![]() Now look up, you are no longer in that place anymore, you are here and you are loved.” I started figuring out how to put my energy into different roles. I remember I was crying too hard to finish so my teacher came up and put her arm around me and said, “Thank you for sharing, I know how hard this is. She told my mom I had fallen bike riding. ![]() One time she got so mad that she ripped me out of the shower and slammed my head into the wall, twisted my arm so far behind my back, she snapped my bone. I told them how she used to give me cold showers and beat me with belts and wire hangers. I told them about how she would push me downstairs and slammed my head so hard into my high chair one time that I had to get staples in my head. That was the first time I ever told a group that had no connection to my family about the physical abuse that I endured at the hands of my babysitter in my first six years of life. Dorian had us do an exercise where we sat in a circle and told our biggest trauma. I had an improv class my first year at OCHSA which really helped shift my life. I felt unworthy, unlovable, desperate for validation and craving attention yet not wanting to be seen. I didn’t have a Dad growing up and so I played into the liar narrative and used to tell people he died in a fiery motorcycle accident, I think I saw that scene in a movie and just started using it. This just heightened the feelings or frustration and hopelessness. My hair, skin, voice, nails, smell, kids used to call me mustachio and uni because I have extra dark hair on my face (much like Kim Kardashian at my age, though kids don’t care about that). I am a child abuse survivor, no one believed me or helped me when I came forward so I became aggressive and was bullied for pretty much everything about me. Much like how elementary schoolers thought of my voice, it has been a very bumpy road. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you? We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. I ended up finding the manager of my dreams who really believes in me and we have been working and booking awesome projects together for the last four years. I got six callbacks from different agents and managers. Repping my LGBT pride on my chest, I did the program over the summer, something finally clicked internally and externally. I was really finding myself away from the people-pleasing, theatre mask I was wearing my whole life in order to be loved. I had added pressure from family to go to college so I dropped acting for five months, got straight A’s, came out and cut my hair off. I wasn’t going to give up so I interned and came back at 17 but once again no success. I was only 16 and I had too “general” of a look, I was told finding work for me would be too difficult. Sure enough, my gut was right and I only received one callback which didn’t go anywhere. Our performance night went seamlessly but as soon as I got off stage, I knew something was wrong. The week before the showcase was so exciting and informative. I met with Adrian Armante (Esteban on Suite Life) and he said Phil really talked me up so I had big shoes to fill. I got a call the next day that I was their top pick for the program and they wanted to offer me a scholarship. He smiled and jotted something down on his note pad.Īs I was leaving he said, remember me when you are famous. Mosby on the Suite Life of Zach and Cody) and I sang as well. The first meeting I remember performing for Phil Lewis (Mr. ![]() Years and many musical theatre performances later, I found a showcase program where I got to work with Disney stars and show my craft to agents and managers. I loved getting to belt my heart out on stage. I started to feel like I didn’t have to fight the world, I started to relax and learned how to express in a healthier way. I got accepted in and it started to shift my life. A few years later, I auditioned for an art school in my area called OCHSA. My teachers used to pull me aside and asked that when I dropped my first album if I could come back and sign it for them. I ended up getting the only solo in school and that just fueled the fire for bullies. ![]() I always had vibrato with my voice even at seven, I remember auditioning for school performance and kids my age hearing me and making fun of it, saying I had a bumpy voice, though that wasn’t even close to the worst of the remarks about me. I loved singing and used to say I can sing Oprah and not Opera. My mom used to take me to live theatre performances and I fell in love with the stage. I grew up in Santa Ana, CA with my mom and grandma raising me. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far. Today we’d like to introduce you to Gracie Lacey.
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