Acting classes, failed audition, landing a lead role in a Netflix sitcom and becoming
a series regular on the most viewed show on cable since 2015!
And she's just getting started!
Keep watching to see the stunning transformation of Isabel May.
When Isabel May was younger, she was never really interested in acting.
However, that changed when one of her teachers suggested acting could help her break out
of her shell.
In a 2020 interview, May said,
"All I did was read, I wasn't very socially active, and I loved to write.
My sixth grade English teacher told my parents that I should branch out a little bit in the
arts and try a little harder to ... interact with other people."
May first tried theater but it wasn't a good fit.
However, she soon found a love for acting in TV and film.
One thing led to another, and soon she was heading to auditions.
She shared in the interview,
"I can't really remember how it happened... but that's what pushed me in that direction."
May was a dedicated student as a child.
According to Entertainment Weekly, she even went to a French school.
She and her parents decided that school should be her main focus until she was 16, even though,
by that time, she was already interested in becoming an actress.
In an interview with Terroir Magazine, she said,
"I was devoted to school as were my parents.
We kind of made a pact that I had to wait until ninth grade to really commit to something
like [a TV show]."
May went on auditions for three years, and, when she turned 16, her parents agreed to
let her attend school online.
This allowed May to concentrate on her acting and, just six months later, she got her first
role in Alexa & Katie.
It sounds like she and her parents definitely made the right decision!
"It's my first role ever.
It's your first role!
Yeah, I know!
After…after…officially booked it, we were all kind of looking at each other going 'Do
they read my resume, what's happening.?"
Netflix's Alexa & Katie was Isabel May's first major acting gig, and since she was so new,
she learned a lot on set.
As she told Young Entertainment Magazine,
"I learned so much on this show that I wasn't aware of."
Even though May was thrilled to have a part in a TV show, she initially felt a little
out of her element.
For one thing, she didn't feel comfortable doing a sitcom.
She told Terroir Magazine,
"It was weird and interesting because I never thought I was funny ... so it was strange
to get a comedy and try to figure out how to do comedy."
However, she soon found she had a knack for physical comedy and that her height came in
handy in helping make people laugh.
She shared,
"I have quite a long body so I found I could express myself comedically, physically in
certain ways."
From 2018 to 2020, Isabel May played the recurring character of Veronica Duncan in Young Sheldon
on CBS.
Even though she had already grown a lot as an actress on the set of Alexa & Katie, this
role provided her with even more learning opportunities.
She gushed to KTLA 5, saying,
"I love it, it's so great.
It's such a great set, the cast is fantastic — Annie Potts is in it."
As May said in a 2020 interview, being on the show gave her the chance to watch plenty
of legends at work.
She added,
"The writers are so talented and the actors are so talented and gifted.
Just watching everyone work together was my favorite part ... It's a joy to be a part
of."
Even though May didn't have a huge part in Young Sheldon, it's clear that her time on
the set helped her grow as a professional actress.
"What's a matter?
Never seen a woman in pants before?”
“No, I…I think you're the first."
Though Isabel May was already in the public eye, it wasn't until she landed a leading
role in the Yellowstone prequel, 1883, that her career was seriously boosted.
Needless to say, 1883 has been a huge stepping stone in May's career.
In fact, the show's premiere drew the most viewers of any cable series since 2015, according
to Variety.
So, how did May land such a major role?
Well, it turns out, it only took one audition — and it wasn’t even an audition for 1883!
May told The Hollywood Reporter,
"Taylor [Sheridan, the show's creator] was doing another project called 'Mayor of Kingstown,'
and in March 2021, something like that, he flew three girls out to Texas, including myself.
So I auditioned for that, and I was terribly wrong for it."
Even though May didn't get that part, Sheridan decided she was perfect for 1883 and offered
her the part just a few weeks later.
May recalled,
"I said, 'Well, of course, I'll be Elsa Dutton because you're Taylor Sheridan and it's my
dream to work with you.'"
Isabel May constantly speaks about her love of reading — in fact, in one 2022 interview,
she even claimed she likes reading books more than watching TV or movies.
She also told one interviewer in 2020 that, as a child, she "loved to write."
So, it will hardly come as a surprise to learn that May has considered turning her attention
to writing professionally some time in the future.
May pondered in the 2022 interview, saying,
"Maybe one day.
I hope so.
I'm going to try because life is short ... but I don't think I'm gifted or anything like
that.
So I'd like to do it and fail and just say I did it."
Even though Isabel May's acting career is still just getting off the ground, it's already
pretty clear she's extremely talented — and we wouldn't be surprised if she turned out
to be a brilliant writer, too.
Wherever her career takes her, we can't wait to see what work she produces next.
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