Riley Voelkel is an East Coast girl. Now. She grew up on the West Coast, in California, originally from Canada and was in LA for 14 years while recently moving to Atlanta where her husband is from and loves it. “I’ve become an East Coast person. I was definitely a West Coast person. But I’ve shifted and I don’t think people do that often. I really love the East Coast now. It’s just a different vibe. And I think from the moment I started working in Atlanta, and spending more time in New York while working in New York as well. I just felt like I was supposed to be here all along.”
Fast forward to the moment, Riley’s bittersweet moment having just wrapped the third and final season of Hightown, the Jerry Bruckheimer-helmed Starz series. “I feel like I could have played that role forever. It was just like a really special, rare dynamic on set, everyone was incredibly inspiring. And it was probably the most fulfilling role of my career so far. So it’s bittersweet. The industry creates this just really rare dynamic of your co workers. You’re working with these people, sometimes 14 hours a day, and you’re seeing them more than you’re seeing your own friends and family. And so inevitably, it creates this family dynamic onset. I’m so happy for everyone, to see everything we did over the course of three amazing seasons.
Acting was not a lifelong passion for the 33-year-old Voelkel. She kind of fell into the industry yet fell in love with it. Although acting was the primary goal Voelkel just found from the very beginning interest in potentially writing one day or directing or understanding a lot of different sides of the industry. “I’m very much in the beginning stages of all of that. We’ll see where it goes. But I think finally, you know, when you’re on a show for a while, you get this incredible opportunity to work with the same people over the course of seasons. And sometimes you kind of get the opportunity to do things like shadow direct…
“I think the next stage is for me to potentially write and direct my own short film, and just kind of see where things go from there… there’s just something about writing for me and crossing it off that satisfaction. Still, I can’t give it up.”
You’ve seen Voelkel before on shows like The Mentalist, American Horror Story: Coven, or The Newsroom on HBO, playing Jeff Daniels’ character’s assistant. Her big break prior to Hightown was a recurring role on The Originals, the spin-off of The Vampire Diaries.
“I always feel like every role I’ve ever played has had an impact or as a stepping stone to the next. You kind of mentioned some of the biggest ones. For me, The Newsroom was my first recurring role on anything, I was brand new in the industry, I was terrified and nervous. And it was the biggest blessing because I got to go to work every day and see some of the best of the best do what they do. I couldn’t have asked for a better acting role and even though it’s such a small part of that show, I got to watch these people perform. And of course, working with Aaron Sorkin was a dream…. And then The Originals was the first time I was a series regular over the course of that many years. And the fanbase of that show is just beyond, they’re so incredible.”
Interview Moonah Ellison
Story Bill Smyth
Opening image Michael Robertson
Second image Tyler Patrick Kenny