One on One: Jaslyn Collis

Happy to be sharing this One on One with actress Jasyln Collis. Jasyln is a brilliant young actress that has been in numerous commercials, television shows, theatre productions and is currently working on some upcoming movies. I'm thrilled to be sharing this with you. Jasyln is a incredibly talented, young lady. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her work in the near future.

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1. Can you tell me a little about yourself and your career... Are you working on any upcoming projects?

Well, I am a 14 year old actress, living in Calgary. I am involved in a few sports and love to read. I am in Grade 9 and attend an Arts School right now. Next year for High School I will be going into a full Performing Art’s Program. I have been on stage in different roles since I was three years old in a Dance Program and I haven’t looked back from there. I love being in front of both audiences and the camera! I started primarily in Theatre, but for the last couple of years have been primarily focussing on Film / TV. I haven’t given up theatre altogether, I did just finish a big play for my school, but just focussing more on Film. I have a few upcoming film projects that I am very excited about, the first is a great supporting role in a Psychological Thriller / Horror, it’s going to be filmed here in Calgary in June. The one that I am working on right now is a short called “Hikers” that we are trying to get funding for through Storyhive competition. Also, hopefully, we have a film coming up in California this summer, but we are just waiting for confirmation on that one. Really excited about all of these projects!

2. Can you tell us about StoryHive and the competition you have entered.

Storyhive is Optiks TV sponsored and they are putting on a competition in Calgary and Edmonton right now. They will be awarding 10 grants of up to $10,000, to help those in the film industry produce their own short 4-10 minute film. The local community registers as a voter and then votes for their favorite film pitches that they would like to see made. Each person gets 10 votes – and can vote up to five times for the same film. Then those winners that are awarded a grant produce their films and the films gets shown on TV in the fall – so this is a huge opportunity for a lot of people to see our film! My friends and I are currently asking everyone we know to go online to storyhive.com (link below) and sign up and vote for our film “Hikers”.

3. How does one go about getting into the acting business, and what are some of the difficulties in your career?

Well, there are differing opinions on this, but what I hear over and over is training, training, training. How you choose to do this is your choice. There are a lot of respected post-secondary institutions offering programs, obviously I can’t attend those. So for the last couple of years I have been taking acting training through local companies, non-profits and even independent instructors offering private or group training and even day camps. I have also been focussing on getting involved in making real films with some of my friends. Quite recently, I have also had some great opportunities offered for me to participate in other projects through some local directors. So you have to get experience to move forward – paid or unpaid...

Living in Calgary, there aren’t as many projects being filmed here as there are in Vancouver, Toronto and in the US. We are prepared to travel, but there are sometimes legalities and red tape as to who they are allowed to hire for certain parts, so in this way, I am hampered as to what I can audition for. However, I think that the main difficulty in this career for most actors is making enough money to allow you to continue training and focussing on acting. Rather, I think that a lot of people have to go out to find a day to day job to pay the bills – and fit in acting on the side which in itself means that they can’t be as successful. It takes a lot of work to be an actor. I am hoping that the work I am doing now will help me with gaining enough experience that will allow me bigger and better things in the near future!

4. Do you have an actor or actress that inspired you to become who you are today, and is there an actor or actress that you would hope to work with in the near future?

Well, I am still young, so most of what I have seen is relating to kids, teens and families. I have watched lots of older family films and of course the regular kid/teen stuff. But ultimately, with my schedule, I don’t actually get a lot of time to watch a whole lot of TV. When I do, I like to watch The Hunger Games, Harry Potter films, Degrassi, Once Upon a Time, etc. Some of my favorite actors are Emma Watson in Harry Potter, Jennifer Morrison from Once Upon a Time and some Adam Sandler films– he has a funny, awkward charm… I also got to meet Matthew McConaughey on set this year for Interstellar – and he was so nice!

5. What is some advice you would give someone aspiring to become an actor? Is it true the saying "If you set your mind to it you can do it"

I think that people who want to be actors just have to get out there, work hard and do it! Sometimes you have to make your own opportunities too by creating your own projects, by yourself or with your friends. You have to be online every day, looking for opportunities to volunteer to be in productions to gain experience and while doing that, you need to continue to train to stay ready… Sooner or later you will start to get paying jobs. Right now, I am very lucky that I get a lot of support in finding projects to work on through my parents and agent – and of course there is the work I do with my friends as well!

Acting is a really competitive business – especially for girls / women. There are a lot of people out there who haven’t “made it” yet, so I am not really sure if this saying is true or not. I’m sure they are trying as hard as they can… But, what I do know, is that this is starting to come true for me!

6. What kind of roles do you prefer, and which has been your favorite character you have performed?

My preference is for dramatic pieces, so I am quite looking forward to all my films coming up. I can cry on cue and also love being the mean girl because it’s fun! I can give a pretty nasty mean girl look when I want! I also enjoy comedic pieces, but I haven’t been successful in getting one of those roles yet. Hopefully soon! So far my favorite role has been “Scarlett” in Scared Stiff. Scared Stiff is just in the process of being submitted to film festivals, but a snippet of it can be seen in my Demo Reel on IMDb or on YouTube. In the meantime, I am so excited about the 3 roles coming up – I have been given some fantastic opportunities and I am so grateful for them! Who knows, maybe in September I’ll have a different answer for this question.

7. And finally when at home with your family do you have a favorite dish you all enjoy having? And can you share the recipe with the readers...

One of our quick favorite family meals is a twist on Lettuce Wraps and Burritos, where we have Taco Wraps. Basically we take our Burrito makings and stuff it into large lettuce leafs. Roll it up like Burritos.

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Ingredients:

Head of lettuce (Iceberg or Romaine) separated, washed & dried

Favorite Salsa

Ground Beef (Chicken or Turkey) browned

Favorite taco seasoning

Diced Tomatoes

Shredded Cheese

Drained Can of Corn (hot or cold)

2-3 Cups of Canned (drained) or Frozen Vegetables of choice

Brown the meat, drain, rinse if desired. Put back in the frying pan and add in water and taco seasoning. When the our meat is simmering with the taco seasonings we add in canned or frozen vegetables of our choice and simmer those too, then the dish gets a few extra vegetables. You can use mixed vegetables, peas, green beans, or your own favorite choices… If using mixed veg you won’t need the can of corn!

Then everyone dishes their own out their own based on their individual taste, wrap up the lettuce like a Burrito and enjoy! In the alternative, rip up the lettuce and make it a taco salad!

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