Colaborator Success Stories: An Interview with Ella Wahlestedt

When Ella Wahlestedt moved to LA three years ago, she did what a lot of promising thirteen-year-old actors do: moved in, with her mother, to the Oakwood Apartments in Studio City. Oakwood is a famous apartment building that offers temporary housing to kids and their families from around the country as they audition for film roles in LA. It's become such a phenomenon that Showtime produced a documentary on it called Hollywood Complex.

Wahlestedt, who is now 16, was different from most residents of Oakwood. She stood out. She got the parts the others didn't, enough of them to convince her mother, Lisa, that they should stay in LA. Now, she's one of a handful of young actresses consistently landing big roles despite not being related to an industry big shot. Last week, the New York Post listed her alongside Mackenzie Davis as one of six up-and-coming "girls of summer," young actresses on the cusp of stardom. After a year at Oakwood, Wahlestedt and her mother finally escaped in 2012, which, to them, is a sort of badge of honor
 
"It was pretty gross," says Wahlestedt, about her time at Oakwood, "and parking was ridiculous."
 
Wahlestedt's breakout performance was as Caroline on Lifetime's Army Wives, where she played the bratty teen daughter of one of the main characters.
 
"I got to channel that side of me," she says, "Plus I got to bad mouth my mom, which I can't do in real life."
 
It was the kind of role Wahlestedt is accustomed to playing.
 
"I'm used to playing the mean popular blonde girl, which is fun, but I want to branch out." she says, "I just went brunette, so it'll be interesting to see what people see me as now. I think I gain like 20 IQ points."
 
Wahlestedt's breakout big screen role will be in Earth to Echo, a kids sci-fi flick from Relativity Media coming out in theaters July 2nd.
 
Landing Earth to Echo was a struggle, and its path to the big screen was a tenuous one. Eight hundred girls tried out for the sole female role, which Wahlestedt somehow managed to land. Then, after production wrapped, Disney, the original production studio, threatened to release it straight to DVD. Wahlestedt was devastated until producer Andrew Panay wrested control of the film and sold it to Relativity, who is giving it wide release in theaters.
 

Wahlestedt in Earth to Echo

"You go through phases," Wahlestedt says, "sometimes you get very Zen about everything. But other times it can really sting."
 
Wahlestedt grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Lisa was employed as a physician. She started acting at 11, kind of by accident. She arrived late to a gymnastics practice, and, not wanting to upset her coach, she skipped it and attended an acting class next door instead. She loved it, and started acting in local theater productions and short films. The snowball tumbled downhill, and after Lisa realized that her daughter's career had major potential, she left her job to focus on helping Wahlestedt navigate the hazardous waters of Hollywood.
 

Wahlestedt in Killing Animals a James Franco-produced project based on his book Palo Alto

 
New to acting world, Lisa read a book called Self Management for Actors by Bonnie Gillespie.
 
"Grow where you're planted first, but don't stay there for too long, or you'll rot," says Lisa, recounting an important lesson from Self Management, describing why they took the plunge to LA, "Still, it's important to stay in touch with your original local connections." It was Wahlestedt's original Florida agent, for example, who landed her the Army Wives roll.
 

Wahlestedt in Army Wives

Looking ahead, Wahlestedt  wants to follow in the footsteps of actresses like Jodie Foster of Rachel McAdams, women who can play both drama and comedy. She's approached often for modeling gigs, but is much more interested in acting.

She also wants to go to college.

"College is definitely an option," she says, "I'll go unless there's a reason not to."

Having just landed a major role in the upcoming Goosebumps reboot, starring Jack Black, it looks like there very well may be a reason not to; with so many offers, she may be working toomuch to have time for college. I guess that's one of those good problems.

Wahlestedt, who has been affiliated with Colaborator since 2013, and will appear in MyTeeVee's "Lies," part of our original webseries, Match, coming summer.

Teaser - MATCH web series Ep. 2: "Lies" from MyTeeVee on Vimeo.