Meet Amanda Reed

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Reed.

Amanda got the acting bug at age 14 when her mom enrolled her in community theater.

She didn’t have any formal training, in dance singing or acting. But she and her two other sisters, Ciara and Erin, quickly learned to jump in and just go for it. Which proved to be successful as they took many leading roles. By 23, Amanda had performed in over 450 live performances, including singing back up for James Brown at the infamous Greek theater in Hollywood.

As a birthday present at 16, Amanda started acting classes. She took numerous classes around town and numerous kinds of techniques. But what she soon learned was that these acting classes were not teaching her the one thing she was actually looking for: how to do acting in her unique voice as an artist. She soon found The Acting Center, a new school for the actor.

She has studied there exclusively for the last 12 years and has also become one of the lead teachers. The technique is unlike any other out there, as it lays out all the tools that a “master actor” would need in their tool belt and you are encouraged to practice them but using your unique ideas as an actor, your interpretation of what seems right. This was the antithesis of her career to really start moving… She now has already worked with such names as Neil Patrick Harris, Greg Kinnear, Sam Raimi, Emmy Rossum, Simon Baker and Dermut Mulroney.

She comes from a family of 5 children. She lives in Los Angeles. She has been over 17 hit TV shows and worked with Oscar and Emmy award winners and is being looked at as a formidable force in acting, being described as A young Kathy Bates or Melissa McCarthy’s sister. She is rich, real and dynamic as well as engaging and memorable.

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?
It hasn’t been a smooth ride at all lol most paths to success aren’t. I got lost honestly.

Most acting classes out there have a mentality of “breaking you down to build you back up.” Or “the teacher’s way is THE way.” Well, those didn’t work for me and in fact, I lost sight of why I wanted to be an actress, to begin with.

I also had an urge to write when I was younger and a teacher told me I shouldn’t consider writing a serious career for me. Not to mention it took me over 10 years to get into the actors union, SAG-AFTRA, I wasn’t the “typical looking” actress so no one knew what to do with me, other than the butt of a “fat joke”, which I refused to do. So you could say that I had a hard time lol.

I also, like I said, lost sight of myself as an artist. The schools for acting can be brutal and disparaging. The techniques either didn’t work for me or left me feeling horrible as a person. Or the teachers wanted me to act in a certain way and I didn’t agree. So I struggled to find my voice as an artist.

Please tell us about Amanda Reed.
Well as an actress I am my own business lol it’s hard work. I’ve learned to love the process and not just think of the result. What drew me to Acting was the adventure of the stories, from Sixteen Candles to The Neverending Story lol I loved the adventure of it.

That’s how I try to look at the whole process. I also loved the idea that I could be any profession or personality in acting. Weirdly that sounded normal. I know I’m not the normal looking leading lady actress lol But funny enough I actually represent so much of America with the way I look and heck my gender makes me part of more than 1/2 of the population lol!

So that can set me apart from others but I think what makes me unique is also my range as an actress: my versatility, how engaging I am, and the realness I bring. I’m also not a quitter and know I have to have long legs to get where I want to go I’m This industry.

Well lol, I don’t really have long legs lol buttttt that means I just take more steps and I’ll get to the same place (this is me attempting a philosophical joke lol).

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Oh man, there is so many lol!! Probably anything with my sisters and all the creative things we would do: singing, dancing, projects etc. Or times like going out to dinner and teasing each other or performing at The LA County Fair! We just had so many good times.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @missamandareed
• Other: Theamandareed.com

Image Credit:
Rob Flate Photography, Ray Kachatorian

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