I always wanted to be a performer, but I tried not to go down that path because my parents were both performers. My Dad was in like nine Broadway plays and my Mom was in three by the time she was twenty-five and decided she wanted to become a doctor. And they were counseling me, ‘You’re a very sensitive young woman, it’s a hard business.’ So I decided instead that I was going to go into advertising and did that for six weeks after college, and just couldn’t do it anymore. Actually while at Saatchi & Saatchi, I went on an audition with a friend who was an actress, and ended up getting that part, so that kind of threw me into a whole other world. The show was NBC’s The Restaurant with Rocco Dispirito. I was the coat check girl. There were five of us that were actors, it was all very mischievous… The best advice that was given to me was by an acting coach when I was probably, right after The Restaurant actually, when I was in New York, and she said ‘If you really want to make this happen Amanda, you have to make your own vehicle.’ So don’t go on auditions and let other people decided your fate, you have to do it yourself.

I became a videoblogger by answering a craigslist ad actually. I just finished working on The Restaurant, and was looking for jobs. I had an agent but they weren’t getting me enough auditions so I was always looking for my own jobs.  And I came across an advertisement that wanted a writer/actress for an internet show.  And this was 2004, so when I told my mother about it she immediately thought it was porn.  And I told her ‘no’, it’s actually a legit show, I’m going to be making money at it. She was still weary, but it ended up being great for me and my career.

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