Chloe Wilson's 3000-mile Journey!
Kevin Ray Johnson
To this day after so many years of living in New York City, I just find it so amazing how everyone you meet in this magical town has a story. One that makes them unique from the rest. It is my honor to introduce you to Chloe Wilson. This young up and coming actress is originally from Wales. Over 3000 miles away and moved to the big apple in hopes to pursue a career in performing. I remember when I was younger and had a hard time going from one state to another so I can only imagine what it must have felt like for Ms. Wilson. I am very happy and honored to have had the chance to interview this talented young actress and have also grown very inspired by her drive, will and dedication to her craft. I truly hope you enjoy this interview!
1.) How old were you when you knew you wanted to be a performer?
I think I must’ve been about 4 or 5 when I can remember it starting, I would dress up and put on shows for my parents, hiding behind my bedroom curtains and jumping out screaming Disney songs. I don’t think it was a conscious decision but one of my earliest memories was of myself and my best friends having a sleepover where I had become a sort of director for our sketch show about dogs and I had adopted this strange I don’t know if you could call it American accent. There’s a video of us somewhere but that for me, was the beginning and there was no turning back, I was a pretty quiet little girl, I was very complacent but it seemed to be when there was performance or music involved, I would come out my shell! I was very fortunate growing up in Wales because there was and still is such an emphasis on the arts and on music especially, I was involved with singing and performing for as long as I can remember and it was encouraged, which for me was heaven. We have a rich culture of music and performing in Wales, which was celebrated in our ‘Eisteddfodau’ which are traditional arts festivals where you compete nationally every year. I competed in these festivals from the age of 5 to 18 in all kinds of competitions, be it singing solo/with choirs, acting, folk dancing or clog dancing. I wanted to dip my toe in it all and I was able to thanks to our thriving Welsh culture and support from my teachers and family. I also learned to play the harp and the piano which again is deeply encouraged in the Welsh education.
2.) Where did you study? Are there any mentors are people you have worked with who have helped you along the way to make you the performer you are today?
The teachers that shaped me back home and got me to where I am today are Catrin Williams, Delyth Caffrey-Seaton, Gavin Ashcroft and Elin Llywelyn-Williams, they have and continue to inspire me as a performer and I could not be more grateful for them, I am lucky enough to call them my friends now too! They helped me with my drama school auditions and that’s how I ended up studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts here in NYC. At AADA, there were so many wonderful teachers who shaped me, but one who took a particularly big chance on me was Nicola Murphy who has since shown me what it’s like to be an international artist here and how to use that to your advantage. Nicola trusted me and our work made me feel like it was more of a collaboration than just her directing me, we built a character together and that isn’t always a chance you get with directors, I was very lucky. I was also very fortunate to have found a mentor and friend in actor Michael Sheen during my time in NYC, who is also a Welsh creative and huge inspiration to me. He is the perfect example of a working actor who is just as passionate about his home country as he was when he was growing up there and this is something that I am striving for with my career. Both Michael and Nicola have paved the path for international artists in New York by bringing a little bit of themselves with them and using it to their advantage here. I have also been given the opportunity here in NYC to create lifelong friendships with like-minded people from all walks of life who have enriched my life beyond measure, and they continue to inspire me on a daily basis.
3.) You are originally from a small town in Wales. What made you decide to come to America and how was the transition?
I had always been obsessed with America from a young age, I loved everything Disney and had listened to countless Broadway cast recordings and so the US, especially New York was always of interest to me. I had been lucky enough to have gone on 2 school trips when I was 14 and 16 to New York and I just remember getting butterflies when I first saw Times Square, it gave me a weird feeling of comfort even though I was thousands of miles away from home, so when I was accepted into AADA in NYC, it felt like a no brainer. When I was accepted to the Academy, the support I received from my family, local community and my church was astounding, they all supported me both financially and spiritually. Local newspapers ran stories covering my journey from the Rhondda Valleys to NY and even the Welsh TV company ‘S4C’ covered my fundraising events and have since done follow up pieces interviewing me on Times Square! I’m not sure how I was so calm about leaving home and moving across the world at 18 but I was! My family brought me out and helped me get settled in September of 2016 and my first few weeks of school felt like a dream, but after a while, I started to feel extremely homesick. Our word for homesickness in Welsh is ‘hiraeth’ and that’s exactly how I was feeling, I had extreme homesickness for my family and friends back in Wales, but a huge part of my settling in was being a part of the New York Welsh community. New York Welsh is a group of a couple of hundred people here in NYC who are Welsh or have Welsh connections who get together every month to either watch a game of rugby or have a drink together to get a little taste of home, they also invite me to sing regularly at some of their Welsh events or galas in NY. Having this community here made me feel so relieved and motivated because every single person in that group is in your corner and is willing to help you in whatever way they can no matter what. The Welsh always find each other and stick together!
4.) Is there a show you have done in your career be it in Wales or America that will always be near and dear to your heart?
Oh gosh, there’s a couple! One that really sticks out for me is the national production I did of Les Miserables in Wales back in 2015. It was the first all Welsh production of Les Mis, and as a result of this, we were invited by Sir Cameron Mackintosh to perform in the 30th anniversary of Les Mis in London with the current and original cast of the show. This was such a pivotal experience for me, I was honoured to cast out of hundreds who auditioned and I was also so proud that our production was widely celebrated all over the country, it made me super proud to be Welsh! One more show that will always have a place in my heart is Mighty Atoms which was the first show I did with Nicola Murphy as part of my graduation play series at AADA. It was the perfect show to graduate with as it allowed me to use all of the tools I had my acting toolbox at this point and stretched me as an artist in so many ways. I played the character Jazz who was very different from who I was, but with the trust that Nicola gave me I was able to trust in myself and that who I was at the time was enough to be able to do Jazz’s story justice. The play was about a group of women working together towards a goal and that was exactly what it was to put on the play, it doesn’t get more inspirational than that as a young female artist on the cusp of entering this industry. Performing Mighty Atoms was the ultimate sign that moving away from home, taking a chance on my dream, choosing an uncertain career path, being thrown into a really intense drama school program and living in one of the most overwhelming cities in the world without initially knowing anyone was all worth it. If anyone could once in their life feel that same rush that I felt when performing Mighty Atoms then nobody would question why we do what we do for a living. Its actual magic!
5.) Your story is very inspiring, especially for any young international artist. What advice would you give any performer from any walks of life who want a career in theatre?
Just go for it! Home will always be there and home will always be an inspiration for you but don’t think that any venture is too big for you, even if it is 3,322 miles away! I would never have thought that I would be in NYC now, but as soon as I was given that opportunity, there was no other option for me and it is still the best decision I have ever made. It is the best decision because I didn’t have to leave home behind to be successful here, everything I do has a little bit of Wales in it, and it flavours and colours my work in ways that I would never have imagined it would. Yes you are homesick, but home is the reason that you are where you are and I am so blessed to be where I am today. Also, to all the up and coming Welsh/British NYC based artists, if you start feeling even a little bit of ‘hiraeth’ come find me, I’ll buy you a cuppa and we’ll talk about what really happened on that fishing trip in Gavin and Stacey!
If you would like to learn more about Chloe make sure you visit her official website at - https://www.chloeteresawilson.com