Sam Bernstein staff writer
There are many residents in Beverly Hills that moved to this area to pursue film and acting. If one looks around Beverly Hills, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to expect to find an aspiring performer. Though many students are children of these players, not many find their own success on the silver screen. Sophomore Jude Binkley has.
Binkley has found major commercial success in television advertisements for Nerf, Fruity Pebbles cereal, T-Mobile, Safe Auto, Doritos and even Google. Binkley also acts in independent films, such as “Occam’s Razor”, “One in” and “Time Toys”.
Before moving to Beverly Hills, Binkley grew up in Pickerington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. The young actor started his acting career in the fourth grade participating in local plays and regional commercials. Binkley signed with CAM Talent in Ohio. Through his regional success, he later realized that he wanted to seek out a career in acting.
“There always seems to be an audition or a shoot going on that I’m working at. It’s what I love to do. I want to stay in the entertainment industry after I graduate,” Binkley said.
This passion helped influence his mother Sarah, his father Josh and his little sister Kadah to move to Los Angeles.
“My sister’s an actress as well, and my whole family made the move to support all of us because we each came out here for our own goals. Me and my sister in acting. My mom doesn’t like being snowed-in six months a year, and my dad for his work,” Binkley said.
Binkley moved to Carmel, Indiana, for almost a year before his family relocated to Beverly Hills. Binkley did acting work in Chicago, signing with BMG Talent. Binkley was forced to make tedious trips across the midwest to further his acting career.
“During my year in Indianapolis, I worked up in the Chicago market, six hour round trip drive that I’d have to take to Chicago at least once a week to meet with my agent. I love acting, it’s always been a passion of mine so it was worth it,” Binkley said.
Binkley’s family settled in Beverly Hills in the summer before his eighth grade year at Beverly Vista. This year will be Binkley’s third year in the Beverly Hills Unified School District. Binkley praised how understanding BHUSD staff have been toward his acting career.
“The staff, they’re used to having child actors. They know that there’s some days I’ll call in and I’ll have to leave in two hours to go to an audition. Everyone gets it because it’s kind of a big thing here. It’s not like teachers have said, ‘No, I know that you’re missing a test because you have this big audition and therefore I’m going to give you a bad grade or I won’t let you make it up.’ Nobody’s like that,” Binkley said.
Binkley, like many others who went through the same process, had to sacrifice a lot to chase his dream. He left behind a large majority of his family, and all of his childhood friends back in Ohio. However, Binkley stays optimistic, regardless of his situation.
“Becoming an actor, and moving out to Los Angeles, and having to leave a lot of my friends and family behind, I’ve always stayed optimistic. My whole family came out, which a thing I’m super thankful for. A lot of actors I meet only came out with one parent, and their family stays back. That’s got to be tough”, he said. “I’m happy that my whole family made the move to support all of us.”