Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Steiner.
Julia, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in a small city in Austria. My first biggest passion in life was dance. Since the age of five, I’ve been training in a variety of dance styles, including ballet, jazz, musical, contemporary, hip hop, and commercial. Years of practice and dedication provided me with many opportunities to perform and compete in Austria and throughout Europe, which wasn’t always easy to manage while going to school. But gladly, it never affected my grades.
I have always been very creative, adventures, outgoing and open-minded and had this big dream to become an actress for TV and film, even though the profession doesn’t exist in Austria. At the age of 20, right after receiving my secondary school certificate, I decided to move to NYC. The plan was to stay for only one year, but one year turned into two years, and I discovered my passion for acting. I decided to stay in the US, which was a tough decision to make since all my family and friends live in Austria. Still, I just fell in love with the city, the energy, the lifestyle, the openness of all the people living there, the excellent opportunities, and of course, I felt like I had to chase my big dream – to become an actress for TV and film.
After living in New York City for two years, I got the chance to take a significant step forward in my career and auditioned for the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), acting for film program at the New York Film Academy in South Beach, FL. Receiving a talent scholarship made this transition possible. At school, I received in-depth training in voice-over, improvisation, accents, Shakespeare, voice, script analysis, and characterization and landed on the Dean’s list three times. I was privy to incredible opportunities to play different lead roles in many student productions, some independent film productions, and two Harold Pinter plays. Furthermore, I had the chance to dance and act in the music videos of various famous artists, including J. Balvin, Nicky Jam, Dillion Francis, and Becky G.
Currently, I am working on two lead roles of two very relevant and amazing short films that are still in pre-production and finishing up my last assignments for graduation in May 2020.
Has it been a smooth road?
Although I smile all the time, and I’m a happy person in general, I had many challenges and obstacles on my road. To decide to move to NYC and to stay in the US, far away from my family and friends, was probably the hardest decision I had to make in my life. I had so many doubts and fears, felt choked and suffocated, and struggled for a while to figure out how to work and stay here, how to make a living financially, make friends, and much more. I had to manage school while working three jobs and had many sleepless nights.
It was definitely not an easy road, but those dark moments helped me grow, made me stronger, and overcoming all of them proved to me that nothing in life is impossible if you try hard enough and you don’t give up. Furthermore, I believe that my experiences and how they affected me helps in my career. I have experienced so much that I can relate well to many different characters and life situations. I learned to use what has affected me in my past and turn it into art.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
As much as I love my job, being an actress is a lot of hard work. I think it’s really important always to continue to work on your craft, to learn new skills, and to get to know new versions of yourself. Preparing for a character can sometimes take weeks or even months. Getting there emotionally can be very challenging at times because there are often situations in scenes that you can’t relate to because it hasn’t happened to yourself. However, you still have to play it truthfully. Also, being on set all day shooting an intense, sad, and depressing scene can be demanding and exhausting. You always have to make sure to separate the character and the scene from your own life and not to let it affect you.
I think what sets me apart from others is that I always give 100%, I am very reliable, easy to work with, flexible, and always on time. My dream is to be able to work as a full-time actress in the entertainment business, on film and TV projects. The capability to entertain people, make them laugh, make them cry, make them feel that they are not alone, that we are all humans with feelings and emotions, with ups and downs is compelling. Good movies can save a bad day. In my opinion, they are persuasive and influential, and being a part of it is very special to me.
I also want to thank everyone who helped and supported me on my journey so far: my love, my friends, and especially my family, who always believed in me and my crazy dreams – I couldn’t have done it without you all!
Contact Info:
- Website: julià.com
- Email: hirshjulia@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliaxsteiner/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julia.steiner.98871
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWHu4jVexgQRMlWsVXWxKKg?view_as=subscriber
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