A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hairspray, Roundball and American Crime.

From an auditorium stage to television screens across the country, early graduate Sky Van Vliet is pursuing her acting career in California. While she may be new to Hollywood, Van Vliet has already made a splash, earning on a roll on a national television series, ABC’s American Crime.

“Oh man, it’s so cool,” theatre director Stephanie Smith said. “We’ve had a couple of students end up on national commercials and things like that. It’s always cool to see students go on and continue to perform and to be involved in theater and acting activities. So it’s really cool to turn on your TV and you’re like, ‘Hey I worked with that kid, they were in our musical,’ so I’m very excited for Sky and everything she’s doing and I’m super happy to see how her work continues to grow.”

Van Vliet was involved in the theatre department at Rouse and participated in both on and off stage during productions.

“Sky was a really hard worker and a very dedicated student so I think that she brought a lot of good work ethic to the department,” Smith said. “She was versatile. Sky did a lot of tech as well so not only did she work on stage, she worked back stage and I think that was smart to see how every single aspect of the theater runs, that was always very important to her. Sky was definitely an asset to our program and I’m super happy that she was here.”

Following her theatre career at Rouse, Van Vliet landed the role as Becca Sullivan on season two of ABC’s American Crime. The 10-episode series follow the story of an alleged sexual assault at a private school and the impact it has on the students, family, basketball team and school.

“Filming was great,” Van Vliet sad. “I made lots of lasting friendships and have so many great memories. It was really surreal.”

Filming the season took place in Austin and Modesto, California where Van Vliet got the opportunity to meet and work with many performers.

“Getting to meet all the other actors was probably the best part,” Van Vliet said. “When I met Andre 3000 I didn’t even know who I was talking to at first. I was just casually having a conversation with him in the makeup trailer. I was so starstruck meeting Regina King I thought I was going to die. But really the best part was Timothy Hutton. He was and still is one of my biggest role models.”

Hutton, who played a basketball coach and Van Vliet’s father on the show, recently set up Van Vliet with her new manager. She is managed by Untitled Entertainment and is also represented by Zephyr Talent Agency.

“Zephyr got me my job on American Crime,” Van Vliet said. “And has continued to work hard getting me jobs and auditions since I’ve been here.”

Van Vliet participates in many other arts and has been performing since she was 9. She is a dancer and an aerialist and also taught classes for the two in Austin. While she was teaching dance classes and filming American Crime, Van Vliet was also taking extra classes to graduate a semester early to move to Los Angeles.

“Well, graduating was its own struggle,” Van Vliet said. “I racked up so many hours shooting American Crime I was pretty sure it wasn’t going it happen there for a bit. Moving to L.A. happened so fast it was hard to feel any emotions about it. I was so busy finding replacements for my dance classes I taught, packing and getting my car ready to leave. I didn’t have time to feel overwhelmed.”

Van Vliet was able to graduate in December and move to L.A. to help with her career.

“Living in L.A. is fun, but difficult,” Van Vliet said. “I live walking distance from the Chinese Theatre, Griffith Park and lots of food and shops. Sometimes when I’m not doing anything I’ll skate two blocks to Hollywood Boulevard and read all the names on the stars.”

Moving to Los Angeles and filming American Crime has helped enable more opportunities for Van Vliet.

“I walk into auditions now and casting directors already know who I am,” Van Vliet said. “It’s pretty exciting.”

Van Vliet’s love for performing has given her opportunities that will stick with her forever as she continues to pursue her career.

“I choose to be a performer,” Van Vliet said. “Acting chose me.”

Wednesday, March 9 is the final episode of season 2 of American Crime. Past episodes are available on ABC.com.