((PKG)) MY ORDINARY LIFE: KIANEE, ACTOR & SINGER
((TRT: 06:27))
((Topic Banner: Making a Living: Kianee Truvillion))
((Reporter/Camera/Editor: Ailin Li))
((Camera: Laura Luan))
((Map: New York City, New York))
((Main character: 1 female))
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((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
To me, a New Yorker means walking fast, just being a hustler, like being able to do multiple things, having a variety of streams of income. I would consider myself a New Yorker and I think I will always be even if I don’t live here anymore.
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
My name is Kianee Alexis Nycole Truvillion and I’m 24 years old and this is my ordinary life.
I’ve lived in New York for three years and I’m here to pursue acting, singing, dancing, that whole shebang.
((Courtesy: Kianee Truvillion))
I want to be on Broadway.
I currently live in Harlem, New York and I love it. There are just so many different cultures around.
I live in a two-bedroom apartment, a six-floor walk-up. But I love it. It’s my peace, my zen.
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
So, as you enter into my home, this is the living room and my couch is also a couch-bed. So, very nice when I want to have visitors.
And this is my roommate, Tracy, here. My rent is $2,000. I personally pay $1,100 a month. I don’t think that’s a good deal but I don’t think it’s a bad deal either for what New York is.
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
When I first moved to New York, literally one week later, I had an audition, an audition for Spamilton, which is an off-Broadway show or was an off-Broadway show here in New York,
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((Courtesy: “Hamilton”/ Disney))
the parody of Hamilton and
((Courtesy: “Spamilot”/ Paramount))
of Spamalot. And I booked it.
((Courtesy: Kianee Truvillion))
I did that show for about six months and then it closed and then I didn't book anything for almost a year and it was devastating.
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
When I was in final callbacks for a show that's on Broadway and I thought I was going to get it, everyone that I auditioned with thought I was going to get it, the music producer said I was going to get it, the choreographer…and then, I didn't get it. And I was devastated. I did not audition for a while after that. I just, it like broke my heart.
After that, I started taking acting classes to…so no one could ever give me that note again, hopefully.
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((Courtesy: Kianee Truvillion))
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
So far, my career is going okay. Pre-pandemic, it was ordinary. Now, post-pandemic, it’s non-existent. But I still have some auditions, which is cool. I actually just had one a few days ago.
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((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
Obviously, right now during COVID, there aren’t a lot of in-person auditions, so everything is online and virtual.
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((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
This one, there was no dialogue, so I was just drinking the coffee, blissfully. And I made sure that I stood out by making a very loud noise while drinking, like this.
I hope I booked it.
((NATS: Reporter))
When do you know the result?
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
I’m assuming I’ll know that I didn’t get it if the start date happened and I didn’t hear anything, so.
Unlike when you get a job, you're like told ‘you didn’t get it.’ That’s not necessarily the case in the art world. You kind of just, if you don’t hear anything, you probably didn’t get it.
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
I have not currently been making money acting. I have made money acting before.
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((Courtesy: Kianee Truvillion))
And for people who are pursuing arts, they have their side jobs. Audition during the day and work at night has been a very common way to do it. I have been a server and a bartender at a restaurant and then I have been a babysitter, nanny for a few families and that’s how I’ve made my living.
((NATS: Kianee Truvillion))
Your hair is so cute and curly.
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
Being a nanny in New York City, you can make definitely enough money to live off of. You can make anywhere from $20 dollars an hour to, I mean, I’ve seen people make $45 dollars an hour before.
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
I generally make about $3,200 dollars a month. Most of my expenses are obviously rent, which is $1,100 a month. Student loans that come out to about $250 a month, subscriptions and HBO [video]. I spend probably most of my money on food. I love to eat and it varies. I eat wherever I’m babysitting. So generally, I only have to buy or figure out one meal a day, if that. We would say a couple hundred a month of that as well.
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
I am a very good saver. I feel like I’m pretty frugal. I save about $800 a month. I was taught that and I think saving is great. And I just love looking at my account and when the number keeps going up, it makes me feel really good.
((MUSIC))
((Courtesy: Kianee Truvillion))
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
I am Black and White and I do identify as mixed. When someone asks me, I say I’m biracial.
((Courtesy: Kianee Truvillion))
My mom is, she's a preschool teacher and my dad is a pastor. We are a family of eight. I am one of six children.
My grandmother is half Chinese, half Vietnamese. I love that I have an Asian grandmother that throws down in the kitchen. I love that I have a Black grandmother that throws down in the kitchen. I love that I have a White grandmother that throws down.
((Courtesy: Kianee Truvillion))
Truly everything, I'm realizing, comes back down to food. And that's something that I love about being mixed and just having so much diversity in my own home.
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
So, I’ve, in the past few weeks, started learning the piano. I’ve been practicing almost every day.
((Start Music Courtesy: “Shallow”/ UMG))
((Music Courtesy: “Shallow”/ UMG stays on until the end and other courtesies are to be added on))
Tell me something, boy.
Are you tired trying to fill that void?
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
I am to Atlanta, Georgia, to focus on the TV and film world and just pursue that and give my all into that. And I thought, what better time than when Broadway is closed? I think that
((Courtesy: “Black Panther”/ Marvel Studios))
((KEEP Music Courtesy: “Shallow”/ UMG))
Atlanta is becoming the new Black Hollywood.
((Courtesy: “Atlanta”/ FX Networks))
((KEEP Music Courtesy: “Shallow”/ UMG))
I just really want to be a part of it
((Courtesy: “American Soul”/Black Entertainment Television))
((KEEP Music Courtesy: “Shallow”/ UMG))
when it takes off.
((Courtesy: Kianee Truvillion))
((KEEP Music Courtesy: “Shallow”/ UMG))
((Kianee Truvillion
Actor, Singer))
This career path is incredibly hard. And I think people give up. And I think many people give up too soon. I know I won’t ever give up. I know I will make it. So, there is no reason to even talk about if I didn’t. Because I will.
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