Isabella Roessle
For many young girls, Miley Cyrus’s alter ego Hannah Montana is the ideal image of fame, inspiring them to learn to sing, dance and act. Nine-year-old Isabella Roessle of Scottsdale is no different, except that she has shaped that dream into a budding acting career in commercials and film.
While the soon-to-be fourth grader takes pride in her acting roles in school plays, she has also appeared in a national Claritin commercial as a soccer player and in a made-for-television movie called S.I.S., set to air on Spike TV. In her acting career, Isabella ranks these two jobs among her greatest achievements so far.
Isabella recently signed with Valley-based agency Signature Models and Talent in April. She says she is looking forward to any potential jobs that the agency helps her book. “I had never been with an agency before, so I thought it was really cool that I got to sign with Signature,” Isabella says.
Isabella began acting professionally at age 7, but her mother, Deb, says she has been a ham as far back as age 3: “She was always doing dress up, organizing little plays, wanting to be the center of attention and singing,” Deb says. “Of course, back then it was either Teletubbies or Barney songs.”
When she’s not acting, Isabella stays active in softball, soccer and karate. She has also traveled the world and speaks fluent German—bonuses that she attributes to her father, an international commercial airline pilot living in Germany.
Deb, a full-time investment broker, says scheduling Isabella’s auditions, as well as her younger sister Cecilia’s acting activities, has become a second job. But as long as Isabella wants to act, Deb says she is willing to drive her wherever she needs to go.
