From back to center stage, Sedona Raphael ’24 has had quite a successful high school acting career. Recently featured on the TV show “Law and Order,” Raphael has played over 15 roles since her debut in middle school. While others are out with friends, Raphael devotes all her time to acting programs and audtitions, often spending long restless nights filming self-tapes. After graduation, Raphael aspires to major in musical theater to continue to master her art.

What productions have you been in and what roles have you played?

I played Katherine in “Newsies” last year, which was super fun; it was a great experience to get to have that role. Some of my favorite roles that I have played [are] Double Zero in “The Wolves,” ... “Mary Poppins,” Bambi Bernet in “Curtains,” and ... about seven different roles in “The Laramie Project.” It was crazy, it was a self-directed show [over three weeks], so our cast was made up of ten actors who basically walked the process ourselves.

When and how did you start acting?

I grew up singing in the back of my mom’s car or just for fun, and so music has always been a part of my life. For a long time, I was actually a competitive gymnast, so that was how I performed then; on the floor [and] on the beam. One day I had an injury where I couldn’t go to the gym anymore, so my mom decided to sign me up for an open call at a community theater for a little musical, and I ended up getting the lead ... once I did that, I did not want to go back to the gym, and then I really started pursuing acting and theater professionally.

Can you describe your acting and training background?

I take private voice lessons, I have an acting class, and I do a lot of summer intensives. A lot of learning I’ve done though, is from different projects I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of. I’ve always been the biggest supporter of the fact that you watch and you learn. Being around other people, you can always pick up new information. Even just watching a TV show, when someone has a line, I would just pause it and say it back as myself to see how I would say that line. I [am] so grateful to have all these opportunities and the training that I need to get this far.

How do you prepare for auditions under time pressure?

It’s a bit different for musicals and TV and film. For musicals, I always have an audition binder with all my songs that I sing, and those will be ready to go at any moment. And I have about six monologues in my head at all times, so I can just throw them out any time they are needed. If it’s a musical, I will always do character work and understand the show and the background and why it’s an important story to tell. For TV and film, I’ll get a request for a self tape, which is where you film yourself at home doing the material that they sent you. I’ve had cases where they send you a scene that morning and you have to record it and get it back by that night. So it definitely takes a lot of practice, and I’ve gotten better at it over the years, but it can be a little stressful. There are a lot of great people that will always help you, and it’s really fun.

Do you get any criticism from judges or just being in the public view? How do you deal with that?

It’s hard because part of being on stage and performing and acting is being vulnerable, which is not something that’s super easy, especially when you’re telling such a truthful and important story. I think some of the best advice I’ve ever been [given] is that you’ve got to do it because you love it. Because it’s such a hard business and artist-subjective, so what I like isn’t going to be the same as what someone else likes, and that’s okay. Sometimes it comes with criticism, and sometimes it’s hard to understand why. The biggest thing is to just keep going and not let anybody get in your head; and know that if you’re doing it because you love it, it’s the right thing.

What advice would you give to a younger version of yourself or someone who aspires to become an actress?

Don’t take yourself too seriously, and find the joy in what you are doing. Art is about telling important stories and making change and using your voice to promote kindness and good. Perfect is boring and unattainable, nobody likes perfect. You don’t want to see somebody be perfect, they’re not human. I would just say be yourself and don’t really care about what other people think. Do it because you love it.