BY SIMONE J. SMITH
She is one of the fastest rising actresses and singers from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper is so excited that we have an opportunity to catch this supernova right as she is about to explode.
She began her career as a model at just three months old appearing in ad campaigns for major brands including: The Hudson’s Bay Company, Toys “R” Us, and OshKosh B’gosh. She also landed the cover of major national magazines including Today’s Parent and Toronto Life.
Her first big break came in 2014 when she landed a role on the remake of the iconic superhero film RoboCop appearing alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest names including: Joel Kinnaman, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish and Gary Oldman. Shortly after, she was cast in the hit sci-fi series Warehouse 13 (Syfy).
She has amassed a significant body of work in major film and television productions including: Heroes Reborn (NBC), Saving Hope (CTV/NBC), 12 Monkeys (Syfy), Make It Pop (Nickelodeon), Kim’s Convenience (CBC/Netflix), According to Kids (CBC), Odd Squad: Mobile Unit, and The Solutioneers (YouTube).
She has also built an impressive resume as a voice-over actor for hit animation series including Rusty Rivets (Amazon Prime) and Mighty Express (Netflix), as well as the popular video game series Far Cry 6 (Ubisoft).
Throughout that time, she has quickly developed a natural ability and comfort in front of the camera and with hard work, determination and perseverance; she effortlessly transitioned from modelling to quickly demonstrating her versatility and talent for film and television. Outside of acting, she enjoys: singing, drawing, and spending time with her friends and her sister Chanèl.
What is most incredible about our Woman Empowered is that she has amassed this amount of work, and she is under the age of 16. We would like to introduce to you, the adept, amazing, awe-inspiring Aaliyah Cinello!
My first thoughts of Aaliyah were that at such a young age, she spoke about her work with such passion. Acting is her source of interest and she speaks of her work with such excitement. You can tell that it is not forced; for Aaliyah acting is the greatest gift of self-discovery.
“I started acting at three months old,” Aaliyah shares with me. “One of the reasons that I started so young is because my mom was an actress.”
Mom was standing just off camera, allowing her daughter to do her thing, but I was curious to hear what she had seen in her daughter, even at such a young age.
“I think she was two or three years old,” Mom recalls. “I asked her, what do you want to be when you grow up, and I will never forget her response. ‘I will be bigger than Beyonce.’ She knew what she wanted, and as a parent, it is my responsibility to nurture that optimism. As a family, we do our best to start each day on a positive note, and we have taught Aaliyah to view setbacks as temporary. When kids feel confident in their abilities, they find their passions. It’s important to step back from our own needs and let kids be kids. Trust me when I say, Aaliyah runs Aaliyah’s show!”
Aaliyah laughed when her mom said that knowingly. It was interesting to see how self aware she was.
“Tell me about one of your favourite acting moments, Aaliyah.”
“I remember that in one commercial I had to run around screaming with a popsicle in my hand. Come on! Who doesn’t want to run around screaming,” she said laughing.
Coming up next, Aaliyah is set to appear in the new highly-anticipated Apple TV+ series CircuitBreakers, a children’s anthology series that tackles kid-relatable issues through a sci-fi lens. The show made its premiere on November 11th, 2022.
“I loved sci-fi movies,” Aaliyah tells me. “I used to watch them with my parents. My parents have shown all the movies from the 80’s, Back to the Future, you know movies like that. In CircuitBreakers, I got the role of Charlie; I was super excited about that. She is quirky, and she reminds me of me.
When I met all the cast, it was super cool. One of my favourite times was when we sang Hakuta Makata together. It was silly and fun. When you are working so hard, you need moments like that sometimes.”
Dealing with disappointment is a necessary skill if you want to be an actor, and any actor/actress will tell you that it becomes a part of your day to day life. You spend more time looking for work than actually doing it. By that standard, Aaliyah has come to realize that she was going to be dealing with a lot of disappointment in her life. Her auditions do not always lead to bookings, and I am sure that she has had critics attack her work. That’s just the way it is. I was curious as to how she handled this part of the business.
“Progressing through the various acting stages was challenging. It went from kid’s shows, to more teenage roles. There is a lot of rejection, and that can sometimes hurt. When someone rejects you, it’s natural to feel bad, but resilience is important. I have learned to get back up and try again. It’s hard work, but I turn rejection into motivation.”
With exciting multiple projects on the horizon, Aaliyah is definitely a must-watch actress on the rise.
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