Today we’d like to introduce you to Claire Louise Huder.
Hi Claire Louise, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have always been drawn to the creative arts. As a young child up in Michigan, I would perform ‘The Sound of Music’ for my family in my grandparents’ cottage, running around the stone fireplace to change characters. Throughout school, I sang solo and in choirs, performed on-stage in a variety of plays and musicals, and went on to study (operatic) Music Performance at Miami University (OH). There I studied with a variety of esteemed professors, gaining valuable performance skills and confidence in my own abilities and aspirations, and even studied abroad and performed with Oberlin Conservatory in Arezzo, Italy during the summer of 2014. I also had the opportunity to work as an art model for a variety of classes–figure drawing, painting, advanced drawing, film and digital photography–introducing me to the world of modeling. My plans for the future took a detour, however, and I found myself moving down the country to Florida and introduced to the worlds of film, television, and model-performing.
I never considered modeling to be an option for me as a petite woman. However, with encouragement from those around me, I stepped into another passion as I discovered not only how fun and creative, but also how impactful modeling can be. I truly enjoy the creative process of imagining, planning, and executing a photoshoot, especially with a powerful message or story. I have had the opportunity to model with a variety of local and national brands and designers, and for many talented photographers and their teams, even stepping out onto the runway as petite model “Claire Louise”–most recently for the RDBXclusive Fashion Show 2024 in Jacksonville, FL–and finding representation despite my height.. I have had the opportunity to model a variety of styles, from fashion to lifestyle to bridal to boudoir, and still my old love–art modeling. For my holiday-birthday, I planned a pumpkin patch-inspired editorial with my good friend and photographer Adela Hittell to capture and embody my own presence as “Cinderedhead”–a play on “Cinderella”–as I’ve also been known, which is truly one of my favorites to-date (and was inspired by a similar shoot-concept by another artist, @erinimages). A recent editorial titled “Sanguine Bride” was also published in Darkly Magazine along with a personal interview, serving as a creative interpretation of marriage while bringing new life to an otherwise “single-use” garment (and also inspired by a similar concept by another artist, @elizavetaporodina). What I enjoy about the creative world is how we can inspire one another to create. One such method I’ve found was born right here in Orlando, FL, as I have been blessed to be involved as a model creator in the launch of BaeYourself.com from Briana DeShields. Through Baes, I have a community of models and other creatives that support each other beyond social media and even have had the opportunity to travel and model in Tulum, Mexico with the brand!
My first experience on a film set was the impactful docu-film ‘The Grey Area”‘and after my first featured role in the award-winning short film “Coffee with a Madman” from Pyrolight Productions, I was hooked! I made valuable on-set connections, joined local film groups in Florida–namely Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa–and began building my reel and materials. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of talented amateur and professional filmmakers throughout Florida and Georgia. Thriving in a dramatic and/or horror setting, I’ve served as the maniacal killer, final girl/scream queen, and the perfect victim in short films like “Cliché” from Freeman Films and feature films like ‘The Demon of Serling’ from Archico Productions (currently on Tubi), and also as the erratic wife, concerned mother/friend, and hair-brained producer in comedy shorts like “Your Side of the Story” from Eileen Films and the JAX 48HFP short film “Anonymous Reality TV” from Social Outcast Productions. I was even honored to have been involved as a featured extra pharmacy tech across Niecy Nash in the award-winning international film ‘Origin’. One of my most exciting projects to-date has been as Mackenzie in the impactful feature film ‘The Truth About Monsters’ from Domain Pictures, currently in post-production and “based on a million true stories” regarding human sex trafficking, and filmed in Central Florida. I’ve even been bit by the screenwriter-bug myself, and my screenwriter and directorial-debut short film “Perception” premiered as part of the OIF Aura Challenge 2023–being nominated for 2 awards: Best Actress (myself) and Best Supporting Actress (Heather Fraley)! My next short film “Video Call” is currently in post-production and is a highlight on abusive relationships and domestic violence. Away from film but still on television, you can also find me in a variety of commercials across the state and country. Fully-rounding out my acting skills, my voiceover debut was as “Mrs. White” in the narrative podcast ‘Curious Accounts of Creepy Occurrences’ episode “Buttercream,” now on Spotify. I pride myself in my versatility–in both modeling and acting–and can step into almost-any role.
