Today we’d like to introduce you to Karrington/ Aren Davis/ Hugo.
Hi Karrington/ Aren, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
It started when I was 7. I had a lot of energy and nowhere to put it. My parents enrolled me in a bunch of sports and they were fun but they weren’t clicking the way the kind of exercise I needed should have. I was in the children’s choir at my church, and every Christmas they would put on this play with full storylines and characters. The year I was 7 I auditioned and I got in! I learned the lines and the songs and I remember placing a mic on my face for the first time. Looking back, I had always been performing. I would dance to Beyoncé for my family and I knew the entirety of the Dreamgirls movie by heart and I loved Disney movies and all the behind the scenes extras. I think performing in that musical made it click that it was something I wanted to continue doing. It made it this amorphous aspiration I had into something tangible.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not exactly smooth but I have been incredibly lucky. A lot of the challenges I have have dealt with getting out of my own way. Deciding what someone will say about my audition before I’ve even submitted anything. Performing feels like such an intrinsic part of who I am that my self-worth can get tied in with performing. Rejection stings and so I avoid it, but it is also something that comes with this career path. I’ve definitely grown to not take it personally and know that performance/booking frequency is not equivalent to my worth as a person. I’ve also been very blessed to have people around me who believe in me and support me, even when I’m being harder on myself. I definitely think that helps.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am mainly a live theatre actor, but I have also recently ventured into film acting and voice over, both of which I am very excited about!
I’m not sure if I have anything in particular that I’m known for but I once got a review that said I had “Mirror-like eyes” which was very cool and I appreciated.
Something I’m very proud of is how varied the roles I’ve gotten have been. I want to be a very versatile actor, the kind who melts into roles when people watch them. My three most recent roles have been a young girl in the Troubled Teen Industry, a magician putting on a show to save her girlfriend, and a bubbly cult member. Each one has been so different and so fun and so rewarding. I feel really honored that each of these teams trusted me with these characters.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think risk is a beautiful thing. I think taking risks is necessary. I love hearing about when people take big leaps. I don’t consider myself a risk-taker, unfortunately. I am very much an overthinker. But there is something so admirable and beautiful about someone doing the scary thing. Even if it doesn’t work out. At least they tried. At least they know the outcome now and won’t spend the rest of their life wondering.
I also think that art is risk. So many pieces of art are overlooked or perceived as bad when they’re first received by the general public. Then 10 to however-many years later, that art resonates on a deep level with so many people. I’m very much an advocate for “do the weird thing”. Even if someone doesn’t get it, most likely someone else will. I want to encourage people to take the big, weird leap.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: aren.hugo
