New York Film Academy (NYFA) Alum Lana Condor has already had an incredible amount of success in her acting career considering both the competitive nature of the industry and the fact that she’s only 21. But her talent and hard work have been paying off, and she’s already co-starred with Mark Wahlberg and played one of the most famous X-Men. However, it’s her latest role, the lead in Netflix’s new hit original movie To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, that may prove to be her biggest achievement yet.
The romantic teen comedy is directed by Susan Johnson and is an adaptation of the New York Times Best Seller young adult novel of the same name, written by Jenny Han. Lara Condor plays its protagonist, Lara Jean, an awkward, introverted 16-year old girl whose secret love letters to all her crushes go public, leading to unexpected twists and turns in an already confusing, adolescent time in her life. The film boasts a diverse, young, energetic cast of up-and-coming performers, including NYFA former student and Vine superstar, King Bach.
The novel and movie are also important for boasting a half-Korean, female lead — in contrast to the mostly white, male protagonists that have typically dominated the industry. It’s fully fleshed out, multidimensional characters such as Lara Jean that help tell richer, fuller, and more relatable stories to an increasingly broad and diverse movie audience. Lara Jean has been lauded as one of the nervous young heroines of 2018, a role model to many teenagers who don’t often identify with many of Hollywood’s typical protagonists.
Lara Jean is certainly a significant character to play in that regard, but Lana Condor was more than up to the task, imbuing her with a life and multifaceted personality that made her feel deeply genuine. Lana was born in Vietnam and raised in Chicago, before attending multiple acting camps at the New York Film Academy’s New York City campus in the summer of 2011. The camps, offered to both high school students and younger children, and located in various cities around the world, immerse these budding artists in an intensive, professional educational experience — combining fun, experiential, interactive classes with direct, hands-on acting in front of the camera.
After picking up the skills in performance at NYFA’s camps she’d need, Lana later graduated high school and began a fruitful acting career. To date, she’s already co-starred as popular mutant Jubilee in the summer blockbuster X-Men: Apocalypse, as well as acted in the Mark Wahlberg true-life thriller Patriots Day, co-starring fellow NYFA alum Themo Melikidze. And there are even bigger projects on the horizon for Lara, who will be appearing in the upcoming sci-fi epic Alita: Battle Angel, a collaboration between Hollywood giants James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez.
What else is in store for Lana Condor’s already exciting career? Hopefully, Netflix will produce the two sequels to To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before based on the second and third novel in Jenny Han’s trilogy, considering how vital and well-received Lara Jean has been for audiences.
But in the meantime, the New York Film Academy congratulates Lana Condor on her latest success and looks forward to her future roles in Hollywood and beyond!
Please note: NYFA does not represent that these are typical or guaranteed career outcomes. The success of our graduates in any chosen professional pathway depends on multiple factors, and the achievements of NYFA alumni are the result of their hard work, perseverance, talent and circumstances.