Background

Performing “Moon Over Buffalo” at the International Thespian Festival with Garrett Coffey & Blaire Clause

Acting has been a part of my life since I was 11 years old.

In my 5th grade year at Lemm Elementary in Spring, TX, we were assigned a group decades project in Mrs. Robinson’s class. I was ecstatic to find out that my group had received the 80’s, a decade which I knew very well thanks to parents who were (and still are) believers that the 80’s gave us the best music of the century, no questions asked. I was the only member of my group who was enthusiastic about our lip sync performance of Video Killed the Radio Star. After all, it was my idea. When the song was over, and the other members of my group scurried to their seats in embarrassment, I was so happy to remain on stage and accept the crowd’s applause. As we walked out of class that day, Mrs. Robinson stopped me to ask if I’d chosen an elective for my first year in middle school. I shook my head no and told her I didn’t know what would be the best fit for me. A grin spread across her face as she said, “I think it’s theater.”

I guess you could say the rest is history. From there, I took 7 years of theater classes throughout middle and high school, establishing myself as not just someone who loved acting, but someone who also thrived in it. I performed in various community theater productions at Houston’s ACE Theatre and participated in Speech & Drama Club at Schindewolf Intermediate. I was a member of the National Thespian Society, secretary of the Drama Club at Klein Collins High School, and participated in nearly every show the KCHS theater department put on for the duration of my 4 years there. As the first freshman to ever receive a role in a main stage production and the first underclassman to be admitted into the Varsity Theatre Class, I was thrilled to be excelling at something I also loved to do.

After my graduation in 2009, I moved to Houston from the small suburb I grew up in and began taking acting classes with Deke Anderson at Next Level Acting Studios. There I began to hone my craft and took the difficult step of transitioning from stage to film acting. Deke’s class taught me so much about the business of Texas film and television, and also showed me that while I had achieved a lot in my young acting career, there was always room for improvement. It was my first time acting with adults who had careers, both big and small, as working actors. It was inspiring, challenging, and formative.

Production Still, “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”

In 2011, I felt a call to Austin, TX, a place that seemed perfect for a budding artist like myself. There, I found what I consider now to be my acting family. Step Rowe’s instruction at Keene Studios was life-changing, to say the least. She taught me how to harness the emotion of my own life experiences and use them in my performances. The result was a type of truly connected performance I had never achieved before. No longer was I running from the dark feelings and difficult emotions from my past. I was using them to heal while creating art in the process. Suddenly the thing I had been using to escape my life — acting — was shaping into the thing that made me truly appreciate living. Her method struck such a chord, I have been studying with her ever since. I have also been lucky enough to have found part-time work at the studio. There, the talented group of actors who also call Keene Studios home come together to create independent projects and support each other on this crazy journey. For this sense of community, endless inspiration, and passion for the craft, I will be forever grateful.

Over the course of my years as an actor in Austin, I have dabbled in work both in front of and behind the camera. In 2012 I was offered an internship at Beth Sepko Casting and Third Coast Extras and I became a part of the team shortly thereafter. During my time working with Beth, I took on the role of extras casting assistant, casting assistant, and extras casting coordinator, working on projects such as NBC’s Revolution and Transformers: Age of Extinction. There I learned so much about television and film production and made wonderful friendships that I cherish to this day.

As an actor, I am proudly represented by The Atherton Group (TAG), and have booked two national network television shows- El Rey Network’s From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series and HBO’s The Leftovers. In addition, I’ve participated in various independent passion projects as both cast and as crew. While I feel immensely proud of my on and off-screen accomplishments up to this point, I am excited about where this journey will take me next.

Acting is the basis of almost everything that I hold dear in my life today…

It’s not an overstatement to say that acting is the basis of almost everything that I hold dear in my life today. Without acting, I may have never met most of my very best friends. I might not have become open enough to embark on my life-changing journey into therapy and self-care. I even would not have met the love of my life- my boyfriend Mitch. No matter where this career as an actor takes me, I am humbled and appreciative of the many countless joys it has brought into my life.