Before Nicole Hodges graduated from Lake Highlands High School in 2003, she was voted Most Talented in her particularly talented senior class, and she acted in numerous LH theatrical productions, including Women of Troy and Bye Bye Birdie. I recently spotted her in this funny Febreze commercial (she’s the funky, wacky roomate), so I reached out to find out what she’s been doing since her days as a Wildcat.
Nicole had done a couple of commercials while she was living and working in New York, but “this one was different because it was my first time as a funny and quirky lead character,” she told me. When she auditioned in Dallas, they asked her to tell about the best prank she ever pulled. She shared the story of convincing her best guy friend to shave off all his body hair and the job was hers.
“I’m hoping to thank my dear hairless friend when accepting my Emmy one day.”
She’s appeared on the CBS hit The Good Wife and the ABC soap All My Children, and she’s acted in numerous stage productions.
Nicole recently moved to Los Angeles and has begun working on a web-based show called Extravaganza. She calls it “a stage show within a reality show within a web show,” a kind of TV’s Smash meets the movie Burlesque with saucy dancing, American Idol-style singing and lots of on-camera drama.
“In between shooting, I am auditioning as much as humanly possible, writing a little, and doing what my dear Grandma told me to do best: “Be tenacious!”
Nicole has fond memories of LH and looks forward to attending her 10 year reunion this summer.
“I am incredibly proud to be part of LHHS alumni and the shows I was part of were indeed a huge influence on what has shaped me and my work today. LH has a wonderful way of nurturing standard education as well as nurturing the necessity for creativity and the arts. Dr. Bob Iden was at every show and made it a point to personally thank everyone involved, which meant a lot to know the head honcho supported your hard work and efforts. Traveling to NY with the Theater Club ignited my burning desire to live there, which I did for 4.5 years. Performing in shows at LH helped me discover my hidden talents and gave me the confidence I needed to follow my dreams and make a career out of something I truly love to do.”
Nicole, who also danced as a Wildcat Wrangler captain, calls country and western dance teacher Suzanne McCown her biggest LH role model.
“Ms. McKown would teach her lessons and words of wisdom while at the same time talk to you and treat you as if you were a friend. The football boys always called her “Big Suz” because she was a tiny woman with an extra large personality you couldn’t help but love. I admired her strong attitude and she was never afraid to put me in my place when necessary. To this day she follows my career and is always sending words of encouragement and care. She is the best!”
“What I miss the most is the LH stage. I have so many memories of building sets, long nights of rehearsals and bonding with fellow students. The theater and stage have a way of blurring the lines of high school social stigmas. The theater was a space where EVERYONE could be creative no matter where you sat in the “hierarchy of high school”.
What does the future hold for Nicole?
“Next on the acting adventure docket is hopefully more TV/ film work. I also am an avid voice over artist getting into cartoon and video game voicing (keep your fingers crossed for me). I am loving Los Angeles and the west coast sunshine, my dreams of Broadway in NY are definitely still on the horizon and who knows? Maybe one day… the Oscars.”
Fingers crossed, Nicole!
