Victoria Konefal

Only less than 30 percent of applicants get accepted into the Fiorello H. Laguardia High School Of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York. Days of Our Lives actress Victoria Konefal was one of those 200. Her path to acting began at age 7 when she got up in the middle of an Off-Broadway production of The Hobbit and attempted to join the cast on-stage. The director of the show liked her enthusiasm and invited her to audition for a child role in South Pacific which she, of course, scored.

Konefal continued to excel in school productions throughout elementary and middle school. Her acceptance into Fiorello H. Laguardia High School Of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York was a huge deal for the entire family, and her audition monologues were quite the pick for a 14- year-old. The first one was a silly comedy sketch, and the second was her telling a psychiatrist about hiding from Nazis during WWII. Her parents were shot and killed, so she took her neighbor to hide in a sewer with her. This is where she accidentally smothered the neighbor while trying to keep her quiet from the Nazis. An even bigger twist to this was that she spoke Polish for half of the monologue because Polish is actually her first language.

After her time at this iconic high school, where she studied alongside actors like Timothée Chalamet and Ansel Elgort, she booked her first lead in an indie film. She packed up and drove across the country with her best friends to Los Angeles. Konefal tried college twice but felt like it was stifling her creativity rather than helping it grow.

Konefal waitressed for 9 months after the move and wouldn't say no to a single audition. She wanted to test the waters and try out every part she could, anything that was an outlet for creativity. She eventually got an audition for the soap opera Days of Our Lives and didn't hear back for two months after the audition. It was the most strenuous and demanding audition process for her. Konefal had to go in seven times, two of those being a test where she had to go and say lines with the real actors and directors of the show. "I'm gonna go on set, show up, and do the best work I can. Whether or not I get it, I'm going to be 110% proud of myself," she thought to herself. "If you have a mindset that makes you nervous, you're gonna come across as nervous."

I'm gonna go on set, show up, and do the best work I can. Whether or not I get it, I'm going to be 110% proud of myself"

That mindset landed her the role of Ciara on Days of Our Lives, a young girl that has endured an immense amount of trauma and pain. She is a survivor of sexual assault and someone who so many young women across the world can relate to. Konefal gets social media messages on the regular, letting her know that her performances on the show make girls feel less alone. "Ciara is a great example for women everywhere. If what I do with my art touches someone in ay way, that's all I could want and hope to do," said Konefal.

Being on a soap opera isn't easy though. A lot of far fetched things happen, such as people coming back from the dead, and Konefal has to trace back to a time where she has felt an emotion that's applicable to what her character is feeling in order to portray it properly. The actors often have to film three scripts a day, which can sometimes be over 65 pages. She looks up profoundly to actors that have been on the show for decades, learning things she could never learn from being on another kind of show. "Being on this show has instilled an incredible work ethic in me that I can't get anywhere else. I didn't get this from LaGuardia. I'm learning something completely different. It's a new skill set that will make me more comfortable when I do movies again," she said.

Konefal has so many goals for the future, one of which is following the steps of Angelia Jolie. She wants to play badass roles, maybe even some troubled ones, and full emerge herself into every single character she can. "I'm gathering my tools for the future," said Konefal. "I want to lose my mind. I want to get so immersed and so lost in a character, one with depth and creativity."

This is really the absolute beginning for this 22-year-old actress. She just received her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series, and I'm sure it won't be her last. Be sure to follow her on Instagram at instagram.com/victoriakonefal and Twitter at twitter.com/victoriakonefal to stay up to date.

Photos + Story by Acacia Evans

Hair + Makeup by Karly Ketelle