So how did Andrea get that part? Bishop just came up to her at a party and told her she “had to be in [his] movie.”
With the acting thing exploding, you’d think she’d have no time for anything else. But in fact, Andrea is an accomplished artist. Her paintings have been displayed on Main Street during the Sundance Film Festival.
“I was so focused on acting but I would spend nights painting in front of a window.”
Her friends were impressed with her work and kept telling her she should show her paintings.
She said it was something she did for “shits and giggles” until a director friend expressed enthusiasm for her work. And the lucky gal and her friend walked down the streets of Beverly Hills during a snooty arts festival and crashed a couple of swanky parties. By the end of the night, she had nine appointments to show her work and soon after, her first gallery exhibition.
The painting and now directing too, have become a big part of her life. She likes the idea of not depending solely on acting to earn her keep.
“During the writer’s strike, a lot of my friends’ projects were put on hold. But I was working on my paintings,” she says.
Andrea says she like to “think out of the box” and that’s probably why she gets casted for interesting parts like 'Echo' in Hell Ride, a wild hippie child. And the attention has not gone to her head. She has both feet on the ground and intends to keep them there.
“I don’t understand why people have to be such ass holes when they get to a certain level.” No, Andrea is cool with everybody.
But she still dreams big. Her goal is to become a world renowned female painter. She wants to move and affect people through her art. And her advice for kids who have also caught the acting bug?
“Follow your heart and learn skills that can take care of you along the way.”
---Liz Casanova, writer
