Lily Marcheschi is a performer originally from San Francisco, California, who is currently residing in Richmond Virginia.  

Hi, it’s me, Lily Marcheschi. I have been asked why I prefer to write my resumes and cover letters using the 3rd person, and I think it’s because… I struggle owning my accomplishments and saying them with my chest. I stutter when I talk about them, get oddly shy when it comes up in conversation, sometimes will even omit big moments in my life due to a fear of seeming cocky or full of myself, when in fact, I am just sharing details and lore that I should be proud of, like everyone else.

Anyway, I say all that because I am going to switch from using “Lily” to “I” for the rest of this letter, in an attempt to to challenge myself and do one of the things that I think we all struggle and strive to do as actors: Finding and challenging our weaknesses and fears. I’m also going to attempt to use this as more of an actors diary entry than just a list of my accomplishments (but some will certainly get mentioned.) Alrighty then. Let’s get into it.

I have been acting since I was about 7 years old, starring in school shows and in extra curricular acting classes that I was put into by my parents. No, not because they sensed the “inner artist” (yuck I hate that I said that to) in me, but because they both had full time jobs and would rather come and see a group of 7 year olds reenact Romeo and Juliet than make small talk at a soccer game. They then put me in the weirdest school I could ever imagine going to, Adda Clevenger. At the time it was a year round performing arts school that considered Gilbert and Sullivan to be dieties. We had russian olympic athletes as P.E teachers, a drunk Vice Principal that would lock us in the closet with his doll collection, and multiple times a year all classes would be put on hold for school wide rehearsals of “the Mikado". After this my parents lovingly kidnapped me and stuck me in an RV with them for 3 months to travel around the United States. Upon our return to a motorless home, I was accepted into Oakland School for the Arts in their Dance Department. I auditioned for the school Musical “Hairspray" and got cast as Prudy Pingleton, the sexually repressed, hyper-relgious, pretty racist mother of Penny. I was the youngest student to get a role other than ensemble, and I quickly moved on over into the Theatre deparment.

Throughout all of my time as a youth in the bay area, no matter where I was or what I was doing I was always involed with the American Conservatory Theatres Youth Program. I was in their shows, enrolled in classes, and was picked as 1 of 8 students who got to go to Aberdeen Scotland to train with Her Majestys Royal Theatre as a part of a youth exchange program. A few years after that I got to back to Scotland with O.S.A to perform as the worlds largest TINKERBELL for our production of PETER/WENDY at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Alright, this getting a little long, right? Let’s hit fast forward and hit the highlights. I moved to LA for my gap year and studied with the Groundlings (and learned what depression was), moved back home, moved to New York to attend the Atlantic Acting Conservatory in August of 2019, almost immediatly got hit with a pandemic, followed by the actors strike. I moved to Berlin in August of 2023 for 3 months to escape a horrible relationship I had entered during said pandemic, only to accidentally enter a polycule that included someone who wanted my blessing to get with my ex. Moved back home to the Bay area in November of 2023 where I lived with my parents, went through a devastating friend breakup that made me reevaluate my mental health, did some guided psychedelic therapy that changed my life, produced and directed 2 productions of Horse Girls by Jenny Rachel Weiner, shot a UPS campaign, started dating a moped enthusiast nursing student, went to 3 moped rallies with said moped loving nursing student, and then moved to Richmond Virginia where I am currently working with Virginia Rep in their production of “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,” and living with my moped loving nursing student. I also modeled for a sculpture that went to Burningman and is now on display in Reno Nevada.

Now here are some quotes from people who are not me.

“Lily Marcheschi is further along in her acting, singing, and dancing work then most her age and yet comes to every class and every rehearsal with a generous spirit, an ensemble focused attitude and with leadership skills far beyond her years. She always delivers far more than she gets. This is truly a remarkable young woman and an extraordinary young talent who I would be eager to engage again and again. She has evolved into one of the very best in the conservatory and has limitless potential.” -Craig Slaight, A.C.T.

“ Watching Lily during her audition was like watching the best of Diane Keaton sautéed with the best of Saoirse Ronan, she was absolutely brilliant. So much that we altered some aspects of the character that she was auditioning for so we could have her in our production…. There is no doubt in my mind that with the right artistic nourishment, the right artistic soil, Lily could be at the forefront of the next generation of young American actors. She really is that special.” -Micheal French

“Lily was a student in my casting class at the Atlantic Acting Conservatory. In this class, I had students bring in dialogue from anything they wanted. Podcast, TV Show, Movie, and we would workshop it on camera. Lily always brought in incredibly brave choices. Not brave as in doing a monologue about how her dad killed her mom, but brave as in bringing in scenes that most students look at and go “no way.” Such as the Hamburger scene from Steve Martin’s “Pink Panther'', or the “It’s My Dog” scene from Will Ferrel and Nicole Kidman’s rendition of “Bewitched.” Courageous and novel choices that were always performed with conviction and gusto. She also brought in some heartfelt ringers, but comedy is truly where she shone the brightest. When she was on screen it was impossible not to watch what she was doing, even when she was doing it in a very saucy french accent.” -Todd Thaler, Casting Director.