Sun, surf and sand, darkened by betrayal and deception.
A fun-filled vacation gone horribly awry.
An extraordinarily driven mother, determined to save her daughter, Kayla, from the
clutches of brutal kidnappers.
Those are the broad strokes of 鈥淪pring Break Nightmare,鈥� a feature film that debuted
on the Lifetime Movie Network in March and which is periodically available on Hulu.
Right in the middle of it all is Lauren Faulkner 鈥�15, a 澳门老奇人论坛 theater
graduate and an actor on the rise who has a key role in 鈥淣ightmare.鈥�
She plays Becky, Kayla鈥檚 sensible best friend and the center of the movie鈥檚 first
big dramatic twist.
鈥淚 loved the balance of work and fun,鈥� Faulkner recently said of making the movie,
which was shot across two weeks in Florida locations that included Clearwater and
St. Pete Beach. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard not to have fun when you鈥檙e in a place where there are
so many creative people, all working at once.鈥�
鈥淣ightmare鈥� is actually her second turn in a recent Lifetime melodrama 鈥� she was also
in 2021鈥檚 鈥淧arty Gone Wrong,鈥� which was partially filmed at The Hotel Roanoke 鈥� and
those roles mark a steady progression for the former Bland County resident.
Early on, Faulkner performed on Southwest Virginia stages in Pulaski and Wytheville,
and while studying at Radford, she starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play 鈥淐lybourne
Park鈥� and the legendary musical 鈥淐abaret,鈥� among other productions.
Not long after she got her degree, the Rocky Gap, Virginia, native headed to Los Angeles
to find a place in the entertainment industry, and she quickly turned up in such short
films as 鈥淭he Bizarre Act of Samantha鈥� in 2017, and 2019鈥檚 鈥淐aroline.鈥�
鈥淚 think anyone would tell you it鈥檚 a difficult city to thrive in,鈥� Faulkner recently
said of LA. 鈥淭he cost of living is high, and there are so many people trying to do
the exact same thing that you are.
鈥淵ou just have to have this mentality of 鈥業鈥檓 going to stick with it in order to make
things work.鈥欌��
Her tenacity succeeded. She will soon mark her eighth anniversary of living and working
there.
鈥淚t never really gets any easier, I would say, but I now have a community. I've met
so many wonderful people who are in my corner, and I have people I can rely on who
are going through the same things as me,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat definitely makes it all
the more worthwhile.鈥�
Faulkner鈥檚 primary focus remains film work 鈥� she estimates she goes on as many as
five auditions each week 鈥� but she said she鈥檚 still interested in the theater and
the challenges and excitement of performing in front of an audience. Just over a year
ago, she began trying her hand at comedy as well.
鈥淚鈥檓 doing stand-up as kind of a means to scratch the live theater itch,鈥� she said.
鈥淚've performed at a handful of places, but I would love to keep branching out. At
some point, I鈥檓 hopefully going to come back to Southwest Virginia to do a comedy
set. I want to bring my comedy back to where I came from.鈥�
And, speaking of her roots, Faulkner said she has fond memories of her work and her
time at Radford.
鈥淎 lot of people will tell you that because acting is subjective, you don鈥檛 need training.
And I don鈥檛 know if you do or not; I can鈥檛 speak for everybody, but I enjoyed mine.
I feel well-equipped to tackle various roles and understand scenes and find a character鈥檚
arc 鈥� based on my theater training.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 very thankful for all the training I received from my professors at Radford,鈥�
she added. 鈥淭hey really, really do want everyone that they educate to succeed, and
you feel that, and I鈥檓 very grateful for that.鈥�
