Jensen Olaya

Sexy, to sassy, to grounded young mom-types, to playing teenage boys and young kids. Accents: Asian (Filipino, Mandarin), American (Standard, Valley, Brooklyn), European (German, French), Middle Eastern (Pakistani)

I was born in the Philippines towards the end of the first Marcos era. Growing up in a military family, I’ve lived in: Bataan, Yokohama, San Diego, and New York. I’ll never forget the smell of jet fuel, walking along the tarmac as a kid, next to fighter planes parked on top of the USS Midway. Fun fact: I grew up in the same base that Mark Hamill did in Japan. I studied classical singing (I’m a Mezzo) and world theater at San Diego State University. My early 20s was pivotal, my mom lost her decade-long battle with cancer right before I graduated. In my last semester of undergrad, I was shuffling between classes, performances, and taking care of my mom. During that time, acting was the only thing I had to preserve my spirit. And that’s when I decided to go all in. If I had to live in a world without my mother, then I would fill my life with purpose. In 2009, I sought out a scholarship to attend Columbia University’s Master of Fine Arts in Acting program and moved to NYC. I have been a proud New York actor ever since. As a stage-trained actor, I am at home working in Theater as well as Commercials, Animated TV, and Voiceover more broadly. I am proud to be helping redefine Asian American representation for audiences across Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Romance, Self Development, Women’s Fiction, and Children’s content. Over the last 20 years, I’ve played a range of characters from sprightly and sassy to androgynous and mythical, to clumsy and badass. MFA in ACTING, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY with Anne Bogart, Barney O’Hanlon, Kristin Linklater, Andrea Haring, Nikolaus Wolcz, Ulla Wolcz, Andrei Serban BA in THEATRE ARTS, SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY with Margaret Larlham, Peter Larlham, Peter Cirino, DJ Hopkins ADVANCED STUDY IMPROV, UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE with Zack Willis, Caroline Fiona Martin Ben Rameaka, Chelsea Clark, James Dwyer, Eric Gersen, Hal Rudnick STUDIO SPECS: Booth: Professionally Sound-treated Office Space in Brooklyn Mic: Neumann TLM 103 Interface: Scarlett 2i2 DAW: Adobe Audition Remote: Source Connect Standard, Zoom Studio Channel: Presonus Computers: Macbook Pro, Ipad; Second monitor for Dubbing and Audio Description