Today we’d like to introduce you to Jazlyn Nicolette Sward.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My creative journey started when I was very young and it was one that started on stage. The stage quickly became the only place I felt safe in the uncompromising conservative town – Colorado Springs, CO. All I wanted was to feel without explanation and that is exactly what the stage provided me with. Whether it was dancing, singing or acting the stage never failed to not only accept me but adore me.
My soul craved to be challenged by other artists who resembled the same cry in their hearts. So it became my ultimate dedication to move out to LA as quickly as possible
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
At first, the thought of acting required a new level of vulnerability I hadn’t yet discovered within myself. I felt as though the barrel of any camera could peer into my soul better than any human I’ve ever come in contact with. Although that was everything I wanted; it was unfamiliar territory.
So, I started modeling when I first moved out to LA as a way to dip my toe into the whirlwind of the city. But the modeling industry never welcomed me with open arms. I was told I needed to lose weight countless times and that because of my height, my look didn’t matter unless I had at least 100k followers on Instagram. I was slapped in the face with the shallowness of this foreign world before I had even started to pursue my actual passion.
A year later, I was a shell of a person. Through the cutthroat modeling world, I had no choice but to face my true desire. My life had now become focused on film acting, something that was relatively new to me. And with a lack of self-esteem and a slight auditory processing disability; I had found myself in an accidental cult that called themselves an acting studio. This cult was a place where you would be publicly slandered for spending any time away from the studio and a place where sexual assault and over-sexualization within the class and in scenes were normalized.
I witnessed the cry of these actors’ hearts like I was witnessing my own but it wasn’t long before their cries turned into dagger-like weapons to use against each other. This brutality of art did not resonate with the freedom I felt on stage when I was younger.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As my acting career was on the rise, the confidence I had in myself was increasing with it. It took the support of my friends, casting directors and a great manager to believe in me so much that they casted me in their films. I completely fell in love with the magic that happens on a film set. Everything from creating chemistry with another artist that was considered a stranger minutes ago to the moments before the director calls “action” where the air is full of great possibilities.
Fast forward, now you find me on HBO’s new Emmy-nominated series ‘Winning Time’ where I try to win Magic Johnson over. I am on Apple TV’s ‘Truth be Told’ series with Octavia Spencer coming out this next season. And among starring in various lifetime movies and Dhar Mann’s youtube series, I just wrote, directed, produced and starred in my own short film called ‘DARLING’ that was nominated at various film festivals.
This. This is what I’ve been searching for and now I know why my heart cries.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
As I was repressed by this cult, I began starring in several feature films, YouTube series and tv shows. One thing that profoundly changed my life after shooting my first ever film, Pom Poms and Payback playing Annabelle, is that time can stop. I realized when I’m on set all the pain, insecurities and flaws of “Jazlyn” suddenly drifted away, just as it did on stage, and I was left to honor the character’s heart that cried within me.
These shortcomings are something that now I come to reflect on and ask – should I thank being forced into sexual situations in a so-called acting class or should I thank my talent being based off of my following count on Instagram for the life and the person I am now? And to that, I say I credit their hastiness as much as I credit my tenacity. I am who I am meant to be and the situations life puts me in can only strengthen my soul’s purpose. Even though my self-esteem was something I needed to build up, the genuineness of my soul was never something I struggled with.
I don’t think film would’ve been created if there wasn’t a certain amount of anguish in the lessons we learn on this earth. Our entertainment is based on reality so that we can feel for certain characters and stories that relate to our own. A quote that sums up my thoughts well is one from Denzel Washington; “Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship”.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jazlynnicolettesward/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/user/dancerjazlynsward
