This business is competitive, so you need to make sure that you are always working hard and perfecting your craft to get better: my advice would be to take acting classes with different coaches, study sides as soon as they come in, ask for constructive feedback from your manager, audition coach and/or agent (if he has time!!)

Asa part of my series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Clementine Lea.

Clementine Lea is best known as a Lifestyle Content Creator and has garnered millions of views across Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube. Starting out in the industry as an actress, Clementine had a successful career with lead roles in the award-winning short film Just Be which raised awareness on human trafficking as well as the fantasy film The Wishflower. She was in several national commercial campaigns for such brands as Coleman and Blinger along with a guest starring role on Earth to Ned on Disney + which is produced by the Jim Henson Company and appearances on the popular Brat TV and Modern Family. Currently, this talented French/American Influencer is working with MTV on a new reality show. Passionate about charity work, Clementine and her family have worked with a big cat rescue to save hundreds of cats in Los Angeles.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Iwas born and raised in the suburbs of LA. Both my parents are from France, so I traveled to Europe often since I was born which I’m extremely grateful for. It’s such an unique experience and perspective to be raised bicultural.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

At age 11, I wanted to get into modeling, so my mom set up a fashion photoshoot with one of her friends and that’s where everything started. I submitted those photos to a few talent agencies and ended up signing with an agent across the board which meant I had to start taking acting classes. I immediately loved it so much that I ended up doing more acting than modeling. I did a lot of national commercials such as Blinger, Coleman, and some short films such as “Just Be” and “Astrall Story” but I lost my interest in acting a few months ago. I now focus mostly on social content creation.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your entertainment career?

I auditioned for a horror short film at 13 and I had to scream during the audition and act terrorized so I gave my best and was super loud that people in the waiting room were apparently startled lol! I ended up booking the part and won four awards for the short! It’s called ‘Just Be’ by Sarah Koteles, go watch it now :)) Just Be (2020) | L’ouest Studio | Clementine Lea Spieser

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started acting, I had no clue how to film a self-tape nor the criteria so when I got my first audition, it was quite funny. I was in Hawaii on the beach when my mom got the email, and we filmed the self-tape on the beach which was probably the worst place to film an audition. It was windy so you could barely hear me act, the background was so pretty that it was distracting, and I was dressed in bright orange. Now that I look back on that, I can’t imagine what I was thinking.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

I’m currently working on a lot of different branded social media campaigns ranging from custom jewelry to food to beauty or fashion! I love the diversity and incorporating the brands onto my lifestyle content! I’m also working on a reality TV show, but I cannot share more details yet …! I’m also still working on my ecommerce store (clementinelea.com) curating fashion styles that I love. Make sure to take a look :)

Most young people your age don’t have to balance work and school. Can you tell us how you manage to balance your schoolwork, auditions, and time on set?

School always comes first for me no matter what and I take it very seriously. I actually decided to stop acting early 2022 so I currently don’t really audition anymore. But when I was acting, I’d always manage to schedule my in-person auditions after school, and would study sides after school as well etc. It became very overwhelming at one point especially after starting high school since my workload became much more intense. It’s also one of the reasons I decided to stop acting.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Definitely my mom (aka my momager lol)! She has been my biggest supporter, helping me in every aspect really whether it’s driving me around, helping me study sides, pitching me to brands & PR shops, helping me with creating concepts for my branded social concept, building my website from scratch or even acting in some of my videos! It can also be super stressful because we don’t always agree therefore, we fight a lot!!

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s jump to the main part of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. This business is competitive, so you need to make sure that you are always working hard and perfecting your craft to get better: my advice would be to take acting classes with different coaches, study sides as soon as they come in, ask for constructive feedback from your manager, audition coach and/or agent (if he has time!!)
2. Always have friends that are not in this industry because those are the people that will keep you grounded and be your biggest supporters. I was never homeschooled, so I currently have many real friends that I met as far back as preschool. I’m very grateful for that as friendships in the industry are oftentimes superficial.
3. There are a lot of different types of people in this industry and some of them don’t always have your best interests at heart. Some will see you as competition or a threat and try everything to make you fail or backstab you. It is actually very sad and hurtful when it happens. Make sure you find a team of people that believe in you and want to help you succeed.
4. You must be thick-skinned because you will face a lot of rejection before you find success. Sometimes you need to audition tens of times before you get a role. You must be patient, not take anything personally, or get discouraged too quickly.
5. You need to be proactive and do tons of research on your own including online search, reading books about the industry, asking different people who have already been in the business for a while and have already had successes. It is absolutely crucial to learn as much as you can and put a lot of effort into it!

You are a person of enormous influence. How do you think you can use social media as a platform to be a positive influence to your fans, and for society at large?

I think it’s important for people with big followings to inspire and educate their audience about current events around the world. Supporting charities and encouraging volunteer work is super important and I hope I can influence people positively.

If you had the ability to choose to work on any TV show or film, or work alongside any co-star, or with any director, what or who would that be, and why? You never know who might see this article, especially if we tag them. :-)

At this point, I’m really hoping to do more acting so I can’t answer this question!! But when I was still acting, I’d say Ron Howard or Robert Zemeckis because I love their films and style.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

My current main social accounts are my TikTok @ClementineSpieser and my Instagram @ClementineLea

My ecommerce shop is www.clementinelea.com

All my other social accounts can be found here: links.clementinelea.com

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!