The Kid in that Commerical

Growing up in L.A., the daughter of parents in (as much as I hate this expression) “The Biz”, naturally I wanted in. From as far back as I can remember I wanted to act and had plenty of opportunities to do so growing up in this town.

When I was 7, my mom and I went to visit my dad on the set of one of the TV shows he was working on. The casting director suggested that I audition for a role she thought I would be perfect for. I went up against some seasoned 7 year olds (that’s right, kids that had been working for years, including the little tap dancing girl that was in all the Tang commercials). I booked the part (tap dancing Tang girl ended up as my understudy) and from that point on I was certain that I wanted to be an actor. My parents did not encourage me to pursue this career. They had their concerns. Nonetheless, they allowed me to pursue it on occasion.

By the time I was in college, still thinking I wanted to be an actor. I signed up for a course called Acting For The Camera. Literally within the first 15 minutes of class I saw myself on camera and that was it, my dreams were forever crushed. As an adult I had way too much self-awareness to even feel remotely comfortable anymore.

So, where do you go from here? Well, hell - managing actors!
I starting working for a small, start-up management company and I really liked it for a while. With all the acting classes I had taken throughout my childhood and with my love of it all, I could certainly recognize and scout talent.

The only problem was that nobody had heard of our little company and my best client was a former sitcom star, whose latest role was that of an alcoholic. When she wasn’t hung over and could rise to the occasion and book the job it was profitable, but more often then not, it was a disaster.

One afternoon while on a lunch break I met my friend Leni for a quick shopping trip at a local thrift store. We saw Drew Barrymore buying bags and bags of stuff. When I returned to the office I mentioned it to my boss and she said, “I hope you gave her your card, she doesn’t have a manager you know? “ I thought, ummm she has CAA and her own production company, why would she need us? Yeah, I was pretty much over that company from that point on, finished up the contract I had signed and got out as fast as I could.

Where to now? Casting! Paycheck every week (when working) whether or not the actor booked the job. Casting is what I have been doing since 2002. I love it!