Haylee Blackmon balances dancing with role in ‘Nashville’
Haylee Blackmon, at left, and friend and fellow actor Breana Watkins take a break at craft services on the set of “Nashville.” (CONTRIBUTED)
MADISON – Haylee Blackmon’s passion for dancing now has segued to acting. She is appearing in the popular television series, “Nashville.”Recently, Blackmon, 24, enlisted a casting agency for television and music videos. She learned producers were casting “Nashville” and “went out on a whim and sent in my head shots, resume and videos. About 10 minutes later, I got a phone call saying I had been booked.”
Still In shock, Blackmon was nervous “the whole way up to Nashville. ‘What if they don’t like me?’ ‘What if I mess up?'”
“Working on ‘Nashville’ was nothing like I had expected. I was shocked by how kind everybody was. They went of their way to make you feel at home,” Blackmon said.
Long hours were surprising. They filmed the first episode from 11 a.m. until 4 a.m. In the second episode, one scene required nine hours.
Being on set “opened my eyes to new possibilities.” Although devoted to dance, Blackmon would seize an opportunity in the acting industry “without question. After all, dancing is just telling a story through movement.”
At four years old, she started training at The Dance Company in tap, jazz, ballet, Pointe, hip-hop and contemporary. She became a company dancer and student teacher. “I grew up at The Dance Company. It’s great to come back and teach,” she said.
At the University of Alabama, Blackmon continued studying ballet and Pointe. However, hip-hop was her first choice, and she attended all possible workshops and auditions.
The past two years, she has danced for pop artist Jacob Latimore, Gospel artist James Fortune and two-time Grammy winner Tye Tribbett. Currently, among her 10 classes at The Dance Company, most are hip-hop with a few jazz classes and a 5/6 combo class. She has had “an uphill climb” after four knee surgeries in recent years.
Blackmon also works at Bloom Dancewear. She will receive a bachelor’s degree from UA in May.
She now lives in Monrovia, but Music City USA is wooing her to move.
