Today we’d like to introduce you to Renée Willett.
Renée, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Landing my role in THE COMEDIAN: It was my birthday, and I was on set in Atlanta filming a day player role on my first film THE YELLOW BIRDS working opposite Jennifer Aniston. As if this day couldn’t get any better, I happened to hear in between takes a conversation the producers were having who were visiting set that day. They were mentioning their next film to someone, and all I heard was “Robert De Niro… New York” and “The Friars Club.”
So I approach them and tell them that I am from New York City and happen to be the youngest Friar. “I would love to take you to lunch one day,” I say to them both. They say to me, “You mean your father is a Friar.” I say “No, actually I’m the Friar.” They were impressed, and I get their email addresses (that alone was exciting for me). I follow up less than a week later, and then again a week after that, and a week after that.
Finally, they respond and tell me they would love to have lunch at the Friar’s Club however they are just too busy. Instead, they hook me up with their casting director for their Robert De Niro/New York film, and I send in an audition tape. I land the one-lined role to be shot in The Friars Club, and couldn’t be happier. Director Taylor Hackford, husband to Helen Meeren, called me in three days before shooting to talk about the role.
We ended up bonding over USC football. It couldn’t have gone better. My shoots date was pushed back and I was called in to meet with the director a second time. We spoke about all the food we loved in New York especially delis. My shoot date ended up getting pushed back by three weeks, and I was called in yet again a few days before shooting.
Mr. Hackford told me the script was being rewritten and he would write in a role for me opposite Robert De Niro. I walked out of his production office with my mouth wide open counting the seconds until I would make it to the lobby floor so that I could call my mom. Because of that experience, I have a real scene with one of my favorite actors of all time.
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?
Pursuing a career as an actress has its challenges. Finding ways to make yourself stand out from the pack and booking jobs themselves pose difficult journey’s. My greatest challenge, however, is simply getting the opportunity to audition for things.
Without auditioning an actor doesn’t have a chance to obtain the job and people in other industries don’t realize that just landing that audition is a small win in itself.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I am an actress, comedienne, Instagram influencer, producer, and global ambassador.
As an actress, I like to focus more on cometic acting. My experience is mainly in independent features. As a comedienne, I am most proud that I write all of my own material. Influencing has its perks, like getting to travel the world and stay in luxury hotels. This growing niche business serves a valuable asset to many actresses.
I like to stand out in many ways. First and foremost, as an actress in my ‘type’ (age, look, etc.) there are not many girls who are funny. That I believe is my greatest strength as an actress. Furthermore, I am also classically trained having studied the Meisner technique at the William Esper Studio, as well as improv at The Groundlings and UCB. I continue my training now at Lesly Kahn.
I am finishing my MBA degree at USC Marshall School of Business with an emphasis in film finance. Being inept in film finance and business is a knowledge most young actresses do not have. Having knowledge in this field is an even smaller pool of young ladies. Having experience as a producer in almost ten projects is a very valuable a potential future filmmaker, that sets me apart from other actresses.
What were you like growing up? Personality wise, interest wise, etc.
Growing up I was extremely active. Every day I would make sure to do two different sports after school; tennis, hip-hop, gymnastics, jazz, tap, ballet, track, etc. However, my priority was always tennis. To become a competitive junior tennis player I had to put in many hours on the court. I would train at least three weekdays a week before and after school as well as all day on Saturdays and Sundays. If I had a tournament over the weekend I would travel all over to compete from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Florida, to areas all throughout France.
I was also extremely interested in school. I was studious and valued achieving straight A’s for myself, not my parents as most kids would. I was also very social and thrived walking down the halls of my school. I loved being surrounded by friends and valued my friendships in all sectors of the student body. I was the girl that wasn’t in a clique but more friends with people in all different groups like the mens and womens tennis teams while I was captain.
I was involved with the art kids as I was in the National Art Honor Society, the math nerds as I was in AP Calculus, the Hispanic kids as I was the Director of the Spanish Club, the choir kids as I sang in every school performance, the popular girls as I threw all the big parties, the Jewish kids as we all went to the same synagogue, the jocks as I was also on the track team, the theatre geeks as I was in every school play, and also in student government.
I was known as the girl with the big smile in high school, and in many ways I still am. My outgoing, friendly, warm, welcoming, silly personally I had in high school has definitely shaped who I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5624753/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reneewillett/?hl=en
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