UCLA alum takes on role in new short film

Lindsey Santefort lay in the freezing mud trying not to move an inch.

Dressed as her character Red Riding Hood, Santefort said she learned playing dead is one of the hardest aspects of acting.

“In acting, you are constantly faced with challenges, but I always love a challenge,” Santefort said. “There’s never a dull moment.”

Santefort regularly experiences situations like this as an actress, who appeared on the crime drama “Castle,” and is a UCLA sociology alumna. She also appeared in numerous short films, including her most recent project “The Takeover,” released on Valentine’s Day on YouTube.

In “The Takeover,” Santefort plays Ashley, a Caucasian fashion designer who argues with her African American best friend Tisha, played by Chrystee Pharris, about which race has it easier in the dating world. Ashley and Tisha then drink a cup of mystified coffee, causing them to switch bodies and experience dating from each other’s perspective.

Although she is now starring in her own short films, Santefort said she wasn’t always on the path to become an actress. She grew up in Orange County as a “dance kid,” training in her aunt’s dance studio and traveling as far as Florida for national dance competitions.

Yet, as a child, Santefort said she loved telling stories and was known by her family for being extremely talkative.

“When I was young you could get me talking about something, and I could take your ear off and make anything a narrative,” Santefort said.

Even with dancing, Santefort said what ultimately attracted her to it was taking on a completely different character every time she tried a new dance and being able to tell an interesting story with her body movements.

While in high school, this fascination with story led Santefort to enter the summer UCLA Theater Intensive, a nine-day program with classes in theater, tai-chi, improv and dance. The program culminated in a performance put on by the students for their families.

“At the end of the program, I realized there was something with acting that I needed to pursue and that UCLA was the perfect place to do that,” Santefort said.

Santefort entered UCLA as a world arts and culture and dance student but after several quarters in the major Santefort finally decided dancing was not the right career path for her. Instead, she switched to sociology, where Santefort said she could learn about her passion for watching the way people act.

Taking a step away from dancing allowed Santefort to focus more time on acting and getting her start in numerous student films including “Damn the Past!”, a graduate student film thesis. She also interned as a casting director at the Geffen Playhouse, taking advantage of opportunities that may not have been available to her as a WAC student. There, she said she learned how the casting process could be subjective.

“I saw that all you could do in trying out for parts was to bring your best work and let it go,” Santefort said. “There are many things that you have no control over.”

This advice was apparent during Santefort’s audition for the role of Ashley in “The Takeover,” where director Shequeta L. Smith said she was impressed by how comfortable she seemed.

“She was a constant professional and knew how to deliver, adding her own details to the character,” Smith said. “(Pharris), a seasoned actress, had to step her game up while rehearsing with her.”

While preparing for their roles, Santefort and Pharris would meet outside of rehearsals to ask each other questions and record each other speaking, to perfect their portrayal of each other’s personalities for when they switched bodies.

“Having to play a black woman in front of a black woman was extremely difficult, but while learning (Pharris’) specific mannerisms, there were so many laughs,” Santefort said.

Pharris said it was also easy for her to slip into her role during rehearsals and production, actually enhancing the relationship between the two actresses.

“We bonded with each other on a deeper level when learning each other’s lives,” Pharris said. “Lindsey has amazing instincts that she uses to create the environment of a scene. It keeps you on your toes.”

Santefort said her time rehearsing with Pharris was anything but work, embodying what fundamentally drives her to pursue acting.

“Acting is a tough business and a lot of the time you put yourself out there for rejection,” Santefort said. “Ultimately, do it because you’re passionate and for no other reason than that you love it.”