Most actors have a day job. Usually, it involves waiting tables, and is little more than a way of killing time before That Big Break. It’s highly unusual to find a young actor who is passionate about another, separate career path and who believes they can reach the top in both areas. Acting ambition is thought of as all-consuming, leaving little room for other goals. Is it possible to achieve two equally challenging dreams? Meet Kerri Yoder, actor and public health advocate.
This might seem an unlikely coupling but Kerri identifies herself as part of a long line of actor advocates – Tia Leone, Emma Thompson, Angelina Jolie, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. “Any true artist is extremely in touch with themselves. They want to inspire. They are passionate people who want to improve the lives of others.” And she plans on doing just that.
Kerri says that "life is the constant discovery and re-discovery of who we are as human beings and that acting for me is one way to facilitate this process." Her process of 'discovery and re-discovery' began in Mt Laurel, NJ. Growing up there, Kerri always wanted to perform. “At a young, young age I used to play in the mirror every night before I took my bath. I’d recite lines from Cinderella, Snow White, and My Fair Lady.I would put on shows for people and sing songs from Annie and Oliver! and make people laugh. I knew how to be cute. My cousin taught me how to blow bubbles.” Even at the age of three her looks attracted attention. “My Mom was approached in Philadelphia, at Saks 5th Avenue, to have my brother and I do modeling.” But her family wanted her to aim for medical school.
“I was good at math and science, my parents were both math and science teachers, and I thought I wanted to be a doctor. I was a severely asthmatic child so I was always in hospitals, I was very aware of how they affected people. I remember the conscious choice I made one day. I was in the car and I drew a hospital in the shape of an ice cream cone and I had a vision of the kind of hospital I wanted for kids and that’s when I thought ‘I don’t really want to be a doctor, I want to build hospitals.’”
Many years down the line that proved to be a life-changing revelation. “I didn’t realize until later, in college, when I was deciding what to do, what to pursue, how that really shaped the choices that I did end up making.”
Kerri discovered another passion in high school: soccer. “New Jersey is a huge soccer state, so playing high school soccer is good. But I also played outside of high school on club teams and for the Olympic Development teams; the experience was unparalleled.” When the time came to pick a college she applied for both academic and sports scholarships. She ended up being recruited for Yale. “When I went to visit I fell in love with it for a variety of reasons. I could tell it was a very community service oriented place. They also have these singing groups, acapella groups, that are amazing. These groups sing everywhere, there are concerts, people singing on the streets. I had this conscious moment too, I saw two gay men kissing and I thought ‘What the hell, I want to go there.’ It was this liberal place, it was great.”