While many teens dream of making a presence in Hollywood, Alexa Nisenson is living it! Aside from voicing a character for Cartoon Network and landed a starring role in AMC’s hit series - Fear The Walking Dead - she is also challenging herself with writing books and music at the age of 15. The rising star is also a passionate humanitarian. She is a mental health activist and cancer research advocate. Alexa is truly an inspiring role model for young teens everywhere. Jejune is excited to share our interview with Alexa to learn more about her remarkable journey as a teen actress.

Where are you based?
I am based in LA! Moved here with my family when I was nine and am very very proud to be a Los Angeleno now. There’s really no place like LA.

When did you discover you wanted to be an actress?
I think becoming an actress has always just been part of my destiny. It’s something that I have felt a connection to for as long as I can remember and it’s always been my happy place. I first started pursuing it professionally when I was eight but even before that, I was creating and tapping into my imagination and performing for whoever would watch. But If I had to pinpoint a specific age I’d say around age seven or eight I started begging my parents to put me into acting classes and it took a lot of convincing but once they said yes and when I started I just never looked back.

How do you approach a character?
I think for me it all comes down to relatability. My first acting teaching I ever had used to say to me when we would be coaching or self-taping to “remember…acting is very real emotion in an imaginary setting or circumstance” and that has stuck with me. The first thing I ever do is find the connection and find the relatability to the emotions of the character. Once I find that connection a lot of the rest falls into place. So much has to do with everyone and everything around you. Sometimes, especially if you are working on a movie, a lot of the discovery and the settling in with the character comes from being in the presence of your co-stars or director or cinematographer and actually putting the scenes on their feet. I have had moments where I truly thought I knew how I wanted a scene to go in my head but then in the moment, because of something a scene partner does, my whole idea changes! So my approach is usually to find the common emotional ground but to always stay open-minded to possibilities when developing a character.

What’s been your favorite role so far?
I have had the opportunity to play such different kinds of characters and TV is so different from a movie. With a movie, you spend about three months with the character and then move on. Being a series regular on a TV show, it’s years. I have played Charlie for four years now. So in that scenario, there is so much growth with a character and so much change and after so much time that character really just carves out a special place in your heart. Playing Ally in Fist Fight though I think has absolutely been my favorite so far in every way. One of the most amazing on-set experiences and some of the greatest people and by far one of the most epic scenes I have ever had the chance to film!

You’ve got a starring role on Fear The Walking Dead - that’s amazing! Could you tell us about your character, Charlie?
Charlie is such a beautifully complicated teenager. She lost her family in an apocalyptic world at such a young age and has been through so much since then. Charlie is, to the core, a truly loving and sensitive and courageous and intuitive young woman. But living in the world she is living in she has had to do things to survive that have taken a toll on her, so she’s traumatized and struggles to find where she fits in sometimes and battles demons in her head that haunt her. But right now, she’s feeling strong and useful and protective of her group and she knows her strengths and she knows her value. She’s in a good place right now even though as a group they are up against their biggest challenge.

Fear the Walking Dead is a dark series, and playing a character like Charlie requires a lot of bravery. What’s the most challenging aspect of playing Charlie?
Oh for sure. With all the rewards definitely come challenges! I think for me, the biggest challenge has been overcoming the intense negative reactions from fans of this universe when Charlie first appeared on the show. But to be honest I have come a really long way. I am going into my fourth season on the show and for the first time since joining the show I am so at peace with where it all stands. I learned that sometimes no matter what you do or how hard you work to get people to like you personally or like a character you play, sometimes it’s out of your hands and you just have to let it be. I still read mean tweets or direct messages on my socials and I used to want to respond to each one apologizing or explaining and now I have stopped feeling apologetic for the actions of a fake character did that I didn’t write into existence. But the other side of that is that there are so so many amazing fans out there that show me so much love and so much support and ones that have even turned a corner and didn’t like Charlie at first and now they do and that’s been incredible to witness!

Season 6 has recently aired. Did COVID-19 impact the course of production and the season’s release?
Yes! So, we were on our regular mid-season hiatus when production shut down because of the pandemic. It was 7 months of being on pause until we got back to work so of course, we were off schedule but once we went back to work we were able to finish season 6 pretty quickly and everyone was just so happy to be back at work and to be together safely!

