“My life changed overnight when I did a cover and editorial for Vogue Italia by Steven Miesel in 2004,” shares Lydia Hearst. Her career began to accelerate abruptly after this 2004 take-off, and her journey has expanded in more directions than she could have foreseen. Last fall, we saw Hearst in Root Letter.
Hearst stars as Karen – “a volatile and unstable mother who is emotionally tortured and desperately addicted to heroin.” She shares that this intense role was particularly challenging compared to her previous works. “I am very passionate about my work and the whole acting process, especially with characters like this where I had to transform myself physically and emotionally.” Her preparations for the character Karen consisted of painting drug and nicotine-induced stains on her teeth and makeup to exaggerate track marks on her arms. The facial makeup routine was also structured to resemble an addict and convey distress and exhaustion. “I had to emotionally go to a very dark and sad place to bring this character Karen to life, a mother who is incapable of being there and supporting her daughter.” Root Letter is inspired by the 2016 Kadokawa interactive game, which Lydia recently got a copy of and planned to indulge in during her downtime with family and her new baby Dimity.
Lydia’s screen time continued in Slayers. Slayers mixes the modern reimagining of vampire lore with a comedic take on media ensembles and today’s common “influencer” behavior. It tells the story of an angered vampire slayer who is seeking revenge on the murderous vampires who took his daughter’s life. He gathers a team of media stars to help him breach their hidden base, one of the media members being Hearst as Liz. “Liz is a vapid, pseudo-socialite mainstream influencer whose singular goal is to become the most famous and infamous person in the world.” The story starts off running as Liz’s decisions initiate a wild chain of events, unleashing chaos, mayhem, and ultimately the demise of the “Stream Team.” Hearst’s involvement goes further than her character Liz, as this was her first project working as a co-executive producer. 
The multifaceted Lydia Hearst has dreamed of being in the entertainment field for as long as she can remember. “I dreamt of being an actress because I love the challenge and creative process behind bringing a character to life on screen; perhaps that’s why I have been immensely successful in my modeling career. Modeling is like acting but in a silent film.” She aims to express her innermost emotions, so they project and translate clearly into the lens, whatever type that may be. Hearst noted that her artistic inspiration Lin Shaye has an impeccable record of doing just that. “She can be seen in many different productions as many different characters, and each has contributed greatly to whatever project she’s been working on.”
Lydia has recently picked up landscaping and garden design outside the media realm. “I believe you can tell a lot about a person by their garden. “Gardening is one of the purest acts of love. One must possess a unique blend of patience, vision, creativity, wisdom, and kindness to properly ten to the plants and the soil.” She finds joy and comfort from caring for her flowers and being intentional about tending to them as individuals who require different things. Each soil, water cycle, and sun preference are specific to the plant. Hearst feels that by acknowledging that, each plant has a story to be heard.
Lydia says we will absolutely be seeing more from her in the future. She plans to tap into various established occupations; motherhood, acting, fashion, etc. From her experience, she has gathered a piece of advice for those involved in any field. “Instead of going through life saying ‘I want or I hope,’ say, ‘I WILL!’ It is important to always believe in yourself. I did, and still do.”
Written by Mia Brown
