Canadian actress Amy Julia Rose has been fascinated by the performing arts since a very young age. As the oldest of three siblings, she was always involving her sister and brother in her creative projects. At seven, she wrote a musical starring her and her sister. At twelve, she wrote, composed, directed and acted in a Holiday movie with her brother. Every time friends would come over, she would always involve them in some sort of performance, whether it was a song, a play, a comedy show, a movie or a concert. Amy knew early on that her imagination was endless. Now Amy is in living in Los Angeles where she stars in various theatre productions and on-screenfilm and television projects.
About Insider sat down with Amy Julia Rose to discuss her latest happenings and more!
HELLO AMY JULIA ROSE, WELCOME TO ABOUT INSIDER! WAS IT ALWAYS YOUR DREAM TO BE AN ACTOR?
Yes! As a kid, I would act, perform, and create characters at any chance I got. I took acting lessons throughout my life and acted in plays at school and camp and everywhere else. Theatre was always an outlet of mine – it made me forget about my struggles and sensitivities and allowed me to be my best self. Because of this, I knew that I was destined to be an actor.
WHAT KIND OF TRAINING DID YOU RECEIVE BEFORE MOVING TO LA?
I have a BA in Honors Theatre Studies from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. This program included classes taught by directors from the world-famous Stratford Festival in which I learned Shakespearean voice and performance. I was in my first musical at age 6 and continued to study musical theatre throughout my childhood. I was involved in many theatre camps in which I took classes in improv, mime, Shakespeare, movement, musical theatre, contemporary dance and script analysis. I have also trained in voiceover at an advanced level with The Second City and have taken classes with Kathleen Puls Andrade, and have had one-on-one voiceover coaching with Krystal Meadows of KH Casting, Toronto. I was involved with community theatre groups and children’s theatre ensembles.
WHAT OTHER PERFORMING ARTS ARE YOU TRAINED IN, BESIDES ACTING?
I have been dancing since the age of four and am trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, character, hip hop, and beginner pointe. I performed an advanced tap solo at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto. I have also been an assistant dance teacher and have taught tap, ballet and hip hop to young children. I am also a musician. I have been writing my own music from a very young age, in genres such as jazz, rock, musical theatre, pop, soul, R&B and folk. I have written songs in English, Italian, Spanish and Russian. I have been playing the piano since I was a toddler, and I also play ukulele, drums and guitar. I regularly perform my original music at open mic nights in LA and Santa Monica. I often incorporate acting into my music, sometimes without even realizing it! Sometimes I’ll be performing a song, and I’ll get laughs without even realizing I had written a funny lyric. Getting laughs onstage is my favorite feeling in the world – doesn’t matter which performing art I’m doing!
TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING THEATRE PLAYS?
I have four original theater productions in the works. Recently I invited actors to join me for a table read. We read four original plays that I had written to prepare for a staged reading. The plays are called ‘Simran’, ‘Young Picasso’ and His Mother’,’ I Don’t Like Haikus’, and ‘Calm Down’.
‘Simran’ is about a girl who finds it virtually impossible to stop thinking about a loved one when nobody else shares her feelings about her; ‘Young Picasso and His Mother’ is about a mother of two young children who tries to convince her son that he is the reincarnation of Picasso, but it backfires terribly.‘I Don’t Like Haikus’ takes place on a college move-in day where a girl discovers her roommate only speaks in Haikus and tries to convince her to talk normally. Finally, ‘Calm Down’ is a short scene that follows two cousins with polar-opposite personalities and voices on their way to a comic convention.
THEY ALL SOUND SO DIFFERENT. WHAT IS YOUR ROLE WITHIN EACH PLAY?
I am the writer and director. I had a very unique perspective as such. I organized the table read, got together a wonderfully talented group of actors, booked a studio at Stella Adler, and made some tentative casting choices. I had never before heard my words and characters come to life. I laughed, smiled, and was very moved. I’ve always loved creating characters and writing plays. But getting to actually hear my work performed, even for just an introductory table read, is such a unique experience.
I’m an actor first, and it was so interesting for me to experience taking off my actor’s hat and putting on my writer and director hat! I got to explain some background information for each of the plays after hearing them read, and I asked the readers what they thought about the stories and characters. Some of my plays have parts that are up for interpretation, so I loved hearing their feedback and thoughts on certain characters.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE WHOLE PROCESS?
I planned and put together the whole thing by myself. Aside from writing and directing the plays, I had to make sure I had enough people, make tentative casting decisions, send out at least three big emails, find actors, book a space, and find a date and time. I’m lucky to have friends who were able to help me set up, print the scripts and check availability. Putting together a table read took a lot of work, but knowing I have so much support is very helpful, and it makes everything worth it!
WHO JOINED YOU FOR THE TABLE READ?
I was joined by a great group of actors, James Sault, Joshua Gill, Robert Coventry III, Zofia Helena, Andre McCoy, Antonio Rosello, Zachary Scott King, and Maddy Arnold.
CAN YOU SHARE ANY FUN FACTS FROM THE EXPERIENCE?
Unfortunately, half of the people who were supposed to participate weren’t able to make it, as most of them are Stella Adler students and they had classes going on at the same time. We had to do a lot of quick thinking, and I had to switch around the casting that I had planned. One of my friends who participated was originally playing one male character who didn’t have that many lines, but he ended up not only reading for the female lead of Simran, but absolutely crushing it.
At one point he stood up to deliver his lines. It was absolutely moving. I did happen to have a lot more male actors show up to the table read, and I had written mostly female parts, so there was a lot of genderbending – but they all did such great jobs! I really believed my male friend who read for the Picasso boy’s mom. Not only did he do so well at playing a woman, but he was so great as a mom. This just goes to show how wonderful the Adler technique is – I got to see these people completely transform, and all our imaginations came to life.
Even though at first, I was worried that the lack of people would lead to disaster, these amazing actors gave me the most pleasant surprise. I was smiling and laughing and cheering the whole time. Any doubts I had about putting on a staged reading vanished very quickly, and I’m very excited for table read number two!
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE PROCESS OF THE PLAYS?
We are most likely putting on the staged reading of these plays (plus maybe two more!) in late February or early March. The date is still TBD, but I’ll definitely be posting a lot about it on Instagram closer to the performance! It will be performed in the Larsen Theatre at Stella Adler Academy of Acting and Theatre in Hollywood.
WE ARE EXCITED TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THEM! WHAT INSPIRING MESSAGE CAN YOU GIVE TO PEOPLE READING THIS?
Never underestimate the power of believing in your dreams. There are going to be people in your life who will tell you that certain things are a waste of time and will never happen. Surround yourself with those who support you and encourage you to do what makes you feel happiest. I never would’ve made it to Hollywood if I had given up on my dreams! Remember that there are always people out there who love you and support you. Take care of yourself, help others, and be the best version of yourself you can be. And be kind to everyone!
WISE WORDS.HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND AND FOLLOW YOUR JOURNEY?
People can check out my work on IMDb and follow me on Instagram @amyjuliarose.
