Emilee Moeller: Small town girl takes roots to Hollywood

Emilee Moeller describes herself as “just a small town girl.” She never dreamed she would be living in Hollywood and working as an actress today. The daughter of Kristin (Kayler) Moeller and the late Curtis Moeller, she grew up on the Moeller Ranch outside Ritzville, graduated as a Bronco in 1991 and was an active athlete throughout her high school career.

Although Emilee loved performing in the only high school drama class offered at the time, taught by Kris Schwisow, and attended acting classes at Washington State University (WSU), she hadn’t seriously considered making it a profession.

“I caught the bug,” Emilee said about acting. “But I didn’t know what to do with it.”

Emilee decided to focus on another interest: protecting the environment and natural resources, an interest she gained during college while interning in Washington, D.C. for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tom Foley.

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Political Science/Pre-law at WSU with honors, Emilee went on to study law at Northwestern School of Law, of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore.

She chose Lewis & Clark because it was the top environmental law school in the country. While in law school, Emilee served on two law reviews, worked as an extern/law clerk in the U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division in Washington, D.C., and helped to support agricultural and environmental groups. After graduating from Lewis & Clark, Emilee served as a judicial clerk in the State Courts of Oregon and Alaska. She remained in Alaska for about a year and a half.

“Acting kept calling me,” she said. “I thought I’d grown out of it.”

During a long discussion with Becky (Phipps) Crowther, another Ritzville graduate and her childhood friend, Emilee felt encouraged to follow her calling and pursue acting no matter what it took.

Emilee’s first step was to hire a career transition coach. She then began investigating the industry, weighing her options and eventually moved to Las Angeles.

“L.A. is like the Olympics of acting,” she said. “And I’m just a Ritzville girl. I was so lucky to have had Ritzville teachers and coaches. I learned how to train.”

Emilee trained for two years at a Meisner Conservatory School with instructor Laura Henry. While training with Henry, she also earned a master’s in tax law from Loyola Law School in Las Angeles and booked acting parts right away.

Her main interest is in film, which she describes as an acquired interest from watching old movies with her mother growing up. The Meisner training was theatre based, which led to Emilee finding an interest in theatre.

To date, Emilee has performed various acting roles on television, commercials, print advertisements and Hollywood theatre. Her recognizable roles to others includes playing a murder victim on the CBS TV show “Criminal Minds,” the Warner Brothers film “Do Not Disturb,” a Wal-Mart commercial, a Daisy Cottage Cheese commercial and an Aetna print advertisement.

“Comedy is more my forte.” Emilee said. “And I tend to be drawn to characters in farce and comedy.”

Emilee’s favorite theatrical roles were Phyllis from Woody Allen’s play, “Central Park West,” and Cora from Arnold Bennett’s British farce “The Stepmother,” as well as Catherine in David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize winning play “Proof.”

The acting industry however is changing.

“The work isn’t just in L.A. anymore,” explains Emilee. “It’s more regional now.”

To balance her career Emilee relies on two agents, one in Spokane at The View Talent Agency and the other in L.A. at Prodigy Talent. Her agents work on finding potential jobs for Emilee. They submit her headshots and resumé to various casting directors, and from there Emilee is selected to audition for particular roles. Because of their work, she does not have to attend open calls, which many other actors do.

Emilee is currently working on side projects and using her skills to start producing, and she is writing a feature length screenplay. She wants to take more control of her career. Directors she would love to work with are Mike Nichols of “The Graduate,” David Fincher of “The Social Network,” Terrence Malick of “The Tree of Life” and Clint Eastwood.

“No one cares more about your career than you do.” Emilee said about acting. “Having an agent who believes in you is a great plus. But you also have to know who you are and know what you want. You have to follow what pulls you.”

A valuable project Emilee is involved in is called the Hollywood Orchard. Hollywood Orchard is a non-profit organization that allows community members to engage in growing and using locally harvested fruit. The community is located near the historic Hollywood sign and encompasses approximately 14,000 residents from Griffith Park to the 101 Freeway.

Since the organization’s kick-off in 2011, Emilee has been actively involved. She serves on the board of directors and as a local “farmer” in the orchard. Her agricultural background has been a key factor in her involvement with the organization.

Emilee said the organization harvests the neighborhood trees and transports the fruit to a pop-up kitchen, where they prepare and preserve the food for community events, as well as outreach communities and food charity organizations.

“It is a sense of community,” she said. “It takes me back to my small town roots.”

(Editor’s Note: This is a new monthly feature. It will run on the second week of the month. We are searching for ideas for this feature. If you know someone we should feature, please contact Katelin Davidson at 659-1020 or [email protected].)