Photographer Deidhra Fahey
How did you get started in acting? Who's your favorite actor or actress ?
I always knew I wanted to be an actress, and acting has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. We have home videos from when I was two-years-old of me performing different dance routines I would choreograph every night in front of my parents and sister. I love looking back at my baby dancing and acting videos.. That’s when my mom started taking me to dance classes. I’ve been dancing for a few years now and been competing with a dance company. I studied various dance styles like hip hop, jazz, lyrical, tap, contemporary and acro. I also took Aerial silk lessons.
I loved the feeling of performing in dance recitals in front of a big audience knowing that all eyes were on me watching me as I express myself on stage. It was so exciting and made me feel so good to hear the cheers from the crowd that it spiked my interest in being in front of the camera. So when I was around 5 years old I signed with a talent agency and started doing commercials, movies and tv shows. My first TV role was on the “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” - summer episode and my first commercial was “Disney Dream Big Princess” where I talked about my dream of becoming an astronaut, my views of the world and the importance of being inclusive, my dreams, my goals, my friends and even my family was part of the commercial.
My favorite actress is Zendaya. I’ve met her a few times and she’s always been so sweet and kind to me. I like her because she is such a talented successful actress that did not let her fame change her and stayed grounded, humble and kind. I think it’s very important to stay true to yourself and be kind no matter how famous you become.
What part did you play in the limited series "ANGELYNE"on Apple TV?
I play young Angelyne in the new limited series Angelyne on Peacock. Angelyne is a very well known figure in Los Angeles. Her nickname is “The Billboard Queen”. She put herself on many billboards all over Los Angeles because she wanted to be famous. She came up with this idea before there was any type of social media outlet to promote yourself.
Angelyne’s birth name was Rachel Goldman then she changed it to Renee Goldberg and then Angelyne.
I started filming in February 2020 but then in March we had to shut down because of the pandemic. I went back to filming on October 2021. I was so happy to be back on set and see all the familiar faces of the cast and crew come back to work on this incredible show.
For my character I had to wear a red hair wig so I went to a wig fitting before we started filming. I also went to an optometrist to get fitted for contact lenses because Angelyne had blue eyes. The makeup artists added a lot of freckles on my face, arms and legs, and also lightened my skin.
It was a very long process to transform into young Angelyne but I had a lot of fun hanging out with the hair and makeup artists while they were applying everything on me, so it was more fun than work.
I hope you watch me on the show and see the evolution of Angelyne from her younger years and what led to the turning point in her life and inspired her to become the bigger than life personality “Angelyne
What is your all time favorite movie?
My favorite movie is “The Grestest Showman”.
I loved how the actors expressed themselves in so many different ways like singing, dancing and acrobatics. I can appreciate their hard work and know what goes into creating such a a difficult routine because I am also a dancer, and I studied acrobatics and aerial silks for many years. I was so impressed with the physical abilities of the actors in the movie as well as their acting and singing skills. I loved the beautiful music and the colorful costumes, they were so creative. I can only imagine how much fun it would be to film on a movie set like this.
What inspires you in life?
My mother is my inspiration. She always supports and motivates me to achieve my goals. She always encouraged me to pursue my passions, stay true to myself and always put 100% of my energy into what Makes me happy. She thought me that doing what I enjoy in life will make me succeed. She also taught me to have a vision and dreams and inspired me to achieve my goals through hard work, focus and determination. Even when I have bad days, my mom is always there for me trying to make me feel better, stay positive and see the half glass full. My mom thought me to see the lesson behind a difficult situation and use it to make progress. My mom was a first Lieutenant and served 3 years in the Israeli army. She is also a lawyer in Israel and New York. I am strong minded, determined and hard working like my mom. These are just some of the reasons why my mom is my inspiration. I am fortunate to know I’ll always have my mom by my side trough good times and more challenging times and I know she will always love me unconditionally. It gives me the confidence that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to in life.
What would be your perfect role to play and who would be your co-star?
My perfect role to play would be a strong powerful inspirational superhero that does her own stunts and my co star would be Tom Cruise. I am very sporty, love challenges and fearless so I would love to show my skills and abilities with another star that is the same. The fact that he does his own stunts and he mastered the art of portraying the characters in the movies he is in so well is what makes him my dream co star because I strive to be the same. I am very disciplined, hard working and determined to accomplish every task that is put in front of me and I see the same qualities in his performances. I have done some research about him and have learned that he puts a lot of effort into studying his character, rehearsals, practices, and in the overall preparations for the projects he is in. I know it takes a village to make a project successful but I also know that so many people rely on your abilities as an actor so I want to show my qualities in many different challenging ways.
What advice can you give to rising young actors?
The advice that I would give young actors would be to never give up on your dreams even when it gets difficult and you don’t book a job fast.
I had so many auditions and I memorized so many scripts before I booked my first job. It is a lot of hard work, focus, dedication and time consuming but if you truly like it then it’s all worth it. To me it feels like second nature and not work. The feeling when you book a job makes it all worthwhile. I would also tell young actors to have other interests and hobbies. I play volleyball on a traveling team, I dance and surf and I always make time to hung out with my friends and just be a normal kid. If you have a good balance you won’t feel like you are sacrificing your childhood to be an actor and you won’t feel like you are missing out on anything.
Keep believing in yourself and always give it your best effort.
But most importantly is to always stay true to yourself and do what makes YOU happy!!
Do you have any other projects you'd like to mention?
I am in the process of working on some cool projects but nothing I can discuss yet so stay tuned.
What are you social media links?
My Instagram is @OliviaJellen
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