Alyssa Kompelien

Alyssa Kompelien reminisces fondly about scenes filmed in the pouring rain and in cornfields late at night. Her first role was in a short independent film called The Artifact. During the climax, her character—a badass in a black trench coat—faces the antagonist in a spaghetti western–style showdown set within a post-apocalyptic world. Since then, Kompelien has appeared in a number of commercials, independent short films, and feature films and has recently signed with both Stars Agency and Stars Model Management. When she isn’t portraying characters, Kompelien builds on her understanding of them as an essential pillar of storytelling. To this purpose, she’s writing her own short film and studying the Meisner technique—an American acting methodology that strives to “live truthfully under imaginary circumstances” by crafting complex emotional landscapes and honing the ability to be moved by other characters in the moment.

“There are so many different pieces to understanding a character. I start by trying to figure out things about the character—what they want, who they are. What’s the background of this person? Where did they grow up? Who were they before this happened? What are the kinds of things that they wear? How do they do their hair and their makeup? All those little things, but then I dive into their emotional standpoint scene by scene. OK, what’s happening with them here? What brought them to this place? What are they feeling and why?"

Written by Johanna Hickle

Photography by Daniel Garcia