Nina Lu

Nina comes from a fairly well-to-do family. Noticing her acting talent, her family put her into the Barbizon Modeling and Acting Studio of Hollywood, a branch of the famous Barbizon Studio and Modeling of New York City founded in 1939 and considered to be the world’s first fashion placement company. Her stint at Barbizon in 2014, when she was just 11, was transformative. “My Barbizon training made me really confident, confident enough to start working and stuff, for Disney and all these things like doing tiny commercials. Barbizon taught me what to do about these things, like about the union, and they gave me all the information to get me ready for this,” Nina says. From Barbizon to landing a leading role in a TV series was but a small step. From the acting school she got picked up by the reputed AEF Talent Agency, which launched her career as an actress in 2015. The ‘Bunk’d’ series, which is now into its second season, has seen her emerge as a much sought after young celebrity. Today the series is viewed across the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia with an average viewership of more than 1.76 million.

Nina Lu is youthful, energetic, disciplined and hard working. Of course, she has a natural and inherent flair for acting but she is extremely grateful to her acting school for making her what she is today. “I would like to thank my acting teachers and talent directors for everything. My acting coaches were really important to me, they trained me for all of this - I wouldn’t be ready and I wouldn’t be here without them,” she points out. Apart from her acting skills, she has an extremely loveable disposition. One of her cast members, Miranda May, who plays the role of Lou in ‘Bunk’d’, said on Twitter in 2016 “This cute little bug makes my heart so happy. Honestly one of the sweetest little girls I've ever met.” Her rise to fame through sheer hard work and training has also been a source of inspiration for many. All of this together make her special.

Nina Lu is an avid animal enthusiast and owns three underwater mystery snails, a beta fish, two goldfishes and four chickens. She is also interested in reading, writing and participating in show choir as she loves singing. She is quite crazy about roller skating and skateboarding. Her work has disrupted her regular schooling and she is now completing her academic studies through special schooling. Interestingly, her experienced has inspired Barbizon of New York to launch New York Performers Academy to help young actors and models to complete their education. According to the Academy’s President Larry Lionetti, “After seeing the need for an alternative school following one of our Barbizon students Nina Lu, turn into a Disney star overnight, she could not return to her regular public school, we realized offering academics in a school filled with performing arts studies was the best option for working kids and teens.”