When senior Sonia Patel gets out of her car she has to remember to smile. The smile is the most important part of an audition. She continues to smile as she steps on the mark on the floor in front of the camera.
“I feel nervous, but remember that I shouldn’t show any signs of nervousness.” Patel said.
This audition was her first shot at making it as a star, but now she’s taking the next step.
“I feel like if she really wants to be an actress, then she will make it happen,” friend Lauren Neilson said. “She is the type of person that can do anything and I am excited to see how her career path plays out.”
Patel plans on attending California State University at Long Beach (CSULB) after Graduation to train to become more skilled as an actress. Even though she will be training there, CSULB will not be her first major exposure to acting.
Sonia initially discovered her passion for acting by participating in iPop, which is a Californian convention for young performers. Here, people “act” in front of over 200 casting directors and agencies, in hopes of getting auditions. Sonia performed at iPop from Jan. 4-9 in the section called iAct, which consists of three parts: commercial, scene and monologue.
“My favorite part was the Hershey Kisses commercial because it was easiest and made people laugh,” Sonia said. “It was short and cute, I had to talk about kisses and where I’d give them, and at the end of the commercial they found out it was candy.”
Sonia has been very successful after iPop. So far, she has been signed with the John Robert Powers: Image Agency, and has received auditions for many popular television shows such as CSI: Miami and Bones.
“The most difficult thing is outshining the other people auditioning because it’s a tough business,” Patel said. “I’ll have to constantly be on top of auditions and practice different talents.”
Patel feels that her friends and family are very supportive of her dream even though she is the first one in her family to pursue professional acting.
“She tries her best at everything and there is nothing she cannot do,” Sonia’s mom, Manisha Patel, said.
By: Christy Maupin
