"Thinking back on it now, I don't know how I did it," says Audra Griffis of her move to Los Angeles from Ohio, but we're glad she made the trip.
A dancer from a young age, Audra performed in "Spring Breakdown" and toured with Vanessa Hudgens before making the transition to acting and her first feature film role in "High School Musical 3."
She recently landed her first lead role in "Dial Star," a web series that just finished it's first season on NBC.com. Audra plays Celia Bishop, a twentysomething small-town girl whose dreams of fame bring her to Los Angeles.
Chosen as this week's Actor2Watch, Audra will be featured in a series or articles, fun facts and social media tweets through this week for subscribers of Girl2Watch.com.
Actor2Watch: What was your first real break as an actor?
Audra Griffis: I did a couple co-stars: "Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "90210." But my first break was "Dial Star" for sure.
A2W: How did you land the role?
AG: It's amazing. I had just gotten new managers and it was the first audition they sent me on. They have a really good relationship with the casting director. I went in October, but I didn't hear anything again until January.
I went in again for a director's read, and when I left the audition I called my mom crying because I thought I blew it. I thought it was the most awful audition I had ever had. But then I got the call about a month later and I got it.
A2W: What role do you managers and agent play in your career?
AG: My managers are Robyn Holt and Priya Satiani. They just started their management company called Genesis Entertainment Partners. I'm also repped by Henderson & Hogan theatrically.
But Priya and Robin, I met them through a friend and we just kind of clicked. I feel so comfortable with them. My whole team is just wonderful, and I feel like I could go to them for anything. They get me really great auditions. They're very understanding if I'm not feeling a role, no questions asked.
Being from a small town, I could get eaten up out here very easily, but I've found myself falling into the hands of very caring people.
A2W: What kind of training have you gotten, and who did you study with now?
AG: I started out with Leslie Kahn; I did the clinic and the intensive. Then I was at Bryan Reese for a couple months.
Now I'm studying with a guy named JR Cacia. I met him through my manager, and it is the best acting class that I have ever audited or seen. We have it two nights a week—Sunday and Monday. He does plays instead of short scenes from film or TV, and we put up as many scenes as we want. He'll stay as long as there are scenes to go up.
We've had class until one in the morning because there have been 10 scenes and he lets everyone put up as many as they want. We keep the scenes for five months, so we always find something new with them. It's not like we put them up for two weeks and that's it.
I've been there for almost two years and I have learned so much. It's amazing.
A2W: Tell us about your worst audition story?
AG: I forget what soap opera it was, but I auditioned for it and she stopped me and said "You're so green. This is completely wrong. I don't know who coached you on this or what you did, but this is completely wrong."
I'm very emotional, so I just started crying. I said, "Okay, thank you." And I left.