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

Lauren, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

In December 2017, seemingly out of the blue and with no actual experience, I told my parents that I wanted to be a film actor. It came as a bit of a shock to my mother, who was most likely having flashbacks to her eight-year-old daughter refusing to say any lines onstage during the elementary school Christmas play. That’s right, the girl who had near-debilitating stage fright as a kid suddenly decided she wanted to be an actor. With this in the back of her mind, I’m sure, my mother rightfully suggested that I audition for a play with my college theatre group, Mercer Theatre, before making this decision.

Even though I knew she was right, the idea of theatre work terrified me. I’ll be the first to admit that I was naive and (wrongly) assumed that film acting would be “easier.” Some of that childhood stage fright still lingered within me, and the idea of being onstage, in the moment, only to forget a line or miss a cue mortified me. In my simple mind, film acting had multiple takes, multiple opportunities to get a scene “right,” whereas onstage, you only get one chance and it’s all live, meaning anyone can see you mess up.

I went back and forth with this debate in mind all through winter break: should I or should I not audition? Was my nascent dream really worth the potential embarrassment and anxiety I felt? Should I just give up on it now, and save myself some heartbreak? After all, you can’t say you failed if you never try to begin with, right?

Then, on January 1, 2018, my friend invited me to go see “The Greatest Showman” with her in the movie theater. As I watched the film, I felt so many overwhelming emotions, and I knew that I absolutely wanted to be a part of something that did the same for other people. I can still remember walking out of that movie theater knowing that I had made my decision: I was going to put myself out there and audition.

The next challenge presented itself after that. I didn’t know anything about the audition process. I had not “acted” since those elementary school plays. I didn’t know when the auditions were or even who to ask. Once classes resumed after winter break, I attended a meeting for a group I was involved in on campus. During that meeting, a member announced that Mercer Theatre would be holding auditions for their first spring production later that week. She was kind enough to give me more information when I asked and encouraged me to audition.

Later that week, I stood in front of the theatre building, staring at it. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. Somehow, even not knowing then what I know now, it felt like a big moment. I took a deep breath and walked inside to the large open room full of people I didn’t know. I filled out an audition form (specifically requesting whichever role had the fewest lines) and took a seat by myself. The other people in the room were laughing at inside jokes that I wasn’t yet privy to. I felt like an intruder.

After about 10 or 15 minutes of listening to my heartbeat in my ears, a familiar face presented itself. She was surprised but excited to see me. And when I told her that I was so far out of my comfort zone that I couldn’t even see it anymore, she said, “Don’t worry. Scot (the director) has a great eye for natural talent. If he sees something in you, he’ll take a chance on you.” That sentiment brought great comfort to me, though it did worry me that I might not have natural talent to see in the first place.

I ended up getting a role in that production. And I thank my lucky stars every day that Scot “saw something” in me and gave me that chance. From the very first cast read-through, to the first rehearsal, to tech week, to the opening weekend, I fell in love with acting. The childhood stage fright long gone, I proceeded to take on bigger roles in many of the following productions right up until I graduated.

Everything that I learned there gave me the solid foundation to pursue acting after college. I guarantee that if I had never taken that risk, faced my fears, and walked into Mercer Theatre that day in January, I wouldn’t be an actor today. There’s a quote from “How I Met Your Mother,” that says, “If you’re not scared, you’re not taking a chance. And if you’re not taking a chance, then what the hell are you doing?” I think about that quote often. All of the great moments in my acting career, including the beginning of it, have come because I took a chance even though I was terrified.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I began acting in 2018 during college with a small role in “Rhinoceros,” a play by Eugéne Ionesco. After that, I went on to play larger roles in various theatre productions such as Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet” and Rosetta in “The Commedia Pinocchio.”

I moved to Atlanta in 2020 to pursue a career in film acting. With the entertainment industry effectively at a stand-still due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I used this time to build my portfolio and skills. Once the industry returned to a new normal, I booked lead roles in a few short films. I booked my largest role to date in July of 2023 playing a lead character in a feature-length independent film set to premiere at various film festivals next year.

I have dedicated my time and effort to deepen my craft and strive everyday to be a better actor than I was the day before. My family raised me to have a strong work ethic, and I am a motivated self-starter. I give my best performance to every production and love to play emotionally-rich characters.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think one of the biggest things people can do to support artists is to simply be aware of art and its impact on our day-to-day lives.

For example, it was not that long ago that the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic forced most people to stay inside their homes. And during that time, people consumed media at a rapid pace. People were “binge-watching” both new content and old favorites. Online streaming services saw a huge boom in new subscribers. In the time of uncertainty, many people turned toward shows and movies for comfort and entertainment. And it is important for people to realize all of the amazing artists who come together to create their favorite shows and movies. Sometimes I feel like that gets lost. I can even accuse myself of taking it for granted before I got into the industry.

And this is one of the best times to support artists and creatives during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. I myself am not a union member, but I share so, so many of their concerns. Most of our favorite shows and movies are not possible without these creatives’ hard work. They have helped so many of us through difficult and trying times, and now it’s our turn to help and support them.

I use acting and filmmaking as an example because it is what I am most familiar with. But by no means should our support end there. Think of your favorite song or music album, think of your favorite book or poem, think of your favorite painting or drawing or sculpture. Our lives would be so dull without art. And it can be easy to gloss over it or not even think about it. So I encourage everyone to stop and take a moment to think about all of the times a piece of art has had an impact on their life.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I feel I can really only speak from an actor’s standpoint on this, as I don’t know what other creatives go through on their journey. I want people to understand the amount of hard work I put into my craft.

I feel like others may have a glamorized view of actors and their work, or believe that acting is “easy” or “all fun and games.” And don’t get me wrong, it is fun because I get to do what I love. With the rise of social media, which tends to highlight the high points of one’s life, it can be hard not to have that glamorized view when you’re seeing pictures of celebrities at red-carpet premieres. But what many don’t get to see is the hard work that went into getting to that premiere. Those actors earned the right to walk that red carpet, to celebrate their hard work.

I’ve dedicated many hours to acting classes trying to build my acting skills. For a single audition, I may spend a few hours creating and rehearsing a character only to perform a single scene; some may call this overkill, but I like to think of it as an opportunity to practice the skills I’ve been building. And if I actually get a role, I will spend hours upon hours upon hours poring over the script in order to prepare my character. And all of that is before I ever actually step foot on set.

Acting is physically and emotionally draining. I’ve run uphill through the woods over and over for multiple takes. I’ve learned complex dance numbers. I’ve engaged in knife fights (with rehearsed choreography and fake knives of course). I’ve woken up at 3:30 am for morning shoots. I’ve stayed up until 3:30 am for late-night shoots I’ve screamed in terror. I’ve yelled at and fought with significant others. I’ve wept for the loss of a loved one. And I did all of those things (either on the stage or on camera) because I was experiencing the life of my characters. I go inside of myself to feel and experience all of these emotions in order to put something truthful onstage or on film. And, while it is my greatest joy to give life to these characters, it is also incredibly hard work.

Contact Info:

• Website: resumes.actorsaccess.com/LaurenDreggors
• Instagram: instagram.com/LaurenDreggors
• Other: imdb.me/LaurenDreggors

Image Credits
Evan Hines Denise Clarke