Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Culbert.
Hi Julia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve loved acting ever since I was little, but I never really got the opportunity to pursue my passion as a profession until I turned eighteen. I did some projects in the theater as a child through high school, and I’ve been in love with acting and storytelling ever since. I started my acting career as most people do- with background work. I met some really amazing people and got to work on some incredible sets, even though my job was mostly being a prop in the background. The first project I worked on was 13 Reasons Why. The entire crew for that show were just so kind and welcoming, and I learned so much just observing the process. I even lucked out and got a little bit of a feature in one of the episodes, where my character was a judgmental classmate listening to the leaked tapes. The next projects I worked on (still as an extra) were Bumblebee (a transformers spin-off) and Ant Man and the Wasp.
Both crews were again incredible, and it was definitely worth getting to set at 3:45 AM to be able to collaborate with the wonderful people I was working with. After this, I began working on short films, where I got my first experience as a lead. I learned so much and definitely was able to come out of my comfort zone a bit more. I attended several showcases and acting workshops and received training by some incredible names in the business. I’ve been signed to two agencies, and I’m so grateful for both of them. My current agent, Ted Maier, is just wonderful and very hands-on. I’ve definitely improved my technique in regard to auditioning because of him. After signing with Ted, I booked my first lead in a feature film, Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle, which is premiering this fall. I was filming for this project all of Fall 2021, and it was definitely a lot of work, as I am still in college as well. I made some incredible friends working on that set, and I’m so excited for the premiere!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not, but I think that’s what helps you grow as a person. As an actress, you are guaranteed to get more “No’s” than “Yes’s” and that can be very disheartening. I really learned to find my inner confidence and to advocate for myself because at the end of the day, you are your own biggest cheerleader, and if you don’t believe you can do it, who does? It was definitely a lot more anxiety-provoking pre covid, because almost all my auditions were held in person in LA, and you can walk out of the audition feeling very judged, and not always in a good way. But this definitely helps teach you to love yourself and to believe in yourself because the “No’s” don’t really have anything to do with who you are as a person. Sometimes you just aren’t the vision the director had in his head. Regardless, I have never lost my passion for acting. Whether I’m working on a set or just making silly Tik Toks at home, it brings me so much joy to tell a story and bring a character to life.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an actress, and I love film as a whole. I’m still working towards my degree in college, and my major is in film production, so I get to learn all sides of the camera. I think acting has always been my strongest point, but my favorite aspects of production are the cinematography and video editing. (Sound editing is incredible, too, I am just so not good at it, so respect to all the audio people out there. ProTools is so confusing.) I think it is just incredible how each department has the ability to completely change to tone behind a scene, simply by editing it a certain way or changing the lighting on the actor’s face. In regards to acting, I just love bringing a character to life. My favorite part of booking a new role is learning about the character and then giving her a backstory. I definitely think it helps me understand how the character would react in a variety of situations if I know what their history is (even if I’m just making it up myself since it isn’t always included in the script.) I know a lot of people don’t like to watch projects they’ve been in, but I definitely watch as much of my work as I can, just so I can build off of my old successes and mistakes. A lot of time on various projects the call time is super early like one set was 3:45 am every morning and we would get home at like 11pm the night before. When that came out, I definitely watched my face because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t letting any of my tiredness affect how my character was feeling since she wasn’t waking at 3:45 am in the project.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love that anything you want to do in life, you can find in Los Angels. My family is Irish, and I do Irish dancing and there tons of schools for it in the LA area. I minor in Irish Studies (Gaeilge) in college, and I was surprised to find there’s even several in-person Irish language classes in LA. Since only 78,000 people in the world are native speakers, I wasn’t expecting to find classes like that outside of Ireland, but Los Angeles is just bursting with cultures of every kind. I grew up riding horses and I wanted to continue that when I moved to LA, and I was so grateful to find all kinds of barns where I could work on every style of riding imaginable.
The thing I like the least is the wealth gap. It’s hard to see some people having so much, living right next door to people having so little. I try to help as much as I can, specifically volunteering at youth outreach centers which help kids transitioning out of foster care. I definitely think there could be more work in regard to affordable mental health care, but that issue is bigger than just Los Angeles.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliaculbert/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5x98peCynwyhfR5brmkT0A/about
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10337250/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
