Jordan Underwood: Non-binary Model, Actor, Creative Alien

Follow Jordan on Instagram: @jordallenhall

__underdog__: What is an underdog?

Jordan: An underdog is any person who is underrepresented in their field. In my experience, a lot of that has to do with marginalized identities that you possess that can make it harder to break into your field. At the end of the day I really see those things as assets (being queer, non-binary, fat, femme, etc etc), but when money is involved, capitalist systems of oppression can make those things into barriers to success. That’s why for me it’s really important to honor those parts of my identity and to treat them as the assets they are, as opposed to fighting them. At the end of the day, that’s all I can do because those parts of who I am aren’t going away, and I love that.

__underdog__: Are you an artist? Why or why not~

Jordan: I am! I am a model, and actor, a singer, a dancer and all over a creative little alien! Creating makes me feel whole and that’s all being an artist is! If you are creating, you are an artist.

__underdog__: Are you part of a “scene”? What is the scene and how do you view it?

Jordan: I don’t really know if I can say for sure if I am or not. I am definitely in or adjacent the downtown theatre scene (specifically the queer parts of it), and exist in the New York plus size model scene, but I don’t know how much of a scene that really is, and more just the work I do.

__underdog__: What do you believe in?

Jordan: My biggest belief is to advocate for people in my community and other marginalized groups. Making space for people who are not normally given the space to speak, and then amplifying their voices with my platform. Community is incredibly important to me. My chosen family and support system are the reason I am able to thrive, and I honestly wouldn’t be here without them, and so loving on them and supporting them is incredibly important to me. Activism and community are definitely my biggest values, and all of my beliefs can really be boiled down to those main parts of how I live my life on a daily basis.

__underdog__: Is there a philosophy you apply to art making or life in general?

Jordan: I really like to be active and intentional in the way that I create my art and live my life. As someone with a lot of mental health ~stuff~, it can be really easy for my to not get out of bed and sit in my suffering, but that’s not the life I want to live, and that’s not how creation thrives for me. I am the most full when I am creating and communicating through my art and existing with people I love and hold close to me. I also have Borderline Personality Disorder, and am in DBT therapy, which is a skills based therapy that is similar to CBT, but was created by and for people who have BPD. A lot of that treatment system can only be done with a lot of willingness and intention, so for the sake of my mental wellbeing as well I have to live my life in this way.

__underdog__: Where does your work come from? What drives you and your practice?

Jordan: All of my art comes from a desire to validate my own experiences and emotions, and then by that validating the experiences and emotions of people who have not been validated by mainstream media. I love acting because it gives me the space to feel big emotions that exist in my body that are not always ~appropriate~ to express or feel every day. Honestly I think that’s bullshit and we should create space for people to feel whatever giant and gross emotions they’re feeling, however and whenever they’re feeling them, but acting gave me a space to feel those things before I was allowed to in the real world, so that will always be where I feel most empowered in that way.

__underdog__: What challenges do you face and how do you deal with them?

Jordan: I would say my biggest challenges have been overcoming my mental health struggles and accepting all of the parts of who I am that have been deemed “too much”. My emotions, my fatness, my queerness have all been described as “too much”, and I have finally gotten to a place where I can say most of the time, I don’t feel ashamed of taking up space. A lot of that has to do both with the work I have done in therapy, the activist spaces I exist in, and my support system who never make me feel like there is too much of me.

__underdog__: Please share any biographical or identity information you’d like us to know.

Jordan: I’m a fat, queer, non-binary artist, with Borderline and other mental health stuff that make my life very complicated.

__underdog__: Is your work important? Explain?

Jordan: My work is important both in the modeling sphere and the acting sphere because visibility is important. I also think that as someone with privilege I also can utilize my platform to not only uplift people in the marginalized communities I am a part of, but also communities I am not a part of. Like, go pay a BIPOC right now! Donate to someone’s gofundme for top surgery, or go to a town meeting and ask what your elected officials are doing for trans women of color!! Do all these things please! It’s 2020! Supporting only the communities you exist in is good and it isn’t enough! We all have to stand in solidarity with each other, and acknowledge not only the oppressions we face, but also the privilege we hold, and utilize it to uplift the people who do not hold those privileges.

__underdog__: How would you describe your work to someone who can’t perceive it with the main sense it applies to.

Jordan: I’m a NYC based actor and model!

__underdog__: CATS OR DOGS?!?!

Jordan: Both. I cannot choose. They are both precious and perfect and special in their own ways. I have a cat named Stellaluna and am currently searching for a dog to adopt.

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