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[02 Nov 2008|02:19pm] |
 In the Spring in 1984, the Richards' got the exciting news that a baby would soon make it's way into their world. Alexsandra came into the world on December 18th screaming at the top of her lungs, putting fear in soon-to-be mothers on the maternity floor. Life for Alexsandra was destined to be a roller coaster from that day on. From a young age it was clear to everyone around her that Alexsandra was a drama queen. Things had to be her way only, and everything was a song and a dance. You could always get the truth out of her, but you'd have to be willing to give up a full day listening to her exaggerated details. At the age of six she'd had many parent-teacher conferences for the simple fact she loved to gossip in the middle of class. The Richards' hadn't a clue how to handle their daughters misbehaving, and instead, signed her up for singing lessons - she could use those vocal chords of hers in the best way possible. She kept with it until she became bored on her 12th birthday and she was done with that and on to something else. Luckily for Alexsa, her brother had become the target of their parents and she was more or less off the hook for her wrong doings.
In her last year of schooling a bunch of her thespian friends decided that for their last hoorah, they would go to New York City to see a real musical on Broadway. Alexsandra spent many nights begging, pleading and crying for her parents to allow her to go, especially since she was just seventeen. It was her brother, Jayson, who stood up for Alexsandra and got their parents to back down. She'd never admit it, but she's forever grateful and feels she owes Jay her life for that reason alone. Once in New York, Alexsandra had decided that's where she wanted to be forever. The musicals they saw in a weeks span were great, but she had bigger plans, much bigger ideas for what she'd like to do with her life. Acting outside of theater.
After returning back to Australia and graduating, Alexsandra packed her bags and left quietly in the night. She hadn't even told her brother of her idea, and it wasn't until she had landed at JFK that Alexsandra called home and told everyone where she was. There were screaming and crying matches, followed by the hanging up on her parents end which further pushed Alexsandra to keep with her dreams since it was clear she might not have anything to fall back on. For three months she lived in a rinky motel which was more like a hostel and drug-ring than anything, but she was able to become a waitress and work as a sidewalk sales rep for a gym to pay the "rent" each week. She'd gone on many auditions, but nothing seemed to be happening until she met with an agent at the gym she worked for. "Come see me tomorrow, I might be able to sign on as your agent and get your career moving forward." The rest after that was history.
After eight months, twelve days and sixteen hours in NYC, Alexsandra was signed to a real agency. She went on auditions and actually heard something back, even though she was an extras extra, it was more than she had been able to lock down on her own. Just before her 20th birthday, she was signed on to a pilot for a new television show called One Tree Hill. A show about a handful of teenagers all struggling to find themselves, and Haley, her role, seemed to really hit home and she immediately agreed to the contract. The most important career change made was her name. "It's too much, too fancy." She was told to use her middle name, Nichole, or to cut down her first name to just Alexsa. It was a tough change, and it took her three months to get used to the nickname, but she took everything in strides and to this day can't imagine being called anything else.
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