Mariah Moss
ACTRESS
I know from the Meet The Fans answers that Mariah Moss is a favourite of many of you. As well as being a wonderful actress she is also a rather fabulous human being, as I am learning pretty much everyone in the Vert space is. I hear story after story of how generous she is to everyone around her, and it is shown here with the time and thought she put into answering my questions.
Now you may know some of my feelings about the troubling aspects of some vert stories. And I am determined to do what I can to move things in a more positive direction. Mariah Moss is much more eloquent than me and has worded it perfectly here. What is wonderful is seeing how vert creatives are now getting to have more input, I LOVE that many of you are writing, directing producing, and more. I can’t wait to see how this all develops.
What do you do in the Vertical Industry?
I'm an actress! I'm also now writing and co-producing vertical series with some other great creatives in the space. More details coming soon 😉
How old are you?
24
How did you come across Vertical Dramas?
I submitted for my first vertical drama in January 2024 with about $12 to my name. A year out of university—where I’d studied acting and racked up a ridiculous amount of student debt—I had just quit my full-time desk job at a production company because it kept me from getting to my acting gigs. I had a theater and film background, but I was fully living the starving artist life. I didn’t know what a vertical was, the script was wild, but after two auditions and a callback, I took the job just to make rent.
That project, a werewolf drama, shot 160 pages in 8 days—a crazy set experience! It blew up online. This was overwhelming at the time, and the space felt so uncertain. But in hindsight, I’m grateful it introduced me to an evolving medium, incredible collaborators, and some projects I’m really proud of. In the last six months, I’ve shot in three countries. I couldn’t be more grateful!
What is your favourite project you have worked on so far?
Accelerating Love on Reelshort (got to 'drive' expensive cars)
What is the craziest thing you have found yourself doing while working on a vertical?
I don't know if I can pick between being buried alive in a rainstorm (literally having piles of dirt shoveled on top of me), gutterally howling while standing next to someone in a full green screen suit, or being shocked mid-scene when they called "hold!" so somebody, without warning, could run in with spray bottle of fake blood, spray me in the crotch with it and run back out of the frame.
Who is your unsung hero? Someone in the industry who should get more credit?
Huge shoutout to the crews in general, but I especially want to bring attention to our hair, makeup, and costume teams. Our costume teams source countless looks for feature-length scripts on the tightest schedules known to man. They keep everything organized down to the smallest jewelry changes. Our hair and makeup teams switch our looks between every scene, with the entire production team rushing them— and we shoot, like, 13+ scenes a day! This is way faster than normal industry standards.
We spend most of our set time with costume, hair, and makeup outside of us actually being in scenes. They create such a safe space for us. Amidst the chaos, that chair is often our only chance to sit, breathe, and reset throughout the entire day. As fast as they work, they’re also our rocks and confidantes, and our advocates as well.
What do you wish more people knew about verticals?
We’re often rewriting scripts on the spot. Many are direct translations from another language, and some things just don’t translate—linguistically or culturally. The apps want the exact meaning intact, so we tweak the wording line by line, adjusting scenes to make sense and negotiating based on our perception. Sometimes, even the director is stumped, the scene is fully lost in translation, and we're all just sitting with our heads in our hands. Of course, not all scripts are like this… and I think you can tell in the final product. 😉
What developments would you like to see in the industry in the year ahead?
I’d love to see more diversity in the vertical space—more POC and queer actors in leading roles, fresh genres, and stronger dialogue & storytelling. We also need higher production value and a serious overhaul of some troubling recurring themes: sensationalized violence, nonconsent, misogyny, and abuse.
I fully believe we can push for these changes and still deliver the soapy, sexy, romantic, and dramatic stories that audiences love and find comfort in.
What are you most proud of?
I’m proud to be standing on my own, working full-time doing what I love, and finding connections in so many corners of the world. Every day, I get to create entire worlds alongside those incredible people. I know my community so intimately, and that's something I’ll never take for granted.
I'm proud that this has allowed me to never stop learning—I’ve lived a thousand little lives, each one expanding my understanding of the world beyond what I could ever experience in a single lifetime. That’s the greatest joy of being an actor.
Which vertical actor would you like to play you in the biopic of your life?
Everybody tells me that Dorothy Mannine and I look like sisters-- it's got to be her!
3 Random Facts:
⭐ I play piano
⭐ I have weird bendy thumbs
⭐ I can make a really convincing crying baby sound
Favourite snack:
Pickles 🥒
Current earworm:
Sports Car by Tate McRae
Currently reading:
Babel by R. F. Kuang
Last movie you saw at the cinema / play on stage:
The last play I saw was King Lear.
The last film I saw in theaters was Anora. SO good.
Thank you Mariah🙏🏼
Please do check out:
🎞️ Mariah’s many series - you can find things on ShortMax, DramaPops and more
📸 Mariah’s Instagram @mariah_moss
📸 Mariah’s IMDB
