Today we’d like to introduce you to Naomi Townsend.
Hi Naomi, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in Shanghai, China and I loved to dance. From the age of 6 years old, I would be happy to spend my entire weekends at the dance studio with back-to-back classes. I dreamed of becoming a ballerina and dancing with a prestigious company.
As I got older, I trained and competed internationally, winning multiple awards, and performed classical ballet pieces with the Conservatory of International Style of Cultural Arts (CISCA) across major cities in China. But while I was focused on perfecting technique, what people kept pointing out was my storytelling. Judges, teachers, mentors all noticed how emotionally immersed I became in each piece. That’s when I realized what I loved most wasn’t just the movement, but the world I got to create through it. My first time acting was in Alice in Wonderland at age 10. I played Alice, and I remember coming home from school and spending hours trying to ‘get into character.’ I probably had no idea what I was doing, but I knew I cared deeply. Even then, I was committed to telling Alice’s story.
Though I’m talking a lot about performing, I was equally dedicated to my academics. Maybe it was due to my Eastern upbringing, but I never really saw ‘Performing Artist’ as a viable career path. So, for middle and high school, I attended a top academic school in England, halfway across the world from my family. I naturally gravitated toward the humanities subjects and threw myself into academic life. I was awarded the Audrey Livingstone Scholarship for academic merit and was voted Head of House. It’s not that I forgot about performing, I just found myself balancing two very different paths. I joined every school play I could and even became President of my school’s drama club. I kept that creative spark alive while making sure I stayed challenged academically.
So when it came time to apply for college, I decided to pursue English Literature in the UK—except for one wild card: New York University (NYU). It had a renowned acting program and offered a double major, which schools in the UK did not. So I figured, why not give it a shot? It was the only school I applied to for acting—and when I got in, it honestly felt like a sign to finally go for it.
It wasn’t until I started studying Meisner at NYU that everything clicked. I realised what the storytelling I enjoyed so much as a kid actually is — a way to connect, to make people feel seen, heard and understood. Whether on screen or stage, acting is a kind of storytelling that moves people and that’s what I’m drawn to. I want to portray unique perspectives and uplift voices we don’t often hear from. That is where I am now. And with each project I embark on, I continue to chase that feeling I first had at 10 years old—of disappearing into a story and somehow finding more of what human experience is in the process. The purpose of acting, as Shakespeare says is ‘to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature.’ I keep striving for my performances to mirror human nature and hope that my audiences can resonate with what they see.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, definitely not! There have been many times where I have felt how resilient one needs to be to pursue acting. Not only are you confronting the reality that success takes time (there is no single path to get there!), but also how to juggle everything at once, constantly adapting and rebalancing.
During my first semester at NYU in 2020, I landed the lead role of Lena in Orange Cube Project, a sci-fi pilot written and directed by Mark Siegemund and backed by a team of established Shanghai creatives. Filming took place in Shanghai, while I was attending NYU remotely due to COVID. The 12-hour time difference between Shanghai and New York meant that my NYU classes ran from 9 PM to 3 AM local time, a challenge in itself.
But the real test came with the shoot schedule. Many of my scenes were filmed at dawn to capture the perfect light, which meant that after finishing classes in the middle of the night, I’d head straight to set at 5 AM. Sounds absolutely wild to look back on now, but I managed. Balancing coursework with the demands of a professional film set taught me immense discipline, adaptability, and resilience—qualities I carry with me today.
Then there was the time I was filming Going Dark, a psychological thriller short in New York, when I got an email for a callback for the lead role in The Red Shoes at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London. I asked my director, Kate, if it was possible to move the shoot schedule forward so I could catch a flight, and, incredibly, the team made it work. I flew out of JFK at 8 PM, landed at 7 AM the following day, and made it to the audition by 10 AM… which happened to be a dance call. Over the next four days, I advanced through two more rounds of callbacks, including acting, singing, and dancing, eventually making it to the final round.
I didn’t book the role in the end, which, of course, is something actors constantly learn to live with: rejection, and the courage to keep showing up anyway. But I look back with pride. The callbacks gave me the opportunity to dive deeply into the character, to my own bold choices, to work with a new director and casting team. It reminded me that acting is not about the outcome, but about the process. The work itself is the reward.
These two stories are just two of the many, many, MANY struggles in this craft. But each experience only made me better at handling intense pressure without compromising performance. The struggles of this career are the most crucial learning lessons, they are truthful experiences that I can take into the next character I play — their emotional life, characterisation, and physicality.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As an actor, I am drawn to stories that explore identity, empathy, and what it means to be human. I want to read scripts that I can relate to with my cultural background, everyday life and experience, scripts that feel like they highlight a perspective that has not yet been seen. Subversive and silenced narratives. That is what I am drawn to the most. My work spans film, theater, musicals and dance, and I’m proud to have been part of projects that spotlight underrepresented voices.
