We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful CJ Walker. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with CJ below.

CJ, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In my mind, my first risk was deciding I wanted to experience the world. It’s a big scary place, especially when you are fresh out of high school. I think I realised I wanted to try something new while I was in university and college and the wonder of having more choices in life than I had ever considered sparked the idea of something totally left field. No-one in my family was immediately in the entertaining business, they’d all been accountants or insurers or event coordinators or managers or sales executives and so in trying to find out who I was, it meant stepping away from the any idea of what I had been shown. And so, in lulls during my desk job, already a year in, I applied for film roles, officially a part time dreamer, part time medical receptionist.

My next small risk was pursuing a new name. CJ is my initials of my first and middle name and it represents so much to me as both an artist and as a stage name. Originally I wanted name separation from my real’ life and the possibility of acting as I didn’t tell my family for six and a half months out of fear that I would be a failure. Funnily enough it allowed space to find myself as a new adult and is now what I am almost exclusively called even amongst family and friends. I also share it with Madam CJ Walker who was the first female millionaire in America, and is a woman whom has such an inspiring legacy that I can’t help but feel empowered and grounded in values like respect, inclusion and kindness.

So, I hadn’t ever considered acting, until I was an adult. It was a complete fluke, I’d never even done anything like it but I’d give it a try and when I got in front of the camera for the first time something clicked. Shortly after that I booked my first film role. It was a supporting role in an overseas tv series in 2024 that I filmed entirely within a green room in Sydney, Australia. I was a detective, and in a passable British accent I had my first taste of something new. In that same year I did 23 other projects mostly short films and then I booked my first vertical role in Nov 2024.

It was January 2025 that I got the offer that would project me into international waters, and so as a fresh adult, I journeyed alone into Asia to lead my first international vertical project. I have since filmed in Asia more that 10+ other times. Now I am so fortunate and extremely grateful I can travel the world and pursue wonder in all my roles.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hello all! I’m CJ, a young Australian actor and model who has worked internationally across Australia, America, UK, Asia and Europe. I walked 2025 London Fashion Week, and was a titled 2024 National Model. I am both a horizontally and vertically experienced actor. In the vertical space, ( verticals can also be called micro-dramas) I have works that have been viewed by hundreds of millions of people.

For my whole life, I have always been an artist, and forever been a storyteller. As a small child I did ballet, then growing up I played netball for 25 seasons, going on to play for the state, before my injury at 17, took me away from the court. Both sports created a ground for intensity, dedication and connection to my body which I am so grateful for. I still love recreational dance, especially if I can find a studio during production.

During high school I pursued both visual arts and extension english which have heavily shaped my creative journey as I exhibited my ceramic work in 2024 and will be working towards publishing my book in my downtime. On set I often have a watercoloring palette and a notebook with me and more recently I have been in conversation for an album release which is completely surprising as I began writing lyrics for personal expression and clarity and now am on the way to sharing my experiences with the world!

Professionally, I am accustomed to intense hours of work and there is nowhere else I would rather be. I love every second. I am often on set for 16-20hrs a day, and even prior to that I am uniquely adapted to 6-9hr fitting days where I also love bonding with my wardrobe teams. I can memorise lines instantly but have a love for a deep dive into a script, I have led on projects with scripts 150+ pages long, and shot in less than 10 days, which is a massive demand and yet one I thrive to achieve. In production, I love working with directors to create clarity between the writing and the character and always enjoy the moments of creation that flourish when on set.

I have been fortunate enough to have learnt skills in basic stunting including stunt driving car crashes, body balcony falls, body staircase falls, frontal car body crashes, sugar glass fight scenes and more. I have experience in intimacy roles, and am always happy to facilitate delicate scenarios for everyone’s comfortability. I have experience in heavy SFX and wigs, once spending 4 hours in prep for body paint alone. I am willing to extremes to deliver performances, I have shot in heatstroke and hypothermic conditions and often push my mental and physical limit out of the comfort zone and into new experiences. I have first aid training, am police checked, have a Working with Children Check, have a certification in early education specialising in 24 months and under and a curiosity to learn wherever I go.

In short, I love crafts, creation and connecting to my team to bring something we are all proud of to life!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I needed to unlearn was that there is “always enough space for everyone”. Unfortunately that is a utopian ideal of abundance, and while I do believe it is something that should exist, in the current climate it simply does not. And therefore, I needed to unlearn that just because there is a notion of always, it is not an excuse reality of access, or rather lack of access and to let things go and not try under the disguise that it will come to fruition on its own is, simply not a good way to live.. There are billions of people in this world and we all have our own specialities but they go to waste if we do not act with intention and awareness.

Through my upbringing and even in university, I saw dozens of people fight to pursue their knowledge. craft and skill everyday, and that was and will always been inspirational. We as society can be so full of discourse and harm, that we forget to actively acknowledge these little battles which result in making space for ourselves. I hope to always live with gratitude for where I come from and hope for where I am going. To grow knowing that along the way the spaces I find open up to me, are places I can them open to others.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was in high school I made a mistake in my choice of friendships, and that led to a series of terrible rumours, harmful and untrue, and escalated to social media posts and secret emoji messages between my former friends on how bad of a person I was. I wasn’t, I was just a teenager who made a mistake. But it was one I couldn’t take back and teenagers are notorious for making someone else’s social life hell for their own amusement. I had notes in my locker, my stuff was taken, kids would glare at me during class and knock me in the hallways. So I caved into the pressure, and my grief, confusion and hurt from watching friends I had known for years not stick up for me eventually turned into anxiety and depression. I withdrew into myself and stayed up in classrooms long after everyone has left. I only found solace in my ceramic work. I became quite cynical about meeting new people, afraid they would hurt and betray me just the same.

Years later when I made the decision to open myself up again to pursue acting, I couldn’t have imagined how many people I would meet that I now call friends. Friends who span both older and younger than me, who have offered me understanding and genuine connection. Have shown up again and again through calls, texts, gifts of appreciation, rooms to stay and a shoulder to lean on. These people I am proud to have as costars and crew turned friends and family, who showed me that I wasn’t the only teenager to make a mistake back then and who are grateful I chose to stick around. Resiliency to me isn’t just the big battles, it’s facing the quiet whispers of doubt and telling doubt to F-off. To anyone who might have dealt with or is dealing with the same bullying, please stick around, and remember that asking for help is never a mistake. Otherwise, you never know what you’ll be missing.

Today, my mother remains my biggest inspiration of resilience, not only did she suffer through 20 years of domestic abuse but even after therapy and grieving the dead of her own father, she battled through cancer chemotherapy and radiation during the lengthy settlement court battle. Moreover, even after an underwhelming loss due to lack of resources, she still made her home safe and continues to pursue a better life.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @_cj_walker AND @cj_walker_bts
• Facebook: Cj Walker
• Other: Email: prteamcj@gmail.com

Image Credits

All image credits are from respective companies: Reelshort, GoodShort, Kalos Tv, Aurora Z, Fashion Republic. All permissions for print have been granted.