Phoenix Anderson

“Study, find all the good teachers and study with them, get involved in acting to act, not to be famous or for the money. Do plays. It’s not worth it if you are just in it for the money. You have to love it.” -- Philip Seymour Hoffman. 

 

This is my favorite quote about acting because more than anything, acting makes me happy! I started my career with modeling for companies like Kohl’s then I began to do commercials and industrial videos.  

 

At home I would play with my dolls and give them their own show. Because of that, my mom decided to put me in my first acting class at the Emerald City Theater where we put on the old classic The Wizard of Oz. A couple years later I took on-camera classes at The Green Room Studio. For two summers I participated in Northwestern University’s CTD camp geared toward performing arts. This helped me with writing for theater and film as well as performing comedy and improv.  

 

By 2014 I did my first short film called “Joke’s on You” which won awards at film festivals.  

 

I began working in theatre in 2015 with Collaboraction Theater Company’s Forgotten Future, a social justice play about the problems with public education in Chicago. It was mature material but I had fun with it and will be forever thankful for that opportunity. In March 2018 I made my debut at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre as Macduff’s Daughter in Macbeth. I met directors Teller of “Penn and Teller” and Aaron Posner. This show was hard work and a big time commitment, but all of the actors and crew made the experience worth it.  

 

I do a lot of plays with Collaboration Theater Company about real world problems. I love entertaining and educating people doing this. August 2018 I began auditioning for “The Chi” on Showtime, which took me three auditions for three different characters to land a co-star role! My first episodic! I kept my head high and thought of different ways I could improve with help from my drama teacher Neetika Tandon at the British International School of Chicago as well as my mom Dana Anderson. I continue to stay positive and practice acting in drama club twice a week and I’m so excited for where my career takes me! Lastly, I am thankful for my drama teachers throughout the years, directors like Tanya Hamilton, Anthony Mosley, Teller, and Aaron Posner, my agency Shirley Hamilton and most of all my mom for doing everything she can and supporting me to help me live my best life!