Interviewing actress Alexandra Bayer

1-. How was your childhood?

Honestly, really good. I have great parents who did their best to look out for me. I participated in some Christmas plays at the church we attended when I was younger, which may have been my first exposure to acting. But I was always dramatic as a child, and enjoyed playing different characters, even prior to being given a script to work with.

2. - From what age did you decide to be an actor and how did you know you had the skills to go on TV?

Although my parents are supportive of my acting now, they did not present acting as a viable job option when I was a child. Many actors don’t get a post-secondary education, and it was important to my parents that I got my university degree, because it opens up so many more options for you in the world.

Despite this, I wanted to act. And after taking a professional acting course in grade nine, it only reinforced my desire, and confirmed my ability. I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. But I didn’t break down and decide it was the only thing I would ever be happy doing until I was in grade ten, on a family vacation to Florida. I was watching Make It or Break It, a show about gymnasts, and showing them pursuing two different passions onscreen – acting and gymnastics - filled me with such envy that I wanted to cry. I sat my parents down right then and told them that I wanted to act professionally. They told me that if it meant this much to me, then once we got back home to Canada, we would look for an acting agent for me.

3. - Did your parents support you in the decision you made to be an actor?

Yes! They took me to meet my first acting agent, and although that agency turned out not to be the best, they did get me a couple of gigs, which my parents helped drive me to. After I ended things with this agency after two years, however, my parents recommended I wait until I was in Toronto for university to sign with a new acting agency. I agreed to wait, but I missed acting in the meantime. I longed to be at least in the running in some way, and without an agent, time seemed to be just ticking away for me. But it was less than a year later that I signed with a much better agency in Toronto.

4. - What was your first appearance on the screens?

I booked the first audition that my second agent ever got me. It was for a series called Fear Thy Neighbor, a docudrama. I played the daughter of a man who at first appeared to be the less threatening neighbour, but ultimately ended up being the killer. This was my first TV series.

Prior to this, however, I had been in a web series called The Spell Tutor. I played the best friend to the protagonist in a magical world based on the Harry Potter series. It was a great experience and showed me how a professional set works. I was even nominated for a couple of awards at web fests.

5. - What was the role you liked the most?

I would have to say Iris in the Circa: 1981 web series. Circa is a spin-off of the web series Swerve, and I actually got the chance to play Iris in a couple of flashback scenes in Swerve as well! I was able to explore some great emotional range with Iris. I was contacted about doing a second season of Circa, but then COVID hit, and three years later, everything has changed. I do wish we’d had the chance to do that second season.

6.- What do you think led you to fame?

I do not consider myself famous! I have two goals with acting. One: to make a living from it. To be able to comfortably get by in life. Two: to participate in projects I am proud of. To play characters I enjoy and to tell stories that need to be told.

7-. What types of characters you would like to interpret?

Ones with difficult struggles, or ones with more beneath the surface than you can initially see. Or an unreliable narrator. I love complicated characters. I’ve always enjoyed dramatic scenes more than comedic ones.

8-. What actresses and actors do you feel comfortable working with?

My co-worker and I were recently talking about how we love working together because we feel there’s no ego between us. We don’t feel the need to be right or to prove the other person wrong. I want to continue to work with egoless people. People who are willing to do the best thing for the art, even if it wasn’t their suggestion.

9-. In what other genres of art would you like to participate? (Works of theater, music,

among others)

I have always loved to sing, and that is one thing I would also love to combine with acting. My sister used to beg me to stop singing when we still lived together, and it has been mentioned by roommates before. But it’s so much fun and can feel so good! Music can be so powerful. I went to a middle school for the arts, where we focused on all four: visual arts, dance, drama, and music. But the high school for the arts nearby made you specialize in only one, and I could not choose between drama and singing. So I decided to just go to my regular home school instead.

I am currently co-developing a web series that I will also be acting in. The series is called Girl Logic and focuses on a group of women in their 20s in a small town, who decide to form a rock band together to escape their town. I play the singer in the band, Vanessa. You can check out the teaser on our website!: www.girllogictheseries.com.

10.- Do you have any anecdotes that have marked you in your life and as a person?

One motto that I’ve had since middle school is, “Think, believe, manifest.”

I also plan to get two tattoos of two different song lyrics at some point, though I’m not currently sure when. The first is from the song My Way by The Girl and the Dreamcatcher: “I keep finding diamonds every time I fall, so why would anybody play it safe at all?” The second is from the song Intuition by Selena Gomez & The Scene ft. Eric Bellinger: “Tomorrow’s never promised so I started living for today.”

11.- What has been your greatest achievement?

Writing and publishing my New Adult novel, Identity. It, perhaps unsurprisingly, has to do with acting. Here’s the synopsis:

Naya hasn't had the best first year of university - her boyfriend broke up with her, leaving her friendless and pining after him. That is, until she meets Brynn one day at the gym. Brynn is cool and beautiful, and new to the city. Naya is her first friend here. But when Brynn actually turns out to be the famous actress Aviva Jersey in disguise, Naya must decide how much of their friendship is real and how much was just an act. And the longer Naya spends around Aviva, the more of the spotlight she begins to see. But haven't you heard? Fame doesn't always equal happiness, and the spotlight comes at a price.

12.- What projects will you make next and which ones do you have in mind?

Girl Logic is my current focus! We are hoping to go into production by winter of 2023!

I have also been cast in a TV sitcom, but we are still in the process of looking for a network, so I can’t say too much about it yet!

13.- Would you like to make a movie in Spain?

Of course! I actually minored in Spanish in university. I’m not fluent, but I love the language and Spanish culture in general!

14.- you like spanish cinema?

I actually took one course specifically on Spanish films in university! I’m not sure if I watched the most entertaining ones, however, so much as the classics or the art films. Most of what I watch in my leisure time comes from Hollywood, as I hope one day to end up there. But regardless, of course I love Spanish cinema!