Breaking through in Hollywood can be tough, but two Mansfield ISD students are making it look easy.
Seventh-graders Aeiress Jones and Raymond Ware recently landed roles on the Emmy-winning comedy Abbott Elementary.
They attend different middle schools, work with different managers and auditioned separately, so neither knew the other was up for a role.
“I mean that is pretty amazing,” said Jamie Malone, owner of MC Talent Management. “Sometimes lightning strikes. You just never know.”
Malone is based in Los Angeles, but Aeiress isn’t her only Texas client. Malone said the rise of self-tape auditions during the pandemic opened doors for talent living outside major film hubs.
“Texas just has really good kids,” she said. “They have really good kid and adult talent, so we're going to go wherever the talent is.”
Aeiress has been acting so long she can’t remember if she booked her first gig at the age of 3 or 4, but she’s pretty sure it was a TruMoo milk commercial.
Her credits include roles at Casa Mañana and in two episodes of Rap Sh!t, a TV series produced by Issa Rae.
On Abbott, she’ll play a character named CC in an episode airing Dec. 3.
“The first day I walked out [on set], it was like the best experience ever,” Aeiress said. “And I remember just being so excited and mind blown and so ready to do it the next day.”
She met Raymond through the Fine Arts Academy at Alma Martinez Intermediate School, and described him as a great person.
Raymond first realized he might want to act while watching movies with his family.
He joined his elementary school’s drama club, and after performing in The Big Bad Wolf and The Wizard of Oz, he was hooked.
“It was really theater that kind of sparked me, like actually starting to love it a lot,” Raymond said.
From there he shot a local ad for Academy Sports + Outdoors. He also worked on a film from BACKA Media Group called Baby Mama Nada, according to his IMDB profile.
On Dec. 17, viewers will see Raymond play Kawhi, a sleepy student wandering the school, unsure of where he’s supposed to be.
“The set was really cool. It's cool to see behind the scenes because I never really know how much effort people put into it and how quick they turn around things,” Raymond said.
Raymond is a big fan of the show, and was surprised when they led him to his own trailer on set.
“I still kind of think it's a dream, but I think the most exciting part was just seeing the people that I always watch all the time,” he said.
Raymond was happy when he found out that Aeiress had also booked a role.
“I was just excited. I was like, ‘We're doin' it! We're doin' it!’ I'm proud of where I'm from,” he said.
Raymond wants to help put his hometown on the map for people outside of Texas. As he and Aeiress continue to audition and act, they just might.
