Q&A with Madison Fitts - Her Story and Some Advice From a Young Actress

We sat down with Madison Fitts to discuss her life as a young actress, moving to LA, and what it’s like to graduate and get started. For anyone looking to act, this interview is for you! Anyone looking to read a cool story, this interview is for you! Know what, this interview is for everyone. Check out the talented Madison Fitts!

Q&A

Tristan: Start from the beginning. Where did you grow up? What were your interests growing up?

Madison: I grew up in Marietta, Georgia, which is a suburb of Atlanta. Growing up, I wasn’t super great at sports and I was pretty average at school. I didn’t really excel at anything until later. I read books and watched a lot of movies. I think I was a fairly shy child and we didn’t have a lot of money, so watching movies was my favorite pastime. It really stimulated my creativity. I remember just spending a lot of time observing people. I’ve been told I absolutely drove my mother crazy- she says I used to ask “Why?” about everything, so she just put me in endless activities to get me out of the house. I tried every sport, art classes, every bible study, cheerleading, pageants – I was terrible at everything.

I think I was in 3rd or 4th grade, I was watching a Disney Channel show and I just decided out of the blue I was going to be an actor. And I begged my mom to put me in acting classes and the rest was history. I was in school plays every year, regional theatre, theatre troupes, endless acting classes up until I was 12 or so. And that’s when I officially decided I was going to be an actor as my career path and endlessly pursued it until I was 18 and moved to New York to go to NYU.

Tristan: I have some friends from Marietta! And Lord knows my little sister introduced me to enough Disney Channel for a lifetime. Why acting then?

Madison: I think it originally came from this place of just wanting to be seen and be good at something. I wanted to be entertaining and get my parents attention and make people laugh. I always respected the ability to make people laugh. And then I got older and I think it was a vehicle to put my pain and observations and creativity into. I like that it still to this day forces me to overcome my fears of vulnerability and creates this feeling of openness in my life. I definitely think I’ve become a better version of myself because of it.

Tristan: I’ve been learning about NYU’s acting program from a roommate of mine and from Rainn Wilson’s autobiography, but I want to know what you thought about it. What was your experience like?

Madison: It was my dream to go to NYU and I fought like hell to get in with a scholarship and when I got my letter of acceptance, it was literally the happiest day of my life. Did it live up to the hype? I don’t know. It has it’s benefits and it’s drawbacks (aka, the price…) You don’t need to go to a fancy university to be an amazing actor. In fact, a lot of the greats don’t. But the best part of it is the fact you are surrounded by young people just as talented and motivated as you are and a lot of those people will be successful and then those people become your friends and friends of friends, so it just puts you in that group for the future. But overall, it was an great experience and through training. There was a lot of nudity and crying. So who can complain about that?

NYC –> LA

Tristan: When did you make the move to L.A.?

Madison: A year and a half ago!

Tristan: How does life here compare to New York City?

Madison: I miss walking in New York. I miss the art in New York. But I don’t miss the weather. Basically, New York is a fun date, but LA is a better long term commitment.

Tristan: I saw on your IMDB that you’ve done some shorts, TV mini-series, TV movies, and some background roles. How have you landed the roles you’ve received? What have you learned from auditioning?

Madison: I’ve gotten them in different ways. Honestly, mostly from people who already knew me or people I’ve met or knew from school. But having a good agent sending you auditions helps a lot. Auditioning is a great metaphor for life and vice versa. The less you care about each audition, the better you do in the long run. I think the only way to get through auditioning with your confidence unscathed is to just have a sense of humor about it. It’s all rather silly and I think keeping that in mind is critical.

Tristan: I noticed you also had a piece you wrote, produced, edited, and acted in. What was that process like?

Madison: Realizing that I love writing and filmmaking in general has been a huge realization of the recent years. I’m not by any means just an actor and that means a lot to me. It’s super satisfying to directly put your thoughts into a project and birth it into the world and I’m hoping to do a lot more of it.

Tristan: Looking forward, what’s up ahead? What are you looking to do next?

Madison: I’m always working on projects here and there, but I would really love to see myself starring in an amazing independent feature film with an inspiring director. And I really want to continue making my own films. That’s something I’m really excited about for the future.

Tristan:Final question, what are a few of your favorite movies that you’ve seen this year?

Madison: I watch a ton of movies, but my favorite film of recent years was Florida Project by Sean Baker. Growing up in Georgia, I just really related to that movie. I also really loved Mother! and Lady Bird from last year and I was obsessed with American Honey a couple years back. But this year specifically I loved Bo Burnham’s first directing project, Eighth Grade. Lakeith Stanfield in Sorry to Bother You was fantastic. I thought Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty was ballsy and I like where her career is going. And I’m super looking forward to seeing We the Animals and Jonah Hill’s Mid90s coming out soon!
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