We recently connected with Leilany Celeste and have shared our conversation below.

Leilany, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

Having just graduated NYU Tisch School of the Arts in May 2023, I had left school feeling prepared and confident in my ability to take the training instilled in me at Stonestreet Studios into the professional world. Years of building my craft had developed me as an artist, but here we were in November and the SAG strike was ongoing. I was nervous, unsure, and eager to prove myself. About a week later, I received the greatest news of my newly-formed professional life: I booked a co-star on Law & Order: SVU — my TV debut!

Full of excitement and pure bliss, I stepped onto set confident in my abilities. I wasn’t prepared for how chaotic and quick the environment felt, but I found my footing nonetheless. Throughout my week of filming, I vowed to treat everyone with kindness, respect, and walk into every room with a big smile. In that, I succeeded. I became friends with the makeup/hair department, PAs, sound, lighting, and even the writers whom I greeted with gratitude and professionalism. The entire episode (S25 E1) was themed around water which meant that my character’s (Tanya Garcia) scenes involved lots of wet elements. For one scene, I had to be drenched in water and put in a soaking duffel bag. I remember feeling frigid and had to use every ounce of strength in me to hold back shivers when the director called “Action!”. By the end of the day, I felt accomplished but exhausted.

On my last day of filming, we were shooting a press conference scene outdoors at night underneath tall rain machines in 30 degree weather. Everyone was given an umbrella except for my character, and as a result, half of my body was soaked after just one take. I told myself that I could handle it, but then the actor who plays Chief McGrath, Terry Serpico, stopped the set to point out that I didn’t have a coverage from the rain. The crew then worked to make sure I didn’t get as wet as last time. Unfortunately, with the way the sprinklers were angled, my body was still getting wet from the knees down. I was freezing.
I sat in the warming van with a couple other actors waiting for the crew to finish turning the set around. I kept squeezing some hand warmers hoping they would do the trick, but my body and clothes were just too wet. The part that hurt the most were my toes; I stopped feeling them after a while from being soaked inside my shoes. I kept quiet, but Terry was aware of my discomfort. When we were called back to set, he told wardrobe that I needed a new pair of socks because I’d been standing in wet ones for over an hour. Immediately I was given new socks, but while I was trying to change, the director wanted to start rolling; I wasn’t even on set yet, but I held firm and took my 30 seconds to change! Finally, after a small rush, I got there and we got the takes we needed.

When I ended up back in the van, Terry gave me advice that I’ll never forget: he told me that I have to advocate for myself and speak up. He was so kind in his delivery and reminded me that sets like those always move insanely quickly, and if I don’t stand up for myself, no one else will. After this long talk, we parted ways and I went back to my trailer.

2 months later, I found out that they wanted me back as a recurring character for Season 25 of SVU, and this time, I was prepared…

Here’s what I learned at my first professional job:
1. Always be kind and appreciative. There wasn’t a moment on set where I didn’t say “thank you” for even the littlest things, and on my last day, I wrote personalized thank you notes to some of the crew who made an impact on me.
2. Be prepared and professional. It was a jarring experience being on such a huge set that moved at a speedy pace, but I had done enough preparation beforehand for my scenes that I felt confident in my ability to handle the unknown of each day.
3. Humanize the industry. I took the time to talk to the writers, makeup artists, grips, sound guys, etc. and learned about them. I even shared laughs with them, and I credit my ability to be so ‘human’ on set with their invitation for me to come back.
4. (the most important one) Advocate for yourself! It’s true that most of these shows are well-oiled machines and everyone is focused on the bigger picture, but it’s never an excuse to sacrifice your comfort and safety. If Terry had never spoken up on my behalf on set that day, the cold might’ve caused real damage to my body. I’m forever grateful for those moments where he taught me to look out for myself, and I hope to pass it on.

Leilany, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hai everyone! My name is Leilany Celeste and I’m a NYC-based actress who recently graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. For 2 years, I studied and trained at Stonestreet Studios where I developed my love and craft for Film/TV acting. In my last semester, I received the “Outstanding Achievement in Studio” award from studio head Alyssa Rallo Bennett and Tisch dean Allyson Green at the 25th annual Drama Awards. Now, I have the honor of being cast in projects such as Law & Order: SVU, The Equalizer, and FBI.

I started acting when I was about 8 years old after watching an episode of Suite Life of Zack and Cody; I pointed to the screen and told my mom I wanted to do that. She enrolled me in classes at New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts where I learned improv comedy, drama, and even dabbled in musical theatre. I knew fairly quickly that I wanted to pursue this as a career and soon after signed with my first agent and booked my first SAG project. Afterwards, it was 8 years of trials and tribulations – many a staple of being an artist: I doubted myself, didn’t take it seriously, felt insecure, and thought about quitting multiple times. If it wasn’t for my father pushing me to be better and giving me tough love, I would’ve dropped my dream and kept walking.

I auditioned for NYU’s Drama BFA and almost stopped breathing when I opened the email that said I got accepted. I trained for 2 years at the Experimental Theatre Wing during covid and then transferred over to their film/tv residency program. There, I learned all the details of a set and became versed in all things silver screen. Through that program, I signed with my manager ChiChi from Chi Talent Management and started auditioning again. Finally, after 8 years, I booked my second job on SVU, and my career has been on an incline ever since!

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

When it comes to my craft, I wanted to grow on a spiritual faith basis and build a concrete foundation to always feel inspired. I stumbled upon Jack Canfield’s book The Success Principles, and it radically changed how I viewed success. I became much more aware of my thinking and learned about the value of positive brain waves. What you think creates your reality, and that book is a testament to that. There’s exercises and viewpoints that allowed me to see my career as something I can take control of, and it was unbelievably empowering.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I’m a firm believer that art makes the world go round. We are creatures who are always on the search for a higher meaning; we want to push the limits of what we thought we knew. That’s how we created just about everything that was invented: someone had to believe there could be better and then acted upon that belief. So for me, it’s always rewarding to see a group of artists, in a career they were told wasn’t stable, make names for themselves and thrive. The challenge with pursuing art is the pushback from the rest of the 9 to 5 world. We’re not taken seriously, so when I see a group of creatives challenge the world or create something together, the solidarity inspires me to continue on my own pursuit. it’s powerful!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leilanyceleste?igsh=MjN6eG1qaHFlemoy&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069265265300&mibextid=LQQJ4d
• IMDB: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm13656865/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_0_nm_2_q_leilany%2520celeste