We recently connected with Alanna Washington and have shared our conversation below.

Alanna, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Since I was three years old, I’ve always known that I wanted to be an actress. Watching icons like Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, and Reese Witherspoon (just to name a few), made me feel as if I could not only do anything that I put my mind to, but that I can also inspire people through my work. The only problem is that I didn’t know where to start. Unfortunately, due to my lack of knowledge about getting started in the industry, I put acting on the back burner for a long time. I pursued other things, such as track and field, dance, and wrestling. However, it was the end of my sophomore year in college, when I realized that Journalism, my current degree, is not what I truly wanted to do. It is not something that I have a passion for. I truly had to sit back and ask myself, “What do I really have a passion for?” “What can I see myself doing for the rest of my life?” Instantly, my answer was acting, so from there I looked up different avenues to take to at least start building, a résumé and getting experience. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to have appeared in music, videos, commercials, and I’ve had the pleasure of playing the lead in a couple of films.
During my first booked job, the minute I stepped in front of the camera, I knew that this is something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life and I was going to stop at nothing until I reached my dreams.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into the acting industry when I realized that I went to college for a degree that I did not have a passion for. I had a reality check and decided that it was time to put my fears aside and pursue what I really wanted to do because I’d rather go through life with a bunch of “oh wells”, than a bunch of “what ifs.” Since that moment of realization, I’ve been doing many auditions, feature films, short, films, music, videos, and even a few commercials.
I think my greatest advantage in this industry is the fact that I am able to have a versatile look. I can easily go from looking 20 to looking 14 in a matter of minutes.
I also think what sets me apart from others is my story. I’ve gone through a lot in life dealing with self-doubt, lack of confidence, and sometimes, I don’t think I was always dealt the best hand, which put me in a very dark place for a while. However, I’ve always made the best out of every situation. I made my way out of those dark places, and at one point this dream seemed impossible. Therefore, now that I’ve had a glimpse of how good it can really get, I now know that I owe it to myself to try my hardest to reach my dreams.
Ever since I began acting, I have always wanted to use it to understand people from every walk of life. I’ve wanted to help to relate to others, and to inspire others that you are more than where you came from, and that your circumstance should never determine your joy.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal with acting, is to not only prove the naysayers, and the doubters wrong about my dream and about myself, but to prove it to myself, that I am much more than what they say. At one point, I found myself searching for validation from others. However, I realized that that is no way to live life. If you’re looking for validation from the rest of the world, you will never truly be happy because there is always going to be someone who is going to doubt you. However, it’s up to you to ignore the noise and live life the way that you want to. For every critic, there will always be hundreds of people who love you and what you do.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had known about Backstage and Actors Access much earlier in my journey as an actress, because having booked many prominent roles, through those platforms, I feel as if I would have started my acting journey much earlier. These platforms are great ways for beginners to learn experience, audition, and learn the way(s) to prepare themselves for their future career(s).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alannawashington.com
• Instagram: @alannajeanwash
• Twitter: @AlannaJeanWash

Image Credits
@selfmade_guy