Please introduce yourself. What do you do? Why? What do you want people to know about you?
Hey Yall! I’m Ashley Dulaney. I’m an actor. Cat enthusiast and rescue advocate. I’m low key obsessed with my husband, hiking, all things Taylor Swift and a part time mermaid 🙂
What qualities make you different and unique from everyone else in the industry?
Being me. My energy. My stories. My experiences.
I found early on when I arrived in LA so many people want and need to label and assign every person they meet into a category. Because of that it’s easy to start taking away all the beautiful things that make you unique.
But that’s the hard thing about it and the reason it’s so easily removed is it’s hard to label what makes someone truly unique. Only that they are authentically them. I have become, for better or worse, authentically me and I love it.
Describe THAT moment when you realized you’re doing what you were born to do.
My first job I got cast as myself in a Turbo Tax campaign and I got the opportunity to work opposite Joan Rivers. I had massive amounts of dialogue and was thrown into the deep end with an absolute legend and I loved every second.
I remember I didn’t feel intimidated or worried I couldn’t keep up or what would she think of me? I was completely in love with the whole process- it helped that she was hands down one of the kindest and easiest people to work with but I also never felt like I wasn’t able to match her energy and pace and that was thrilling for me.
She made that first experience intoxicating for me. I always felt that it was a wink from the universe letting me know I was on the right path.
What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to go through and how did you grow through it?
As I want to be truthful here but I also don’t want to expose others that aren’t ready for me to fully share this I will answer this in a bit of a riddle. Early on in my life I realized blood doesn’t always make family.
For a long time I had a hard time accepting that a love that is chosen can truly be strong as love that was given to us at birth. That feeling of trying to fit in kept me very silenced for a long time. It made it truly hard to step fully into my power as a person.
But then I realized something: the truth about my story was the most powerful thing I had, that it was beautiful and something I needed to share, not hide. As I fully embraced that truth I stripped away all the masks I had put on to not be seen as I really am and as I started to take those off it also opened me up in my work and how I connected to roles.
Who are the TOP 3 people you’d want to meet that could elevate your career or business? Why these specific individuals?
Reese Witherspoon- she is a powerhouse of awesome. The roles she does inspire me constantly but also her as a producer and entrepreneur. The way she has held true to her roots and loves her family and kids. I look up to her in every way.
Taylor Swift- I’m just waiting for her to direct a feature and I’m manifesting daily to be right for the project. I am a Swiftie but more than anything I respect her as a person and an artist. She has done something awe inspiring and it’s insane to witness. I love the type of performer she is. The way she tells stories with songs and videos. I just want to watch her brain work.
Meghan Markle- one because I love Suits. Two because I respect the hell out of how she has handled herself in all of the chaos that has recently surrounded her.
How people handle themselves in extreme moments is always very inspiring to me and I think to be around that to witness kindness and compassion while also telling your truth bleeds into all those that surround you and gives them power and permission to do the same.
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