Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Janelle Tedesco. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Janelle, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I have been told that my story is rare, I don’t know if that’s true, but I certainly know that I am lucky. When I was 10 years old in 6th grade I was cast as Lucy in the Musical “Snoopy.” And that was when I declared to my mom, “I’m going to be an actress when I grow up!” Of course, lots of kids say these types of things but they often change their minds from one year, or even one month to the next. But for me, my first taste of acting, playing a role, becoming that cartoon character that I watched on TV, and bringing her to life on stage was magical. I knew what I wanted to do with my life and I never changed my mind. I had been in gymnastics and dance since I was about 3 years old, and I loved to dance. But then I started taking singing lessons when I was about 8 and I loved that even more. Bringing singing and dancing together with acting, to play Lucy was an absolutely amazing experience, and it lit a fire in me that is still burning today. I went on to do many more musicals in school and community theater. Went to Boston Conservatory of Music where I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater and then worked professionally in shows all over the United States and Europe. Since I had kids my acting career looks different, now I am mostly acting in front of the camera or microphone. But I will always be a actress and a creator!
Janelle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I began my professional career in Musical Theater. I was incredibly blessed to work consistently in regional theaters and to be cast in European and National Tours, most notably The First National Tour of The Producers and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas starring Ann-Margret, incidentally this show is where I met my husband. I loved musical theater so much but after we got married and had two amazing children, I realized that I didn’t want to go on tour, I didn’t want to work out of town, and in fact even a Broadway schedule would take me away from my children more than I wanted. So I changed gears. How could I work as an actress and still be present while raising my children? Well, luckily living in NYC gave me a lot of options. So I started studying other forms of acting, in front of the camera, and I have to admit that I was surprised that I also loved that! After doing a few commercials, I wanted more time in front of that beautiful camera and that is when I got into independent film. And I became a filmmaker! I wrote my first film in 2018, a simple short that I put my husband and kids in, just to get me started. It was called Stunt Mom and it got into several festivals, was nominated for a few awards and even won one! I worked as a stuntwoman when I was in my 20’s in the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Walt Disney World. My prior stunt experience combined with being a mom, inspired the title and the film. That first film really launched me into another world. Since then I have written and produced 4 more films and have been cast in dozens of others. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with amazingly talented filmmakers who have become my friends. My films have won a lot of awards at this point and I have won Best Actress twice and Best Supporting Actress once. The recognition is so gratifying. An interesting thing about my creative career is that I also became an Audiobook Narrator at around the same time, actually started that in 2016. This is another wonderful creative avenue that allows me to work consistently, while bringing my entire soul into the world and characters of a book and it also makes good money.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I think that to be successful as a creative, you need to get extremely comfortable with the pivot. I’ve had MANY! A couple years out of college, I auditioned for Disney World. The audition was for every show, but of course my focus was on the musicals. To my surprise, I wasn’t cast in one of their short Musicals, I was cast in the acting role of the Indiana Jones Stunt show. Instead of huffing and puffing about not getting into a musical, I decided to have some fun with this. I started to train with the stunt women and when I was strong enough, I auditioned and was cast in the stunt role and absolutely loved it! I continued to use my stunt training and skills in other shows and projects throughout my life. That was my first major pivot. I mentioned previously that the next big pivot was after having kids. Not ready to go back to musical theater I had to find another way to act. Once I became a mother, I truly learned how to be flexible and to continue to have a creative career. No one knows what the next day holds, the world and our own personal lives and circumstances are constantly changing. We have to be ready to adjust, to change and to pivot. I pivoted to doing Background Work, I pivoted to doing commercials, I pivoted to Audiobook Narration, I pivoted to Filmmaking, I pivoted to creating a couple of online educational courses. Every time I audition for another audiobook or write another short film script, it is a choice to deepen the path that I’m on, but new possibilities keep coming up. Sometimes I jump towards it, sometimes I let it lie and bookmark it for the future. But there are always ways to keep being creative and I honestly believe that staying in this business requires just as much stick-to-itiveness, as it requires an ability to change, be flexible, and yes, to pivot!
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I am often shocked when I hear about the amount of support that artists get in other countries. We don’t get that here, so we need people to do what they can to support artists or there will be less art. During the pandemic, most of the world would have gone mad if they didn’t have art to enjoy; TV, movies, books, music, stories, YouTube, and more. And yet people tend to forget all the work that was done in order to get that art into your hands. And they want and try to get that art for free! We need more support! I understand that sometimes people don’t know what to do. Well, first thing I would say is please don’t ever watch pirated movies. Whenever you can, spend money on art! Go out to the theater, go out the movie theater, go to local concerts, go to film festivals, go to the bookstore, buy the book, buy the audiobook, buy the song, rent the movie, etc. And whenever the opportunity arises to give to the arts, please give! Whether it is a friend raising money to make a film, or self publish a book, or put up a show, or make an album, they need your support. And it isn’t just about that one project. Your willingness to pay for someone to make art, helps all of us!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://janelletedesco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janelle.tedesco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janelle.tedesco/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janelle-tedesco-8609a4141/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@janelletedesco
- Other: YouTube Workout Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@JanelleTedescoWorkouts
Image Credits
Deb Lopez