| Rene Aranda | |
| Birth Name: | Rene Michelle Aranda |
| Birth Date: | 6 December 1990 |
| Birth Place: | Whittier, California |
| Nationality: | American |
| Other Names: | Ren |
| Occupation: | Actress, singer |
| Years Active: | 2013–present |
| Known For: | Papa (2018 film) |
| Family: | Michael Aranda (brother) |
| Website: | renearanda.com |
Rene Michelle Aranda, sometimes credited as Ren Aranda, (born December 6, 1990) is an American actress and singer, best known for Searching and Midnight in the Switchgrass. She has won Best Actress (Silverstate Film Festival, 2018),[1] Best Supporting Actress (LA Edge Film Awards, 2018)[2] and Outstanding Performance by an Actress (Kennedy Center ACT Festival)[3] [4] [5] and finished as a semifinalist in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Center's Irene Ryan scholarship program.[6]
Aranda was born in Whittier, California, to Frank and Cheryl Aranda. She was raised in the nearby city of Chino Hills, where Aranda grew up with older brother Michael Aranda (YouTube creator and musician), older sister Sara Ann Aranda and younger brother Frank Nathan Aranda. Her mother was a self produced singer/songwriter through CD Baby and secretary to the college dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Cal State Fullerton[7] until she died June 27, 2009, after a seven-year battle with breast cancer.[8]
Aranda is an alumnus of the Los Angeles City College Theater Academy, a three-year, audition-only acting conservatory at which Morgan Freeman, Mark Hamill, Cindy Williams and Bette Davis studied.[9] Just before graduating in 2012, she won the national award "Outstanding Performance by an Actress" in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for her role as Willy the Space Freak in a gender-bent adaptation of Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand.
For her role as "Van's Sister" in LACC's stage production of Bert V. Royal's in 2010, Aranda was nominated for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Irene Ryan scholarship, for which actors compete as a part of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. She made it to the semi-finals.
First invited to the set of network Cinelatino distributed film Smile Now Cry Later as a background actor by a fellow Theater Academy alum, Aranda was later asked to replace a crew member on a subsequent film before being locked in for two more features (Fighting Chance and Cherry Red Kiss) and by the fourth production (Until the Day I Die), she served the company Plus Entertainment as an in-house producer, appearing on screen in each title she helped produce.
Aranda was featured with touring architect Alán Ramiro Manning in the Woodbury University Neo-Tribes Runway Event[10] on May 1 and 2 2013, donning a Jenny Erin Davis (Black Lightning) design of a Bram Stoker's Dracula inspired Elisabeta (Transylvania 1462), wearing Stila makeup.
In addition to her film and television career, Aranda debuted as a musical artist in 2018, releasing two pop singles a few months apart on Spotify,[11] iTunes,[12] iHeartRadio[13] and other online streaming platforms.
Aranda is a regular volunteer reader and occasional coordinator for Reading to Kids,[14] and ran on the foundation's charity relay team in the Los Angeles Marathon in 2016.[15]
She also participates as a volunteer actor in Young Storytellers "Big Show" productions.
| 2013 | It's Dark Here | Funeral Mourner | |
| Smile Now Cry Later | Smile Now Cry Later | ||
| 2014 | Sins of a Call Girl | Diner Patron | Scene deleted |
| Fighting Chance | Sabrina | ||
| Expelled | Police Officer | ||
| Cherry Red Kiss | Eva Alvarez | ||
| 2015 | Faraar | SWAT | |
| 2016 | Until the Day I Die: Part 1 | Officer Bracamontes | |
| Until the Day I Die: Part 2 | Cholita | ||
| The Green Fairy | Mrs. Ferrer | ||
| A Killer Walks Amongst Us | A Killer Walks Amongst Us | ||
| Shadows of the Dead | Police Officer | Uncredited | |
| Christmas with the Andersons | Police Officer | ||
