She lets one last subtle laugh before exiting through the audience and out to the lobby. Behind her, the audience erupts in applause as the play concludes.

The reaction signals a job well done for 21-year-old, theater major, Kelli Anderson.

“Hearing the audience at the end is always very gratifying and feels great,” Anderson said about her performance as The Stepdaughter in the EC production of ‘Six Characters In Search of an Author’. “Especially with this show being so quiet, hearing joyful claps and sounds make you feel more comfortable about what you’ve done, knowing they all loved it.”

At the age of six, Anderson and a group of her friends would sing and act out shows, an accurate glimpse of her would-be passions.

“When I was little me and all my friends were always kind of musical,” Anderson said. “We’d always play soundtracks in our parents’ rooms and act out little shows.”

“We got into a theater company and I’ve always kind of liked it because I was always that weird kind of quirky kid that did things in weird voices,” she added. “[I] acted like strange characters and the company was a place where people accepted that.”

Anderson points to Leonardo DiCaprio and Natalie Portman as two actors that she tries to portray when she gets ready for a role.

“One of my favorite actors is Leonardo Dicaprio I like him because each role that he does, he really puts his all into it,” Anderson said. “He really becomes that character. For women, I’ve always liked Natalie Portman growing up. I think she’s really smart with her acting. She’s one of those actors who could sit there and have absolutely no lines, but still have so much going on in her facial expressions.”

One of Anderson’s former castmate, Genah Redding, 24, who majored in theater, believes she has a natural talent for acting.

“She commits to her characters,” Redding said. “She makes the character seem real and not just an act. I think she’s great.”

Being an actor isn’t the easiest thing, as there are many obstacles Anderson has to face when searching for gigs.

“The biggest challenge is rejection,” Anderson said. “You know you’re not going to be everyone’s type. You’re not always going to get the role you want.”

Despite the challenges Anderson believes it’s all worth it based on the undying love and satisfaction she gets from acting.

“There’s really nothing else that makes me feel as good as acting does,” Anderson said. “There’s nothing else I enjoy more. It really doesn’t feel like work to me, it’s so much fun. I can’t picture myself in any other career and being this happy.”