With an upcoming appearance in tomorrow’s episode of
NBC’s new mini-series “Kingpin,” there are many
reasons why third-year theater student Alley Mercedes is loving
each day of her life.
Mercedes has something she believes gives her the leg up on the
competition: a contagiously positive attitude, natural curiosity,
and a love of knowledge.
“I’m in love with my life. Each day I wake up and
think, could this get any better?” Mercedes said.
It would be a mistake to think her excitement and happiness
hasn’t been hard earned. After waitressing at local
restaurants in Westwood to support herself through her first two
years at UCLA, Mercedes moved to Hollywood to enter the
industry.
“As a woman you have to get out there when you’re
still young. I knew there were roles for me as a young Hispanic
woman,” Mercedes said. “I’ve played roles (aged)
from 14 to 20, which has been really fun.”
Her role in “Kingpin,” in which she plays a drug
dealer’s daughter, was a particularly exciting one for
Mercedes, who still feels a bit star struck working among the cast,
which includes “Twin Peaks” star Sheryl Lee.
“Here I am just getting my feet wet in Hollywood and
I’m telling off Laura Palmer from “˜Twin
Peaks,'” Mercedes said. “I feel honored since
it’s such a well-written show, so meaty, and it’s
getting rave reviews.”
She also enjoys what other actresses might regard as a painful
chore each day ““ the three-hour hair and wardrobe treatment
before she gets on set.
“Look at me now,” she says showing off a long black
Hawaiian print dress, free flowing brown hair, and perfectly
manicured red nails, “I love getting dressed up. It’s
fun ““ I’m very scientifically minded but I’m such
a girl.”
Mercedes returned to UCLA this year to begin the second half of
her undergraduate studies as a theater and pre-med major. She hopes
to later go on to medical school to become a doctor specializing in
neuroscience. Surprisingly, she is just as enthusiastic and
involved with science and her education at UCLA as she is about the
success she’s finding in film and television.
“I just fell in love with science,” Mercedes said.
“I love working with professors who have such passion about
the natural world. I take advantage of their office hours and
always ask questions. Their enthusiasm makes me really want to work
with them.”
Mercedes’ drive to learn and experience is a product of
her philosophy that there are no boundaries. According to her, she
can be an actress and a doctor. Why not? She heads off to see
movies with her chemistry book in hand in case things get slow.
Science and acting may not seem to go hand in hand, but Mercedes
sees connections everywhere.
“Acting isn’t that much different than being a
doctor,” Mercedes asserts. “It takes years of
experience and training, as well as an understanding of the
socioeconomic individual you’re working with. A rape victim
from a tough neighborhood has different needs than an
eight-year-old with appendicitis.”
This blooming actress and student also aspires to direct
someday, with a goal of bringing more science-oriented films into
Hollywood.
Mercedes is inspired by a motto a professor once told her,
“Life’s a big plate but most people starve.”
“I don’t understand people who settle on being
miserable. If there’s anything in the world you want to do
““ you want to be a doctor, Michael Jordan, or a model ““
Los Angeles, UCLA, is where you can do it,” Mercedes
said.
“Kingpin” airs on Sundays and Tuesdays on
NBC.