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Photography and interview by Lauren Engel
Carrington Durham was raised in Nashville, Tennessee and began her acting career at a young age starring in commercials. Since then, sheâs had various roles in TV and films such as 90210, Season 2 of Hole in the Wall and The Muppets Movie. Along the way she has become a social media tour-de-force working with brands such as Guess? Jeans, Sony Pictures, Boohoo, and others. She currently resides in Southern California to dedicate herself full-time to further her career ambitions.
Tell us about your upbringing and how did it shape the person you are now?
I am from Nashville, Tennessee where I grew up the first years of my life. I have vivid memories from doing southern things with my family, such as doing barbecues and go on golf carts with four wheelers and quads. I still love doing these things nowadays as well. Tennessee is the place where I started acting and where I was signed by my first agency but for the past five years I have been living in L.A.
Did your whole family move with you?
My mom and my sister come out with me but my dad and the rest of my family stayed in Tennessee.
Are your parents in the entertainment industry?
My dad is an entrepreneur and he does a bunch of things. He’s an investor and we own a golf course and my mom used to work a lot but now she’s just like my momager.
Are they supportive of your acting career?
Ya 100% I’m so lucky they’re supportive.
Did you take acting classes?
Yes, I did start taking acting and modelling classes when I was in Tennessee already and continue taking acting classes over here as well.
So you knew from the very beginning you wanted to do acting?
Ya just anything in entertainment. I just love the entertainment business. When I was little me and my younger sister used to make up little shows with singing, dancing and acting in front of our family. It was silly but just a lot of fun.
Do you do anything outside of acting growing up?
I used to love cheerleading. I was an all- star cheerleader up until the age of 8.
Do you feel that growing up home-schooled, you have missed out on a lot of ‘traditional’ growing up in schools?
People say that a lot to me. They’re like ‘do you wish you still could go to prom and do all these things’ and I’m like ya prom is cool but I have friends and I do stuff that’s pretty cool.
What do you do day to day?
I get up, get ready, head to LA. Have a couple of meetings, do some auditions, maybe edit a video or two. Hang out and meet up with friends. It’s a fun job.
You have been acting for nearly seven years, how did you get into it originally?
I always had a passion for acting. Then we started to go to agencies and I started to do acting classes and fell even more in love with it. I went to this acting expo in Dallas, Texas. I read monologues for a bunch of casting directors and agencies and I got a bunch of callbacks. Basically the three main places for acting are New York, LA and Orlando. LA sounded like the best option so we thought about it for a long time. My mom was asking me if this was really what I wanted to do and I ended up saying yes and that’s how I ended up in LA.
How do you think social media has affected the acting industry?
I definitely think that it’s a plus to have a good social media following in the acting industry. I even have friends who have millions of followers who started out as social media stars and have gotten roles because of their following. Social media isn’t something casting directors care about as such, but if you have one then it’s great.
Was it difficult progressing from child to teen/adult acting roles?
Not really. I matured early too so the progression wasn’t really hard.
What are your goals for your YouTube channel?
I’m really close to 100,000 subscribers which is exciting. My goal is for my viewers to get to know me a little better. It’s another platform for me to communicate better and interact. I can help them with beauty tips, etc. Small things like that.
How do you think you’ve matured since you moved to LA?
I’ve always been very mature for my age. I feel that moving to LA didn´t really change anything drastically. I’ve always been independent. I’ve always been more LA than Nashville so I felt like I fit in.
How was it like filming 90210? What were the highlights?
It was really cool. The directors and producers were really nice. It was a cool show and I enjoyed it.
What is your perception about true love?
Oooo the juicy question! I think that if you are able to be yourself around someone and you’re able to have fun and be happy and truly care about someone and they care about you. I think that that’s true love. It’s the simple things.
What one piece of advice would you give a group of people?
Be yourself. Have fun and take things seriously but never too seriously. Live life to the fullest!
What do you want to be remembered for years from now?
I want to be remembered as someone who is very positive. I look up to Taylor Swift as my idol. I’ve always have since I was little. She was a role model to me and I just want people to look at me and see me as a role model one day as well.
1 comment
People just see what u allow them to and that’s why they form an opinion on u based off of that