Meet Talyn Edelson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Talyn Edelson.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am a Stunt Performer + Action Actress. I also create freelance art commissions and graphic design work. I have decided to start explaining my story by telling you about the positive experiences in my life because I do not want to be labeled as a victim. Know that there is much darkness throughout that has attempted to hold me back. I will touch on this later.

I have been a performer and martial artist since I was a child, all the while dreaming of being a successful and respected creative in the entertainment industry. When I was fifteen, I came to Los Angeles for the first time on a family vacation. I placed my hand in Marilyn Monroe’s handprint at the Chinese Theatre after listening to Kelly Rowland’s ‘Stole.’

My hand was the same size, and teenage me decided that it was my destiny to move to Los Angeles as soon as I had completed my academics to pursue an entertainment career. Throughout the course of my life, I participated in countless theatrical productions and sports such as cheerleading, basketball, track, softball, soccer and martial arts. I was also a member of a dance company and took piano lessons.

For some reason, I decided to try to play the alto saxophone for two years, but never really progressed, so that journey was short-lived. I also participated in teams for the academic bowl, mock trial (as a prosecution attorney) and debate/competitive acting while in school. Additionally, I took pride in being a part of many college teams/clubs including the sailing and wakeboarding teams.

My friend Troy and I co-founded the Theatre Council, which provided scholarships to drama students and threw fundraising events for our productions. My days were busy, and when I wasn’t participating in school or community activities, I was exploring my family’s ranch and tending to our horses and cows, or helping my family with duties such as chopping firewood, building fences or helping with the crops.

I first moved to Hollywood in 2009, prior to finishing my degrees at Oklahoma State University because I wanted to scope out the scene and see if I could become a star with my natural abilities. Once I had my fill of side jobs that lacked interest or creativity (~1.5 years afterward), I moved back to Oklahoma to finish my Theatre Performance degree and tack on a BFA in Art with an emphasis in Graphic/Motion Design.

Since my return to the West Coast, I have been rotating training in many styles of martial arts including Filipino Martial Arts/Kali (knife and stick fighting), Boxing, Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, in addition, to fight choreography for stunts.

My friends and I will get together and session at an open gym or a park when we are not in class. Thanks to training and being persistent throughout dark times, I have been lucky enough to stunt double some very talented actresses, which can be seen on my IMDB. I have big dreams and moved out here to inspire others by proving that one can overcome trauma and clear unforeseen obstacles.

This year has been the best year of my life due to the hard work I have put in over the years and the relationships I have developed with my friends and family. My goal is to continue the trend of progression.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As I touch on the topics of death, mental/physical health issues, and abuse, please keep in mind that I am sharing this information in hopes that readers will benefit from the knowledge I gained from each situation. In an ideal world, these examples will inspire forward movement and persuade you to “keep pushing forward” (as my friend Hymnson says) and pursue what makes you happy regardless of your circumstances or how many times you keep getting knocked off the horse.

I was adopted at a young age and had a lot of abandonment issues as a young girl. A huge void was filled when I finally found my biological father at the age of twenty-one. He had been searching for me my whole life. We immediately became dear friends. Less than a year after we met, he and his dog Casey ended up getting killed in a freak accident.

A dump truck blew a tire and crushed them in his Jeep as he was driving down the highway. I didn’t meet my father’s family until his funeral. I’d like to say that losing him had a devastating effect on me, but I had already dealt with the deaths of a substantial number of my friends and an influential mentors via car accidents, alcohol, and drugs. Instead of being incapacitated, I dove into action.

I was determined to become successful for those whom I love that are unable to do so. My biological father’s death occurred the week before I went to my first specialized stunt training course, but I did my best to maintain composure and attend regardless, giving it my best shot and pushing through my emotions. I knew he would have wanted me to continue doing what I love and not miss a beautiful opportunity to do what gave me genuine joy.

I met some incredible friends at the stunt training and learned valuable skills and information that still aid me in present times. The act of forcing myself to attend for those weeks was cathartic and life-changing. I was surprised at how much of my darkness and pain was alleviated. This taught me not to let emotions get in the way of my opportunities, and to follow through with training no matter how I feel because I will likely be better afterward instead of allowing myself to sink deeper into a depression.

My struggles with coping with my diagnosed ADHD and a Venous Malformation (VM) in my left (dominant) hand were more difficult than I would like to admit. I started taking Adderall in college to be able to sit through my classes and successfully complete my work, but when the drug started causing anger, depression, numbness and emotional instability I knew that I needed to stop.

I had fallen into a pattern of abusing the amphetamine and was taking it inconsistently and in excess. I would not “need” it when I was doing stunts or athletic activities, but sitting still for any period over 30-45 minutes was impossible, so I would dose as needed.

I started taking more than my prescribed amount on days that I needed to do laptop work or art for long periods of time, and the irregularity caused the negative symptoms to occur. I saw a therapist and told them I was going to quit cold-turkey. The withdrawals were insane! I was more depressed and violent than I had ever been. I felt constantly psychotic and exhausted. It took almost eight months for me to become healthy and stabilize myself again.

