Have You Seen It?
Has my face interrupted your candycrush flow with an in-game ad? #sorrynotsorry. As avid readers will tell you, over the summer I booked my first commercial. I’ve been given even more reason to never shut-up about it because now my face is out and about promoting the educational app from America’s favorite textbook company McGraw Hill.
Much like the Duolingo Owl or those Grammerly pop-ups, my face will be a constant reminder that you could be studying instead of autoplaying youtube videos until you fall asleep. Just look at my softly lit purple bedroom and confident, knowing smile. Don’t you want a purple bedroom reminiscent of your polypocket playset? Download the Sharpen app.
Jokes aside, I’m honored to represent one of the biggest educational companies making a move to participate in the digital age. Education has always been front and center in my life and it’s perfectly fitting that this breakthrough role represent that value. I’ve heard from many a coach and teacher that some of your first roles as an actor will be slightly to the left or right of who you naturally are. This is pretty much center. I always had my face buried in a book through lunch, passing periods, homeroom. I collected pens and agenda-books that represented each subject of the semester. As grueling as school could be, I got giddy over the look and feel of a freshly printed essay. I write as if I don’t do these things today. Even steeped into my creative career in the city, one of the most centering things I do for myself is to learn something new. Historical or scientific podcasts are qued on my spotify before every subway ride. Four books currently sit on my desk that I am reading simultaneously. This monday I am jumping into a new weekly acting studio class where I can once again break down a script with the same attention to detail I’d pour into my medieval history course in college. As that course conoincided with the start of the pandemic, truly no one was expecting a great effort on zoom. However digging into the gruesome and religiously zealous past of Europe was one of those survival activities that kept me sane in lockdown. Being a passionate student and continuing my studies at home kept me anchored.
Unlike having a reliable syllabus, being an actor is near complete creative chaos. The seemingly random bookings and sheer number of competitors is mind boggling. On a recent call with casting directory Ramani Leah, she laid out the truth that on any given project, she has two hours to sort through 10,000 actors, to submit 7 to the director. With those statistics, an actor in their early career has no choice but adopt inner peace or quit. Somedays my peace comes from knowing I’m going back to class for two months at one of the top New York training studios, Stella Adler. Somedays I find peace in writing. Whether it’s these Forest Friends blogs, music, or my short film. (If you’ve read this far, congrats, you’re the first to know outside of my team.)
Stay studying ~ Forest Friends.
