Daily Inspiration: Meet Carlye Tamaren

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlye Tamaren.

Hi Carlye, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story takes a lot of twists and turns. When I was really young, I was a very serious competitive gymnast on the trajectory to train for the Olympics, but when I turned 13 I saw one of my best friends in a concert dance show and immediately I knew I was a dancer. I shifter gears quickly and began intensive training at COCA in St. Louis (where I grew up). I joined the company there, it was Alvin Ailey based, with some jazz-funk, tap and of course ballet. I had incredible teachers there that really exposed us to the culture of St. Louis, jazz, blues, and they really encouraged us to start choreographing our own pieces. So from dance, I started exploring musical theatre.

Everyone in my family sings, we were like a little Von Trapp family, so that was a natural progression. I did the musicals in high school and when it came time to go to college, I knew I wanted to keep dancing and creating but I wasn’t sure if focusing solely on dance was what I was meant to do. The summer before my senior year, I went to this dance camp called Perry Mansfield, with the dance staff of Julliard- led by Julie Kent. You could have the option to audition for musicals there too, so when I auditioned and landed a lead role in SWEET CHARITY, Julie pulled me aside and told me I had to choose musical theatre because it was my destiny. Haha, it sounds so silly to say, but Julie Kent (who I’m sure doesn’t remember me AT ALL, changed the course of my life that day. After that summer, per her suggestion, I decided to apply to one school for musical theatre, just in case and chose the top program in the country- The University of Michigan’s Musical Theatre program. By some miracle, I got in and knew I had to go. It was crazy, ten boys and ten girls to a class, so intense and so creative. So I did musicals for four years and met some crazy talented, incredible friends. But the program was ONLY geared towards musical theatre and again, I thought to myself, I think there’s something more I’m meant to be doing. I kept choreographing, and then I started to get into film and tv and became obsessed.

Obsessed with composition and music and storytelling and tiny details and movements in people’s faces. Oh this is probably a good time to admit that both of my parents are psychologists, so I was already fawning over human behavior and why people tick. I started interning in the summers in LA, I just felt this weird pull that I needed to check out what was up over there because my program wasn’t telling me. Post-graduation, I was the only one in my class to peace out from musical theatre and head out to LA. I started doing film, tv, commercials, modeling, dancing. But in 2014, my life changed drastically yet again. I got badly mugged and beaten up by two men, a third in a getaway car. I mean, I thought I was a gonner and I will never, ever forget that fight or flight feeling. I was in like 4 inch heels and I am a tiny human so I was like, welp, flight is out. And I just attacked back like a crazy rabid animal. Anyways, story for another time, but I survived, and it really shut down my life for a few years. I stopped trying with acting and things fell apart. BUT!! Once my body healed, I found martial arts, which I had always been drawn to. It healed me physically and emotionally and changed me in too many ways to count. I came out stronger and obsessed with action movies and female empowerment. When I finally was able to start working as an actor again, I was different.

