You’re a Texas girl and you’re of Mexican descent. Have your roots influenced your sense of style, personality, maybe even your drive in any way? Is there anything in particular that you have in common with Erica?
Where I come from is a big part of who I am. I’ve very proud of being from Texas and every time I come home it’s this big deal. I also sing country music so that plays a big role in my life, too. I definitely think that it’s important to remember where you came from, but for Erica, I think she’s a little different because she’s trying so hard to get away from her family all the time. But there are moments at the end of every episode where she realizes that she wouldn’t be there without those people, and that’s how I feel in my life.
In the episode where [Erica is trying to separate herself from Beverly], I was actually crying in that scene. It wasn’t just like squirt things in your eyes and pretend to cry. My mom called me after that and said, .≤I knew you were talking to me there.’
You were previously in a girl group, Lakoda Rayne (former The X-Factor girl group). What did you learn about the industry from being in a girl group?
Being in a girl group was really hard for a lot of reasons. We were thrown together and had a week and a half to be a group and try to compete in the competition like we’ve been there forever. So it was getting to know these three random people and hoping that your personalities blend but also musically and vocally you can blend. That show for me in general shaped how to work in the industry fast-paced because reality shows are ridiculously fast-paced behind the scenes. I think that was a great point for me to work quickly, with new people, and be flexible to new things.
You released two beautiful singles this summer, “Until Then” and “Love Sick”. When can we expect a full EP?
It’s been such a journey because I’ve been releasing things independently which is more popular to do these days but still just as hard without a label. It’s made it difficult for me to set an exact time for when I’m releasing something. With that said, I think I’m going to release a new song with a new music video called “Give Me Back Sunday” sometime in the beginning of next year, probably around the same time, God’s Not Dead 2 will be released. So maybe March, April…but I’m excited to get music out there! It’s been forever! I want to keep performing and get on stage.
You recently shot God’s Not Dead 2 alongside of Melissa Joan Hart and Jesse Metcalfe, to name a few cast members. You played the character Brooke Thawley. What was it like being on set with such a great cast and what can we expect from your character?
It was such a different experience because I had never worked on a movie. Coming from a cast that feels like family and being thrown into this whole new situation was crazy. But Melissa Joan Hart is everything you want her to be in life. She is so kind and funny and very generous. She would buy the entire crew coffee every morning. Just such a great person.
Jesse is so attractive; it’s unreal! The guy…he’s a looker but he was super sweet. I never really saw him though .≤cause our scenes were very different. But everybody on that set was so nice and supportive. It was different because it is a religious movie and sometimes we would sit down and have bible studies, which is not something you would normally do in this industry, so it was very different but it was cool.
My character, Brooke, she had lost her brother that had passed away and wanted to find herself and figure out where she was going in life now that she’s lost someone that was so important to her. She found that through God and having her teacher (Melissa Joan Hart’s character) introduce Jesus to her; it’s a very different character, and doing drama is completely different from this show, but I’m glad I got to challenge myself.
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