| 2 Lava 2 Lantula! | S.W.A.T. | Uncredited | |
| I Know Where Lizzie Is | EMT | ||
| 2017 | Police Officer | Uncredited | |
| Inspired to Kill | Inmate | ||
| 2018 | Eruption: LA | Army Soldlier | Uncredited |
| Papa | Robin | ||
| Searching | Emergency Medical Technician | Uncredited | |
| Woman on the Edge | Police Officer | Uncredited | |
| 2019 | Boris and the Bomb | Sonia | |
| Intolerance: No More | 9-11 Operator | Voice | |
| Debbie and Doug Drop Acid in the Desert | Bunny | Short, festival circuit | |
| The Fanatic | Tourist | ||
| 12 Pups of Christmas | Alex's Mom | ||
| 2020 | Sinister Savior | Izzie's House Medic | |
| Mommy is a Murderer | EMT | ||
| 86 Melrose Ave | Coworker | ||
| Bonded | Girl in Pedicab | Uncredited | |
| Dusters | The Retriever | Short, festival circuit | |
| Lichlord Dan and the Fall of Man | Dr. Samantha Monroe | Filming | |
| Happy Horror Days | Party Guest | Anthology | |
| 2021 | Blursday | Nurse Rene | Voice Over |
| Midnight in the Switchgrass' | Prostitute | Uncredited | |
| 2022 | Clown & Out | Rebecca Jones | |
| Emily or Oscar | Laura | 50+ festival wins[18] | |
| In Love with My Partner's Wife | Police Officer | Lifetime Movie | |
| My Nightmare Office Affair | Business Woman | Lifetime Movie | |
| The Stepmother 2 | Hostess | Tubi Original | |
| Four Hour Layover in Juarez | Valeria | Short, festival circuit | |
| 2023 | Imani | Paramedic | BET Original |
| Assistant | Couple at Restaurant | Tubi Original | |
| No Way Out | Paramedic | ||
| The Stepmother 3 | Paramedic | ||
| Our Broken Family | Amy | Award winning[19] | |
| Proof Sheet | Female Police Officer / Brothel Worker | ||
| F.L.Y. | |||
| Night Mistress | Shelly Steele | Post-production | |
| In Deep | S.W.A.T | Award winning | |
| Still Here | Fan Girl | ||
| City of Dreams[20] | Girl in Pedicab | ||
| 2024 | Somnium | Victim #3 | |
| The Disinvited | Sarah | ||
| Falaq | S.W.A.T. |
| 2014 | HitREcord on TV | Herself | Episode 2: "Fantasy" | |
| 2014-2018 | WhatImDoingRightNow | Herself | Michael Aranda's vlog, 9 episodes | |
| 2015 | Tabloid | Bracamontes/ S.W.A.T | 2 episodes | |
| 2016 | Murder Among Friends | Officer Mejia | Episode: "Unholy Friends" | |
| Take My Wife | Hotel Patron | Episode: "Holiday Special" | ||
| Dangerous Games | ||||
| 2016-2017 | Blood Relatives | Police Officer | 2 episodes | |
| Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television | Paramedic | Scene Deleted | ||
| 2017 | Germany's Next Top Model | Herself | 3 episodes | |
| Betrayed | Police Officer/ S.W.A.T. | 3 episodes | ||
| Extreme Measures | CSI | Episode: "Oh Mother, Where Art Thou?" | ||
| 2019 | Intrigue | Jury | ||
| CollegeHumor Originals: Kingpin Katie | Officer | Episode 8 | ||
| CryptTV Fight Night | Spectator | |||
| 2021 | Nova Vita | Nurse Julie | 3 episodes | |
| 2023 | Double Cross | Patient | AllBlk Original Series |
| 2016 | JoHn Muir | ScHoolboy Q | Police Officer | |
| One Time Comin | YG | Police Officer | ||
| Let You Go - Ft. The Promise | Bobo Norco | Police Officer | ||
| 2017 | High Spirits | Pierre | Lead | |
| Math | Quin | EMT | ||
| 2018 | Need You Anymore (Movie Soundtrack - Smile Now Cry Later) | Patrick Nuo | Dancer | |
| Evidence | Bashrock | Girlfriend | ||
| 2019 | Stay Broke | Tokyo Yens | Inmate | |
| No Sudden Moves | Julia Nunes | Hand Dancer | ||
| 2020 | We Can Make Up | Guy Tang | LGBTQ+ Couple | |
| 2021 | ||||
| Rap Demigod | Dax | Police Officer | ||
| Suffocating | Dax | Rapper Entourage | ||
| 2022 | I Dance | YG feat. "Duki" & "Cuco" | Guest |
| Year | Award | Category | Film | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Irene Ryan (KCACTF) | Acting | Semifinalist | ||
| 2012 | Outstanding Performance by an Actress (KCACTF) | Acting | The Unseen Hand | Won | |
| 2018 | LA Edge Film Awards | Best Supporting Actress | A View From the Mountain (short) | Won | |
| 2018 | Silverstate Film Festival | Best Actress | A View From the Mountain (short) | Won | |
| 2019 | Rising Star[21] | Industry Award | Won |