I began auditioning again and getting acclimated to that world in a different way because when you are little, you have your parents there and you feel protected. I was also modeling at the time with Wilhelmina and they paved the way for me to switch agencies and move into the acting category and into the adulthood phase of what I would be doing. I moved to LA when I was 19 and I was still with my childhood agency. I’m not sure anyone took it seriously but I was set in my ways. I said, I am going to be moving to Los Angeles. I gave my parents one year of community college just to say, I did it, but I knew that I wouldn’t be going back for another year even when friends I had met started making plans for the next semester. It was a bit of a balance, as to be expected, but acting was always in the back of my mind. I was living two completely different lives.ĭid you take time off from childhood to when you were adult to focus on school and other things? I was raised on my grandparent’s farm when I wasn’t acting I was helping my grandfather milk cows and fetch eggs for my grandmother. It taught me great discipline I have an incredible work ethic because of it but then I also had my real life. So that was the beginning, just dipping my toe in and finding the balance between reality and being on set. I am so grateful they were so selfless, I don’t know if I am the same way. Now having a child, I realize how hard that is because all I want to do is sleep sometimes ( laughs) but my daughter, Charlie, wants to do what she wants to do. But that’s who they are they are so selfless, dedicated, and wanted to do whatever made me happy. Since I was raised near Palm Springs, it was a sacrifice for my parents to drive me to Los Angeles for an audition that I may or may not get. It all started at a young age and I grew into loving acting because of that. I am comfortable and secure in who I am, but being able to explore different characters through my work has shaped me. I was able to channel different personalities and explore humanity in a way that I wasn’t able or comfortable with in my real life. I didn’t even realize I was doing that when I was that age. I really took to it and it allowed me to have a new perspective, where I could come out of my shell through a character. Instead, they saw that world and said, hey if you want to do it, we are all for it, but if you don’t want to, we aren’t going to make you into a kid star. My parents weren’t stage parents, they weren’t pushy. I didn’t even learn how to speak English until I was five. My father was born in Colombia but he is European-French, Italian, and Swiss-and my mom fled to Colombia from Cuba, so I was raised in a very Latin household in California. I spoke Spanish, which was one of the requirements-it’s my first language. I got an agent when I was four years old and my first audition was for Kindergarten Cop, which I ended up booking. They thought maybe if they got me into commercials there would be a group of kids who I could learn from. A family friend had a kid who was extroverted with a great personality and was doing commercials. I was an introverted child and my parents didn’t know how to get me out of my shell. How would you summarize the road to where you are now? You began your career on set in Kindergarten Cop and since had roles in hit shows like House, Brothers & Sisters and Super Girl.

Odette annable kindergarten cop