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

Jennings, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Meaningful has taken on a whole new definition for me as I have gotten older. I used to think that all of my work needed to really be meaningful and leave a lasting impression on anyone who came in contact with it. I’ve learned now, that if it’s meaningful to me: it is meaningful. I created a project in 2022 called “Next” which is currently hitting the festival circuit (announcements soon 😉) and that project has taught me a lot about patience, perseverance and true confidence. That project is what I am most proud of because it is really my first time solo creating and bringing others onto a project. It was so joyful to have every single person work on it because everyone loved something different about the script or saw a creative way they could aid that story. But I didn’t write it to be loved, I wrote it because I felt the story was so strong it needed to be shared. What’s meaningful to me is that people can watch it and make their own opinions on it.

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.

Oh man. I first got started in middle school, then continued in high school and then I went to college for Theatre Performance at Virginia Commonwealth University. I have always considered myself to be a competitive person, but I didn’t like the way certain sports would stress me out. I always liked that with acting you were responsible for yourself and yet a part of this huge group. On set, I’m responsible for knowing my lines, having a character but I also have to hit my mark, get mic’d up, understand the written page and  be willing to be flexible for the Director. I love how fast things can change on a set and I love being part of something that feels bigger than just myself. I think camaraderie is what has built my career and what will sustain it. I try to think about what sets me apart from others a lot. In this industry you can toss a needle out a window and find multiple actresses that can do exactly what I do. I think I’ll always be searching for what makes me a little bit different, and in truth, I don’t know. In acting it can be as simple as saying the lines quicker than all the other people which made me stand out or it was that my hair was styled differently. It could be the smallest detail. If I think about it too much I fear I may pigeonhole myself into something and I prefer to be able to play and do everything.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

YES. I wish I knew about SO many things! I wish I knew more about reels, headshots, agents and classes. Looking back the best advice I can give is find a class because you want to meet people and you want to get better. If you are leaving a class crying every night, you’re in the wrong class. I have studied at the Acting Center since 2022 and I have loved their technique. It is something that has helped me immensely and my auditions, callbacks and bookings can prove it. If you take one thing from my advice please let it be this: before you move to LA, have a reel. It will save you so much time.  Get headshots here from someone great (personally I love Rob Flate and Johnny Marlow) Then find an agent through submission after submission.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think what has always kept me going is making an audience laugh or cry, or laugh so hard they cry, or cry so hard they laugh. There is something so special about connecting with an audience through what I write or what I perform. Recently,  I attended a showing of a short film called “Break” I had a role in that was written by my friend, Carson Stone. Afterwards, the audience was very torn about the story. One person actually was so inspired afterwards he walked from the theater with me and explained everything he thought about the film. I especially love that,  when art makes people think and evokes emotion from them, good and bad.

Contact Info:

• Website: jenningsrice.com
• Instagram: @jenningsrice
• Twitter: @jenningsrice2

Image Credits
Jonny Marlow @marlowphotographyla @jonnymarlow Softli @softli Joel Grimes @joelgrimesworkshops