ENTERTAINMENT
From Issue #6
ALMOST FAMOUS
My Four Months in Hollywood
By Hilary Rowland
Hilary
Rowland appeared on the front cover of our premiere issue of Faze.
Not because of her beauty but because at 19 years old she was
an award winning web designer and the national YTV Achievement
Award winner for Excellence in Business. Since then we have received
a bunch of e-mails asking us what she's been up to.
Well we tracked her down and, whew, she's been
busy...
Hey Faze,
Thanks for asking. A lot has happened since I
appeared on your front cover…
I ended up living in New York City briefly, and then later,
in Beverly Hills for four months! Wherever I was, I made sure to bring my laptop
to keep up-to-date with my Web development work.
New York was everything I had heard and expected
it to be, from brownstone townhouses to modern skyscrapers. The
buildings are tall and elegant, and the atmosphere has a certain
buzz - you just know that important things are happening all around
you.
I attended many movie premiers, awards
ceremonies and events. I went to see Saturday Night Live and
watch as that week's host, Calista Flockheart, and the rest of
the SNL actors performed their skits from about six feet away.
I almost fainted when Ricky Martin, after performing "She
Bangs", brushed by me and gave me a smile.
In Beverly Hills, I attended a classic
old-Hollywood dinner party. I found myself sitting next to Aaron
Spelling at a long table adorned with exquisite bouquets of flowers
as a succession of waiters came out from a back room to serve
us anything we were hungry for, from the finest caviar to creamed
spinach and steak.
Before we sat down, Aaron had mentioned that I
should be in his shows and that he thought I would be successful
as an actor. He also said to call him if I ever decided to pursue
it - and that's exactly what I did!
After living in Beverly Hills for nearly four months and in Manhattan for another four, I decided
it was time to head back to my condo in Toronto.
Since returning home, I've been featured in The
National Post Newspaper, shot a profile interview segment for
Fashion TV, been interviewed for DHC Health & Beauty magazine,
appeared on The Lofters, completed a photoshoot for the Fashion
Targets Breast Cancer campaign and been profiled by the Canadian
Government as an Entrepreneur Success Story.
Oh yes! I spoke with the casting director at Spelling
Productions who assures me that I have a guaranteed spot in a
Spelling show and a guest role in Charmed. I am taking daily acting
lessons, have a lawyer working on my green card, and I plan on
renting an apartment in LA in the next couple of months to continue
acting - but I'll be back and forth between Toronto and LA on
a regular basis.
Although this is another interesting direction
my life has taken, of course, my company is still a priority.
Several hours a day I will be working on making sure my sites
are updated and everything runs smoothly with all of my clients.
Well, it's been a whirlwind year but through it
all I've really come to realize that although it's okay to take
a breather now and then, you should never let yourself get off
track and lose sight of who you are.
Keep plugging away at achieving your goals and
eventually you'll get there.
At 15, Hilary started www.NewFaces.com - the first ever online portfolio
database for models and actors. This site now boasts over 3.5 million
hits per month. A year later www.SupermodelGuide.com was created.
This site profiles successful models and advice on how to get into
modelling.
Soon after she developed HilaryMagazine.com, an online magazine
for which she writes many of the articles. Her Web development company,
www.eCLICKinteractive.com, was the next logical extension and has
also become successful, with clients ranging from the Ontario Government
to Jackie Collins, whose site we will be starting shortly. Hilary
is now 22 and feels she hasn't even scraped the surface of what
she will accomplish!
