Ciena Rae Nelson was raised in Los Angeles, California where she started acting in 2007. She became heavily involved in the film department at her high school, which lead to her first leading role in a short film in 2008: "Hand The Ball." The film went on to receive the Lizzie Award for Best Acting at the 2009 Harvard Westlake Film Festival and was chosen from a pool of 150 submissions. Festival judges included Jeb Brody (Little Miss Sunshine), Larry Charles (Borat), Martha De Laurentiis (Hannibal), Bill Gerber (Gran Torino), director Oliver Stone (Platoon), and actress/producer Rita Wilson (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), with guest speaker Tom Hanks.
In that same year, she landed her first television pilot which got picked up by MTV and ran for two seasons: "The Hard Times Of RJ Berger." While she was recurring on the show in 2010, the same year she graduated high school, she landed her first leading role in a feature film: "Southbound Heist." In 2011, Ciena moved away from Los Angeles to pursue a degree at Mills College in Oakland, California. At Mills, Ciena discovered a passion for experimental electronic music and performance. She majored in Art and Technology with a minor in Philosophy, and built a portfolio of predominantly experimental music, film, poetry, and performance. These interests carried over into the work that she does today in Los Angeles where she currently works as an actor, writer, director, and impassioned documentarian.
While she's not on set, rehearsing, or gaining new acting skills and perspectives at UCB Sunset, RADA London, or a variety of other acting studios, she also works as an assistant editor and fit model. Recently her work as a social media advocate for Psoriasis and Eczema sufferers became widely recognized online, and she was included in Elle magazine's article, "13 Inspiring Women Who Don't Let Their Chronic Illnesses Define Them," alongside Daisy Ridley, Selena Gomez, and Lena Dunham. She is currently producing a documentary series which aims to shed light on what it means to live with chronic illness.
In that same year, she landed her first television pilot which got picked up by MTV and ran for two seasons: "The Hard Times Of RJ Berger." While she was recurring on the show in 2010, the same year she graduated high school, she landed her first leading role in a feature film: "Southbound Heist." In 2011, Ciena moved away from Los Angeles to pursue a degree at Mills College in Oakland, California. At Mills, Ciena discovered a passion for experimental electronic music and performance. She majored in Art and Technology with a minor in Philosophy, and built a portfolio of predominantly experimental music, film, poetry, and performance. These interests carried over into the work that she does today in Los Angeles where she currently works as an actor, writer, director, and impassioned documentarian.
While she's not on set, rehearsing, or gaining new acting skills and perspectives at UCB Sunset, RADA London, or a variety of other acting studios, she also works as an assistant editor and fit model. Recently her work as a social media advocate for Psoriasis and Eczema sufferers became widely recognized online, and she was included in Elle magazine's article, "13 Inspiring Women Who Don't Let Their Chronic Illnesses Define Them," alongside Daisy Ridley, Selena Gomez, and Lena Dunham. She is currently producing a documentary series which aims to shed light on what it means to live with chronic illness.
