Below is an interview from the Fay Observer of former New York Film Academy Los Angeles Acting Camp student Alexis Raiford.
Age: 14
School: Rising freshman at Cape Fear High School
Accomplishments: Two-time winner of Fayetteville’s Junior Top Model, the current “Face of Sandhills Modeling Inc.” and was a recent participant in the New York Film Academy Acting Camp in Orlando, Fla.
How long have you been modeling? Since I was 11. I love the designing part of it, but my favorite thing to do is the acting. I’ve been doing theater since fourth grade, when I moved here from Miami.
Speaking of acting, how was the New York Film Academy camp? I went for three weeks. It was really fun. I plan on going back. I got a $1,000 scholarship to go. And I got three college credits, one for every week I was there. I got to film a few short films.
What short film did you get to be in? One of my favorite films was when I got to play the detective who lost her job and then tries to catch a bad guy. But she then gets caught in the act when the bad guy got away.
What did you learn while you were there? I learned a lot. The biggest thing I learned was probably to be on time. If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late, and if you’re late, you’re fired. And we learned stage combat, which was really awesome.
Have you participated in any local theater productions? I do plays at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre. I was the Mad Hatter in “Alice in Wonderland” last year in the summer. I was also in “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” I did that two years in a row. I did “West Side Story,” and I did “The Lion King” at Cape Fear, right before school got out.
So what do you plan to do once you graduate high school? I want to be an architect. I really love the creativeness of it. I’m looking at going to the University of North Carolina or North Carolina State. But for my high school years, I’ll be taking theater every year. I’m going to be doing the plays in in the theater program, too. In the future, I see myself in acting and also with my job as an architect.
- Jessica De Vault
