Bernadette Perez is a Native American-Mexican, LGBT, Los Angeles-based Actress, Producer, Director, and Story Teller originally from East Chicago. She began as a stage Actress at the age of twelve. Her first professional role was playing Edna Arkins in Lynda Barry's "The Good Times Are Killing Me", an adolescent girl's coming of age story during a time of racial integration. While continuing stage work, she won the Original Oratory Optimist Speech Contest (just like Julia Roberts did as a young girl). This only pushed her to further continue working as an Actress. She had an opportunity during that time to work as an Actress in events such as pARTners Performing For Life, raising awareness and funds to find a cure for the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This idea of being able to use her craft and voice to make a difference in the world excited her. Eventually, she moved to New York where she landed a small role in her first film. A few months later, she booked the lead in a potential Television Pilot filming in Las Vegas. After completing filming on the Pilot, she moved to Los Angeles and began studying at an Arts Conservatory. She works in Film and Television, and regularly campaigns for equality in the LGBT community, at-risk youth with the Writegirl organization, and diversity and inclusion in the film industry. She has appeared in dozens of films including Meet the Fockers, War of The Worlds, and a multitude of independent films for the SyFy Channel, Amazon, and Netflix. You can catch her on TV as Kelly in the OutTV Network Series Boystown and the soon to be released TV Series: Blackwater featuring an all Native cast. Berna has studied Improv with Actor Stephen Tobolowsky, Sitcom Technique with Writer/Director Stan Zimmerman, Meisner technique with Janet Alhanti, Stella Adler Technique with Marjorie Ballentine, and Awareness Technique with Julie Arriola.
2005
