Brooklin Thacher
Born Virginia Aleathe Morrill in San Jose, Brooklin Thacher grew up in Los Gatos, which was at the time, a small town in Northern California nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains about 50 miles south of San Francisco. She was one of five siblings, her father's first, her mother's fourth. Growing up in San Francisco in the 60s had its own set of challenges. Brooklin quickly became submerged in the hippy culture and her attention turned from high school and studies to whatever was occurring in the moment, including moving to British Columbia, Canada with the draft dodgers. Once that era was over, she moved to Los Angeles and became involved in the music scene working at clubs on the Sunset Strip. Always looking for new adventures, she resisted "settling down" moving to various cities, including Washington DC, where she worked in a disco, Franny O'Brien's Silverbird, in 1976. Returning to Los Angeles in 1980, and still not really knowing what she wanted to be when she "grew up," she enrolled in California State University, Northridge. She earned BS in Business in 1985. Back in LA, she once again became involved in the music scene, managing a club/restaurant, Crayon's Bar & Grille, and spent her time, when not studying... club hopping. By the late 80s she found a career that kept her attention for 25 years, Real Estate Appraising, where she ultimately owned her own company in Northern California. During that time, she had a brief marriage and gave birth to a son, Andrew. She also spent 12 years studying astrology, which she still loves to dabble in. The appraisal years were good although by 2008, work had dwindled down and the industry was going through major changes. After a great run she lost her passion for real estate and thought it time to pursue something new. She was introduced to acting while living in Santa Fe, NM. It opened her eyes to possibilities, although personal circumstances forced her back to California. After the death of her mother, she decided to visit Brazil, where she was offered a job teaching high school. After a year, not feeling the love in teaching, she returned to California to evaluate the next step. She again looked into acting and took classes at Ex'pression College in Berkeley and began auditioning for student and independent films. She landed a major role in an independent film and was forever hooked. A year later she thought it time to take on LA. Having left LA 24 years earlier, she experienced culture shock. The cost of living rose, traffic increased, parking became more challenging, etc. Her first year was spent looking for work, a place to live, and doing background work in film and television. Her primary objective was to join the Union, which she accomplished by working on a New Media project, in which she was credited. She sold her car to cover the costs of initiation. Joining the Screen Actors Guild Union was a turning point emotionally. She felt more grounded in her decision to act, and for the last five years she has been working primarily as a background actor, with several day player roles, and one contract job on Beautiful Boy, in which she played the Principal of a large graduation scene, which was subsequently cut from the final edit. Currently, she is auditioning for short and independent films, and has plans to continue going forward despite the challenges. In the past she would say "if you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room" and she lived her life in alliance with this thought. Now she's digging in her heels in and pursuing her newly found passion as an actress.