Big Dreams from a Small Town Girl

Written By: Alisyn Re

Journalist

Dallas, Texas- Originally from Texas, Aiziah Walker was born and raised in the early 2000s. Since she was a child, the actress has always been passionate about the arts. Beginning her career at a performing arts camp in Texas, now she's securing her place in the big leagues! Taking her dreams and making them come true!

Who is Aiziah Walker?

“My name is Aiziah Walker! I am a 20-year-old actress from Texas and I have a 2-year-old son. I used to go by Aiziah Monique but more recently I’ve been going by Aiziah Walker. I would also consider myself somewhat of an athlete. I used to play soccer and I ran track for most of my life. I would also consider myself very shy when I first meet people, but once I warm up I’m a bit of a goofball. This is kinda funny considering I’m an actress.”

Was acting always something you wanted to do?

“Ever since I was about 8 years old, I knew that acting was something I wanted to do with my life. Around that age, my mom put my sister and I in this summer program that was held in my hometown. It was a theatre program because she always told me that I “was a drama queen”. After that, I really fell in love with theatre and everything about it. I did theatre throughout all of my school years. When I went to high school I knew that I wanted to be a film actress more than anything. After I graduated high school, I went to college for film acting. I guess you could say that always wanted to be in the limelight.”

Who is your biggest inspiration?

“My biggest inspiration would be my son. He inspires me in any and everything that I do. Everything I do is for him. He allows me to not want to quit. Being a young African American woman you already know that there’s a stereotype that the world already has for us. I want to prove everyone wrong and I want to break those stereotypes not only for myself but for others to come behind me. I want to do this because I want to give him the best life.”

What would you say has been your greatest accomplishment thus far?

“November 21st of last year, I was an innocent bystander during a crossfire shootout at Whataburger and I ended up getting shot. I was hit in my arm and my chest which made everything 10 times harder to do. About 2 weeks later, I received word that I got my very first role in a short film. About a month later, I got my very first role in a feature film. And a couple of months after that, I got another role in a feature film. I would say having to go through something traumatic as that and then being able to overcome that by accomplishing goals that I set for myself has been my greatest accomplishment so far. Something like that affects you mentally, emotionally, and physically. Not allowing myself to spiral into a rabbit hole but taking every day step by step and accomplishing my goals is an accomplishment in itself. This instilled in me that life is way too short and I have to go for it now, I can’t wait.”

How did you get involved in acting?

“As I mentioned earlier, I've been acting since I was about 8 years old. The summer program that I attended when I was younger really got me involved in acting! I would also say that as I went into college, KD Conservatory in Dallas, I really started networking and I started really getting way more involved in acting.”

Have you been in any films?

“ So far, I’ve been in about 4 films. I’ve been in a short film that’s on Youtube, a short film that’s on the KD Conservatory website, a feature film called “The Goat Man”, and a production called “ Stolen Beauty” but that was cut.”

What kind of roles do you prefer as an actress?

" I honestly prefer more drama-driven roles. I wouldn't want to classify myself as the "main character" yet because I prefer for my roles to be more of a supporting character role."

Tell me about which you would like to improve as an actress.

“I’m very self-conscious and that’s something I’m working on getting over at the moment. Everybody in the acting world struggles with this to some extent but I struggle with it daily. I also struggle with “making a fool out of myself”. Sometimes when you try to be funny, it just doesn’t work out that way. But those are the biggest things that I’m working on as an actress.”

Who’s your favorite actress?

"Gabrielle Union is one of my all-time favorite actresses. You rarely see her in these stereotypical roles for black women. She played a cheerleader who captain of the cheer squad, she played a lawyer, she played a news anchor, etc. She's just a phenomenal actress in my opinion. Personally, I want to stay away from the black trauma character roles because it's typical for us."

What’s a valuable lesson that you’ve been taught through acting?

"I was taught just to be yourself. Be you. Be your true authentic self. Also, just do. One of my old professors used to tell us to just do. Life is too short to hold yourself back and be scared. Just do."

Where can we follow you on your journey or just to reach out to you?

"You all can reach me on my Instagram at aiziahmoniqueee and TikTok which is aiziahmoniquee."

“Keep going! Don’t let anybody stop you from doing what you want to do. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do what you want to do. The ones that do, aren’t doing what they really want to do. Those people fell into the trap of “choosing the safe route” rather than doing what they wanted to do. Don’t you dare let anybody try and stop you from doing what you want to do. Just do!” - Aiziah Walker