Today we’d like to introduce you to Brianna Roy.
Brianna, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born in Arizona as the fourth child of six kids. Being a middle child caused me to develop an eccentric personality and I learned to get the attention I craved with my wit and charm. I would perform for my friends and was always speaking in funny voices and acting as different characters. From the age of seven, I was completely engrossed by the tv show, “Mad TV.” I would stay up till ten o’clock and even brave watching, “The X-Files” until it would finally come on. I idolized the actors on the screen who were so funny and I dreamed of the day I could do what they did. As I grew, I learned to approach everything through a humorous lens and was able to overcome a lot of my personal issues by looking at them comically. I also learned that being an actor or a comedian wasn’t very practical. So, I decided to follow a practical course for my future. During high school, I was an honor student and was involved in almost every extracurricular activity-including drama. I loved performing and dressing up, but I also knew that drama was just a hobby.
When I finished high school, I went to the U of A for a year majoring in Microcellular Biology although, at the time, I wasn’t actually sure what I wanted to do with that degree. After a year in college, I dropped out. I didn’t see the point in wasting my time and money pursuing something I wasn’t sure about. I decided to just focus on myself and learn what my passion was. All my life, I had always had people tell me how funny I was or that I should be a stand-up comedian. Then one day, it hit me- I didn’t have to be practical. I could literally pursue whatever I wanted. Once I threw practicality to the wind, I knew that I wanted to be a comedienne/actress. I dabbled in stand-up for a bit but decided I wanted to take classes. So, I signed up for improv classes at Unscrewed Theater. I immediately left stand-up behind and immersed myself in improv. I even met my very talented fiancee, Walter Temple during classes. I performed for a couple of years on a couple of different teams and am currently performing with the team Leaky Faucets. I was still pursuing acting, but I was making a lot of excuses for not submitting to films and commercials such as, “I’m building my resume,” and “I don’t even have a headshot.”
That all changed after going on a life-changing cruise and seeing so many other performers chasing their dreams, I realized I had to stop making excuses. When I got back to the mainland, I wrote my resume and got my headshots. Since then, I have been in a number of commercials and print ads. I have had supporting roles in a variety of films and shorts. Right now, I’m filming a feature-length film that I’m not only starring in but also co-writing. I am also wrapping the filming of a horror film I’m acting in. I also teach Acting 101 classes with my fiancee at Film Actor Workshop. My fiancee and I also run a photography business called Ten Fifteen Photography. Since pushing myself forward and deciding to go after my dreams, I have had success after success and couldn’t be more happy with how everything has turned out. I am so excited for what the future holds.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am an actor both on and off stage. I not only tell stories with my art, I also help people deal with issues in their lives. When people see me performing on stage or in a film, I want them to connect with my character and see a bit of themselves in me. Maybe I portray a situation in which they’ve also found themselves and they realize they’re not alone in those situations. Seeing others in painful situations can be cathartic and I want people to see me encounter issues and realize they have the strength to encounter those same issues. I want to inspire people and be the reason they go towards their goals. Also, I like being the silver lining on people’s clouds. When people have had a bad day, I want to be the reason for them to smile. I like to be in dramas and comedies because I want to help people and I also want to make them laugh. I also would never want to put a ceiling on my development as an artist. I believe acting in both genres helps me to be a better actor in both genres.
Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
Most artists never even dare to go after their dreams because of the stigma of doing so. We’re so hardwired to believe that we all have to do everything the same way. We all need to get good grades and graduate high school so that we can get into college. Then, after college, we need to get a good, stable, high-paying job. Then we need to get married and have kids. Then we need to save up for a lifetime so we can retire and stop working. We’re taught that this is what we need to do to be successful and that if we stray from this, we’re doing something crazy. What’s really crazy though, is to live life according to someone else’s ideals. Most artists end up going after their dreams with little or no support from friends or family and that can be scary. It’s definitely not fun going after your dreams knowing that everyone around you thinks you’re crazy.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Many of my improv shows can be found on Youtube on Unscrewed Theaters channel. Also, people can see my work on my website, www.briannaroy.com. The movie I was in, “Hello, Are You There?” can be bought on dvd. I have a couple movies coming out at the end of 2019, one of which will be available on Amazon Prime. Everyone can keep up to date with me and my release dates on my upcoming projects by going to my facebook or my Instagram.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.briannaroy.com
- Email: broy@briannaroy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianna.roy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bmroy
Image Credit:
Ten Fifteen Photography; Avai Media; Patti Scanlon
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