Today we’d like to introduce you to Kamden Andrews
Hi Kamden, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Kamden Andrews and I am an actress from Austin, Texas. Every since I was a young child I always knew I would be an actor I couldn’t explain how it would happen or what my specific path was but, I knew where I would end up. So, when I was 18 I had auditioned for a top Performing Arts College, I ended up getting in and at the time I had had very minimal acting experience. I wasn’t a “theatre kid” in high school. I actually was a volleyball player and volleyball consumed my time. My weekends were consumed with early mornings, volleyball tournaments and traveling. So, I think for most people close to me it was a shocker for me to deice to move to Los Angeles to act But, I trusted my gut and intuition, I graduated from my Performing Arts College one-year early, I did a commercial for Snapchat while in school, and have had many small successes that solidify for me that I did make the right decision.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been a smooth. I actually get very frustrated sometimes because I see people who don’t have as many obstacles and wish I had that luck. When it came to college, I almost did not get to go to my dream school. My school I graduated from is 65,000 dollars per year so of course when my parents heard that price and calculated it by four years, I was told I could not go because there was no way it would work financially. I come from a working-class family, my mom was a teacher, and my dad is a veteran so it’s not exactly like we had extra 260,000 waiting around to cover college at my dream school. I was crushed as you could imagine. I cried a lot, and I could not see myself going to school in Texas. I even emailed the drama departments at the Texas Universities I had gotten into but, it was far too late to audition and change my major. So, I would have been stuck as a business major which, I had no interest whatsoever in. But many student loans, grants, and scholarships later it worked out. I then was able to attend my dream school, which was amazing, but I still dealt with many bumps in the road to be where I am today. While in college I dealt with unfortunate family financial situations which then resulted in me my senior year of college only getting 3 hours of sleep every night. At my college your last semester of senior year you have rehearsals for the senior talent showcase from 8: oo at night until 11:00 at night and due my family financial situation. After having class from 8:30am-11OOpm I would work from 12:00am-4:00am. It was horrible. I was always tired; I once accidently fell asleep in rehearsals. I was so stressed and exhausted I had gained 15-20 pounds, and my face was so bloated from my cortisol levels being so high. The day I graduated from college and all the graduation activities were done I went home and passed out. Looking back on my life and the goals I set I always achieved them but, it was not easy and there was always a big challenge. Sometimes, it feels like before I do anything great, I am always challenged in a really big way. And, I guess it can be nice for character development and the challenges I have faced have resulted in my being very resilient and having lots of grit it would be nice to sometimes get a break and have something be easy for once.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an actor and it’s what I do and love. I am a versatile actor and have strong emotionality. I also produce my own work as, we all know this industry is hard and sometimes you need to create work for yourself when it is not being given to you. Over the past summer, summer 2024, I wrote a Comedic Absurdist one act play with the intention of entering it in The Hollywood Fringe Festival. Long story short, my played got approved and is now registered for the festival. I wrote it to feature my friends and I who deserve more of a spotlight with their acting careers and based the characters on parts of ourselves and what we would be typecast as. I think this is a big aspect that sets me apart from others. Many people spend too much time waiting for someone to say yes to them but, never say yes to themselves. Not everyone has the luxury of having people in positions of power willing to take a risk on them and if those people won’t take a risk on you and you know what you have to offer why don’t you take a risk on yourself and then let the right people will follow suit. For me, I refuse to accept that it won’t work out. That’s just never been my character. Sometimes you have to find out of the box ways to succeed. I will got panels to network, I will do casting director workshops, I always try to put myself in rooms where I am at the bottom of the totem pole because that is how you learn and grow and take advice from people who have been down the road before you. By doing that I have learned that people are more willing to help than you would think, and people see your potential and drive they will not regret supporting and helping you.
How do you think about happiness?
What makes me happy is my friends and my career. I always be a career woman through and through, whenever my hard work pays off nothing gives me a greater sense of accomplishment and joy than that. I also love setting goals for myself and slowly seeing the goals get checked off my list one by one, it shows my hard work is paying off and it’s not for nothing. For example, when I was determined to get ana gent and I emailed over 50 agents, and I ended up getting signed and booked my first commercial within one week of being signed, I had no guidance of referrals with getting signed just my own research and trusting my gut. So, for me that was a huge win. My friends will also always make me happy they make me laugh and when we are all together, we are never serious, and I laugh so hard with our Gen Z humor.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/heyitskamden
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/35H-u1Mkfvk?si=mvstaFQ1LvdR2rTf
- Other: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/users/205993
Image Credits
Molly Pan Photography
Leo Foti
