Its 12:36 am
dark/cold
Welcome to another edition of “8 Questions With…….”
So recently I got a call from my publicist friend Steve out in California. He and I met a couple of months ago and have worked together on a couple of things. What I like about Steve is that he takes me back to my other life in music where I worked several publicists over the years. One of the things I learned about being a good publicist and a jaded one is their excitement discovering someone new,their energy level is very high.
So when Steve called and started talking about Shanna Toft in an excited voice,I was very curious so I poked around and I was puzzled. Shanna is just starting out on her acting journey and doesn’t have dozens of credits under her belt and I said as much to Steve. Well Steve’s voice drops low and he says “Trust me on Shanna”. In my other life,I used that same voice when I had to convince the club owners I worked for to book a act they had heard nothing or little about. More often or not after they played for us,they blew up…..so when Steve said “Trust me on Shanna”…I’m going to do just that. Shanna’s career is about to jump off and before it does,I’m so glad she decided to answer 8 Questions with us.
My name is Shanna Toft and I grew up in the Austin, Texas area before moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for high school. I attended the University of North Texas as well as Colorado Technical University. I participated in theater, choir, and dance all through school and added modeling in my early college years. My modeling debut was as a live Barbie doll for Mattel. Though I acted for years in school, my professional acting took the course of working as an extra/background/stand-in before gaining my first television role as the wife of a bank robber in a documentary reconstruction. I continue to work in theater, commercials, music videos, television, and film as well as modeling.

I knew by about the age of three that I was meant to be in the spotlight, and I knew I wanted to be a performer by the age of five. I just love entertaining a crowd of people and doing so is an experience like no other.

What does the word “artist” mean to you?

and how have they impacted your career?

Modeling as a live Barbie doll was so much fun – I loved getting to take pictures with kids of all ages and signing autographs as Barbie. I actually landed that job because I had been told my whole life that I looked like a Barbie so, as a teenager, I sent my picture with a letter to Mattel just to let them know I would love to do something with them. I heard back nearly immediately with a request for a fitting in the Barbie dress, and I was sent out on my first promotional event.

How do you approach a role that is fiction against a role where you are playing a real person?
Playing a real person requires much more character study to really understand why she thought and acted the way she did. With a fictional role, I can generally make up the reasons behind the thoughts and actions of my characters.

Does the Dallas/Ft. Worth area have a active film/live theater community?
Dallas-Fort Worth has a healthy live theater community and we are trying to grow the film and television community. There are many opportunities for independent films and industrial films and we would love to see more network opportunities, especially since we have a SAG-AFTRA board here in Dallas.

Now you have to be our tour guide,what are we doing?
To follow Shanna’s next project,check out her IMDb page.
Thank you so much for interviewing me, and I look forward to directing and acting in content you will see on your screen in the not-so-distant future! I am currently directing a creature feature and I have a supporting role in a feature film that releases next spring. I am also in a feature which premiers June 1st and I will be riding in the limo and walking the red carpet for that. Thank you again!
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Another good interview. Too bad you don’t get paid.
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