Meet Samantha Wimmer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Wimmer.

Samantha, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I moved to North Hollywood at age ten with the aspirations of becoming a successful actress. I had a very supportive family, considering that my siblings and I all wanted to pursue in the artistic field somehow, knowing we weren’t exactly economically wealthy. Being a child actress, I was raised around a more adult setting, making me mentally grow a lot faster than the other kids in school. Being accepted into adult acting classes, learning to cry on command, and auditioning for very dark and dramatic roles as a kid made me have the maturity of a 19 years old in little baby Sam’s 11 years old body. I never fully knew what I wanted as a kid, I just wanted to be on TV and that’s it!

At the age of 16, we moved to Palmdale and it practically felt like we were moving back to our hometown back in Arizona. I felt as if I lost all of my creative juices by being yanked away into a town that felt so far. As a child actor, I had to make my parents drop work for every audition I had. Having to drive 2 hours to an audition and 3 hours back, counting traffic, in the HOPES I’d even get a callback made me feel guilty knowing they weren’t making money so they can help me achieve my dreams. It broke my heart, knowing I had to put my career on a temporary pause. I joined Drama Junior year and MAN did it keep my artsy wheel turning. In all of the acting classes I’ve taken, no one ever taught the fundamentals of how it all started. Learning, understanding and performing Shakespeare, the logistics of theatre, and performing through relatable situations really changed my perspective and performance choices, allowing myself to achieve a scene completely raw, natural, and performing in the now! That was when my perspective of wanting to be on TV changed from wanting to be famous to now doing this because I truly love it.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think anyone who says their career journey has been perfectly smooth is fibbing HARD! Apart from moving to a whole different town that practically felt like I lived in Nebraska, I had to get a job to pay for a car so I can start up my career. Once I graduated high school at 18, I felt liberated, got a job right away and put a down payment on a car. I was finally an independent young woman and able to take the wheel of my own career and guide it in the direction I felt I was fit for.

In less than a year, I booked 4 short films, worked on the Universal Backlot- which was baby Sam’s dream every time she got on the Universal Tram Tour- booked a JCPenny commercial, took Killian’s Workshop which led me to get 75% of my auditions to callbacks and avails, enrolled in the Groundlings, started modeling to make cash on the side, and to top it off was signed by BOTH a prestigious agent and manager!! Life truly blessed me once the ball and chains of school and not having a car came off. But little did I know the horse was gonna get shot in the face not too far away.

Less than a year of having my new car, I got into a massively STUPID car accident which totaled my car…. Not only was my hip wreck, but so was my mentality; it went completely down the drain, to the dump, and incinerated to ash. I felt utterly crippled…no pun intended. I had to quit my night job because I couldn’t afford to Uber to Job #1 then to Job #2, then home everyday, along with the fact that I couldn’t work as well. I was too prideful to ask to borrow my family’s car or ask them to drop me off/ pick me up after everything they’ve done for me. I had tasted independence completely and I didn’t want to admit that I needed help.

Overtime, my agent and manager stopped submitting me to many auditions. The manager I had signed with had changed offices, didn’t take me with her and I had to eventually cut ties a few months later knowing that it wasn’t going well. Between my car accident and losing my representation, I started to develop massive rib pain on both sides, not allowing me to breathe, making me go MIA to Tijuana to get it taken care of por que todo en los Estados Unidos cuesta una pierna y un brazo ahaha. So after having everything, I lost it all in seconds… I had to put my career on hold yet again.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Once I started to get back on my feet, I decided to start modeling full time in hopes to make some money doing something that I grew a liking to. I had always been photographed as a kid; being my sister photography project since she was in high school and through college eliminated my discomfort of being photographed. She truly showed me not to just stand there and rely on my looks or else she’d fail her assignments from lack of creativity! With little knowledge of the modeling world, I had developed the art of not standing still when being photographed. With all of my acting knowledge, I found it easy to merge the two by replacing emotions with expression and improv body language with movement. I later heard that one of my favorite models created a model camp in New York to assist developing models (Coco Rocha Model Camp). It was one of those opportunities I had to put on my credit card and worry about later, not to mention getting to meet a true icon! Having the Queen of Pose herself, Coco Rocha, along with her business partner/husband, James Conran, ensured me that it’s highly encouraged to be expressive and full of movement while also learning the business portion of the modeling industry!

I always find it funny when I enter an audition or interview and get asked “How are you any different,” because my answer is always, “ For someone who isn’t a professional comedian and aspires to be a part of dramatic television, I’m funny as balls! If Jim Carrey and Jason Bateman somehow found a way to have a child, that would be me. Absolutely physically hilarious one day and humorously dry and sarcastic the next, so you get the whole package.” Apart from my sense of humor, I am filled with drive, which I’d hope you can notice after seeing me overcome all my roadblocks. I entered this career knowing that it’s as competitive as Serena Williams, and believe me when I say that when I’m HUNGRY and WANT this bad, I’m not going to butt heads with someone over it like it’s the last TV at Best Buy during their Black Friday sale. I’ve auditioned for so many things and after giving it my 140%, some roles just aren’t fit for you for whatever reason, and being raised with that incessantly made me a professional in handling rejection. I just believe that when there is a role out there for me, it is mine and the world will bless me with its good juju because if something is truly mine, it can’t be taken away from me.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
It’s very difficult to obtain a job that allows you to leave for auditions hours before getting the audition notice. I am very lucky to have had three jobs, all of which have been very understanding when it comes to needing to leave, whether it be an audition, a photoshoot, or anything in between. I’m currently in the process of getting my Real Estate License which means I control my hours and can make GOOOOOD money to help pay for my career while also becoming a pro with equity, loans and all that business “stuff” haha.

I can say my life has survived on bad luck, but it sure has taught me a lot and I’m immensely grateful to have been blessed with every single one of those roadblocks. I’ve gone and will continue to go through dirty buttholes and trash obstacles gladly because it’s only making me stronger. I feel like if I woke up at age 10, moved to LA and became an actress overnight, I’d be bummed, unhappy and possibly on drugs. I believe the journey is more fulfilling than the destination, and I know that once I get to where I want to be, I will treasure and savore it indefinitely.

I have been blessed to have the support and healthy mental state to push myself and achieve greatness alone. I’m now 21 and unrepresented, who booked short films, been published in 12 magazines this year ALONE and continuously writing scripts and monologues to better my reel. I also just got a car not too long ago so Career, I’M COMING FOR YOU…AGAIN!

Pricing:

• To book a photo shoot: $120/hour $500 half day

Contact Info:

• Website: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/SamanthaWimmer
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaawimmer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaAolaniWimmer
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/samanthaawimmer
• Other: https://www.lacasting.com/SamanthaWimmer

Image Credit:
Brittany Bravo, Eric Magana, Demetrius Ward, Anastasiya Sazhina, Andre Arvizu, Nick Suarez, Javier Jacques

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