Juliette Angelo’s Stories, Lessons & Insights

We recently had the chance to connect with Juliette Angelo and have shared our conversation below.

Juliette, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
A typical morning to me looks like making myself an iced latte, and reading my Bible. I try to limit my phone when I wake up. After some reading, I will drag my dog out of bed for breakfast, and start both of our days.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Juliette Angelo. I am an actress and singer. I started performing on Broadway when I was 8 years old in New York City. At the time, I was living in New Jersey. I performed in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the original cast of Billy Elliot, and Mary Poppins. At around 12, I moved to Los Angeles after booking my first television role in the series “Malibu Country” with Reba McEntire. I was a series regular. That show ran for one season before it was canceled. After Malibu Country, I stayed in Los Angeles and worked on a multitude of shows. I would say I am best known as Emily Fornell in NCIS and Geneva in Shameless. Other notable shows were Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy, and the Haunted Hathaways on Nickelodeon. I also worked on the Oscar nominated film The Trial of the Chicago 7, which was pretty awesome.

At age 21, I left Los Angeles and moved to Nashville, Tennessee. It was a pretty impulsive move that ultimately saved my life. Soon after, I got sober on March 27th of 2021. I am still sober to this day. I quit the industry and focused on my recovery, deleted all of my social media and pretty much dropped off the face of the planet. I resurfaced in Billings, Montana a few years later where I now live. I play music and I was touring a Patsy Cline tribute show for a while. I am about to move to Texas where I hope to re-enter the industry from a different perspective and maybe do some acting in more faith based projects. I gave my life to Christ after getting sober and it was the best decision I ever made.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
When I got sober back in 2021, I did not know my identity or anything about who I genuinely was as a person. My whole life I was raised to behave a certain way. It was like my entire life story had to be a secret. I was a shell of a person. Before I knew who I was and could clearly see myself, God always saw me for my true spirit and identity. Despite all of the baggage I had and the damage that had been done since my childhood, He always saw me at my purest form. I am still discovering who that is, but I firmly believe God creates us all perfectly, and it is so sad to me to look back on the times when I wanted nothing more but to reject every aspect of my truth.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering has taught me a level of understanding and humbleness that success never could. It isn’t until I reached a rock bottom that I had a deep gratitude for every little thing in my life. It is easy now that my life is more peaceful and stable to forget about how I was a few years ago – broken and terrified. Suffering has given me an appreciation for my life that I otherwise never would’ve had.

We live in a world and a digital world where so many people are completely out of touch with reality. Despite how difficult things have been for me in my past, I am so grateful to have an understanding of suffering that others may not have. It gives me a deeper connection to humanity and allows me to connect to others through our shared stories and trials.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
Growing up in the acting industry, I was taught nothing but lies. The industry presents money and fame as the end goal. That being a celebrity is what everyone wants. That because someone has more money than you, or is more famous than you, (or, in my case, someone is skinnier than you) they are somehow better than you.

Truthfully, the majority of people I met in Hollywood were completely miserable in their lives (or just downright creepy). It showed me that money truly does not buy happiness. No level of fame can heal your past. Acting is the most powerful form of escapism, which is why I think the industry attracts so many broken people — and so many of those people get completely preyed upon and taken advantage of. I learned through my sobriety and healing journey that none of these things the industry presents as the “end goal” (money, fame, status) matter.

Sure, it is a great feeling to be financially stable, but flaunting your wealth just for the sake of bragging about it will never heal those soul wounds. At the end of the day, God and a relationship with Christ is the only thing that ever filled that void for me that I tried to fill initially with money, fame, and addiction.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
Caring, doubting, and procrastinating. I feel like I kind of live like that anyway — I don’t take my life for granted and always go into new opportunities 100%. I know it always works out in the end, so why not take some risks and follow that gut feeling?

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Image Credits
Jesse Harris, Brittney M Jackson

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