Carson Bennet grew up in Blackshear, Pierce County, Georgia. She showed pigs. She shot deer. Now, she takes the F train to downtown Manhattan every day and spends her free time like the rest of us, scrolling endlessly through TikTok. It’s safe to say she’s had the best of both worlds.
Bennet is a 22-year-old aspiring actress with a BA from SUNY Purchase, NY. According to the US News and World Report Best colleges ranking for 2021, SUNY Purchase is among the top 10 public national liberal arts schools. Most people spend their college experience writing papers, taking tests, and studying for hours in the library; but Bennet had dance practice, rehearsal, and read throughs as her course work.
Moving from Georgia to New York, not only brought culture shock but a new perspective and outlook on the world. “Coming from Georgia, I have a better understanding of where people came from and how that makes them act and think so I give them a benefit of the doubt. I think up here people jump to conclusions too fast,” explains Bennet. New Jersey and New York natives are fascinated by Bennet, her stories and infectious personality.
Bennet explains that it’s a lot easier to fly under the radar in New York, which has its pros and cons. “Basically, in Georgia people will talk shit behind your back but in New York they’ll talk shit to your face. It’s a lot easier to be anonymous in New York, sometimes I like it and sometimes I hate it because it’s so lonely,” she says. Bennet also said that Georgia and New York couldn’t be more opposite if they tried, “I miss the simplicity of Georgia and being able to walk outside and breathe. Here I walk outside and have to worry about stepping in human shit and a rat running around my apartment.”
Bennet says that the biggest difference between the two are the beliefs and ideas children are raised with. For example, she notices that when it comes to southern politics, beliefs, and morals, most northerners are too quick to judge. Bennet explains that growing up in Georgia, that’s the environment everyone is raised in and all they’ve ever known. In the New Jersey and New York area, children are educated on both sides of an argument. ”It’s almost like a liberal privilege, you had the privilege to become educated and form your own decision. People in the south believe “bad things” because you think they have a choice, but honest to God it’s all you know. It’s not a choice in the south, it’s the way that you are born and bred. Don’t accept it or tolerate it because I don’t, but have a lot more conversations. Have compassion and patience with people, New Yorkers don’t understand that.”
As far as her acting career goes, Bennet explains the industry is a marathon and not a sprint, and the worst thing you can do is compare yourself to others. “This whole business is about luck, who you know, right place right time, you are rolling the dice every day. For me, I think it has been realizing am I in it because I want to be famous and I want the money and recognition, or am I in it because I can only live and breathe when I create art.” To make ends meet, Bennet is a driver for Doordash, babysits four days a week, and sells her clothes/jewelry online.
With 22 years of experience, Bennet has learned a lot about herself, her journey, and the world. “The older I get the more I realize I don’t know shit,” she explains. She’s had time to self-reflect, as well as determine what is most important to her in life. “I think things that I learned growing up in the south, the good things I’ve held onto, and the bad things I’ve learned from and I wouldn’t be who I am today…I think bringing those things up here has helped me survive in the lowest of times and attract people into my life that are genuine and who truly deeply care rather than being placeholders for the next best thing.”
Lauren Peacock 