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A Class Act: Annie Coulson On The Arts, Anxiety, Ambition And More

Many great things start with the letter A: Artistic, Authentic, Ambitious, and Actress, among others. All those terms also have another thing in common. They can all be used to describe Annie Coulson.

By Ally WoodardPublished 4 years ago 8 min read
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Many great things start with the letter A: Artistic, Authentic, Ambitious, and Actress, among others. All those terms also have another thing in common. They can all be used to describe Annie Coulson, a freshman from the DC suburbs who is now attending NYU’s heralded Tisch School of the Arts.

Recently, I had the pleasure to speak with Annie about college, her newfound social media popularity, her relationship with a Broadway star, and mental health.

Glancing at her Instagram reveals she could easily pass off as Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Coupling that with her adorable relationship with Andrew Barth Feldman, the youngest person to play the titular role in Dear Evan Hansen, and adding in her acceptance into a coveted theatre program that Meryl Streep and Lady Gaga were once a part of makes it easy to believe Annie has the perfect life.

A big part of her life regards her love life, about which she exclaimed, “I love Andrew Barth Feldman so much. I still sometimes will walk by the theater and just go WHAT?! THAT’S MY BOYFRIEND???”

Authenticity on Social Media

One byproduct of her relationship with Andrew is an increased online following. Annie receives thousands of likes and comments on her posts, including the ones where she is seen playing the spoons like an instrument. She shared, “I have my own spoon account (@spoonswithannie). I went to The Performing Arts Project and in my group song the writer wanted someone to play the spoons. It was silly, and I loved it.” For a high-quality spoons performance featuring Annie and Andrew see the link.

Despite the love she receives via social media she is quick to admit the downsides of the internet. “Social media is so fake. I’m a hypocrite of it sometimes, but it’s not real. All the pictures are edited and thought over extensively. Your self-worth is based on how many likes you get. That’s not okay.”

Her recognition of this and love for her fans who frequent her posts translates to deliberate authenticity and a message of hope, “I want to stay open [about mental health] because maybe me staying open will inspire others to be open. It’s a super scary thing, to admit you need help. But it’s super worth it.”

Annie wants to use her platform for good, so some of her posts have a serious tone. Recently she shared an inspiring post for World Mental Health Day, heralding the benefits of going to therapy hoping to help destigmatize the idea that battling mental health portends an unhappy life. She says, “I want to spread the idea that it’s okay to not be okay all the time. A lot of people who love Dear Evan Hansen are also struggling, so it is important to let them know that they are not alone in their struggles.”

Ambition to Persevere and Succeed

Annie has inspired many by sharing her own journey because it proves that when someone gets help their life can become significantly better. She recounts when she began to face adversity saying, “In middle school, I was just miserable.

The challenges of life, mental health, and school continued through her high school years, “High school was really hard for me. I never wanted to go to school and would cry in the bathrooms a lot, especially junior year,” but she would not allow her dreams to be compromised.

Her ambition to attend college, perform and do what she loves helped get her through these trying times. Annie recounted, “At the end of the day, I knew I would get through it because I had to… There is life outside high school! Every time I would lose it, I would put a new inspirational quote on the wall in front of me where I would do my homework, an email from a teacher I loved, a picture of people I loved, just some artsy quote on the internet. It was anything. After I graduated, one of the most satisfying things was taking that all down. I did it!”

Acknowledgement of the Struggle and Action to Overcome

To help her successfully make it through these difficult times Annie’s Mom stepped in. “My mom was actually the person who sent me to therapy because she knew I was struggling so much. I reluctantly went and each week I would enjoy it more. It really has become one of the highlights of my week.”

She acknowledges that it is challenging to start therapy, even when you have great parents. She explains, “My mom is the most supportive person. An important thing that me and my mom realized is that we needed someone else in this picture for me to be okay. At some point, she just couldn’t help me anymore which was terrifying. It wasn’t because she was doing anything wrong, no way, but I needed more. I needed to be okay. I think parents can get uncomfortable about therapy because it seems like they couldn’t do enough and couldn’t help their child themselves which is SUPER SCARY. But therapy is about MORE love and MORE support.”

