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Alondra Delgado knew from a young age that she wanted to be an actress. “I would stand in front of the tv and I would tell my mom, ‘Allí, allí,’ which means ‘there,’” she recounts on a morning Zoom call with Girls’ Life. After she signed with a talent agency, Delgado began acting in Puerto Rico, where she grew up. She moved to Los Angeles to attend college, and recently landed a role on one of her favorite CW shows—the binge-worthy high school drama All American. Did we mention that she writes and produces, too? GL caught up with Delgado to learn more about being a triple-threat, season three of All American, and her advice for her younger self.

GL: You’re on the new season of the CW series All American. What was the audition process like for you to land the role of Vanessa Montes? How did you react when you found out you got the role?

AD: I received an email saying there was an audition for a new girl that was going to come in for season three of All American. I was like, “Oh my god!” I really wanted the role, because I’ve always been a fan of All American. The audition was actually a self-tape, because we were still in the middle of this pandemic. I had to prepare two scenes talking to a character named Asher—and I knew who that character was from watching the show, so that made it a little easier. I learned it in two days, and I sent it out.

GL:  How did you react when you found out you got the role?

AD: I didn’t hear anything for a month and a half. Then I got a call, and my manager was like, “Hey, I’m on the line with all of your agents. I’m going to link everyone into the call.” And I said, “Okay.” And he’s like, “You know what that usually means if it’s a call with everyone?” And I’m like, “It’s either good news or bad news.” And he said, “Yeah. It’s good news in this case. Remember that role you read for, Vanessa Montez?” I thought maybe they’d liked me and wanted me for a smaller role. But he said, “You booked it.” I was jumping and screaming—I couldn’t believe it.

GL: Season three of All American is airing right now. What can you tell us about your character, Vanessa Montes, and what it’s like to play her? Is there any aspect of her that you identify with in real life?

AD: Vanessa Montes is obviously Hispanic like I am. I love it because she brings Hispanic culture to the show, and I love to represent that. She’s the new kid, which I can relate to, because I’m the new cast member coming into a cast that has been working together for years. And she’s very confident. I can relate to that, because that’s something I’ve worked at throughout the years. However, Vanessa doesn’t care what people say. That’s a difference between us, because I’m more introverted than she is. But deep down, she’s just a kid. She wants to make new friends in high school, and we all know that high school can be tough.

Image: Tim Schaeffer Photography | HMU: Johnna J. Perez | Stylist: Sean Dylan Perry

GL: Besides acting, you also write and produce your own films. When did you start writing?

AD: I’ve always loved writing. I’ve always written love poems—even when I was eight years old and didn’t know what love was. I also used to write songs a lot in Spanish. It’s something I still do. Whenever I feel like I have to let go of something, I just write. And when I went to college, writing was always one of the classes we had to take. I started to write more in English, and instead of writing poems I started to write stories. That’s how I started writing my own short films.

GL: You’ve starred in some of the films you wrote. Is it more challenging to do that than to act out a character someone else wrote?

AD: I think it might be, because as a writer I have an idea of what I want the character to be. But when you read something and when you’re acting it, you see different things in the script. It was interesting to see how I was the one creating the character and writing it, but my interpretation of the character could change once I was acting it out. I would love to continue to write stories and create characters, because there are a lot of stories that still need to be heard. I’d love to incorporate my culture as well.

 

 

 

 

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GL: How did you balance school with trying to start your career?

AD: It was crazy, between going to college, studying for tests, and going to my part-time job. Plus finding time to do auditions. Sometimes I would have to say I wasn’t feeling well at school because I had to go to an audition. I knew they weren’t going to be like, “Okay, Alondra, go to the audition,” so sometimes I had to lie to make it to the auditions. But when I got the chance to be in a tv show for the first time, it meant a lot more because of everything I’d had to go through. 

GL: What advice would you give to your younger self?

AD: A lot of people, when I was in high school, told me, “Hey, you have a perfect GPA. You should be a doctor. You should be a lawyer.” And I was like, “You know what, no. Since I was seven, this is what I wanted to do. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t try.” So the advice I’d give, not just to myself, but to every single teenager, is: if you have a passion, or you have a dream, just go for it. Work hard. It’s not going to be easy. You’re going to hear a lot of no’s and face a lot of rejection over the years, but if you really believe in yourself and in your talent, go for it. Trust yourself, and trust the process. 

Catch Alondra as Vanessa Montes on All American, airing Mondays at 8:00 PM ET on the CW. Plus, keep up with her new projects by following her on Instagram @ialondradelgado.

Image: Tim Schaeffer Photography | HMU: Johnna J. Perez | Stylist: Sean Dylan Perry

by Bailey Bujnosek | 5/13/2021