Alumni Profile: Chloe Citron

By Margot McLaughlin

Grady alumnus Chloe Citron is living out her dream in New York City, studying acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and modeling for the We Speak NY modeling agency in her spare time.

“NYU Tisch has one of the best conservatory programs in the world,” Citron said, a 2016 graduate in her sophomore year at NYU. “I’m in my acting studio from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. three days out of the week. It’s not the typical college experience; it’s extremely intense and immersive. But I love it, and I’ve met incredible people through the program.”

Along with her classes, Citron models, although it isn’t her primary focus.

“There are so many opportunities in New York City, and I wanted to take advantage of them,” Citron said. “ I’m the type of person who has to be really busy, or I feel like I’m wasting my life. So one day, my freshman year at NYU, I just decided to send some pictures of myself to modeling agencies around NYC.”

Citron was contacted by We Speak modeling agency, and after meeting with its founder, Briauna Mariah, she was signed.

“It’s an amazing, health-conscious agency that emphasizes body positivity and diversity. They have all different types of models represented,” Citron said.

We Speak claims to be the first modeling agency to health approve its models. The agency says it look for models with a positive outlook, healthy lifestyle and unique features.

“Last semester, I got to walk in New York Fashion Week, which was really exciting, and I just did a shoot for a fashion app called Zeekit,” Citron said. “I have gotten to do some really cool things through my agency. But NYU is really my focus because that’s where my whole life is.”

Citron notes that it has been a challenge to balance work and school but has learned to moderate the amount of things she takes on.

At one point, Citron was modeling, going to school and working as a showroom editor for Glossier, a skincare and beauty brand based in New York.

“It was really just too much to juggle; so, I had to let Glossier go,” Citron said. “School is my main focus. That’s what I’m in New York to do, and there’s plenty of time to model after I graduate; so, I take modeling jobs when I can make them work with my schedule.”

Before she graduated in 2016, Citron was involved in Grady’s theater program and speech and debate team, both of which she believes were instrumental in her acceptance to  NYU.

“At Grady, I took all the acting classes I could,” Citron said. “Grady actually has a really unique and amazing theater program, which allows people to really shine.”

AP U.S. History and Musical Theater teacher, Lee Pope, remembers Citron’s time at Grady fondly.

“Most of the time you look at a child and they are beautiful to look at on stage,” Pope said. “They have a presence, but she actually has the talent to back that up.”

Pope’s fondest memory of Citron was in the 2015 production of “Wit,” by Margaret Edson, in which Citron played a cancer patient.

“She was so believable and so connected,” Pope said. “The kids always laugh because I say I can’t stand acting; I prefer being. You have to become who you are, and Chloe had the ability to do that. She did the research; she connected to the emotions of the characters.”

Citron also attributes much of her acting abilities to her experience on the Grady speech and debate team.

“As a member of the interpretation team, I basically acted competitively six times a day every weekend,” Citron said. “In terms of confidence and skill, it was some of the best training I could have received.”

Speech and debate coach Mario Herrera remembers Citron excelling in Duo Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation and Point of Information (POI).

“The first event she did was not an acting event,” Herrera said. “She approached me after and said, ‘I want to do this acting event because I think I can do really well with this.’ And when she started to look at videos and choose her materials, you could just tell she was like a fish in water. It was just natural.”

Pope believes that Citron’s experience on the speech and debate team helped her be more comfortable and dedicated to her roles on stage.

“You can’t just take up a script and start speaking the words,” Pope said. “There is so much more to it than that, and I think the kids that have been in debate understand the research that is required.”

Citron plans to pursue acting and writing after college, and her ultimate goal is to start her own theatre company that focuses on creating a positive environment for young girls to build confidence and teach about issues like body positivity and consent.

“One of the wonderful things about Chloe is that she’s really smart, and she’s aware of the struggle it’s going to take to break into something like that,” Herrera said. “She’s not going in blind, and I think that’s going to work in her favor.”

Citron advised Grady students planning their college career to focus less on the school’s reputation and more on the value of what you’re learning.

“Going to a conservatory acting program like NYU was my dream; so, I knew I had to make the sacrifice of paying the huge tuition, but it doesn’t have to be that way,” Citron said. “Any school offers you different opportunities, and it’s more about being a positive, proactive person than just going to a ‘great’ school.”