Louis Pasteur once said, “Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity”. You can find no better example of this than in Sarah Zurell.

The young actress, who once broke down during her first audition, quickly overcame her own fear and is now forging her own path in Hollywood.

How ironic that fear would be the subject of Sarah’s first feature film “Pelt”, a Richard Swindell film that pays homage to the classic horror slasher films of the 1980’s.

Sarah plays the role of Debbie, one of seven young friends who take a backpacking excursion deep into the woods and come face to face with ultimate evil.

I had the chance to speak with Sarah and get her thoughts on “Pelt” as well as why there’s no limit to how far she’ll go!

goJimmygo (gJg): What are your first thoughts when you think of Pelt?

Sarah Zurell (SZ): It was a fantastic experience. “Pelt” was actually the first feature film that I had ever worked on. I didn’t even actually live in LA when I was cast for it, but was so excited just to be a part of it.

We filmed for close to a month and stayed in a great cabin while we were filming. Everyone got to really bond closely with each other. It was awesome!

gJg: What attracted you most to the movie?

SZ: The thing that really attracted me was just how warm and awesome Richard and everyone else was in the audition room. It really made the whole experience amazing for me. “Pelt” is also an interesting story and Debbie was such a fun character to play for my first role.

What’s funny is that the story of “Pelt” is about a group of people who have been friends forever and I think over the course of filming, that’s what we all became. It’s one of the best projects I’ve ever worked on!

gJg: Were you always a big fan of horror movies?

SZ: Truth be told, I grew up in a very religious family and wasn’t allowed to watch many horror movies. They always gave me nightmares. It wasn’t until I watched this one all the way through and actually saw how they’re made that I discovered they weren’t really quite as scary as I thought. <laughs>

gJg: Did you always know you wanted to be an actress?

SZ: Entertaining is the only thing I’ve really ever wanted to do. I love performing and acting. I danced from the ages of  3-15 and also performed in school plays. When I was 14, I suffered a dance related injury which gave me the opportunity to audition for a spot in a local theater’s version of “Anne Frank and Me”.

I remember it was my first, really big time audition, but when they called my name I completely freaked out. I just started bawling my eyes out while doing the read; it was horrible. Needless to say, I didn’t get the role. <laughs> But, I didn’t give up.

The next show they had in the spring was “Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs”. I went back in, did a great job and was cast as part of the backup ensemble. From there, I began doing show after show and just working my way up.

Eventually, I won best actress of the year at the theater and shortly after college made the move here to LA to make this dream come true. I’m trying to change the world, one movie at a time. <laughs>

gJg: Are there any projects you’re working on right now?

SZ: I’m pitching a superhero show that I’ve been developing. It’s about a girl who grew up with privilege and decides that she wants to share her wealth and fix problems. So, she goes around town as a superhero trying to solve them. It’s a really cute script.

I’m also in the process of starting a fashion media/marketing company as well with a couple of friends. We’ve been helping our first designer get her dresses in stores and on celebrities for the red carpet. I love to design clothes so that will also be a great outlet for me once we begin to develop a rapport with outlets and designers.

gJg: It sounds like you’re really beginning to live the dream!

SZ: I am. I’m of the mindset of, if you don’t like what you’re doing, you should do something else!

gJg: Is there anything else you like to do outside of acting?

SZ: I love to bake. So much so, that as a child I was actually able to send myself to summer camp by selling cupcakes. My parents didn’t have the money to send us, so my sister and I baked cupcakes and made over $2000 that summer selling them.

I think if you want something you just have to work hard and you can get it. Dreams don’t come true by sitting around and waiting for your fairy godmother to come along. Perseverance and putting in hard work is what it takes!

You can keep up with Sarah Zurell by following her on Twitter: Click Here!

Article first published as A Conversation With Actress Sarah Zurell on Technorati.