For most, breaking into the acting industry can be a long and often unlikely hurdle to climb. But for Leven Rambin, that daunting challenge lasted as long as her very first audition.
"I wasn't really expecting anything," explains the humble Rambin, who two years ago landed the role of Lily Montgomery on "All My Children" at the age of 14. "I was just so excited to have that opportunity as my first audition."
After completing that first audition, Rambin continued testing the waters around L.A. for a couple months. She eventually received a call from the casting directors at the soap, asking her to fly to New York to test for her current role.
"I was shocked and really surprised," Rambin says of the initial call back. "So I came and the rest I guess you can say is history. I felt really fortunate. I was kind of naïve at the time, but now I'm really grateful."
Rambin is a native of Houston, Texas. She got her first taste of the acting bug while performing in a school play, playing the part of Peter Pan.
"I always knew that acting was what I wanted to do," she explains. "That was sort of my first step into it."
The young actress went on to study at the Houston School of Film and Theatre before eventually heading out to L.A. to follow her aspirations. Since her arrival, Rambin has garnered much attention, earning a nomination this year for a Daytime Emmy in the category of Outstanding Younger Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
"I was just really excited and honored to be a part of the Emmys," Rambin acknowledges. "It's the best thing that can happen to you when you're on that show and you work so hard. You feel really appreciated that people notice what you do. It was one of the coolest things to be treated like that and be recognized in that way."
The nomination was further assurance to the up-and-coming actress, especially since she's such a newcomer to the industry.
"It was confirmation that I love what I do," Rambin explains. "I want to keep being successful and I really want to move forward with my career. It's a really good steppingstone to get to where I ultimately want to go."
On the long-running ABC soap, Rambin plays an autistic teenage girl. She says that she dug into her own childhood experiences to help prepare for the challenging part.
"I knew someone in Texas when I was growing up that had autism," Rambin explains. "I watched how he grew up, how he kind of grew into it, the way he dealt with it, and how his parents helped him. I was really lucky to get that first-hand experience.
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