Rene Aranda
Rene Michelle Aranda, sometimes credited as Ren Aranda, is an American actress and singer, best known for Searching and Midnight in the Switchgrass. She has won Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Outstanding Performance by an Actress and finished as a semifinalist in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Center's Irene Ryan scholarship program.
Early life and family
Aranda was born in Whittier, California, to Frank and Cheryl Aranda. She was raised in the nearby city of Chino Hills, where Aranda grew up with older brother Michael Aranda, older sister Sara Ann Aranda and younger brother Frank Nathan Aranda. Her mother was a self produced singer/songwriter through CD Baby and secretary to the college dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Cal State Fullerton until she died June 27, 2009, after a seven-year battle with breast cancer.Career
2009–2012: Vocational training
Aranda is an alumnus of the Los Angeles City College Theater Academy, a three-year, audition-only acting conservatory at which Morgan Freeman, Mark Hamill, Cindy Williams and Bette Davis studied. Just before graduating in 2012, she won the national award "Outstanding Performance by an Actress" in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for her role as Willy the Space Freak in a gender-bent adaptation of Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand.For her role as "Van's Sister" in LACC's stage production of Bert V. Royal's Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead in 2010, Aranda was nominated for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Irene Ryan scholarship, for which actors compete as a part of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. She made it to the semi-finals.
2013–2014: Early career
First invited to the set of network Cinelatino distributed film Smile Now Cry Later as a background actor by a fellow Theater Academy alum, Aranda was later asked to replace a crew member on a subsequent film before being locked in for two more features and by the fourth production, she served the company Plus Entertainment as an in-house producer, appearing on screen in each title she helped produce.Aranda was featured with touring architect Alán Ramiro Manning in the Woodbury University Neo-Tribes Runway Event on May 1 and 2 2013, donning a Jenny Erin Davis design of a Bram Stoker's Dracula inspired Elisabeta, wearing Stila makeup.
2018: Music
In addition to her film and television career, Aranda debuted as a musical artist in 2018, releasing two pop singles a few months apart on Spotify, iTunes, iHeartRadio and other online streaming platforms.Health
In February 2024, Aranda was diagnosed with a BRCA1 mutation, which affects the tumor suppressor gene and increases the risk of certain cancers. Later that year, she was also diagnosed with high-grade Ductal carcinoma in situ, an aggressive type of breast cancer. She has since undergone multiple surgeries to remove and prevent cancer growth, and has shared her & her sister's experiences publicly on social media, advocating for awareness about genetic testing of hereditary cancers.Youth programs and education
Aranda is a regular volunteer reader and occasional coordinator for Reading to Kids, and ran on the foundation's charity relay team in the Los Angeles Marathon in 2016.She also participates as a volunteer actor in Young Storytellers "Big Show" productions.
Filmography
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | HitRecord on TV | Herself | Episode: "RE: Fantasy" |
| 2014-2018 | WhatImDoingRightNow | Herself | Michael Aranda's vlog, 9 episodes |
| 2015 | Tabloid | Bracamontes/ S.W.A.T | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Murder Among Friends | Officer Mejia | Episode: "Unholy Friends" |
| 2016 | Take My Wife | Hotel Patron | Episode: "Holiday Special" |
| 2016 | Dangerous Games | ||
| 2016-2017 | Blood Relatives | Police Officer | 2 episodes |
| 2016-2017 | Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television | Paramedic | Scene Deleted |
| 2017 | Germany's Next Top Model | Herself | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Betrayed | Police Officer/ S.W.A.T. | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Extreme Measures | CSI | Episode: "Oh Mother, Where Art Thou?" |
| 2019 | Intrigue | Jury | |
| 2019 | CollegeHumor Originals: ''Kingpin Katie | Officer | Episode 8 |
| 2019 | CryptTV: Fight Night | Spectator | |
| 2021 | Nova Vita | Nurse Julie | 3 episodes |
| 2023 | Double Cross'' | Patient | AllBlk Original Series |