Many high school students have big dreams for the future – they envision themselves on television, singing onstage and signing autographs, but few have to guts to pursue these dreams. Cole Harris, senior, however, is working hard to become an actor and model.
“I had always wanted to do something with myself, and everyone told me I should try modeling,” said Harris via email. He began modeling as a joke, saying that it was not really an interest to him, but he grew to love it as he delved deeper into what he hoped would become a future career.
Harris trained at Barbizon Avanti of Raleigh and has done photoshoots with his director, Teresa Womack. “At Barbizon, male models take part in classes on runway, photo movement, speech, social skills, grooming, job interviewing, and much more,” according to the Barbizon website. “Not every guy who attends Barbizon has a goal of becoming a professional male fashion model. Many enroll just for the skills to help them in everyday life.”
However, Harris’s experience with modeling ignited a passion for the spotlight that he plans to pursue after high school. “I plan to go to a four-year college, but as of right now I’m moving to LA at the end of June to further my acting career,” said Harris via email. “I’ve always wanted to be an actor, and I now have a couple managers in LA that are going to be working with me.”
The path to stardom is not coming easily to Harris – he has worked extremely hard to pursue his modeling and acting career and faced many obstacles. Despite critical peers, Harris maintains a positive attitude about his future, and his drive and passion are obvious when he defends his choices.
“Yeah, I’ve had people tell me that I can’t do it or tell me that it’ll never work for me, but it doesn’t matter what they say – what matters is how much hard work and effort I put into my career. I don’t care what people think; this is my dream and what I’ve always wanted to do,” said Harris.
Harris will move to LA at the end of June and hopes to be completely settled in by mid-July. He plans to go on many auditions and eventually land a job in Hollywood.
“I get to do what I’ve always wanted to do, which is act and model and make something of myself,” said Harris. “The dream is already coming true for me, and I’m so happy it’s finally happening.”
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