This week we are joined by a delightful young film and television actress, born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia who went from performing in local pageants to booking a dozen episodes of television and a handful of film roles and with more on the way. This year alone, Zamani had a 3-episode arc on the Apple TV+ series Swagger, a supporting role in the critically-acclaimed comedy Bottoms, and upcoming roles in feature films You’re Cordially Invited starring Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell, and Uglies opposite Joey King and Chase Stokes.
In this interview, Zamani shares her experience working on Bottoms where she delved into stunts, physical comedy and improv, as well as her roles in Blumhouse projects American Refugee and Sacred Lives, two roles she credits as having learned the most from. “There were things with those characters that we talked about at table read and with the director that I realized about myself. I thought ‘oh, this was self-evaluation for me!'” she laughed. “I was a lot younger when we filmed Sacred Lives and I was at that age where you’re just trying to figure myself out your career and in real life and it was the same for [my character] Rashida.”
And Zamani’s advice for actors is simply but beautifully put: KEEP GOING. “I feel like we get in these areas where we get discouraged and want to give up and think ‘okay maybe this isn’t for me’ because you see your friends and peers booking and doing things, but I say to keep going. The most we can do for ourselves is to stay positive, keep pushing, keep believing and keep working on ourselves.”
You can see Zamani Wilder in Bottoms, now available for purchase on digital and streaming on MGM+