All of the sudden, I was on movies sets like “damn, I can do this. I know what I like and I understand people and tone, I’m creative enough to build a world. I want to be in charge and I want to make women in this industry feel comfortable and safe.” I became obsessed with learning about directing and kind of just flew with that. My roommate at the time, Teddy Stevenson, had a camera and knew how to edit so we shot my first series, a wacky action comedy called S IS FOR REVENGE, which I started writing right when the Harvey Weinstein story dropped. It was my guttural response to what I would do to these sh*tty, power hungry dudes if I could have my way. Really now I understand it was part of my healing process from my mugging as well. And the comedy- my family lives and breathes comedy. Were all a bunch of goofy weirdos that grew up on Monty Python, Ace Ventura, Kung Pow and Star Wars, so I think that about explains my tastes and sensibilities, hahaha. I love the idea of blending comedy and action and I can’t wait to shoot more and more and more. So these days I’m still that little dancer and actor at heart, but I’ve added in director, writer, producer, creator and martial artist to the list. And what an amazing time in the industry it is now that you can be a multi-hyphenate and not have to choose!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The answer is a hard NO!! Hahaha. But the bumps, even though they’re difficult and messy, are what make us the brave artists with some grit and gusto that we have to be to survive in this business.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Welllll, I’m an actor, dancer, singer, directory, writer, producer, creator and martial artist. But these days, I am so excited about directing. Only 3% of directors are women, so like it or not, we’ve got to step up and be heard, even if it’s scary and even if we suck at first. It’s been extremely liberating for me to feel more and more comfortable in my artistic vision with each project that I develop. Before the shutdown, I was in ROCK OF AGES in Hollywood, it was supposed to be a year long contract and I had finally felt ready to do a musical again (after a seven years hiatus!! It’s never too late people!) But with all of this time in quarantine, I was able to focus back on developing and writing. I hadn’t yet directed something I wasn’t also starring in, so my best friend Ashley Park (incredible actress and human, she’s blowing up right now look her up immediately!! Ehhem EMILY IN PARIS and many more) and Samantha Shanker (Little Stranger, badass writer and also fun fact from St. Louis as well!) and I created a show called THIRD WHEELING WITH ASHLEY.

Each episode is around 8 minutes and features Ash third-wheeling famous couples or pairs of any kind- some are best friends, co-stars on a show, etc. We have Jesse Tyler Ferguson and his husband Justin Mikita, James Cromwell and his wife Anna, Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson to name a few. We should seven episodes during quarantine and the show is currently being packaged to be sold by CAA. That one was wild because I was directing, running two cameras, sound, and doing all of the editing and post because with Covid we needed a crew of as little people as possible. Which was insane but SO much fun. I just want to work with bad ass. women forever, oh and friends. I mean that’s the most fun thing in the world. After that, I just directed and editing my first music video for Empire Records artist Jon Robert Hall for his new song “On The Way,” which actually comes out this Friday! And to round it all out I’m working on a few scripts that I’m super excited about as well and packing two other shows that I’ve made and performing in a ROCK OF AGES taped concert after Thanksgiving.

I think I’m the most proud that I’m just going for it. All of it. I’ve been to hell and back and now I just want to make my wacky art and study humans forever. I want to lift women up and give us some good roles that feel real and complicated and silly and surprising. I want to create the characters I always wanted to audition for that just didn’t exist for women. And I think as a creator, my whole creative journey feeds into that. The musicality, the looking at the world from a different point of view for choreography, the psychologist parents, the lush, full musical stories that I studied for years. The martial arts!! Dance and sexuality. It all feeds into the stories I’m telling and want to tell and how I deliver them.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I think the best way is to follow/DM me on Instagram @carlyeraetam – I love to connect and collab and I am so excited by finding like-minded people to make art with. Reach out!! I’ve learned (and am still learning and working up the courage) that you never know until you reach out. I’m a strong believer in cultivating your tribe and answering any questions I possibly can. I still have so far to go, but I hate when (especially women) say “ugh I hate when people say can I pick your brain.” And I’m like look I get it, it sounds gross but HOW IN THE WORLD CAN ANYONE LEARN IF THEY DON’T HEAR YOUR EXPERIENCE AND ASK QUESTIONS WITHOUT FEELING SHAME?! hahaha clearly I’m heated about this- I heard someone say that was their pet peeve in a podcast the other day and I was like, wtf!! Especiallyyyyyyyyy for women. We have to help each other in a very real way. There is SO much room. I guess my point is, feel free to ask me anything you’d like and I’ll tell you my experience and the very the little that I know 🙂 And if you’re a women in this industry out there that wants to tell me how it’s done PLEASE DO!! I’m always looking for incredible, bad ass female mentors and I can only hope that one day I can be that for someone else too.

Contact Info:

• Email: carlye.tamaren@gmail.com
• Instagram: @carlyeraetam

Image Credits:
Alex Stone for all except the one with the director’s slate is by Moshe Brakha