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Marissa Sims Biography
Written By: Miss Marissa Sims, Herself
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Greetings. My name is Marissa. First of all, thank you for stopping by my website.
I was asked by the crew here at MarissaSims.com to write my own bio.
I figured that I would rather
do it myself then leave it up to someone else. What if they forget to mention something that
is important to me? What if
they don't include details I want said or what
if they mention things that I would rather keep private?
So I agreed to write my own biography.
For some of you who have known me in the past or for some of you who do not know me at all, there
are things here that will shock you. Things that you would never expect to hear happen to me.
It may be hard to swallow. However, I feel I must be honest about everything. All I can say
is that I am indeed a survivor. So no matter what has happend in my past, I can hold my head high.
I am a survivor.
Not to sound stereotypical like the other actresses in Hollywood, but it is true when I say that
I have always known that I wanted to act. Ever since I was a little girl. It is just in my blood.
So of course, I was involved in church plays, plays at school etc. When you live in the Mid-West,
there is not much oppurtunity. So I mainly used school or church to perform. That is, until high
school. I was not "popular" enough to be accepted into the plays. Put it this way, unless you were
one of the drama teacher's "pets", then you struggled to get into one of her plays no matter how
talented you were.
Screw high school drama if you ask me. I went to university to study my craft and I learned so much.
But in a way, I felt that even university drama was not for me. I wanted bigger. I know that everyone
has to start somewhere. But maybe all this time, I knew in my heart that I was misplaced in life.
I was not to be held down by living somewhere that was not for me. And the Mid-West was not for
me.
In February of 2002, I moved to Los Angeles, CA, where I still am to this day. Only a few months
after moving here, I had my headshots taken, was agent searching, and going on auditions. I auditioned
for the role of Vicki in an independent film called Diamond & Sphinx. Sure the script was not
Oscar worthy, but it was my chance to work on film. All the other things I had done were theater.
I was ready to move up. After 3 call backs, I finally landed the role! I played the character
of Vicki to a tee. A New Jersey accented, loud-mouth wife of a mob-type-guy. I got to wear my
hair big, make up perfect, and lots of jewelry. I was so happy to land this role since I was
getting to use the best of all my accents, New Jersey.
It was even better that I was finally working with others in Los Angeles, who also was out there
trying to make it. Some of them were not looking for stardom. Just as long as they could act, they were
happy. The movie was even filmed on 35 mm which is the type the professionals of Hollywood use. It was
so good to see myself in such definition. Most of the people on the set had a bad experience
with the film since they were complaining that certain parts of it were not done very professionally.
But I was glad just to be in something. Keep in mind it was my first film and my first acting gig
in Hollywood.
Well, maybe all the others were right. Maybe it was cursed. Because after doing that movie, and after
I was so excited to be starting out here, things started going downhill. The landlord increased
the rent at my apartment, I was laid off from my job, and next thing you know...I was living out
of a hotel room because apartment hunting was so frustrating I could not find anything. Thank goodness
my family was here for support. All of our stuff was put into storage so when an apartment was found,
all of the belongings would still be there.
After living out of a Travelodge for almost 2 months, we had eaten through our savings. So believe it or not,
we were forced to live out of the car. Yes, you read that right. We were taking showers at
friends houses and job searching and apartment hunting during the daytime. Then I thought about it some and I came
to realize that I had admired Jim Carrey for his struggle and success for 12 years. And now I was
in the same position he had been in when he was trying to make it. WOW. That was pretty intense for me.
The pastor at my church had a friend that owned a hotel. So in exchange for living there, I was to
work in the front office to pay for the room. Oh, the things I do for survival! But hey, it was better
then living in the car. I had a bed, shower, food, and shelter. This was just like
Jim Carrey's life! He did the same thing. Except he worked in a tire factory instead of a hotel
for his stay.
After being there at the hotel for a year, I had finally gotten my money situation a little better by
working as a website editor, publisher, and affiliate. I have since moved out of that little hotel, but
room 219 will always have a special place to me and so will the hotel's owner who did so much to help me.
He treated me like his own daughter and for that I will forever be grateful.
I am now at a new apartment and doing very very well. I can smile easier now knowing that I fought
to stay in LA. I never gave up. This tells me that I will make it here...eventually. I have no
doubt. I did not go through all this for nothing. I have even met Jim Carrey since it all happend.
We talked and he told me to keep the faith. I will always remember him telling me that. Now that I have
the apartment and I am back on track, I am having my website updated and am going to throw myself
back to the lions.
I'm working at a costume department that rents costumes for TV, film, & theater with the oppurtunity to take over the division soon!
Thank you to everyone who kept the faith in me and who have been there for
me. I know I may have seemed insane for sticking it out, but like I said, I am a survivor.
Love & Thanks,
Marissa
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