Rising Stars: Meet Imani Woodley of Long Beach, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Imani Woodley.

Hi Imani, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m just a creative little black girl from Seattle Washington (shouts out to the 206) Rainier beach to be exact. I think I’ve always been fascinated by entertainment. I didn’t have any siblings growing up in the house with me, so I made it my business to entertain myself. From what I’ve been told and what I’ve seen in younger photos of myself, I was always coming out of my room in different costumes , making up stories and different characters to play. I was a kid with ALOT of personality. I’ve always been drawn to the arts. I was a dancer (ballet,tap & jazz) from the ages of 5 yrs old all the way up until 15. I also played flute 4 of those years, piano for a hot sec. Tv & movies was and still is my favorite pastime. I truly believed I would be the next Raven Symoné. From what I remember, I think she’s part of the reason I even wanted to be an actress in the first place . I watched that show and many others religiously and thought “mannn I can do that!”. At like 10 years old I was writing books and tv shows with theme songs I made from beats on my keyboard. My first show was called “strangers in the house”. It was about a diverse group of friends(Black, Indian, Asian & Hispanic) who solved mysteries in their neighborhoods. Honestly yall when I think about it now unbeknownst to me ,I probably made a multi-ethnic mystery gang without even catching the *possible* inspiration. I say possible because I believe my show was 1000 percent original. When I turned 12 I got involved in a musical theater program called the “Teen summer musical “at Langston Hughes performing arts center. The program was led by the incomparable Isiah Anderson Jr & Michelle Lang. I’d never actually acted before. My mom kept me in a summer program and figured if I liked dancing I’d love this. And I did! My first year I only danced and sang in the background of their African rendition of Snow White. That was one of the best summers of my life. I was hooked on acting after that and kept with “Langston” as we called it back then for many years after. By the time I got to high school I’d transitioned from dance to joining the drama program at Garfield Highschool led by Stuart Hawk at the time. We did every classic musical there was in those years Chicago, Hairspray, West side story. By my junior year I found out you could actually go to college for acting which never occurred to me before. My top schools were Tisch at NYU and AMDA in Los Angeles. I got talked out of tisch because that tuition was steep and my parents didn’t see a way at the time. But I did apply to AMDA and 3 more schools and I got into 3 out of the 4 including AMDA with a scholarship because your girl has talent and had a 3.9 gpa. Unfortunately, my AMDA dreams didn’t come true either and long story short I ended up at one of my safety schools for a year. I was never meant for “regular school”. I’m an artist through and through and the college I spent freshman year at just couldn’t offer me the tools I needed to make it to Hollywood. So I got to researching alternatives and found a performing arts college in Washington & I thought I’d give it a shot. I begged and pleaded with my parents and they said If I got in they’d actually consider this one seeing as I wasn’t going to let up. I got into Cornish College of the Arts four days after my audition and we made it work. I won’t drag on with the art school story because Cornish was some of the wildest, weirdest, coolest and fulfilling at one point and also most stressful at another 3 years of my life. By the time I graduated in 2017 I gave myself a deadline, I needed to get to LA by the end of the next year. I ended up taking longer than planned but not by much. I packed up my childhood room , my parents thought I was joking about the move until they saw all the U-haul boxes. My dad offered to drive me once he realized I wasn’t playing around and On February 22, 2019 I made it to LA, land of my dreams.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
California has in no way, shape or form been a smooth road. Had somebody of told me it’d be this difficult , I’m not sure if I’d still have come to be honest. But then again I always knew Seattle was too small minded for me and I was made for more. I wanted more. I knew I was a star I just needed my shot. The first year was cool , I hit the ground running and made my way with very little money and not a full fledged plan. I got my first commercial agent after 7 months. I worked hard. But then here comes Covid f*ckin up my plans (I hope I can curse, that’s how I felt). Covid really set things back for me and everybody. The industry especially. I was out of work for 9 months, it was a crazy time. People I knew moved back home, but I was determined to stick it out, even though with that kind of financial setback I honestly didn’t know how. I did it though, somehow , someway I managed to stay here with no roommate, the little bit of family I had here had moved two hours away so it was just me. Writing it down here now I can see how big of an accomplishment and undertaking that was for someone who wasn’t from here and had gotten only one good year in. After that I made things work the best I could. I got my theatrical agent right before Covid and things kinda made its way back after a while. I’ve auditioned for some major things and I’m grateful for the chance my agent took on me with no tv credits , just a bunch a plays from a different town. Then the sag-aftra strike came and jacked up my momentum AGAIN. Honestly without the interruption of both those events , I like to think I’d be much further along. But I guess I’ll never know. It’s not been easy here. I romanticized LA a lot more than I had realized. I thought my talent and my pure determination would be all I needed and there are soooo many more factors to the the movie business down here than that. That reality has smacked me in the face more times than one and it’s been hard. I’ve considered giving up a million times, quitting acting and going home. I’ve cried enough tears to fill an ocean I’m sure and I started to doubt myself a lot. I still do sometimes, but something deep down won’t let me quit. I can’t give it up. Even though a regular, steady, predictable life would be so much easier, it just isn’t me. I’ve seen myself at the Oscar’s in my dreams, I don’t think those type of visions come by coincidence. I think it’s a glimpse from God of what I’m meant to do, he just left out all the raggedy stuff that would happen in between. The friends I’d lose, the jobs I’d be forced quit, the stress, the anxiety, the depression, the feeling alone. I did not expect to be this honest, but hopefully somebody who also has a dream will read this article and relate. They can also see I’m still pushing even through all this and maybe it’ll help them push too. That along with storytelling has always been my goal-to help and heal with my gift.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have a BFA in theater. I’ve been acting for 18 years now which is insane to say out loud. I’m most proud of the 2.5 years here where I had the amazing opportunity to actually teach acting and make my own films working with adults with learning and physical disabilities. We made three films together all of which for the exception of the first one which I co-edited with my amazingly talented friend Matthew GoriachKovsky, I directed, shot and edited myself . I have never met a kinder, compassionate, supportive, caring , amazing , hardworking, talented, miraculous and hilarious group of people in my life. They made me feel seen. They made me feel important, they trusted my vision and I’ll always be grateful for that. Together we made the films “The Poem Show” which was a series of original vignettes strung together in a feature length film inspired by Shel Silverstein poems. The second was “Fantastic fairytales” which was our retelling of Jack & the beanstalk, Red Riding Hood & The elves and the shoemaker and lastly our retelling of “Snow white and the 7 dwarfs”. All featuring artists both verbal and non-verbal, ambulatory and non ambulatory. Amplifying the voices of people with disabilities and their community. Showing how theater and storytelling can be made by all types of people and should not be limited to the one way of performing we’ve always seen. Shouts out to “My big homies” I love yall more than you know, forever.

