Amanda Antonella is a thirty-two-year-old actress with Italian heritage, who has been in the public consciousness since her appearance on the television show “Romantically Challenged” as a contestant in the popular reality TV show. She appeared on the show until the final season in which she was eliminated from the competition after one final eliminations episode. Since then she has gone on to star in several films and reality shows, most notably “Raising Helen”, in which she plays a single mother to two children. Her career path has been interesting in that while some of her shows have focused on the love between her character and another character, such as in the recent “New Moon” and “E.T.” She has also had parts in movies in which she played an older woman who is involved in a relationship with a younger man.
The main question that arises from all this is, does Nationality automatically disqualify a performer from being able to act? In the case of Amanda Antonella, the answer is a resounding no! Her real problem, and probably that of her partner, is that she is not American. She is half Italian and half British, with an Italian father and a British mother. As such, it would be very difficult for an American to adapt to such a strict upbringing and could very well prevent her acting, or she is trying out for any part at all, no matter how small the part.
Another actor of note who is half nationalities is Scottish actress Jennifer Aniston. At the time of her audition for the film “The Social Network”, in which she plays the lead character Mark, it was discovered that she actually did not know her native language of English. In order to rectify this, she wore a native English speaking bow on the auditions, something that greatly helped her overcome the language barrier. The bottom line is, Nationality is not a barrier if you are talented. However, it may indeed make it more difficult to get parts and break through in the industry. Actors who are not truly American tend to be underrepresented in Hollywood.