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Heavy/NBCUniversal Ariana Madix of "Vanderpump Rules."
Ariana Madix has some good news.
The “Vanderpump Rules” star has been making headlines amid her ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval’s shocking cheating scandal with their co-star Raquel Leviss. Madix and Sandoval ended their nearly 10-year relationship amid the scandal, per TMZ. But amid the bad times, Madix scored a major acting gig.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Madix, 37, has signed to star in the upcoming Lifetime movie, “Buying Back My Daughter.” The March 22, 2023 report revealed that the former SUR bartender will co-star in the TV movie with Meagan Good, Roger Cross, and Faith Wright. Madix will play a police officer named Karen in the made-for-TV movie.
Ariana Madix Has Several Previous Acting Credits
While Madix is best known for the reality series “Vanderpump Rules,” which she joined in 2013, she has 22 acting credits dating back to 2008 listed on IMDB. Her previous roles include the TV series’ “Paradise City,” “The Other Two,” and “Waking up With Strangers,” and she also appeared in the 2019 movie “Dead End.” In 2014, she shared scenes with Charlie Sheen and Brian Austin Green in the comedy series “Anger Management.” She also appeared in 10 episodes of the online comedy series “College Humor.”
According to her official website, Madix received Bachelor’s degrees in Theatre and Broadcast Communications from Flagler College, and after college, she moved from Florida to New York City to follow her dream to be an actress.
Ariana Madix Was Hesitant to Do Reality TV
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GettyAriana Madix of “Vanderpump Rules.”
Madix had hoped to be on Broadway, not on Bravo. In a 2020 interview on the “Out in the Wild” podcast, Madix talked about her decision to leave the Big Apple. “I was acting, bartending, all of that when I lived in New York,” she said, before moving to Los Angeles in 2010. She added that she loved living in New York but moved to L.A. for more opportunities. She also revealed that she has an eye on a career in “comedic acting” while in New York, but added, “I moved to L.A. for TV. That’s the big thing I moved to L.A. for.”
“That was my dream job, that was my goal,” she said of landing a role on TV. “When I was growing up my dream was Broadway,” she added, before explaining that she realized that she couldn’t “break in” to Broadway without having a following, so she aimed to get TV roles so people would know who she was.
Madix fell into the reality TV world after getting a bartending job at Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood restaurant SUR.
In a January 2020 interview with Glamour, Madix said it was her friendship with “Vanderpump Rules” cast member Scheana Shay that ultimately got her on the show, but there was a glitch: The guy she was dating at the time – not Sandoval — was a serious actor who turned his nose up at reality TV. Madix was afraid to step into unscripted TV, and in the end, she only agreed to join the Bravo reality show after an acting coach asked her, “Is Scorsese calling you?”
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Ariana Madix Gets Huge Career Boost Amid Tom Sandoval’s Cheating Scandal