Meet Aaron Anthony Harper

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Anthony Harper.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Aaron. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born into a close-knit family in the small town of Springfield, Ohio, where most of my relatives still reside to this day. My parents met in college and attended medical school together, and eventually, both became medical doctors. They were hard-working professionals, and we lived a very comfortable typical life until they divorced when I was ten years old.

That marked a defining shift in my life because two things happened: 1) I decided not to follow in their footsteps and pursue a career in medicine (or any conventional career for that matter). I wanted to go in a completely different direction and become an actor. 2) In November 2004 I went from the comfort of everything and everyone I had ever known in Ohio and moved 5,000 miles away to Hawaii. My mother thought it would be best for us to get a fresh start somewhere new, and the entirely new cultural experience offered me the gift of perspective and adaptability.

Not to mention, the scenery isn’t bad either! I ended up graduating from high school there and got my first gig on a real television show on Hawaii 5-0. That job opened up the opportunities that led to the work I do now. I had already had the experience of a huge move in my life so I decided to truly pursue my passions and make the big leap here to LA from my comfort zone in Honolulu. It was not what anyone expected of me, but it’s what I truly wanted to do with my life. So here I am, and sincerely grateful for the opportunity to be interviewing with one of the most influential publications in our city!

Great, 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?
I have struggled with depression. When I was a sophomore in college at 19 or 20, I was majoring in Communications. As the semesters went by, I began to realize that was not my true passion. Since I was about 5 yrs old, I knew I always had a knack for performing and just overall entertainment, but never seriously pursued it because my parents wanted me to have a normal life, and not get caught up in being a child actor. For the 1st semester of my sophomore year of college, I seeped into a deep depression.

I had trouble speaking, became somewhat introverted and anti-social, and my grades really began to drop because I’d stopped going to classes overall. I knew I did not want to keep this major, I just didn’t have the guts to make the switch. I took an “on-camera performance” course (honestly just to get an easy A) and excelled in that class. It reintroduced me to that fire for performance that always managed to be repressed inside me. Immediately afterward, I knew that it was time for me to stop what I was doing and really take the steps of becoming a professional actor. Depression hurts. There are so many of us who can attest to this. I am so fortunate to have found a way out of mine because that was a very dark time in my life.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I had the incredible opportunity to work behind the camera with the most iconic figures in this industry on one of his most memorable projects ever: “Once upon a Time in Hollywood” with Quentin Tarantino. I had the opportunity to briefly chat with him, Margot Robbie, and Al Pacino, and that kind of an opportunity does not happen every day! Working with them felt surreal in that moment. Even though I was just a PA, it was still one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 8082927741
• Email: aharper937@gmail.com
• Instagram: @_aaron.anthony_
• Facebook: Aaron Anthony

Image Credit:
Photographer #1 : Spencer Selover
Photographer #2 : Reymark Palcon
Photographer #3 : Stephanie Girard

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