds: from books and music to plays and movies. I am someone who becomes very invested in whatever I am watching, and I almost never stop liking that thing even years later. Growing up, I adored every franchise I was ever exposed to, and I would attach to the themes and characters I was watching as if that story had been made specifically for me to experience. Star Wars was the beginning of understanding just how much a single idea could grow, and the way a theatrical experience could bring people together while simultaneously having an individual effect on every viewer. The idea of millions of people having a shared investment in a fictional story that changes each of their individual lives is beautiful. I want to be a part of these stories that have a unique impact for each viewer, just like they have always had an impact on me.
Also, it would be a dream to do lightsaber training for a role. Just putting that out there.
What’s new?
Spanish
I am currently devoting some time every day to study Spanish. There are so many people in my life that are fluent, and that motivates me to learn as well. Also, a few of the stops on the backpacking trip I mentioned above are in Spain, so I am aiming to become a conversational speaker by the time of the trip.
Rock Climbing
This is one sport that I never did much when I was younger, but I feel like I am seeing it everywhere now. This quickly became a favorite hobby for my friends and I to do. I am still just a solid V2 climber, but I am very very determined to get good (even though the callouses on my hands and bruises from falling say otherwise).
Sailing
One day I had a spare few hours between classes and for some reason my school had a 2 hour sailing workshop available, so I did that on a whim. Now I have access to the school sailboats, a strong adoration for pirate movies, and a desire to be good at sailing.