Lately though I’ve had some really great opportunities and wins I’m starting to get more confident in saying now. I recently had the opportunity to be in a short film called “Pay deferred “ written and directed by the amazingly talented Katherine Connor Duff who put me on for this interview and I’m so grateful to have met her and all my amazing cast mates, crew , producers , everyone who had anything to do with making that project as amazing as it is. We’ve won a bunch of awards including “Best ensemble” in the Berlin short film festival and “Best Comedy” in the LA Sun film festival along with many other wins and final selections. I’m most proud of this film and this moment because it gave me the opportunity to see myself on the big screen for the first time at Regal cinemas L.A live for our LA premiere. That moment was one I’ll cherish forever and is hopefully the first in many other films yall will see me in at a movie theater near you. Working on a lot of other projects that will be making its way into the world soon as well.

What sets me apart… that’s a big question. Well for one and it’s probably the biggest thing, I’m the only Imani Yasmeen Woodley, undercover superstar, hard working, dedicated, talented, go getter actress on the planet & that’s enough to set me apart right there.

What matters most to you?
Making art and telling stories that change the way people think, feel and relate to one another. Helping and healing people through my gift of storytelling. Making sure people in general but especially other black and brown kids like I once was see themselves in the stories I tell and the person I hope to be someday and that it inspires them to make whatever shift is necessary for them. What also matters to me is finding ways to Speak up and out for causes that matter to me outside of my art —like stoping the stigma & cycle of shame when it comes to seeking out therapy and other mental health resources in the black community. Everybody needs a little help sometimes, and that’s okay.

Pricing:

• Acting classes coming soon summer 2026
• Kids and teens ages 4-16
• Pricing starting at 30 $ per hr
• Classes ranging from 1.5-4 hrs depending on age
• More info to come at https://imaniwoodley.wixsite.com/actress

Contact Info:

• Website: https://imaniwoodley.wixsite.com/actress
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imani.woodley
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bluntbizness

Image Credits
Travis Tanner
Graham Bishop
Caroline Cole
Demesha Young