RESUME & BIO
Tonya Cornelisse earned her BFA in Theatre from New York Univeristy, Tisch School of the Performing Arts along with a psychology major. Tonya can be seen in the upcoming feature "CRAVE" along side Ron Perlman in fall 2010. Tonya emerged doing theatre, independent film, and television in NYC at 17 years old. She has been making noise as a writer and actor ever since.
She has worked in Television guest starring in shows including:: Law & Order: SVU, ER, N.C.I.S., The Black Donnellys, Sex in the City, and Strangers with Candy… Previous films of Tonya's include:: "Zombie Honeymoon" - The horror flick was awarded the Fuse TV/Fangoria Chainsaw Award for "Best With Less" (best horror film with a limited release), and was picked up by Showtime Networks. Tonya's first short screenplay Dog Lovers, in which she also stars in premiered at The Sundance Film Festival. The short film caught a lot of attention and opened the eyes of studio executives including FOX Digital Studios, which has been involved in developing one of her own creations We Are The Galores, an improv based webseries she also stars in that follow two ex- junkies from the UK trying to become rockstars in Hollywood. Tonya starred in Liminal which she went on to gain the Best Actress award at the Chicago Film Festival and the Tregor Film Festival in France. Liminal has been seen in over 75 film festivals throughout the world. Some other films include: Bottled Up, Body of Work, Underdogs, Burty, No Country for Old Yeller, 25th Hour, Cupcake Girl and more…
She also works commercially on and off camera (ala voiceover). Recent spots have included KFC, Yoohoo, Taco Bell, AT&T, Wheat Thins, Verizon and many more. She also lent her voice to the character Emma in the inter-web sensation "Afterworld."
A force in the theatre scene, Tonya was the recipient of the Best Supporting Actress award at The Humana Festival by the Actors theatre of Louisville and the theatre Critics Association. She has performed on Broadway including the Kathleen Turner/ Bill Irwin revival of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and off Broadway, including: The Public Theatre in NYC in the production of the new play STOP IT!, the Off-Broadway Mentor series (with AR Gurney) at the Cherry Lane Theatre in Joseph Fischer's Thunder bird and Worm Day at the Darryl Roth Theatre. Other New York and Regional Theater include: The Tempest at the Looking Glass Theater, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Seagull at the Chekov Rep., Edward Albee's Three Tall Women, and more. She remains under the musings of her mentor the lovely Alan Arkin. With equal parts talent & passion she is one of the most exciting actresses emerging on the scene in Los Angeles. Alas, she currently lives in Hollywood.