Did you get to film amid COVID-19 restrictions? If so, what was that experience like?
When we went back to filming in October it was a completely different atmosphere. SAG AFTRA had amazing protocols in place for every production to follow and AMC went above and beyond to keep us all safe and healthy! It took us all a minute to get used to the new way of life on set but, to be honest after a short time, it all started to feel normal and we all were just so happy to be back at work and be together and finishing the season. Our network and production team have been incredible with all they have done and it’s worked so well for us.

Not only are you effortless behind the camera, but you’re a bona fide voice actress. How does voice acting differ from film acting? How are they alike?
Oh wow. Well, thank you for saying that! Well of course there’s the fact that with VO work, people never see me. I can walk into the studio with sweats on and my hair in a bun and no makeup and it doesn’t matter. If I’m having a major breakout that day, I don’t stress it because I don’t have to be on camera lol! I think also one of the differences is that on-camera work feels much more natural and imitates real life a little more, with voice work it tends to be (with certain projects) a little more over the top and animated of course. But they are both acting and they both require you to be convincing in what you are saying and they are both equally as rewarding. I love that I have gotten to do both!

Could you tell us about your experience voice acting on Cartoon Network’s Summer Camp Island?
Cartoon Network has always been one of my favorite networks for animated work. I love that they think out of the box and create content that is relevant and interesting and exciting. They have been so so good to me. To be honest, when I got cast in Summer Camp Island, I truly thought I would do a few episodes and be done but I have now been voicing the role of “Alexa” for a few years! It’s truly been one of the most fun things I have ever done! Season 4 is about to come out on HBO Max I believe since they now have SCI on their streaming service and I got to do some fun stuff for that. Most of it I did from home because it was during the pandemic but they gave me an incredible setup so I could record at home and we could continue to create episodes!

How did lockdown affect your trajectory as an actress? How did you manage to stay sane?
Well, I think for everyone it caused us all to just pause, you know? Nothing was happening - no filming, no auditioning - we all were in the same boat so I think there was something comforting in knowing that we were all going through that together. I was lucky to get to keep up recording for Summer Camp Island but even that slowed down and was kind of sporadic! When you are a creative person and creating is your outlet for almost everything, it’s definitely hard to just stop in your tracks. So like a lot of people I had to create in different ways. I started writing music and books and learning to play the piano! I started to learn how to bake and I worked really hard on my love of hair and make-up design and artistry! Really, anything I could do to just feel creative kept me sane. Some days were more challenging than others but overall I kept myself busy and kept creating in my own way!

In addition to acting, you’ve also gotten involved with many organizations. What are some of the causes that are dear to you?
I try to be as involved as I can be. I think it’s important to show other teens my age that there is a lot you can do to be a champion for a cause you feel strongly about. Even if it’s just following them on social media and reposting their content. It can be as simple as that. My dad is a cancer survivor so I am involved in a few different organizations that support cancer research and help patients currently battling cancer. I love some organizations that are geared towards teens and I wish there were even more of them out there. Mental health organizations and eating disorder organizations are so important to me because I have struggled with both and I try to get involved with as many as I can!

You’re a committed advocate for cancer research, the fruit of your activism is a partnership with the Kidney Cancer Association and St. Jude Hospital. What drew you to them and what kind of work you do with these organizations?
Well, my dad had Kidney Cancer and it was something that we just didn’t know a lot about so I wanted to learn as much as I could and KCA is an amazing resource for that kind of information. It’s been my mission to donate to them as long as I can to support the amazing people doing the research and working day and night to try to find cures. St. Jude is just incredible in every way. Everyone involved with that organization is so special. Not only do they do so much for the kids that are patients, they do so much for the families of the kids. I love everything about those two organizations! So for starters, I make donations when I can! And I am just started to work with these organizations to find ways to educate people and get people involved and I feel lucky that I have a platform where maybe I can spread the word to some people!

You’re also a mental health activist. In what ways do you raise awareness for mental health? Why is this important to you?
I think for me, just being open and honest about my struggles has been a good start. I think social media can be misleading right? I think I am still trying to find the balance of what to post and how personal to be because it’s hard to open yourself up when it comes to these issues. I have struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember. So I post about it when I can and when I feel strongly about talking about it. I have struggled with an eating disorder and I am now realizing through people who reach out to me and watching videos on social media, especially TikTok, how many girls my age are in the same place! So over the next year, I will be spending a lot of time working with organizations and possibly even creating my own to help teens who might be struggling with some of those issues. It's so important to me because I go through it and even though I had the love and support of family and close friends, I felt very alone. I didn’t realize how many girls like me were going through the same thing and I feel passionate about wanting to normalize it and create safe spaces for people to get the support they need!

