Hell’s Kitchen is my hometown. I was born at Lenox Hill Hospital.

I loved acting ever since I was four years old. I’m named after Stella Adler who was a famous acting teacher. My mom was a theatre actress. My dad – he’s an amazing dancer, chef, and musician. He plays the drums – that’s where I learned them from. I think both of them are just very eccentric and amazing artists. I’m like the perfect mixture of both of them. I just love to perform. I love to make people feel things.

I started taking classes when I was six. At first, everybody was not very supportive. Mom and Dad were always like, “What about being a lawyer?” They didn’t really have a choice. I had booked a movie at 16. It was at the end of tenth grade and it was either stay in school or do the movie. And I was just like, “Well, I’m going to go do this movie.” And I did the movie and I missed a month and a half of school. When I came back, it was like finals time and I had no idea. I was totally not caught up on any of it. I couldn’t do anything else. I was like, “I’m done.  I’m out.”

I left home and went back to the city. Everybody in New York pretty much moved out of their house young. And even if they were still living at home at 16, most parents have a job, and there’s a nanny and all the kids are really doing their own things. I moved back to Hell’s Kitchen. I lived with a boyfriend at the time. We got a studio apartment and shared it. I was just auditioning and waitressing and bartending on the side to pay rent.

I came out here a little bit over a year and a half ago. I like my life out here. I like to work in the sunshine. I wake up every day to beautiful light. It’s nice because you get the time here. I feel like in New York, it’s just never-ending. You’re always on the hustle. But here, if I want to take a canvas and go to the beach and paint, I can do that on an afternoon. If I want to, I can go to the gym every day. I find time in the day to get things done.

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