Meet Alicia Steinmann

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alicia Steinmann a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alicia, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I, like every other hormonal, confused, and pubescent teenager, could not, for the life of me, feel good about myself. Maybe it was the constant acne sprouting up like craters on my chin, or the fact that I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror without recoiling in gothic horror. Either way, I can say with confidence that at some point in my life, I had no confidence.

That self-consciousness began as early as I can remember. As a young child, pre-teen, teen, and grown woman, I had always had a relentless obsession with my body and everything that was wrong with it. There’s nothing special about this part of my story- after all, “A majority of girls (59%) reported dissatisfaction with their body shape, and 66 percent expressed the desire to lose weight” (“Get the Facts”). Nonetheless, the scrutiny of my body slowly morphed into scrutiny of every part of myself- my personality, laugh, hair, sense of humour, calves. Basically, anything you could think of, I had thought negatively about myself.

I want to hammer in this point because, due to some cosmic irony, I have also, for as long as I can remember, wanted to be an actor—the ultimate career for the deeply unconfident, which requires constant external assessment and review. Luckily, the one thing my self-consciousness couldn’t take away was my love for the craft. Getting to play someone else, to morph into them, relieved me of my own self-inflicted suffering for a brief moment. And thus began my journey to becoming an actor, fueled by a desire to escape myself at every opportunity.

I was relentless. I auditioned and performed in every school play my academically focused high school offered, and later applied to countless university Drama programs. I wanted to leave my home, my friends, my family, and everything that tied me down to the version of myself I still hated. This eventually led me to New York University and its Drama program, consistently ranked amongst the best drama programs in the world.

Even in New York, as I started my new life and followed my passion, my self-consciousness crippled me. I found it difficult to make friends, became unapproachable, and found solace only in my work. Moreover, as learning begets, my confidence in my acting skills began to wane as I realized I did not know everything and still had a long way to go. Losing my confidence in my craft was the last straw- if I didn’t have that, I had nothing to show for myself. My habits got worse. Every time I stepped out of the house, I thought people were laughing and sneering at me (spoiler alert: they weren’t). I lost my passion for my work and wanted nothing more than never to show my face to the world again. It was at this moment that I knew I needed to speak with a therapist.

Therapy has been tumultuous but endlessly rewarding. I developed my confidence and self-esteem by confronting every single thing that initially destroyed them, head-on. There was no other way forward for me than to force my way through my internal hatred. This process ultimately led me to discover that underneath all my self-directed, jaded pessimism, I actually had a lot of self-love. Love for my perseverance, kindness, ambition, and the surety that I would succeed as a performer. Love for the things that made me unique: my extensive 70’s rock vinyl collection, my journaling hobbies, my obsession with classical literature. Therapy helped me realize that I actually knew exactly who I was, but if I took pride in who I was deep down, that would become the version of myself that everyone else would see. And that’s what scared me. Was I ready for everyone to see me, exactly as I was, with no self-hatred to hide behind anymore? Was I prepared to live my life exactly the way I wanted to, without letting my ideas of what others thought about me get in the way?

Turns out, I was. And I’ve never been happier. Talking to someone about my insecurities, which I realized had developed from my first moments of consciousness to the present day, set me free. I could finally let go of the terrible things I’d say to myself, the pain I’d self-inflict, and learn to give in to the love I had in me. There will never be anyone like me, in the past, present, or future. I am who I am, just as everyone is who they are. Individuality is our greatest strength, and only when we find love and pride in who we are can we deeply connect with those around us. I’ve turned back to my craft and found the endless love for it I’ve had since I was a child, and I won’t lose it again. I’ve made friends, fallen in love, been heartbroken, booked jobs, gotten fired from said jobs, started again, and lived my life, all with my self-love in tow. I can’t go anywhere without it now.

Work Cited
“Get the Facts.” National Organization for Women, 2026, https://now.org/now-foundation/love-your-body/love-your-body-whats-it-all-about/get-the-facts/. Accessed 10 February 2026.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am an actor, producer, and performer based in New York City!

I recently graduated cum laude from NYU Tisch Drama, with minors in Producing and Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technology. Originally hailing from Vancouver, with Heated Rivalry taking the entertainment world by storm, I’ve never been prouder to be Canadian.

Since leaving NYU, I have joined Frayed Knot Collective (FKC), a groundbreaking group of artists dedicated to creating “accessible, boundary-pushing performance art.” I currently serve as the Co-Director of the Film Department at FKC, and with them, I’m producing a new short film that will shoot later this spring. This position has allowed me to flex my newly formed producing muscle and to see the film industry from an entirely new perspective.

