Born and raised in Los Angeles, performing has been a part of my life since the first grade. While I have a soft spot for Musical Theater, my time at Emerson College introduced me to film work, which has blossomed a whole new artistic passion for acting. While performing fuels me, a part of my brain continues to entice me into writing and directing, two fields I’m eager to dive into further. On my off hours, you can find me training parkour, creating fine art, and singing a bit too loudly in my car!
Film/Television
After working on a dozen student projects at Emerson college, film and television work continues to be a top pursuit of mine. I recently had the pleasure of acting in Season 3, Episode 4 of The Shortlist: Halloween Collection called “Take Me To Your Party” on The Roku Channel. In addition to this film, I just wrapped up filming three different short films: Episode 51, a lighthearted comedic short about a lost episode of TV, Growing Greed, a drama about fake Covid tests, and To Be An Item, a romantic drama. In addition to these pieces, A Still Life, which is a drama about two artist brothers, is set to release in the near future.
While my history in Film doesn’t go back nearly as far as theater, I’ve had much more recent experience with it than before. In all the films at Emerson College that I’ve worked on, I’ve learned a lot about the style of acting required for camera work, how to prepare for a film shoot, and what it’s like to be on a set. As I’ve gotten closer to graduation, I’ve been able to use my experience to help hand the torch over to the next generation of students.
Outside of school, I’ve also gotten a bit of experience working on professional sets. My first experience was way back in eighth grade, when I had the pleasure of working with Todrick Hall and Shoshana Bean on the music video “Runaway Train.” Past that, I got to work on a horror short film for Pavel Wine called The Encampment, and a goofy Halloween short film Take Me To Your Party for The Roku Channel. For this project, I played Hotdog, who shows up to a party with his best friend, who’s dressed as an alien. But when a real alien shows up, we’re not sure whether it’s here to destroy us, or just to party. Check out it out here to find out what happens!
Theater
Theater continues to be one of my greatest pleasures. In addition to auditioning, I frequently engage in personal practice scene study work. I’m drawn to building intriguing characters with an underlying sense of realism, and I’ve recently been playing with devised physical theater, contemporary comedies, and the works of Anton Chekhov. I also recently got the pleasure of playing Doug in Gruesome Playground Injuries, fulfilling one of my dream roles! I thrive when I get to be goofy on stage, but I’ll never shy away from a juicy serious moment. In addition to acting, I take vocal lessons from Jared Gertner in order to fuel my musical theater kick. After all, it all began in musical theater.
Growing up, I wanted to do everything my older brother was doing. So when he joined the Metropolitan Educational Theater Network (MET2), I soon found my first grade self in a production of Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as the titular role of a dancing pig. Thank goodness too, because if I hadn’t headlined this first show of mine, who knows if I would have kept up with acting!
Luckily for me, my five minutes of stage time hooked me for life, and I hadn’t even said a line yet! In fact, my first speaking role came a bit later in second grade when we did Seussical. I was given the role of Who Child 1, a small town kid who says one line to the Grinch about Christmas. And let me tell you… I had never been more nervous in my life! Seven year old me ran up to my director, Alison Bretches, screaming and crying over how scared I was to say my line. I was so scared that I had to drop the part right then and there, but look how far I’ve come now!
While my first part wasn’t the smoothest journey, I soon was given opportunity after opportunity to perform on stage and develop my craft. When middle school came, I began traveling with MET2 to perform in other cities, doing around four shows a year now. Soon after, I applied to join MET2’s student teaching volunteer program, where my acting knowledge increased exponentially. I stayed with this program throughout high school, teaching dances, scenes, and music to the rest of the cast as I continued to perform as well. Teaching helped bring a level of awareness towards detailing that I hadn’t processed before, one that only made the action of acting that much more delicious!
While MET2 provided me with the fundamental theatrical skills, I continued to develop my craft throughout my time in public school as well. In both middle school and high school, I was involved in every single production doing more than just acting. I was building sets, designing the makeup, choreographing, helping with microphones, and much more. I greatly appreciate all of my educators and collaborators growing up; I would not be pursuing a career in the arts if it weren’t for the overwhelming support of my teachers.
Speaking of pursuing a career in the arts, I attended Emerson College in 2019 in pursuit of a degree in Theater Design and Technology. Makeup became a big part of my life ever since I started doing it for my middle school theater. Throughout high school, I continued to makeup design shows, eventually going on to win a National Youth Arts Award for it. So arriving at Emerson, makeup was to be my focus. However… that didn’t last long.
Within my first week, I realized that I should try to spend the rest of my life doing something I’m the most passionate about. Thus, I quickly changed majors into Theater and Performance before joining the BFA Acting Program, an ensemble studio program for Junior and Senior year. Throughout my time at Emerson College, I’ve learned so much and have made exponential progress. Learning from brilliant artists such as Timothy Douglas, Bill Irwin, Nathaniel Justiniano, Nicole Lewis, Ted Hewlett, and many more has been the privilege of a lifetime. I’m immensely appreciative for their generosity and the vast knowledge thrown at me throughout my four years. Theater and all its disciplines remains squeezed up next to my heart, just where it should be.
Writing/Directing
Past all of that acting stuff, there’s much more to me than just playing pretend! Within the realm of entertainment, writing has always been something that feels natural to me. I recently made my directorial debut on a short film I wrote and produced through Emerson’s student run production company EIV. It’s called Labyrinth of Mine, and it’s the first film project I’ve ever created. It’s a psychological thriller about Marcy, who’s new boyfriend Mark just cast her in his new film. But when filming begins, the line between reality and fiction blurs, forcing us as the audience to recognize our role in Marcy’s inevitable downfall. I had a ton of fun making this film, and I learned loads of valuable knowledge regarding what it takes to make a movie.
I continue to write screenplays in my free time, and I’m currently working on an assortment of parkour oriented concepts. I just recently finished my first draft of a feature film currently titled Sole, which follows two world class parkour brothers as they strive to be the first to complete a glorious new death-defying stunt.
Parkour
Moving away from the entertainment sphere, I also love training parkour/freerunning. Parkour is a sport that originated in France in the 1990’s that combines elements of gymnastics, tricking, and martial arts into its own wide variety of movement. It primarily takes place outside in an urban environment, but it’s all about efficiently and effectively expressing yourself through movement. It involves lots of jumping, vaulting, flipping, and swinging. While it’s a very physical sport, the largest battle is always mental. Parkour athletes often battle fear, as overcoming such an obstacle is a liberating feeling. It’s dancing with walls.
I first started when I was ten, took a break for a few years, and then began coaching at a local gymnastics gym. It’s at this gym that I have elevated my training, and where I’ve continue to coach children for the last seven years. While I got started in the gym, the sport takes place properly outside in the urban environment. I frequently meet up with the local parkour community for weekly outdoor training sessions. It’s a great sport where you’re able to meet and interact with people from all over the world, all engaging in the love of movement.
Art
I love a wide variety of artistic mediums: sketching, painting, charcoal, pastel, pen and ink, and more. I’ve been practicing since the second grade, but now I just do it for fun! You can often see me carrying around a sketchbook and doodling throughout my downtime. Sometimes I re-create artworks, other times I start from scratch. Here are a few of my favorite pieces!
