My decision to lean in led me to ten years of network television series and studio films. Within two months of that, I booked the Paramount Pictures feature film Clueless, and my career began. Within two weeks I got my first job on a primetime sitcom (NBC’s Blossom) which turned into a recurring role. This belief, combined with my training, armed me with determination and perseverance. But I believed wholeheartedly in myself and my talents. I had no job and no guarantee of getting one anytime soon. I turned down the soap opera and the play, and moved my whole life to Los Angeles. I had spent years training, studying,and working hard, and settling for a soap opera didn’t sit right with me. I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling I was somehow giving up if I didn’t pursue the possibilities in Los Angeles. But my insides kept telling me this was not the way for me to go. I thought, Who am I to say no to this opportunity? Most people would kill for this job, I should be grateful for this. Everyone around me was ecstatic at the proposition of my being on television every day and getting a steady (and comparatively hefty) paycheck. The soap opera would have provided financial security beyond anything I had even imagined at that point in my life, but it would also have locked me in for several years which felt like creative suicide to me. I went home inspired and excited – but still with no job.Ī few weeks later, I was cast in a role in another off-Broadway play and at the same time was up for a regular role on a soap opera. During that trip, I had more appointments and screen tests (the final step in getting a real job on a series or movie) than in my four years in New York. I spoke to my parents and they agreed to allow me to take a two-week trip to LA. It was suggested by my agency that I come out to Los Angeles opportunities there were more abundant and I was at an advantage, having been trained in New York. I wondered, How am I going to support myself? However, as graduation loomed closer and closer, none of my auditions turned into jobs. Thanks to positive reviews of my performance in an off-off-Broadway play I landed an agent, and began auditioning for television and movies in tandem with my studies.
#Elisa donovan full#
After I graduated from high school, I moved to Manhattan and enrolled full time at the Michael Chekhov acting studio, where I continued studying after I entered college. By 16, much to the chagrin of my business executive father, I knew it was what I wanted to do with my life. I began studying acting at the age of 13.
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