Flix & More with Ben Freese and Friends E9: Rio Van Zant – Actress, Model, and Screenwriter

BIO ~ Rio Van Zant  

Actress, Model, and recent Screenwriter 

I hail from Tempe Arizona. I have a BS in Dental Hygiene.  I worked in private practice and taught College for years.  

I’m sort of a science geek. I grew up competing in sports like gymnastics, diving, dance, and cheer.  

I love the outdoors and became a bit of an adrenaline junkie expanding my sports to wakeboarding, snowboarding, rock-climbing, ice climbing, and beach volleyball, and yes even jumped out of a perfectly good plane. I’ve recently started writing scripts as well.  

I have acted on the tiniest of Indie films and projects where everybody is helping out wherever they can, all the way up to large professional sets such as Yellowstone, Blood & Oil, and Mosaic where I was honored to snowboard for Steven Soderbergh.  
 
I’ve also helped revive some of the old radio shows through my voice acting. The shows play on a New York radio station as well as some others. That experience was also turned into a live show which I had never done before. We didn’t have much practice for it, and my nerves were through the roof. I think I was about to puke, and wanted to run away, but it was an exhilarating experience when all was said and done. I guess I did alright because one of the other actor’s sisters who was in the audience texted her while we were backstage in wardrobe changes to tell HER how good I was.  The text read: “That actress is a great confident actress” We had a good laugh about it together. I’ve really enjoyed being able to bring my physicality and love of extreme sports to the roles I take.  

I strive to bring layers and colors to every character and am known for my natural believability. My first experience on a large set for ABC, they threw me into a scene with Don Johnson, and Amber Valetta. That was really fun. That was such a positive experience, I decided to continue to pursue acting. Through some of my commercial work, I’ve been able to back country snowboard, shoot some amazing guns, fall from a tall platform, and learn how to sandboard on set. I love that you always get to learn and do new things as an actor.  

I am currently an actress, model, and recent screenwriter. Since my first script, I’ve been touted as an Auteur. I’m sort of a rare creative due to my science and medical background which helps me think in detail and organize creativity and projects. I want to start getting some of my own creative stories off the page and onto the screen, but life keeps hitting me…literally. While I’m recuperating from a bad car accident, I’m working on pre-production for multiple projects. I’m also attached to a few other projects I’m really excited about. 

RVZ Company Phone: 8013607018  
Email: riovanzant@gmail.com