Student Highlight: Risa Scott
Posted on November 18, 2013
Risa Scott is a woman on a mission and is absolutely unstoppable!
Originally from Putnam County New York, she’s lived in Boulder for the past five years and absolutely loves it!
She’s a certified E.I.T, B.S. Civil Engineer and has an M.S. in Sustainable Building Design.
She first came to acting in college but always saw herself as a behind-the-scenes kind of person, not an actor. After college, she returned to acting in 2011 simply to find something new that she loved that would involve a new group of people.
It wasn’t until 2012 that she realized her true love of acting.
“I didn’t think to myself that I wanted to be an actor until after about a year into the classes. I became utterly euphoric to act and use emotions that for my whole life had been frowned upon to stir an audience and bring them into a story. I’m now addicted to the art, the community and the feeling of joy I get every time I get to perform.”
Acting isn’t her only passion! She’s a talented artist and graphic designer, loves photography, writing and cooking (an art form in and of itself) and is an accomplished athlete, a rock climber, mountain biker, motorcyclist, ice hockey player, certified parkour instructor, equestrian trainer and much more.
Originally a hobby, as is with most of our actors, she quickly realized acting is an art form she loves.
“It’s an amazing feeling to know you’ve finally found the thing you LOVE to do. It’s like I was walking around trying to wear all these costumes, some fit better than others but ultimately it was acting where I found I didn’t need a costume. It’s comfortable, natural and just so much fun!”
As a film actress, some of her favorite roles include “Matilda the Half-Orc” on the webseries “One Die Short”, Scottie the bartender in the feature film “Table 47”, Marnie, a troubled young woman in the feature horror film “Beneath Glass Trees” and the juggler, a featured extra role in the soon to be feature “The Fantastic Finneas Frook”.
More currently, she’s been a booking maniac playing Lacey in the 2013 Apprentice Project winning film “River Bridge”, Emily in Jim Sea’s “For the Love of Ghost” and Mary In “Who’s Bruce Flynn.
She’s also the assistant director (alongside BDS student and teens and tweens class teacher Dani Payne) on her first project behind the camera for SIRI with Creative Coop media.
“After two years of studying acting in Boulder, I felt disconnected from the film community that I knew existed and couldn’t seem to get networked into. I also felt I had some pieces missing from my acting training. All I knew was I was unprepared for auditions and that I needed to learn from someone who could be supportive of my emotional range but also my desire for analytical process. After trying a few different classes around town, Benjy was the only one to answer my email personally and to also invite me to First Friday performances to see what the studio was up to. As soon as I shook his hand, I knew I was in the right place. I’m so excited to grow, to learn, to love what I do with the support of the amazing community at Benjy Dobrin Studios. I feel like I found a group of people that I get, and who get me and it feels so… cozy. I’m so grateful for finding it."
Thank you Risa, keep up the good work, we’re all so proud of you!