Prodigy

1. Who are you? What were you like as a child?

I’m a lover of people, places, and food. I am obsessed with traveling and trying new cuisines. I love being a part of something greater than myself, maybe that’s why I’m an actor. I get to play a part in a bigger picture. As a kid, I always loved art class and being in plays.

2. Tell us about your journey to Hollywood.

I’ve been in theatre class since middle school, and always loved performing in the plays. My senior year of high school, we got a new theatre coach and for whatever reason he stopped casting me in any of the plays. I was missing that creative outlet, so I went out and found myself a film and TV agent in town and started auditioning and submitting tapes. I met my manager a little while after that and moved to LA about a year ago.

3. You have some amazing current and in the works projects, let’s hear.

I’m currently filming a pilot for CBS called God Friended Me. The show is about an atheist who gets Friended by God on Facebook and is sent on missions to help people in need. It’s a really interesting conversation about the human condition and how faith and science play (or don’t play) into our daily decisions. I play Cara, a magazine editor

who thinks she has it all figured out, but clearly doesn’t. I am also in a horror film Truth or Dare which came out in theatres nationwide on April 13th. It follows a group of college kids who go to Mexico on spring break and play a harmless game of truth or dare. When they return to their lives, they quickly realize they are being haunted by the game and if they don’t complete the truths or dares, they die!

4. A lover of animals, you recently went vegan- How has the change affected you?

I have always loved animals (I was vegetarian for a couple years in middle school) and that was a huge factor in the switch for me. I also started educating myself on the negative impacts our meat-eating populous has on the environment. The meat-industry actually creates more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation division, but we’re not really told that! The amount of land, water, and energy we use to raise, feed, kill, and package meat products and bi-products is enormous and running low. It’s time we work on the alternatives. There are already a lot of great companies creating and sharing plant-based alternatives to our everyday food items, but we only have so many. I would say that’s one of the biggest challenges but it’s only getting easier, so there’s no excuse not to try!

5. Tell us about your campaign with PETA.

My recent campaign with PETA is called “All Animals Have The Same Parts” and it’s a concept that opens up the conversation on how we treat animals—pets, exotic creatures, even other humans! This campaign really spoke to me because it’s a big reason on why I decided to go plant-based. How can I look down at my pets with love and then look down at my plate of meat with an appetite? I believe that our treatment of animals in the meat and cosmetic industries is directly connected to our treatment of the people around us. It’s the mentality that we can raise something, use it, and throw it away that has to change.

6. What are your biggest inspirations outside of acting?

I’m a lover of food—cooking and of course, eating. When I’m home, I cook every meal for my boyfriend and I (he helps sometimes). I realized recently since I haven’t been home, I use cooking as a creative release. Starting with fresh ingredients and an open mind, you can make some incredible things, it’s all your control, and it probably won’t turn out

7. Who are your mentors and role models?

I have such respect for my mom. She raised my brother and I as a single mom and didn’t lose a second of her artistry as a sacrifice. She’s so full of life and all I can say is I hope to be so animated when I’m her age.

8. You are very passionate about gun control. With the latest horrific shooting in Florida, what do you think the best solutions would be to end such violence?

I believe incidents like these that happen way too frequently in the United States are not based on one issue. While gun control is incredibly important and necessary, I’m not naive to think it will fix the problem. We need to combine reform with outreach programs and funding for mental health institutions, both to help people suffering from mental illness and to teach people to explore new medications and figure out the reasoning behind these illnesses. America has used violence since the birth of this nation as a means to get what it wants. We need to be focusing on our citizens and the people who “represent” us. We need to hold people accountable. We need to trust each other and those who are meant to protect us. We need to love.

9. On a fluffier note, what’s life like with a bunny and puppy?

Only the best thing ever! My bunny Milo is my fluffy little love bug and my puppy Kora is a crazy, adorable mini husky with an insane amount of energy. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

10. Where do you see Violett Beane in five years?

I don’t know where I will be, but I know that I will be still striving to be kind, to learn from those around me, and to make decisions that benefit a brighter world for everyone. It’s okay to make mistakes, to be selfish at times, but it’s what we do with those mistakes, how we change, adapt, grow that matters. We need to take care of this life and this world. It might be the only one we’ve got.