Jessica Ricci has stars in her eyes and fire in her belly.
The 21-year-old Hoppers Crossing resident, who recently received one of Wyndham council’s mayoral youth awards, has been acting since her school days and is keen to turn her hobby into a career.
Since graduating from Werribee Secondary College, Ricci has studied theatre practice at the Victorian College of the Arts, and she recently quit her full-time retail job to dedicate more time to acting.
Already she has had small roles on the ABC’s This is Littleton, and Channel Ten’s Party Tricks.
“There’s always the thought that it’s a very superficial industry, and I’m not going to look how I look forever and I’m not going to be young forever, but I think that, ultimately, I want to be happy in my life and performing and telling stories is what makes me happy.
“If I don’t pursue it, I think I’ll regret it later,” she says.
She also runs a YouTube channel that has received a bronze play button for popular viewing, with her twice-weekly videos on positive body image and self-love scoring more than 870,000 views worldwide.
The videos have resulted in Ricci taking an interest behind the lens, and she will use the $500 grant she received from Wyndham council to buy camera equipment.
“With auditions nowadays, you have to send what’s called a self-test; you have to film an audition at home, do a little chat to camera, put it on YouTube or email and send it to the casting director, and they screen people that way before they hold physical auditions.
“I didn’t know how to use a camera or anything about lighting, so I thought if I made videos and put them on the internet it would be a good way to learn how to do all that.”
