Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Potts.
Emma, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My mum put me into dance and drama classes when I was six years old, she said I kept asking her if I could do ballet so eventually, she put me into my first ballet class and I loved it and haven’t stopped since. I was selected to attend the McDonald College of Performing Arts High School when I was 15 years old and shortly after starting there, I booked my first professional Television Commercial. After graduating, I completed a 2-year diploma in performing arts and then traveled Australia dancing at the V8 Supercar events, in-between that, I was doing small acting work such as short films and music videos. After my contract was up for the V8’s, I decided to focus more on acting and took my first solo trip to Los Angeles to complete a 2-month Acting course at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, those two months changed my life. I knew LA was where I was meant to be. I returned to Australia and straight away planned my move back to LA. During that time in Australia, I was cast in a feature film which has now won multiple awards, was shown at Australian cinemas and is one of the films on Virgin Australia airlines.
Has it been a smooth road?
It most definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, so many roadblocks along the way. Some are normal things actors experience like not being selected for a role but other roadblocks were things that other people were doing to try and put me down. I would proudly put on social media exciting things happening in my life as a photo of me on set or at a photoshoot for publicity and I remember girls I went to school with would then post a Facebook status saying stuff like “you’re not an actress just because you’re on set or you’re not a model, stop putting photoshoot shots up.” At first, seeing those things hurt and made me feel like I wasn’t good enough or talented enough but honesty now I take it like well look what I’m doing with my life and look what you’re doing (posting hurtful words on Facebook). My advice for young women is to take absolutely no notice of what people have to say about you, a lot of people seem to think it’s okay to comment on the appearance of young women, for example, I remember I posted a photo on Facebook and a guy commented and tagged his friend and said “still think she’s not hot?” and the other one commented back saying “yeah, she’s not.” Just focus on you and not people who don’t matter. I always think once I get to where I want to be, all those people who were mean will want to be my friend and it’s true! I’m nowhere near where I want to be but this has already happened to me.
Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I’m an Australian Actress trying to make my way into Hollywood and so far, I think I’m doing pretty good! I’ve moved across the globe away from family and friends to pursue my dream. I love to be in front of a camera and in character. My job allows me to explore different parts of who I am and study a whole new person. I’ve done a lot of dramatic film work and that’s where I see my career going. I had a role in a film called Pimped which starred Gotham star Benedict Samuel and it was such a dark story, it was really fun to portray. Storytelling through film is such a powerful thing.
What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
Don’t give up! Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not good enough and always be kind.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: emmalpotts
Image Credit:
Saadhameed Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