My love for the arts reached over to the physical-medium side as well, with my both serving as an art model and observing the artists’ processes and critiques mixing with my already-existing appreciation for artists like Van Gogh, and works such as Renoir’s “Two Young Girls at the Piano” (a print of which hung in my high school’s main office). This fostered such passion and talents that I may become an artist and painter as well. Specializing in acrylic animal portraits, I enjoy capturing a variety of creatures from the red panda to the orchid mantis. Some of my paintings have even been commissioned and sold, such as a fun and creative red octopus in the deep ocean. I enjoy embarking on new challenges and discovering new talents, and am currently working on a couple series of pantings: nocturnal animals and insects.
All of my creative loves–art, film, modeling, music–link back to personal identity and mental health. I began drawing and painting as a means to process energy and emotion much like music does, many of the films I am involved in have important messages and undertones, and even modeling is just another art form created in which to communicate and make people feel something. I have been involved with a Jacksonville-based nonprofit with a global reach. Project Human, Inc. (PHinc.) supports the individual’s mental health journey through their community engagement, online blogs and resources, and ‘The Artist Within’ podcast. Everything links back to the unique human experience, and I look forward to sharing mine through my many creative endeavors!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a bumpy road with forks and obstacles alike! I initially thought I would be an opera singer, and that was the plan and the road I was on when studying at Miami University in Ohio. However, due to my own struggling to recover due to a sexual assault during my college career and an abusive relationship, my road ended up taking a detour to Florida and other different–yet similar–opportunities. I still had healing to do from my trauma and learning to navigate that road while embarking on a new and exciting career-path was intimidating. Aside from being my directorial and screenwriter debut, my premiere short film “Perception” also served as my message to those I believed I screwed up an impression with; the contrasting duality of the real person and the doppelgänger illustrated the inner fight I believe we all face to grow and present that growth to others, despite the perceptions already placed on us by them. I am thankful that alongside my family I had found Project Human and Adela Hittell to help guide me through my recovery through personal work, creative work, and philanthropic work. I have also faced challenges as a petite model, with more outright denials from agencies, photographers, and designers than I can count due to my height alone. The real challenge was to take those denials and keep pushing, keep grinding, keep fighting to do what I love, and that’s why I’m still here and am still doing it all. The “bumps” and “obstacles” along the way have served to both help me grow as a human and add a unique insight to my creative work.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an all-around creative professional. I specialize in film and television acting, and am known for bringing what is necessary for a truly dramatic performance in a cinematic frame. I also feel like I am known for my expressive eyes and eyebrows, with my trademark single-eyebrow raise appearing in a form in many of my characters on screen and in front of the lens. I am constantly doing and accomplishing things I am proud of, from starring in a couple of upcoming indie feature films (notably: ‘Simple Acts of Kindness’ from Crazy Blue Squirrel Films and ‘The Truth About Monsters’ from Domain Pictures) to my opportunity being directed personally by Ava DuVernay on the set of ‘Origin’, to completing the first couple of drafts on my own feature film screenplay, I’d say that I am most proud of myself! My experiences–the good and the bad–have shaped me to bring a uniquely creative insight to some of the harsh realities and challenges of our society, which I aim to thematize through my screenwriting and other creative endeavors. My distinct look–with natural light-red hair, multicolored blue-green eyes, pointed features, petite stature, and unique tattoos–sets me apart from others when coupled with my operatic stage presence (which no one seems to expect out of such a small female) and determination. Growing up playing hockey, they called me the “bulldog” because I simply wouldn’t give up, and it is as true today as it was then.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up in Northern Michigan, I was the definition of a tomboy (with a creative streak). You would only find me inside when spending quality time with family and practicing piano or another instrument (trumpet, voice, my friend’s clarinet, my brother’s violin…), instead spending most of my time outdoors in the woods, fields, or fresh water surrounding my hometown of Petoskey. My second childhood home in Michigan particularly nurtured my love for the outdoors, being a classic log home surrounded by hilly woods and fields in which my little brother and I explored, rode the Gator UTV down the “fast trail,” picked raspberries and blackberries, and, in the wintertime, rode sleds and snowmobiles. When not at home, we visited extended family at Torch Lake at all times of the year and spent most of our time in and on the water–boating, swimming, and sailing–in the summer and on the ski slopes in the winter. Being situated next to an orchard, we would pick cherries, pit them and make jams and pies, and with an apple tree in the back, we would play apple schmear. It was like a second home with even more siblings (cousins). Being the only girl, I enjoyed keeping up with my male cousins and creating entire miniature societies in our woods each season, and also serving as a mentor to my younger brother, Carl. Sibling rivalry moments aside, I always prided myself in teaching him things (like cursive) and we were two redheaded peas-in-a-pod.
