Meet Madison Riding | Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Madison Riding and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Madison, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born and raised in a small town called Payson, Utah. I moved around a lot but Utah was always home. I always had a love for Movies/TV growing up. My parents could always find me right in front of the TV watching in awe. I would run around the neighborhood making up stories and acting them out in the middle of the street. Probably not the smartest thing but I wanted all my neighbors to see my imaginary world. My best friend Kat lived down the street and one day her family got a camcorder. This changed everything. We started writing down ideas and that same day start filming. We were creating everything we could and using ourselves to fill the star roles of our own productions. This is what sparked my love for acting. I loved being able to create a character with such complexities that my young mind couldn’t quite comprehend yet. I would fully immerse myself for several hours day in and day out before my mom would call me home for dinner. Running home like I was on top of the world from the rush and excitement of it all. I loved it. As I got older, I found myself still sneaking off to my room to create these worlds of characters and storylines that would help me escape my own reality. Without a beat I would go to bed every night playing out these stories and always picturing myself as the star role. I always knew at a young age what I wanted to do. I wanted to act. It lit me up and made me feel alive. As I became a teenage I was throwing myself in everything that had to do with a camera. I joined the Video Broadcasting team to be a silly weather reporter and opted to be on the Yearbook staff taking pictures of all the school events. This slowly turned to me doing modeling right out of High School. All of these were great outlooks to fuel this passion, but acting was always something that lingered at the back of mind. After years, I finally made the plunge to move to LA to make my dream of acting a reality. All of these steps were huge in what got me here today. I couldn’t be more excited to see what is next!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I still have a long way to go on this new chapter. But I couldn’t be more excited for myself. This wasn’t an easy journey to get to. Telling people back home that I wanted to runaway to LA to do acting sounds like a pipe dream. I have an amazing family who always supported me and told me that I could make anything possible. I have had to overcome the judgement of others and myself. I had to remind myself of the belief that this is worth pursuing especially when it makes me happy. The most important lesson that I have learned is that this won’t happen for you, you have to make it happen for yourself. You are the creator of your own reality. I view acting as a platform for storytelling. As an actor, my passion lies in bringing authenticity to every role I take. I aim to leave a profound impact on audiences to inspire, encourage and provoke new perspectives. My goal is to contribute to the rich art of cinematic storytelling and inspire further generations of actors.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There is definitely no shortage of things to do here in LA. I would start the day by heading out to grab coffee. My usual spot is Alfred’s. Then I would head to Erewhon and grab a breakfast burrito. I know Erewhon, but those burritos make my mouth water and I always have to take my visitors to see this grocery store. Once we have coffee and food, drive to the beach. Will Rogers is such an easy beach to reach without driving too far up the PCH. Paradise Cove is always a good one to visit as well. Spend a good few hours soaking up the sun and dipping your toes in the water. Go grab some burgers at Heavy Handed and drive a little up the road for some frozen froyo at Yoga-urt. Then hit up the Loz Feliz theatre for a movie.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give this lovely should out to my best friend Kat Orchard. She has been my partner in crime, soul sister, mentor, and everything in between since I was 2. She is the reason I am here today doing acting. Our love for acting only fueled our relationship into what it is today. She encourages me to take risks, to put myself out there, and to be the best version of myself that I can be. Without her I wouldn’t be where I am today. A year ago we moved to LA together to pursue acting together and there is no one else I would rather have by my side.

Instagram: @madisonriding

Image Credits
Headshots Tandem Photo