Meet Josie Axelson

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Josie Axelson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Josie below.

Josie, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

Thank you so much for having me! This is such a great and deep question. I think I’ve followed a lot of different paths that have led me to my ultimate purpose; to bring forth connection through storytelling. To help people feel like they are not alone. I love that the human experience can be so transformative when we simply see each other for who we truly are. I grew up performing and sharing stories with others on stage and through film. I realized from an early age that other people’s emotions impacted me on a deeper level than most, and this empathy has driven me through my life.

I solidified this desire to bring humans together by pursuing acting full-time, and I graduated a year early this past May from NYU Tisch with a BFA in Drama. I have learned through my education that there are many ways to bring people together and inspire change. One of the most impactful methods is sharing my own experiences, expressing them through dance, writing, and film, and being bold enough to share with my community. This past spring, I wanted to challenge myself in my final semester to create two films that scared me, two films that focused on my experiences with mental health and perfectionism. I created two films in tandem, one as a dance film with an original poem and piano composition, and one as a short narrative film surrounding a young female dancer struggling with a relapse in her mental health. These films terrified me to make, but they also brought so many inspiring conversations to light. So many women, friends and strangers alike, shared their connections to these films, and in that moment, I felt my purpose ignite.

I am currently submitting my narrative short film, “Host,” to the National Film Festival circuit. This form of storytelling is just one avenue of my journey towards transformative human connection, and I am very thankful that I have the support of my community to pursue my multi-hyphenate career.

 

 

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am currently exploring multiple aspects of my acting career, and now that I have a university education under my belt, I feel empowered to try everything and see what truly fuels my passion!

I have been very fortunate to make leaps of progress in my career this past spring before graduating. I made my network television debut in the CW’s newest true crime drama, “Hostage Rescue,” and I played the lead in the premiere episode surrounding a hostage situation in Utah. I also made my Off-Broadway debut in “Alice By Heart” at Theatre for the New City in April, and I got to be featured in Broadway World’s featured press release on our show with the production company Tisch New Theatre. Finally, I got to play a smooth-dancin’ cult leader in a Fall Out Boy jukebox musical in March. I got to perform with the cast on NYC radio, and the Fall Out Boy band sent us flowers on opening night! These successes helped land me with an incredible talent agency, Abstract Talent, and I am so stoked to see where our partnership takes my career next.

This summer, I have jumped into the exciting new world of cabaret producing. I have always wanted to create the art that I want to see in the world, from creating my first short film “Host” to building an ensemble of talented singers and humans to produce a themed cabaret performance. My good friends Ryan Greenberg-Failla, Joshua Turchin, and I have created a small production company focused on cabaret-producing, and our first venture is at the iconic Broadway cabaret theatre, 54 Below! We have curated a show of Greek Myth-inspired musical songs, and our powerhouse group of Broadway singers is celebrating with us in “54 Sings Greek Myths.” Our show is on August 11 at 9:30pm, and we also have an incredible special guest from the Broadway musical Hadestown joining our cast! I invite anyone in New York City to get tickets to see our show as so much love and excitement has been poured into this project.

I do not plan on pausing my journey anytime soon, so I invite folks to follow my journey on Instagram and on my website.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I’d say the first quality or skill that I rely on is handling rejection and knowing my worth. I started auditioning for professional musicals, films, and commercials at age 6, and I honestly have been rejected well over 100 times in my life. Rejection is a fact of life, especially in the acting industry, but rejection starts to take a toll on you when you start to equate rejection with your level of self-worth. When I was 9 years old, I was in my first professional musical, and the stage manager told me one day that “there is a line of little girls waiting to take your place outside this door if you aren’t the best version of yourself.” She pointed to the stage door, and I was so confused! Was there really a line of girls waiting for me to mess up in the show so they could take my place? It was a lot to handle at that age. After over a decade of work, I am still learning to separate rejections from my self-worth. I know that each path that I am meant to follow will show itself to me, and rejection is simply guiding me toward the right path.

My second quality is learning how to deal with mental and physical obstacles. I am currently healing from 2 spinal injuries, and this has caused a huge change in my life. As I heal, I am renewing my love for my body and all it can do. I also candidly have struggled with anxiety and perfectionism over the years, and this can cause fears about my career and whether I am good enough to pursue this passion. I am learning each day how to move through these feelings, but leaning on my family and creating art rooted in personal experiences helps to remind me that I am never alone.

My third quality is following the joy in my career. It is so common in our society to choose a career that provides stability and money, even if it doesn’t bring us joy. I have chosen an unstable career, but I am filled with so much joy that I get to pursue it each day! Studying at New York University helped shape me into the multi-hyphenate artist I am today, and I feel exhilarated each time I get to try something new in the arts. From writing a book-to-film feature screenplay, choreographing cabaret pieces, and assisting commercial castings in Minneapolis… there are too many fun adventures I am currently on to name!

 

 

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

Great question. My biggest growth area this past year has probably been… advocating for myself and not letting myself suffer in silence. I have experienced a lot of change this year, from family emergencies to moving apartments, entering the post-graduate world of NYC, and recovering from my recent spinal injury. It has been very difficult to learn to deal with all this instability, and I don’t think I know all the answers yet. What I do know is I have an incredibly supportive family, and leaning on them has helped me become the strongest version of myself yet.

Throughout the instability, I have discovered what is truly important to me; helping others and advocating for female mental health awareness. I cannot be as effective of an advocate without healing my relationship with myself first, and I am learning to love my imperfections and get help when I am in pain. This journey is not linear, but I am definitely growing each day.

Contact Info:

 

Edited with Afterlight

Image Credits

Julianna McGuirl (Headshot), Ryan Walker (Cover Dance Photo), Ari Isenberg (“Alice By Heart” at Theatre for the New City), Hostage Rescue TV premiere (The CW) Ayda Bahrampour (“Alice by Heart” Opening night picture) Wendy Zhang (“John and Jen” show image at New York University)

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