Confessions of A Rising YouTube Star | 053 - Actors Talk - Come Inside The Acting Business

A YouTube Star is Born

I don't think it's any mystery as to why I started 'Confessions of a Bitter(sweet) Actress.' … At the time, I was frustrated that I wasn't able to showcase my talent to an audience because I wasn't getting auditions and therefore wasn't booking… until I realized that auditions and bookings should never be an excuse to not share your abilities. We are in such a wonderful time period where we can create our own work on an iPhone and share it with whomever we want within seconds.

I was in show prep mode for my interview with actress and YouTube rising star Cheryl Texiera, when show business press stalwart, Variety published an article entitled New Breed of Online Stars Rewrite the Rules of Fame.

By the time I read the Variety article, I had viewed a half-dozen or more YouTube videos starring, written and produced by Cheryl Texiera.

I related to Ms. Texiera (I'll refer to her as Cheryl from now on) in our chat that as I read the Variety article I kept expecting to see her name mentioned. It was not.

That her YouTube comedies are mentioned in some future article detailing 'where it all started' for Cheryl Texiera, will surprise me not at all.

How was I so quickly captivated by this talented dynamo? We'll get to that in a moment. But first, a little background on Cheryl Texiera.

Cheryl is a native New Yorker who has wanted to be an actress since childhood. (See episode 1 of Confessions of a Bittersweet Actress.)

She has four siblings and while she's the only actor in the family, her two brothers, Peter Texiera and Robert Texiera are both professional photographers.

Growing up in New York with dreams of being a Broadway actress, I wondered why she made the move to the west coast.

Confessions Of - Moving To L.A.

I asked Cheryl why she made the move from New York to Los Angeles and I got a beautifully candid answer:

She was unable to really get a foothold on the business in the Big Apple, or as she says she 'never figured it out'.

She really had dreams of being on Broadway and she began to notice that many actors appearing in Broadway shows were actors coming from Hollywood.

"I did the Equity open calls and I tried get my feet wet in Broadway but nothing ever really took off."

Before she made the move to Los Angeles, did she have any infrastructure, any contacts, a mentor?

"Not at all and I admire all of the people who realize that they should probably have that in place before picking up and moving across the country. Because I did not have that at all. At all."

How did I become a fan of Cheryl Texiera? It starts with a simple confession.

Confessions of a Bride-to-Be

"I started noticing quite a few people are making names for themselves in this industry by having a strong online presence."

Confessions of a Bride-to-Be started as a class assignment. Cheryl tells me in our interview that she was taking a class in producing content for the internet.

The class assignment was to post a weekly video on YouTube. Still, at first, she was a reluctant participant in the class. But the instructor laid it out: either you just threw away your money for this class or you're going to be producing YouTube videos. Reality check.

...everyone in the class said had to tell their idea for something to produce for YouTube.

"I had no idea. But I started talking about my wedding and how stressed out I was and one of the girls in class said 'I'd watch that.'

What started as a class assignment turned into a fourteen episode series of 2-3 minute comedy monologues written and performed by Cheryl Texiera, recorded by a crew of one (her) on her iPhone and shot in her apartment.

So much for needing lights, wardrobe and high-end recording equipment to get yourself on the road to success in this business.