Life & Work with Yanelisa of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yanelisa.

Hi Yanelisa, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
When I was around 7 years old, I sang in front of a crowd for the first time through church. Around that same age, the church did a dramatization of “The Parable of the Lost Sheep” from the book of Luke, a Bible story told by Jesus about a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to search for the one that is lost. I played the lost sheep, and it was the first time I ever acted in front of a crowd. I remember traveling to different communities to bring that same play to them.

I grew up loving the arts. Music was the place I would go to when I was struggling the most. I loved singing and participated in several community and school festivals throughout elementary, middle, and high school. I remember winning some singing competitions. When it was time to go to college, I decided to pursue something “less risky” than the arts and attended the University of Zulia in the School of Communication to study Publicity and Public Relations. I didn’t finish that degree, and at the same time, I was enrolled in Fashion School, where I graduated as a Fashion Designer in 2012. I even opened a small clothing and embroidery factory in 2011, one year before graduating.

In 2014, I came to the USA for the first time, which marked the beginning of a completely new life full of hardships and a long immigration process. In 2016, I was an extra on Ballers with Dwayne Johnson (The Rock), and after that, I began pursuing music and acting more seriously. In 2018, Billboard.com published an article titled:

VENEZUELA’S SUMMER VIDEO PLAYLIST: 10 LOCAL STARS ON THE RISE
https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/venezuela-summer-playlist-top-10-videos-watch-8467252/

I was included with my first single, “Distinto.”

I was building my acting career simultaneously, so in 2020, I landed my first lead role in a short film called Housegirl. After that, I played Veronica in the TV series Atlanta by Donald Glover. Then, I was a guest star on Law & Order: SVU, playing Lucia Benitez. Working with Mariska Hargitay was incredibly inspiring, she’s such a strong woman with great instincts and also really funny. After that, I played Satcha Moncado on Found by NBC. Getting to work with Shanola Hampton was so refreshing; she’s so much fun on set. I remember sitting in the makeup chair one morning while she was also getting her makeup done, and she started singing gospel songs. It made my whole day.

More recently, I played Sara Castaña in a feature film called Duskfall, which was filmed at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, and I also played Adrienne in a short film called As Above.

There’s another feature film in which I played a sensual young woman, but since the production hasn’t released any information yet and I signed an NDA, I’m not sure how much I can share at the moment. I’m excited to share more with my audience when the time is right.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Immigrating is naturally a big challenge, doing a long process of paperwork, learning a new language, adapting to a new culture and being far away from what you’ve known your whole life, even though at the same time is such a beautiful opportunity to pursue your dreams. I feel like at some point I was the lost sheep just like the parable one, I’m grateful that I received the help through my faith to find my path again to the arts. Just being an artist is a struggle but I tell myself if I survived a pandemic and a film industry strike without giving up I’m going to be building my acting career and being an artist long term.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m an actress and singer songwriter, more recently I started writing scripts, I wrote and starred in a short film that was produced in 2025, it’s call AKA Yankee, we are still in post production and working to sharpen the story.

I come from music and writing songs which is also storytelling, for me it’s all connected.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
It’s funny! I have this black top(shirt)
That I use for auditions, I got cast for 2 different TV projects wearing that top so it became my lucky one, Now I wear it often to do my self tapes (only for the auditions that it fits well for the character).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yanelisa.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yanelisa?igsh=b3lhYWdmYXltZjQx&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17oqEgF4eb/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@yanelisa?si=wGzTZevemv1xBPAK

Image Credits
Rebbeca Murphy (only 2 photos)