Teenagers suffer from mental health at alarming rates. Why do you believe this is so? What can we do to make a change?
I think it’s a mix of different things to be honest. I’ve done a ton of reading on the subject and have tried to talk to as many professionals as I can to get a better understanding of what they feel contributes to the increase because I want to educate myself too. I have so much to learn! I think teenagers are overall just incredibly competitive these days. There is so much pressure on teenagers and we are already trying to navigate the natural things we are all going through that come with being teens, but then add school and grades (or work in my case and any teen who also has a job) and activities and friendships and dating and social media…it can all feel incredibly overwhelming. Change can happen in so many ways but I think it all starts with open and honest conversation like we are doing here. If one teenager reads this and maybe says to themselves, “oh wait, I am not alone. Other girls feel the exact same way I do” then that’s change happening right there.

Mental health has been a huge issue during the lockdowns. How has the pandemic impacted your mental health advocacy?
The pandemic was truly responsible for me not only owning my own mental health issues and facing those but it also made me realize that I was just one of many teens going through it and I started to really feel strongly about being a voice and being someone who made a positive impact when it comes to mental health. It truly pushed me to start doing research and start also taking better care of myself and practicing more self-love and making a promise to myself that as long as I had a platform, no matter how small it might be compared to others, I would use it to do good and to make anyone going through something feel like they have a friend and they are not alone!

What do you believe adults can do to support teenagers going through mental health issues?
That’s such an amazing question. I consider myself so blessed that I have parents who support me and encourage me and have helped me not feel alone and also normalized so much of what I was going through. I think if teens have a safe space to talk about what they are going through without judgment then that can really help. One thing I noticed is that there were people in my life I would confide in outside my immediate family and I would tell them I was struggling and the reaction would be something like “but what do you have to feel sad about or why would you feel that way when this is what your life is like?” and adults need to understand that mental health issues aren’t always going to make sense to them but they are very valid to the person experiencing them. Validating teens and what they are feeling can be such a huge step in helping us work through what we are feeling and experiencing.

What can teenagers do to support other teenagers?
I hope this doesn’t sound like a cop-out, but way more kindness and less hate. We are all just trying to do what we can to be the best possible versions of ourselves. Each teenager you meet is dealing with something. Maybe it’s something going on at home or maybe it’s a confidence issue or maybe it’s an issue making friends or not maybe they didn’t make the sports team they wanted to be on. Maybe they are struggling to get the grades they want…we all have something going on that could at any moment make us feel depressed and alone so to be dragged down by one of our own just makes us feel more alone and depressed. I think as teens we have to remind each other that there is enough room in this world for all of us to succeed and to be happy. We can all be successful. We all have qualities that set us apart and make us special. I know it sounds like a cliché but lift each up as much as possible. I promise someone else’s accomplishment isn’t your failure. We honestly really are all better off if we are being good to each other.

Are there any projects, film and beyond, that you’d like to share with Jejune?
There are some exciting things happening that are bringing me some new paths and I can’t wait to be able to discuss some of that in detail. But I will say that I am truly excited at what the future holds and I am so looking forward to being able to show the world a different side of me and my talents! Can’t wait to share it with you when I can!

How are you staying positive during these uncertain times?
I have made it my mission to surround myself with people who love and support me exactly as I am. I think in the last year I have learned to not be afraid to walk away from people and situations that don’t fulfill me or make me feel good and that’s been a huge step for me in staying positive. It’s amazing what happens when you eliminate things from your life that cause you to self-doubt or question your worth or make you feel unloved or not wanted. All of a sudden your circles might get a little smaller and your choices change but you are also so much happier and so content and at peace, because you have gotten rid of the negative vibes! It’s not always easy to do and it’s been really hard for me to take those steps but every day I just focus on what makes me feel good and what reminds me to know my worth!

What's your motto in life?
I'm all about this quote right now. “If it comes, let it. If it goes, let it.” It’s kind of that simple for me lately.

To learn more about Alexa Nisenson, please follow her via the below platforms:
Instagram - @alexanisenson
Twitter - @AlexaNisenson
TikTok - @alexanisenson

Team Credits:
Photographer: Tiziano Lugli
Stylist: Lo VonRumpf
Hair: Ryan Richman
Makeup: Anton Khachaturian

Alexa Nisenson Inspires Through Actions