I wear a lot of hats. But here's the skinny:
I grew up on a military base in Seoul, Korea, where the demand for talented native English speakers is still insanely high. As a result, I started working professionally as a voice actor and session singer at the tender age of 13, putting me at over a decade of professional experience by the time I landed in New York City in 2008. (If you're doing the math to figure out how old I am, let me help you: 38. And PROUD. I refuse to bend to the Hollywood obsession with youth that causes most actors to hide or lie about their real age.)
I put in 12 solid years in NYC, performing in numerous readings and off-Broadway productions of new musicals, singing in multiple original and cover bands (including my own), and recording voice-overs for brands like Kayak.com, Bud Light Lime-A-Rita, Gillette, and many more. Then I got hitched and moved on to greener pastures with my magical husband, the guitar wizard and inventor of the BulletSlide guitar slide, Jonny Java Mantra. He's dope as hell! We settled into our new home in Colorado Springs just before COVID hit.
Since then, i've been singing and recording voice-overs from my broadcast quality home studio, thanking my lucky stars for my good fortune in having said home studio, and trying to share the wealth with other artists. I offer private coaching in voice-over and acting, a donation-based online acting studio, and a mission to cast as many amazing talents as possible in the recording projects I direct and produce.
I know what it takes to live that #actorlife (and that #voiceactorlife or that #artistlife). And because i've diversified my income streams so effectively, I have the mental and emotional bandwidth to go into every audition with the confidence of a woman who knows that this job won't make or break her. Which means I can give my best every time, because i'm not getting bogged down by nerves. I can help you get there, too.
I just wrapped two back-to-back theatre contracts, playing Winnifred in WITCH by Jen Silverman at Theatreworks Colorado Springs, and Alicia in The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa Fasthorse at the Off-Square Theatre Company in Jackson, Wyoming. I've also been recording as the new brand voice for Infiniti Luxury Cars, with spots currently airing on television in major markets, online, and on the radio.
Coming soon: An independent short film called Arable, from Evan Wiley of Motion Atlas Films, in which I play Klara Zayed, the leader of a team of eco-rebels in a near-future dystopian world in which people are no longer allowed to grow their own food. Watch the trailer here.
In January 2022, I'll be traveling to Los Angeles to shoot the pilot episode of For Years to Come, an independent television series by actor and writer James Patrick Nelson. I play Genie, a "glorious pansexual" and best friend to the main character, Johnny, a gay, diabetic young man who falls in love with his dead mother's hospice nurse while coming to terms with the fact that his aging father is secretly a porn director.
I am endlessly grateful for the good fortune I've had to help tell so many meaningful stories, and I'm excited to see what the future will bring.
xoxo,
Samia