Along with being pivotal to the film department, I also closed a performance in FKC’s February “Apartment Series”. I played Izzy in our production of “Seminar” by Theresa Rebeck, directed by Walker Schneckenberger. Last fall, I produced a new work, “Helen in her Homeland” by Alexandra Haddad, for FKC, which ran for 2 weeks in October 2025. Both of these projects have meant the world to me, with female playwrights and discussions of sex and gender at their centers, which is absolutely my forte. I am immensely proud of the work I’ve been part of with Frayed Knot, and I look forward to our upcoming projects (stay tuned!).

As a performer, I have focused on both theater and film. Most recently, I played “Mac” in a two-handed sapphic short film, “To Swallow The Moon”, directed by Spencer Balter, currently in post-production. I also starred in Morgan Bramwell’s debut short film, “The Delegate”, which will be premiering at First Run Film Festival, “the longest continuously running film festival in New York City”. Through wildly different storylines, both projects allowed me to do what I love most and do best.

I have also recently performed as a singer in multiple events around New York City. This includes my 54Below debut as part of the all-Canadian show, “Oh Canada: Songs We Aren’t Sorry Aboot!” this past July, as well as “Unplugged: an ALab Cabaret,” as part of the ALab Theater Festival at IRT Theater. I feel honored to have performed at one of the most legendary cabaret theaters in the world, and at an up-and-coming theatrical festival that hosts some of the most exciting new work I’ve seen of late.

Finally, as a writer following my NYU Drama Honors Thesis, “The Scam of Rebirth: Change and Progress In Elena Ferrante And Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa”, I debuted my article, “The ‘Insatiable Cunt’: Female Orgasms in ‘Babygirl’ and a Lack Thereof Everywhere Else,” for Cold Worm Column, the artistic zine led by Sam Nivola and Maddie Schumacher. I publish my own personal articles and musings on my Substack (you can find me @aliciasteinmann).

As an artist, I gravitate toward work that explores the female experience. I yearn to tell stories very similar to the one I’ve just told here, about both the perils and euphorias of femininity, as we experience it and as the world ascribes it to us. My successes in New York are not without the sacrifices and hard work of my parents, and I feel grateful every day to be part of the artistic community in this one-of-a-kind city.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think about this question a lot, of what kind of advice I’d give my past self if I could.
The first would be a quality: kindness. I always try to lead with kindness, and in a world, time, and industry that can often be ruthless, leading with respect for others and for myself has become indispensable. It’s easy to become jaded when everyone around you is telling you to thicken your skin or that you’re too ‘soft’ for the industry. However, the opposite has been my experience. The times when I feel at my creative best are when kind, enthusiastic collaborators surround me, and I know that I need to actively contribute to that positive environment if I want to be part of it.

The second is a skill: laughing it off. As someone who has experienced and held onto a lot of shame in my life, learning the skill of letting it go has allowed me to take huge creative risks that my fear might’ve stopped me from taking in the past. Letting things roll off my back like an armadillo allows me to continue to roll forward instead of getting caught up in any kind of shame. Something’s only embarrassing if you let it embarrass you.

The third is a piece of advice. Find the love. This is a phrase I heard a lot in drama school: find the love between the characters who can’t see eye to eye. And I think this goes for anything in life that’s hard, angry, confusing. Finding the love in my life and choosing to focus on that has made the hard things feel a little less life-ruining, and makes the great things about living life that much better. Find that love!

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Absolutely! As part of Frayed Knot Collective, we are always looking to expand our community and diversify our network. In the Film department, we’re always looking for new projects to produce and producers for said projects. If you’re interested in film in any way, reach out to us on our Instagram or website. We also run a host of community events which are open to the public, so if you’re interested in getting to know us and what we do, come join us! Visit our website at https://www.frayedknotcollective.com/ or our Instagram page @frayedknotcollective to get in contact with us!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://aliciasteinmann.com
• Instagram: @aliciasteinmann
• Other: Frayed Knot Collective: frayedknotcollective.com & @frayedknotcollective on Instagram

  Tickets to “Seminar” by Theresa Rebeck: https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/frayed-knot-collective/seminar-by-theresa-rebeck

  Substack: @aliciasteinmann

Image Credits

Adam Dowling, @adam.r.dowling
Francesca Dimiceli, @frandimiceli.photography
Cat Boynton, @catboynton
Spencer Balter, @spencer_balter
Adam Dowling, @adam.r.dowling