Today we’d like to introduce you to Nadia Borelli.
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?
I have been infatuated with Los Angeles since the age of six and never wanted to do anything else but be an actress and musician. This was born in me while growing up in Madison, Wisconsin. While it’s a relatively artsy bubble compared to the rest of Wisconsin, working in the arts as an adult is very much squished out of you, and made to seem like some distant fairyland, as opposed to the very real life I know today. Now the alternative seems truly crazy to me. I was lucky enough to have parents and especially my dad believe what I said as a child like knights protecting my flame. To parents reading this- I would implore you to do the same. I owe my parents my life and sanity. Even though he was a software engineer and knew nothing about the business at the time, my dad knew that there were people that did, and asked friends and read books which led me to sign with the only agency in Madison as a child and do some print for American Girl and Kleenex. Like an angel, he drove me back and forth to Chicago in high school for training at The Second City, where I met teacher Alex Moffat, who went on to work on SNL.
I went on to study musical theatre at Columbia College Chicago, it being only a three-hour drive from home seemed like a safe jump, that and I wasn’t accepted into USC haha. The education I got there was phenomenal and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Right after graduating in 2018, I landed in LA! It felt like trying to climb a slippery, vertical, fifty-foot wall. I read Bonnie Gillespie’s Self Management For Actors book, cold-emailed agents, did agent showcases and started taking classes at Lesly Kahn which is where life really got fun. From a showcase, I signed with my first commercial agency and got a callback on my first commercial audition- a national for Taco Bell where I’d have to eat meat even though I was vegetarian! I wasn’t complaining though haha. About a year and a half into living here I signed with my first film and TV agent from a cold email, who worked and still works really hard for me. I owe it to her as I was nonunion and had no recognizable credits at the time that she signed me. About five months after that- and during the height of covid- I booked my first speaking television credit on The CW. I had my fitting and shot at Warner Brothers, it really was a dream come true.
Since then, I worked on a national commercial with an Oscar-winning director, done movies and have jammed with so many amazing musicians that I respect. It’s been a lot of just getting back into playing my original music live and with bands around LA. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by art and so much excellence constantly, it makes me better. I’m just trying to take it all in and enjoy it.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
No one who’s felt any true sense of purpose or satisfaction will tell you it’s been easy- continuing to move forward in the face of rejection is part of what makes it rewarding. Besides bombing my first agent meeting, doing hundreds of auditions and not hearing anything, and getting so close to literally life-changing roles, there’s been periods of not eating anything or putting two dollars of gas in my car due to lack of funds. Luckily in Los Angeles, there’s so much opportunity for making money in general, and I wear the struggles like a badge of honor.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m an actress primarily on television and in commercials and a singer-songwriter.
I’ve played a lifeguard in a Netflix film Malibu Rescue; The Next Wave! A comedic stripper in All American on The CW, a young comedic antagonist in the movie Lacy’s Christmas Do-Over on Showtime. I started composing scores for some friends’ films which led me to be nominated for best actress and best original score in the same short, Whispers (Arsenio J. Alverez) at the New Jersey Film Awards. Working on a national United Airlines commercial with Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia was really fun.
I write and play bluesy-pop on piano at venues around town and have a full-length album that I’m hoping to release as singles over the next year. I take inspiration from Sara Bareilles, Regina Spektor, and Billy Joel.
I’ve also been a certified fitness trainer for five years and am newly signed with Naturally Fit Agency for modeling. I would say what sets me apart from others is my mindfulness and artistic vision to truly create positive change. This is really important to Naturally Fit Agency as well and they have opportunities for clients to volunteer with different organizations. It is central to my artistic vision to work on stories that are culturally relevant and create social change through representation. I want to use my influence towards issues I care about which mainly are: ending factory farming, ending violence against women and girls around the world, ending homelessness, and in general creating more equity for BIPOCs in this country.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
You’re never saving yourself heartbreak by leaving your dreams behind and you’re helping no one by suffering. You wouldn’t be given a desire without there being a sacred purpose for it and the full potential for it to be made tangible. It wouldn’t be fun to get everything you want all at once and there will always be more so the special occasion really is right now. Follow your joy authentically. Life on Earth truly is magic. Clinging to anything is death.
Pricing:
- Personal Training for aesthetics, $100/session
Contact Info:
- Website: nadiaborelli.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thenadiaborelli
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0VV6DR6GUnZLNLWVrXqIcJ
Image Credits
Tony Alverez Jesse Deyoung Sweet Jon Productions All American stills
