Taylor Dooley

The acting bug caught me early when I got to play the lead in a local play. Just over a year later I was lucky enough to book the lead role of Lava Girl, in the Robert Rodriquez film The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl (2005). After that amazing experience, I was hooked and in love with every aspect of creating characters. Then as fate would have it, I hit a big growth spurt and at age 13, I looked like an 18 year old. After a few years, of getting down to the end on roles and ultimately being told "my age and essence played too old", I decided to take some time away. Since then, I've been in college working on a degree in Psychology. To me, what I love about acting is understanding people and what makes them tick, which is what makes Psych so interesting. Other than college, I took the time to focus on myself. Growing up a child actor is somewhat of a focused and sheltered life. I wanted to experience so much more. So, needless to say, these years away have been the best "life road trip" I could have taken. It not only helped me develop and grow so much as a person, but my experiences helped me grow as an actress. While I was busy doing me, I took some time to go to a few different acting schools/classes. I figured variety is the spice of life and what better way to see what fits than trying on lots of different hats. The experiences were amazing and helped me figure out who I am as an actress. I completed the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, which was so inspiring. I also went to classes and got to work with Ivana Chubbuck on scene study, Leigh Kilton Smith on auditioning, and Cameron Thor in class and one on one working on scene study and building strong interesting characters. Now, after taking some years completely away from the acting business, I feel like now more than ever I know who I am and what I want. My passion for acting is like a fire burning inside of me, and I am ready to really get back out there again and start pursuing my career. I really feel like this is my time and I couldn't be more excited for the future.