Rising Stars: Meet Kelly Sirois of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Sirois.

Hi Kelly , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I didn’t choose this industry — I was born into it. My mother was a full-time actress and model, and I was on my first commercial set at four years old. I grew up inside the world most people are trying to break into.
I went to Campbell High School in Smyrna, Georgia — Julia Roberts was in those same hallways — and even then, the entertainment world felt like home. I went on to study film at Georgia State, worked as a Hollywood talent manager, and spent decades as a working actress building a career I’m still actively growing today.
But somewhere along the way I realized something: Atlanta had world-class productions coming through, but it didn’t have a world-class training ground that matched. So I built one. AHAS Acting Studio (formerly Atlanta Hollywood) in Woodstock, Georgia is the only certified Warner Loughlin Technique studio in Atlanta — and I’m proud to say it’s the only studio in the Southeast led by someone who has been every single version of what her students are becoming.
I’m also a North Atlanta realtor, a UGC creator, a screenwriter with a faith-based project in development, and a mother of two incredible kids — a son who’s a musician in Nashville and a daughter who is absolutely brilliant. I’m a Southern Georgia girl, faith-driven, and I believe deeply that you can build real wealth through creativity — not despite it.
Where I am today is really just a fuller version of where I’ve always been. Deep in this industry, with a bigger vision and more ways to serve it.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Smooth? Not even close. And I think that’s the most honest and important thing I can share.
I was building a career in one of the hardest industries in the world. There was no safety net, no blueprint. Just faith, grit, and the belief that I was supposed to be here.
Then when I founded AHAS (formerly Atlanta Hollywood Acting Studios), the road got harder before it got easier. COVID hit and everyone had an opinion about how a performing arts studio should operate. Acting is a deeply human craft — you cannot train actors behind glass. I made decisions that weren’t always popular, and I took heat for them. I stood by them anyway.
Then came the economic slowdown. Then the SAG strikes — which didn’t just affect working actors, they froze the entire ecosystem. Auditions slowed to a crawl. Actors who had uprooted their lives and moved from Los Angeles to Georgia chasing opportunity suddenly hit brick walls. My students felt it. I felt it. The business felt it.
And in the middle of all of that, I faced personal setbacks within the studio that tested my trust, my resilience, and my resolve in ways I didn’t see coming. I choose to respond to those moments with class rather than bitterness — but I won’t pretend they didn’t leave a mark.
What carried me through every single time was love. Love for this craft. Love for my students. Love for what this studio represents — not just a business, but a place where people come to become the fullest version of themselves.
We’re still here. And honestly? I think we’re stronger for every single thing that tried to take us down.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an actress, a studio owner, a filmmaker, and a creative entrepreneur — but at the root of all of it, I am a storyteller.
On screen, I’m a working actress represented by Formation Talent, pursuing film and television roles here in Georgia — one of the most active production markets in the world. I’ve spent my career developing a craft that most people spend a lifetime chasing, and I’m still actively in it. Still auditioning. Still booking. Still growing.
At AHAS Acting Studio, We train film and television actors using the Warner Loughlin Technique — the only certified studio in Atlanta and the only one in the Southeast. The studio is led by a working actress who has lived every stage of this journey herself. I don’t teach from a textbook. I teach from a life.
What I specialize in is truth. The Warner Loughlin Technique is rooted in emotional authenticity — getting actors out of their heads and into genuine human experience. In a world of manufactured content and performative everything, real is rare. That’s what I train for. That’s what casting directors book.
What am I most proud of? My students. Not the ones who booked the biggest roles — though that’s deeply gratifying — but the ones who walked in afraid, doubting themselves, convinced they didn’t belong in the room. And then watched themselves become someone who does. That transformation never gets old.
What sets me apart is simple, and I say it without arrogance: I have been every version of what my students are becoming. The nervous beginner. The working actor grinding through rejections. The professional navigating an industry that doesn’t make it easy. Three generations of my family have lived this life. I didn’t study this world from the outside — I was born inside it.
That’s not a credential you can manufacture. That’s a life.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
We are living through the most significant transformation the entertainment industry has ever seen — and I find it more exciting than frightening.
The old gatekeepers are losing their grip. The big studio model that controlled who got seen, who got funded, and whose stories got told is cracking open. Streaming changed distribution. Social media changed consumption. And now AI is changing production itself. That’s three seismic shifts happening simultaneously — and the industry is still catching its breath.
Here’s what I believe is coming: the rise of the indie filmmaker. When distribution is digital and global, you don’t need a studio’s permission to reach an audience anymore. Corporate money is entering the space alongside the tried-and-true Hollywood producers, and that means more funding channels, more creative freedom, and more diverse stories getting made. I think we’re heading into a golden age for independent film — if you’re positioned for it.
Social media has already rewritten how people consume entertainment. Vertical video, UGC, short-form storytelling — these aren’t trends, they’re a new language. The creators who understand both the craft of traditional filmmaking and the rhythm of digital media will have an extraordinary advantage. I’ve been intentional about positioning myself at that intersection.
As for AI — yes, it’s already changing filmmaking in real and significant ways. There will be turbulence. There will be displacement. But I’ve been in this industry long enough to know one thing with certainty: you cannot manufacture the human soul. Audiences feel the difference between something that was generated and something that was lived. True storytelling — raw, specific, emotionally honest — will always require a human being at the center of it.
My prediction? We go through a necessary reckoning over the next five to ten years, and what emerges on the other side is a renaissance for real storytellers. The ones who survived the chaos, adapted without losing their craft, and never stopped believing in the power of a genuine human story.
I intend to be one of them.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.AhasActing.com
• Instagram: /ahasacting
• Facebook: /atlantahollywood
• Youtube: /atlantahollywood
• Other: https://www.atlantahollywood.com