Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Jenny Chen
Anna Akana’s sister died at 13 years old. Kristina Akana was a victim of bullying at her California school and eventually took her life.
This event has influenced much of Anna Akana’s work as a writer, actress, and short film producer. The Youtube star, who’s makeup video spoof “How To Put On Your Face,” has garnered 1.7 million views at time of writing, has produced short films titled Riley Rewind, Afflicted Inc., and Hallucination. Her work is both entertaining and thought-provoking. Afflicted, Inc. explores what would happen if people embodied their mental illnesses in a company setting.
Akana didn’t start off as an actress. She went to school to become a veterinarian but decided that it wasn’t what she wanted to do with her life. She eventually moved to Los Angeles and started performing as a stand up comedian before becoming an actress.
“I had wanted to [act] for a really, really long time,” the 24-year-old told Mochi Mag in 2013 “But it just seemed like such an intangible journey, especially as a woman of color.”
In December of 2013, Akana directed a web series called Riley Rewind with her then boyfriend Ray William Johnson. The series stars Akana as high school student Riley Brown who travels back in time to save a classmate from committing suicide. The series is now available on Netflix.
How did you get started as a comedian?
My sister had committed suicide a couple years earlier and I was really questioning what I was doing with my life. I was watching a Comedy Central show special and it was the first time I’d laughed in an entire year. And that’s when I knew I didn’t want to be a veterinarian. I moved to LA and did stand up – I started writing in a notebook, booking shows, and performing
So how did you move from that to acting and producing?
I’d always wanted to be an actress so decided that I really should pursue that. The stand up scene is really sad – you hear all these stories from stand up comedians about how they got started and it’s like “my wife left me and I went to an open mic.” It’s hard to do stand up when you’re happy.
Did you have any formal training as an actor or producer? How did you learn?
I had some formal training as an actor in LA but I learned production from helping out friends with their film projects. I spent a lot of time thinking about schedules and shots. time consuming. It’s all about being prepared and knowing what you want. didn’t have a shot list.
How did you start your Youtube channel?
Youtube started with a sketch group. We would make 10 second sketches about failures in the average 20-something year old’s life. After the group broke up I started doing sketches by myself and to set myself a deadline every week I made videos. My ex boyfriend was giving me advice and feedback on the videos. He would say things like “This video didn’t feel honest to me.”
Is honesty really important to your success as an actor and producer?
Definitely. You can see when someone’s putting on an act. I made so many terrible videos and watching yourself back and you can tell when you’re not being honest…you’re the best judge of yourself.
Any advice for those who want to do similar work?
You have to love what you do. It’s really easy to compare your career to other people…every day it’s so hard because everyone is so thirsty and eager to make it. So you’ve got to really enjoy what you do.