When I was younger, I didn’t have a clear roadmap, I just said yes to the opportunities that excited me. Looking back, each of those experiences shaped my creative perspective and led me to where I am now. Before the age of 18, I had already won multiple international awards at The American Dance Awards, Taiwan Grand Prix, American Dance Competition, and more. These opened doors in the dance world, including a scholarship to the Vienna Opera Ballet short program and an acceptance into the Birmingham Royal Ballet. I also modeled for luxury brands like David Charles and Cissonne, and starred in a headlining commercial for China Pacific Insurance Group, one of China’s top three insurance companies. Onstage, I performed the titular role of Alice in Alice in Wonderland at the Shanghai Children’s Arts Theatre, and on screen, played Lena in the pilot Orange Cube Project, which premiered at the Shanghai Film Group cinema.
I began my training at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with fresh eyes and a deep curiosity. At the Meisner Studio, I studied the Meisner technique, which emphasizes acting as ‘behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.’ That idea cracked something open for me and I realized how a truthful performance can create a powerful sense of relatability, even transformation, in an audience. I threw myself into the work and was proud to make the Dean’s List two years in a row. During this time, I was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) Shakespeare Program, the most popular NYU study abroad track for actors. It was there that I discovered my love for classical work. Exploring the emotional depth of Shakespeare’s language and learning to translate it through physicality and text analysis was a turning point in my growth as an actor. Later, I was offered a place in RADA’s highly selective BA program (the most prestigious acting course in England) but chose instead to stay in the U.S. to pursue major opportunities, including final callbacks for Romeo and Juliet on Broadway and The Red Shoes at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London.
That same year, I signed with my incredible British agent while studying abroad in London, and then later signed with my current manager at Authentic Management back in New York—an incredibly rare opportunity for an international actor before graduating. Authentic represents top-tier talent, including this year’s Academy Award winner Mikey Madison, so joining their roster still feels surreal.
Since graduating, my career has taken off in exciting ways. I recently wrapped American Girl at A.R.T. New York, and I’m now playing the lead in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a sharp and timely play about cultural identity and corporate PR disasters. Two films I shot last summer are also premiering soon: Each Solitary Moment, a Chinese-language film by Cannes-screened director Jing Wen Fang, and Going Dark, a psychological thriller set in an all-girls Catholic school. Next up, I’ll be leading Harriet, Lylah and The Spider, a film set in New York’s Chinatown—a place that holds deep meaning for me personally.
What sets me apart, I think, is my versatility. From ballet stages to Shakespearean monologues to psychological thrillers, I bring my whole self into each role, with a genuine curiosity for people and their stories. Every project deepens my craft, and I feel incredibly grateful to the collaborators and mentors who continue to shape the artist I’m becoming.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
There is a lot of talk about luck in the arts world. I’m currently reading Viola Davis’ memoir Finding Me, and in it she says, ‘Luck is an elusive monster who chooses when to come out of its cave to strike and who will be its recipient. It’s a business of deprivation’. This hit me hard. Luck can be a powerful force, but it is unpredictable, and in this industry, one cannot rely on it.
So while I firmly believe in the saying ‘whatever is meant to be will be’, I also know that we have control over our own fate. Success isn’t just about the universe aligning; it’s about positioning ourselves to be in the right place at the right time. Yes, we can position ourselves there. We can increase our chances by opening ourselves up to opportunities and being fully prepared when they arise.
Essentially, I think we can make a little bit of our own luck.
I’m signed with Authentic Management, a top American Management company, which is rare for someone who is not only a recent graduate but also an international. A degree of luck played a role in my signing, but it was also about creating the right opportunities for myself, being present in key moments, and showcasing my talent to the best of my ability. I won’t go into the whole story of how I got signed, but it certainly was about how I got to the right place at the right time.
So how do you do that? I believe the most important skills that make you as “lucky” as possible are patience and listening. Acting is a career full of rejection, and patience is crucial in remembering that everyone has their own path to success. Listening to the world, to the people I meet, keeps me grounded. And groundedness is crucial for opening up those opportunities. You will notice more, and invite more. Whether I’m sitting in a cafe, on the subway, or just tuning into life around me, I find that listening connects me to the world and enhances my empathy, which is vital for both personal growth and performance. Luck doesn’t just fall into one’s lap, it’s something you can create more of by being present, open, and ready. The more you put yourself in the right mindset and position, the more likely you are to encounter those lucky moments.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: naomi.townsend
- Other: IMDB: Naomi Townsend
Image Credits
Justin Chauncey
