Today we’d like to introduce you to April Yanko.
April, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Hey there! While I acted since I was in high school, I think my real journey started when I transferred to Point Park University in Pittsburgh. I was really scared about changing up my life and having to stay in school for an additional year (because I double majored), but here is where I learned about acting for film. I did so many student projects and slowly started to broaden out to local indies that I didn’t mind not spending much time in the theater.
I was thrilled to attend the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill after I graduated. I was really lucky to learn about how I can create my stuff, something I hadn’t tried before. I also started writing like I did when I was a kid (but hopefully my grammar was a tad better). I started to feel like I had the power to make things and not just do things with other people.
I lived in Pittsburgh for a few years, where I made two films with some of my amazing friends who know much more than me. I also continued to do indie projects, recently working on my first feature where I got to learn combat! I also got my first guest star role on the Reelz Channel playing serial killer Karla Homolka.
I’ve lived in LA for a few months now, working on meeting new people and growing my brand. I’ve started making short form content for the Internet and am working on creating a web series as well as attending writing classes. I think continuing to create my stuff is what’s going to help me feel at home in the West, and hopefully help me find my little corner of the town. 🙂
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?
I would say that parental support had been a bit of an issue during the “major stages” of my life. They know I have anxiety, and I think they felt like me having treatment meant that they did something “wrong” as a parent. So I never really had any professional attention given to mental health until recently, after moving.
During my college transfer time, my parents felt like every school was the same and that I was making a huge mistake. They begrudgingly helped with money but didn’t feel like they were on my team. In a way, it felt like they wanted me to “actor” and then, someday, I would wise up and change my mind.
Since getting on a national network, I think they’ve realized that I am capable of more than they originally thought. Again, I don’t think they were like, actively rooting against me. Instead, I think they just felt scared about my well-being. Which is understandable and yeah, I worry about that too. Having anxiety lets me worry about all of that!
I hope that with each year, I take steps that help me accept my brain, however frustrating it may be. As I learn how to work with worry and fear of an unfortunate amount of things, I get to grow as a human, as a writer, find new points of access to characters, and try to find the silver lining in everyday hiccups. I’m better than I was last year, and hopefully this time next year I feel even more so.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I specialize in acting and writing. While I have a variety of genres of scripts, I’ve begun learning comedy writing and am currently taking a sketch writing class at the Pack Theater. I think my sweet-and-spicy way of speaking sinks its teeth into my writing and will give you a script that’s random, funny, and can leave you feeling surprisingly warm (from feels or peed pants).
As an actor, I love comedy but you’ll see me excel in drama. I’ve had the bulk of my experience in family drama, love stories, and horror. Some characters I’ve played multiple times are “girl next door with troubled home life” or “stripper with a heart of gold.” (Am I allowed writing haha in this? If so, haha). But I enjoy being so many different things that you can bet I’m up for a challenge!
As I journey forward into this year, I am trying out more short-form stuff that can help fill my social media timelines as the longer-form stuff goes through its various production stages. I’m hoping to find my humans, ones with whom I can create, film, collaborate, and play board games and go to Denny’s with during downtime.
What were you like growing up?
I was sort of a quiet kid. I loved my animals and I loved cartoons. Of course, Disney movies. But other favorite animations were the Powerpuff Girls, Hey Arnold, and Sailor Moon. I also loved game shows, especially Jeopardy! (even though I could never be a contestant, which I have come to terms with). I had a few good friends but was not popular in the slightest. Middle school was probably the most difficult time dealing with mean girls/bullies.
I am an only child and grew up with divorced parents. I’m sure this can explain my parents’ protectiveness over me. They’re both friends still, and I enjoy spending time with them now as an adult. I feel like I have the freedom to enjoy their time but also space if I need it.
I also read and wrote a lot but felt like I wasn’t much good. I wish that I stuck with it more instead of coming back to it later in life, but I thought that perfection was supposed to happen on your first try. I had a confused view of life, hahaha.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.aprilyanko.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/post.march/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/postmarch
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/post_march
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDA8xF3G_-wlZ0VpsF4RmoA
Image Credit:
Tony Moux (glasses headshot)
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