PHOTOGRAPHY BY EMILY SANDIFER
CREATIVE DIRECTOR & STYLING BY ROBIAT BALOGUN
MAKEUP BY ARCHANGELA CHELSEA FOR CELESTINE AGENCY
HAIR BY JENNA GARAGIOLA FOR CLOUTIER REMIX
STORY BY MIN A. LEE
Composure Magazine: As a young dancer and actress in Hollywood, what challenges have you had to overcome, especially with relocating from Utah to Los Angeles?
Jade Chynoweth: Online school was always a challenge, especially when you’re working day and night with some jobs. There’s never a set schedule, so you end up doing school work at odd hours. I also missed out on a lot of social events like football games, prom, and just hanging out. That being said, I was fortunate enough to have a good foundation with family and friends in both Utah and LA, so I always felt like I had support wherever I was.
CM: You star in YouTube’s Step Up: High Water, can you share with us how this came about?
JC: I think it was a combination of just trusting the process and timing. The directors said that when they were writing the script, they had me in mind as Odalie. They had watched my dancing online, and Jenna Dewan really went to bat for me. From there, they reached out to my team, and everything came together.
CM: How do you balance out acting and dancing? Both require a lot of work and time.
JC: For me, acting and dancing are both about telling a story. I feel like whenever I’m doing one, it also improves my abilities at the other. I just put as much time as I can into being the best version of myself and hope that it shines through in my work and performance.
CM: You partnered with Fit2Beit to create personalized workouts and nutrition plans available to anyone. How has this helped you grow as a dancer and instructor?
JC: I feel like having been a part of the entertainment world has forced me to take a greater stake in my health at a young age. If you aren’t healthy, you won’t last long in anything that you do, especially dance or acting. I just want to share the message that you aren’t alone in your health journey and that investing in yourself is always worthwhile. I guess this has helped me to grow in staying accountable to myself and the people who see me as an example.
CM: With all your success, you’ve remained extremely grounded and self-aware—what has helped you keep this mentality?
JC: First of all, thank you! For me, it’s having surrounded myself with good people, especially my family. They always encourage me to be authentic and try to make good decisions. They are also very involved in the business side of my career, so I always have a lot of sound advice and am able to bounce ideas off of them and my team. Having a great support system is key.
CM: When you get a bit of time to yourself how do you spend it?
JC: I love to spend time with friends and sleep in! I also love to hike and spend time outdoors whenever I can. Whenever things slow down a bit, I love to binge watch movies and play rock band.
CM: Any future works in progress you can tell us about?
JC: I just finished filming Max Winslow and the House of Secrets so keep your eyes out for that! We are also planning a lot of fun stuff with my partnerships with Puma and Fit2beit, as well as renovating a cute house back in Utah! I try to keep myself pretty busy doing things that I love or have an interest in learning about.
CM: How do you hope your career advances over the next few years?
JC: As far as acting goes, I definitely have dreams of being the lead as an action hero or villain in a feature film. I also want to keep growing as a businesswoman and a leader. I think it’s important to do my best to be an example for other young women to be strong and follow their dreams.
CM: To end, what’s one important thing your fans have taught you?
JC: I’ve learned that authenticity is key to having longevity in this industry. If you aren’t yourself, people will eventually see through that, or you’ll just be unhappy trying to be something you’re not. In any position of influence, you voluntarily put your life under the microscope. I realized that it’s important that I present myself in a real way and have enough self-love to shake off any negativity. I want people to be a fan because I actually do something cool and stand for something genuine.
