actress Cynthia Carmona has embodied ambitious strong-willed teens, brandy on Islos High, and Sophie Cardona on Greenhouse Academy.

That makes a lot of sense.

So much of Cynthia's gritty, personal story was formed in her adolescence when she prostititized for her Jehovah's Witness

faith and snuck to acting classes. Then she had to choose between living at home in Miami or

pursuing the things she loved most, acting. She left and her career took off in L.A., but Cynthia felt like a fraud.

She packed her bags for New York to get the technical grounding she yearned for.

And now Cynthia is starring in the new film The Tax Collector,

where she plays Alexis Cuevas, the wife of an organized crime boss.

Did you always know that you wanted to act?

I was always a performer.

I was always an artist.

I had this thing when I was a kid where I was a little bit of a spy.

I would just watch people.

I would just really watch people.

And I've always been really fascinated with human behavior.

And I would like go home and like write down things that I saw.

My parents, they used to argue a lot growing up and things were kind of crazy.

And I would just sit there and listen to everything that they would say.

And then I'd go on my own and I would like reenact

their arguments. I was always very strange in that sense, but I didn't know that acting was a

thing that I could do. I grew up in a super religious. I never said this in an interview before,

but my family and I grew up as Jehovah's Witnesses. I always say very religious, but I'm telling you, so you understand.

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