Throughout the process of healing, I was determined to not take any drugs and function as best I could as my natural self. I was successful with this, but the process was lonely and grueling. At the lowest point, the chemicals had convinced me that I actually wanted to die. I didn’t feel like being alive for a period of time, although the thought of hurting my family too much kept me alive.

While I was in recovery, I had to isolate myself and stay away from my career and those that I loved, because I could not control my darkness and projection of traumas. Slowly, the symptoms subsided. Patience is a virtue. The most valuable lesson I learned from this was that I do not need a drug to make me a better person.

My mind works differently, and I have episodes of hyperactivity whilst largely lacking focus, however, I realized that I could have changed my activities or taken other measures to adjust my lifestyle in a manner that would compliment the way my mind naturally is. I was not loving myself for who I truly am inside, and was compensating for this by trying to alter my mind to fit into a certain group.

This was unnecessary. Once I quit trying to be someone I was not and did what served me, I started to retain more information from the new activities and skills I was learning and discover tools along the way that helped me understand and effectively manage my ADHD in a healthy way. I now know how to make my ADHD work for me and not against me, and I am proud of the fact that I haven’t taken prescription drugs in over four years.

My VM is hormone related and was growing every month when I had my period, so I had to try to stay ahead of it and have multiple surgeries in a tight period of time as I tried to shrink the growing malformation.

The VM in my hand required up to twenty surgeries under general anesthesia. I remember having to fly to Denver for embolization with Dr. Wayne Yakes, M.D. every 4-8 weeks for years of my life. A majority of my high school and college holidays/breaks were spent in the hospital. I only got to enjoy one spring break in college, but believe I made the best of it!

My parents wanted me to have surgery then, but I needed to take that time to be a kid and demanded an opportunity to explore and get on the open road for the week to experience what I’d been missing out on. I’d be in recovery for 10-14 days after my surgeries. My doctor had me on steroids and painkillers that left me with a dark cloud hanging over my head. I was stuck in a constant fog.

I was losing functionality of my thumb as my hand swelled and bulged. I called it my hulk hand or paw. I was depressed for most of this time, and numb from painkillers. Trying to get through the day and keep moving forward was so difficult because I was unable to do what I love most (express myself through movement and continue training to be an athlete and stunt performer) while being restricted.

Movement is the way I come alive. Martial arts and training are cathartic to me. Athletics and performance are the light in my life and the only things that bring me consistent exuberance. Without these, times were incredibly dark, and I did not know how to cope.

As a result of constant surgeries and a hand that lacks full functionality, I learned that I should not allow anything to make me feel inferior or hold me back from doing what I love. I made the conscious decision to deal with the pain. When I was doing pushups in group workouts on my mass that caused me to feel like shards of glass were breaking my hand, I didn’t complain.

Even as those around me were whining about tired muscles, I stayed silent and persevered because I wanted to be strong. I vowed to stay the course and grow so that one day, I could be like Zoe Bell– the first stunt girl I ever knew about, or one of the other people that inspire me.

My past has also included varying other types of traumas such as a youth pastor attempting to verbally and sexually assault me in a girls’ bathroom, an abusive relationship with an alcoholic, and car accidents causing concussions that resulted in half of my body shutting down like a stroke patient. I choose to continue to progress and upgrade myself to improve the odds of opening enough opportunities so I can make my family proud and create a legacy while doing what I love. I have hopes that this will enable me to have the resources to share with others that have also endured hardships.

My life goal has been to work as a creative athlete in the entertainment industry, which I am technically doing. I am working as a SAG-AFTRA professional and living my stunt performing dreams. Although I am not yet able to survive solely on the money I make as a stunt performer, I am getting closer to my goal of being able to do so every day as I train diligently and support myself and my dog Tova with art commissions and graphic design work.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I am a stunt performer with SAG-AFTRA. I specialize in fighting and train in many styles of martial arts. Knife fighting is one of my favorite skills. I have been hired as a stunt double for actresses in addition to being hired as myself or another character.

I have been trained to be lit on fire, perform with weapons, fall off of buildings or tall objects, get launched through the air on air rams, be pulled back through walls or doorways by ratchets, hang from ceilings, etc. I enjoy the art of increasing my mental and physical awareness, and I believe that is what stunts are.

My pride comes from the practice of martial arts and seeing the progress I have made over the years. I don’t believe I am more special than anyone else. We are all beautiful individuals that are on the pursuit of happiness. My only wish is that those with dreams and passions can achieve their goals with minimal struggle and much love. We all deserve to be happy and do what makes us smile on a daily basis. Life is too short to be sad.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I do not believe luck is enough of a factor in life to discuss it. If it is a big player, I have no control over it anyway, so it seems irrelevant to ponder.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.imdb.me/talyn
• Phone: (405) 612-2495
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/talynedelson
• Other: www.dribbble.com/talyn

Image Credit:
Wil Flexx Fernandez, Bryan Mordechai Jackson, Geri-Ann Galanti, Aaron Schottenstein, Scott Photo Co., Devin True, Kassandra Plavoukos

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