In true tomboy fashion, I participated in and excelled at a variety of sports. I played soccer for about 10 years into my freshman year of high school and at a variety of positions, but excelling as a midfielder. I ran track as a sprinter and played volleyball in middle school, and was captain and vice-captain of the JV and varsity dance teams in high school. I truly excelled, however, in ice hockey, and in any position. A left-handed player, I normally played on the left wing, but found myself across all positions through my 5-year coed and 2-year girls’ hockey career including goalie and left defense–which earned me my “Bulldog” nickname while fighting for the puck at the blue line through the whistle and even flipping an opponent on a breakaway head-over-skates. I thrived in a competitive atmosphere.
I was still a creative child, with my mom always saying I “sang before I could talk.” From performing ‘The Sound of Music’ for my extended family, to starring in stage performances of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Anything Goes’, ‘Into the Woods’, ‘Roger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella’, ‘Oliver!’, ‘Footloose’, and ‘Titanic the Musical’ throughout my school career. My father introduced me to opera by taking me to Madama Butterfly by Puccini at the Grand Rapids Opera for my birthday, beginning a yearly tradition for us and igniting a passion for dramatic, operatic music and performance that has helped shape my life, leading me to study such at university. In high school, I was also invited to open the Petoskey High School hockey and basketball games with the National Anthem, as well as the Red Wings Alumni hockey games with the American and Canadian National Anthems, a truly special engagement for me, growing up a Red Wings fan.
Throughout school, I was a true teacher’s pet. I sat up front (when not assigned seats) and took diligent notes, being one of the rare students that enjoyed doing homework and absorbing as much knowledge as they can. A perfectionist, I took honors and AP classes, joined the National Honor Society, and kept straight A’s throughout my high school career, finishing 6th overall in my class. It was important to me to do well and be the best, which drove me to excel in school and be accepted to study at Miami University (to both the Arts and Honors Colleges) to continue my studies. I was a very busy student, showing up for a 0-hour jazz band before band class–marching band as 1st trumpet or drum major, concert band as 1st or 2nd chair trumpet and soloist–to start school, taking academic classes throughout the day with Bella (SSA) Voce and Madrigals (SATB) choir classes interspersed, participating in sports practices after school or working downtown at a general store, and rehearsing for plays or musicals back at the school in the evening. It truly amazes me how I had the time to do all of that and still spend social time with friends and quality time with family, but we did!
Pricing:
- Professional Script-Reading – $25/half-hour
- Fashion/Lifestyle Model Session – $100/hr
- Bikini/Boudoir Model Session – $125/hr
- Implied/Art Model Session – $150/hr
- Custom Animal Painting (16″x20″) – $300
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.clairelouisehuder.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/cinderedhead
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/clairehuderactress
https://facebook.com/clairehudermodel
https://facebook.com/perceptionhorrorthrillershort - Youtube: https://youtube.com/@clairelouisehuder
- Other: https://www.baeyourself.com/cinderedhead
Image Credits
Personal Photo – Adela Hittell (Adela Hittell Photography)
Pumpkin Shakespeare – Adela Hittell (Adela Hittell Photography)
Sanguine Bride – Mario Scott (Madhaus Studios)
Freya (crowned portrait photo) – Sinem Ugur Bilgin (Good Vibes Photo Studio)
Captured by Tome
