Name: Jenna Lex
Hometown: Guilford, CT
Current Location: Los Angeles, CA
TrunkSpace: When did you know that you wanted to act for a living?
Lex: A similar cliché to most: I was in 4th grade and we were putting on a show about the planets. I did not want to be a planet… I wanted to be the narrator because they stayed “onstage” the whole time. My teacher told my mom to get me into acting after that.
TrunkSpace: Was there a particular performance or actor/actress from your childhood that you remember being drawn to and inspired by?
Lex: My family was very limiting on being allowed to watch TV or movies, so I actually was never inspired by anyone until I became a teenager (and could sneak TV on my computer).
TrunkSpace: How did you decide to approach your career as an actor? Did you formulate a plan of how you wanted to attack what is known for being a hard industry to crack?
Lex: I turned 16 and had no idea what I was doing but I remember sending headshots and resumes to a laundry list of casting. It was not until I moved to LA that I truly understood how to attack it. I only ever knew the kind of acting I craved to do.
TrunkSpace: When did you decide to move away from your home and pursue acting as a career? How old were you at the time?
Lex: I asked to move away when I was 13, but it took ’til I was 19 when I went to college in NYC and just never returned home.
TrunkSpace: Was that move an easy transition for you initially? How long did it take you to feel at home and find a good support group of friends and peers?
Lex: I never truly felt at home in NYC. I think it was because I always knew it was a stepping stone to Los Angeles. The move to Los Angeles was surprisingly easy. It just felt right.
TrunkSpace: What has been been your biggest break in terms of a particular role or project thus far?
Lex: Ironically it was not in the medium I am working towards. However, I had booked a musical at Long Wharf Theatre a few
years back. It was booking that completely on my own merit and in a medium that I am not as confident in that I realized what I was put on this planet to do.
TrunkSpace: Is there a specific type of role you’d like to take on or a specific genre that you feel more at home in?
Lex: Of course we all have that niche that we know we can rock the best, that we feel most comfortable in. You’d have to imagine Reese Witherspoon circa early 2000s for that image. But I look forward to the challenges of acting. Finding those roles that require you to be vulnerable, to tap into a part of you that you maybe shy away from in real life or don’t get the opportunity to explore. That’s the incredible part about acting. The opportunity to experience multiple lives. It is such a gift to be an actor. But I’m ranting now.
TrunkSpace: What would you say is the greatest strength an actor/actress can have outside of acting ability itself?
Lex: Drive. You have to want it. It’s that simple.
TrunkSpace: What is your ultimate dream when it comes to your acting career? Where would you like your path to lead?
Lex: I have always said to sitcom work. Mainly because making people laugh is vital, especially the way our world is shaping currently. However, the ultimate dream is the freedom. The level where you are able to jump around from TV and film, from comedy to drama to action or more. Where you aren’t boxed in so you feel you have the freedom to explore any aspect of the medium that you could possibly dream of.
TrunkSpace: What advice would you give another young aspiring actor/actress who is considering moving away from home to pursue their dream?
Lex: Do it. Do it now. Not later, not when you feel financially stable enough, not when where you’re living becomes too small. Because at the end of the day, you can always move again. So do it. Now. Now now now.
TrunkSpace: Where can people (and casting directors) learn more about you?
Lex: My handy dandy website www.jenna-lex.com and pretty soon you can come grab a drink and watch me perform with some improv comedy friends at iO West in Hollywood.
Also, because I am technically a millennial: my instragram is @jenna.lex