Tessa Valentine

It was always nice to go to my surrogate grandmother’s home where, in the entrance to the parlor stood an antique, red piano. I could never do more that some scales and it was always in the back of my mind that I would learn to play properly one day. I never really got to since she sold that piano and moved away when I was 13. Now, two years after her death, I’ve started to really wonder what would have happened all those years ago if I had begged my mom to let me get piano lessons, instead of just playing scales.

The big leagues. Every actor dreams of it and many manage to make it, but it’s a hard road and a necessary one to receive better pay, benefits, and respect as an actor.

In order to get better work, better pay, better treatment in general, and to even have a shot at joining SAG, AFTRA is the first step up in the actor’s world.