Annie proves that mental health challenges do not have to adversely impact a stage career. Despite dealing with anxiety, she found a way to cope with the nerve-racking challenges of performing on stage. She admits, “Performing is super scary. I’ve overcome this by focusing on telling a story and saying what I need to say up there. I love doing it more than anything. Knowing the nerves are there because I just care about the art so much is also an important realization I had to make. I then turned that anxiety into excitement.”

That pressure is now magnified by her Tisch attendance and relationship and friendships with Broadway stars. Again, she praises the benefits of therapy, “I honestly deal with pressure by going to therapy and knowing I’m not a superhero. I put extremely high expectations on myself which is my Achilles heel. Taking moments where I breathe in meditation or have a dance party by myself do wonders.”

Advice for Academics and Optimism

Another positive thing she does that she would recommend is keeping a spark file in the notes your phone. “It is just a little place to put things that inspire you. I have many things in there, it is CRAZY. It can be anything I want it to be,” she says.

The challenges she faced helped her to develop positive coping mechanisms as well as the determination, positive attitude, and work ethic essential for collegiate success. She explained her weekly schedule, “I spend about 30 hours a week at the Tisch building. Every Tuesday and Thursday and Friday, I’m there from 9-6 for voice class, ballet, lunch, music theory, vocal performance and then 2.5 hours of acting. The days are very long, but I love it. Monday and Wednesday, I have my academic classes, so I get a tiny break from the intense schedule.”

Many of the people who have become her fans are in the position she was in just a year ago, as they also dream to attend Tisch. Her advice for the thousands of hopefuls that have auditions and applications due soon?

“Literally just be yourself,” she says, “That is the only thing they want. I got emotional during my audition and literally was in tears talking about theatre. I was super tired that day and just went in and was like, this is me. I was unapologetically myself.”

Additionally, she encourages people to avoid putting unnecessary pressures on themselves. Her advice is to not compare themselves to others, even if that is their significant other. She acknowledges that pressure sometimes affects her. “Sometimes it can get in your head. It was especially hard in high school when I would be crying over a math test and Andrew would be literally performing on Broadway. It was weird sometimes. But part of a relationship is openness and communication and Andrew and I have talked about this. I just have to stay in my lane. My peaks and valleys are not the same as his and his aren’t the same as mine. I believe that everything happens for a reason.”

Artistic Outlet

They both do have a common love for the musical Andrew stars in. “Dear Evan Hansen provides so many resources and they do so many events that support mental health and it’s super inspiring. It is the coolest thing that he gets to be in this show that truly has sparked so many flames about mental health conversations on Broadway.”

As far as the future goes, it would be easy to assume that after graduation she will join Andrew on Broadway. When asked about this her humble attitude is again apparent. Annie says she would be happy to work in the spotlight or behind the scenes. Emphasizing her love for the arts in all mediums she says, “I really just want to be an artist. I love theatre, more than anything.”

Bringing Down the Curtain

Her hope for the future of society is as strong as her aforementioned artistic passion. “I just want my generation to end this stigma about mental health. I think a lot of us are on the right path to doing so which warms my heart so much. We all have to be NICE to each other. This generation has known pain and heartbreak while we’ve been so young. I really think we are going to change the world, and take back the Senate and White House,” she quipped.

Ultimately, Annie is a reminder that with hard work one can overcome anything, achieve great things, challenge stigmas, and inspire people along the way.

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See more of Annie on Instagram.

This article was originally published on AllyWoodard.com

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About the Creator

Ally Woodard

• author / Mama Lupita’s Happy Orphanage

• EPIC Award Winner

Ambassador and Coordinator for Art Miles Mural Project, Shoes of Hope, Esperanza Learning foundation

• speaker / TED / United Nations Peace Day

we are all connected / be kind💗

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