Actor is a Profession of Endless Discoveries

I make the daily choice to be an actor because it opens me to life, love, and the range of human experience. I am always actively observing to greater understand people and ensure no moment is wasted that could be used to learn and draw from. This shift in my mode of living since I started acting has given me a much greater appreciation of our world and my place in it. It makes me a more empathetic and authentic person who seeks love and acceptance. I owe the people whose stories and identities I borrow from to keep these ideas in mind while I work and to continue pushing the limits of what I am capable of so they may be best represented.

The work I am most passionate about requires a dedicated and trusting ensemble. My artistic goal in theater is to celebrate the act of live creation. Every acting choice my scene partners make will be explored, reacted to, and played with. Together, with joyful abandon and without fear of failure, we will unlock the truth of the scene. When working from love and mutual trust with an ensemble, the search for truth is endless. This is one of the greatest assets of theater! While other artists lose the opportunity to improve their work upon release, actors can keep making theirs better all the way through closing night. I always continue the pursuit and let myself be made anew through endless discovery, failure, and recovery until the end.

These last two years have been especially formulating in my desire to spend my life as an actor. I moved to New York City, sought out collaborators who also seek endless discovery, and began my gender transition. Transitioning has redefined my connection with art and the world. In this sociopolitical landscape we transgender people are treated more like issues and numbers than humans, and art is the best way I know how to combat this sentiment.

To care for my community, I volunteer at the transgender cell block of Rikers Island where I help incarcerated transgender people write scripts and then perform their writing alongside them. This program is one of the highlights of my acting career and a reminder of what theater created with love can look like. For the students, the program is a respite and, in some cases, the start of a lasting passion for art.

To care for myself, I choose to be my greatest activist. I do not even mean in a political sense, but in that I will only audition for and accept roles that are going to be exciting and challenging for me and not do a disservice to my community. Some of my most challenging productions were: Untitled American Flag Craft Project, for which I performed a 25-minute monologue with, to put it lightly, very loose syntax while redesigning the American flag; The Rover, which was performed in the nude in Prospect Park, Brooklyn; Serials, a continuing series at The Flea theater in TriBeCa that’s written, rehearsed, and performed in one week.

I have been in a constant state of developing my artistic form since I started acting and in the past two years, I became a happier person and better artist than ever. The decision to put this life on pause in pursuit of an MFA is not made lightly, but I know it is the best way to ensure the work I make for the rest of my life is the best it can be. I have worked with many Juilliard alumni while in NYC and through observing their work ethic, the ease with which they work, and discussing the program, I know I want to join their ranks. The rigor of their coursework and opportunity to study other disciplines like playwriting and poetry turns them into fully capable artists with a scope that goes beyond acting. While my journey of discovery is a lifelong pursuit, I cannot think of anything to kickstart it more than four years at Juilliard.

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