At first, it might be hard to pinpoint exactly where you’ve seen Tommi Rose’s face, prettily framed as it is by blonde strands and anchored with a perfect pout — or where you may have heard her soulful voice that transcends her young age. A quick scan of her social media accounts and IMDb reveals an impressive and incredibly diverse résumé: from recent acting roles in binge-worthy Netflix series like Outer Banks and Sweet Magnolias to past and current film roles with major actors to writing original music and screenplays. Or maybe you’ve simply spotted her around Fort Lauderdale, where the young star honed many of the skills that landed her where she is today.
The day I speak with Rose on the phone, she’s on an extended visit with family at her childhood home in East Fort Lauderdale due to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, where she splits her time between Florida. “I’ve shot three films in Florida, so I’ve had the opportunity to spend so much time with my family this past year,” she says. “I still get to come back to the same house I grew up in, and I think I’m lucky for that.”
Like many Fort Lauderdale kids, Rose’s childhood encompassed beach days, walks along Las Olas Boulevard, and devouring towering ice cream cones with friends at Jaxson’s in Dania Beach. But she admits that most of her free time outside of school — she attended Bethany Christian School in Rio Vista and then secured a fine arts scholarship to North Broward Preparatory School, from which she graduated two and a half years early — was spent inside local theater companies, rehearsing and starring in musical productions. Rose’s parents enrolled her at theater camp when she was only 3 years old in the hopes she’d burn off pent-up energy. She was hooked instantly. “I loved theater because it combined everything. I had the chance to act and sing, which is what I do today,” Rose says, adding that she gravitated to improv. “I think every kid should have to take improv classes because it forces you to think quickly on your feet.”
Rose credits her father — who’s a member of the Fort Lauderdale rock band Twisted Envy — for exposing her to a variety of music genres from a young age. She recalls their daily car rides to school, where he’d blast everything from Green Day to punk rock and regularly quiz her on music legends. “He would go down the list of all the famous guitar players. He would say their first name, and I’d say their last. So, he would go: ‘Jimi.’ And I’d go, ‘Hendrix.’ It was this game we’d play, and I think I could name like 50 at one point,” she says with a laugh. When the starlet is home in Fort Lauderdale, she’ll jump in to perform with her dad’s band at the Tin Roof or Hurricane Bar & Lounge in Delray Beach; then, when she’s in Los Angeles, she transitions to belting out sultry jazz at The Velvet Martini Lounge on Sunday evenings. “Right now, I’m really into Ella Fitzgerald,” Rose says, though she quickly admits that her theater days still influence her sound. “Behind any genre that I do, there’s always a little bit of musical theater in there.”
The self-proclaimed musical theater junkie moved into TV and film during middle school, landing her first big lead playing aspiring singer Emma Scott Fitzgerald in the television series In Sanity, Florida alongside the legendary Burt Reynolds. That’s when Rose first realized she didn’t have to choose between singing and acting. She later snagged a regular role as Simone in Nickelodeon’s I Am Frankie, where she also showcased her vocal talents. From there, she’s booked a litany of notable feature film gigs, working with actresses Mira Sorvino and Mena Suvari. And this is set to be a big year for Rose: She stars in three soon-to-be-released movies that were filmed in Florida, including the thriller Lost In The Everglades, in which she plays actress Tori Spelling’s daughter, A Gunfighter’s Deal and Florida Wild, the latter two of which are Westerns. While the subtropical backdrops of Florida may seem an odd location for filming a Western period piece, Rose notes the state’s diversity. “A Gunfighter’s Deal was shot down the street from Florida Wild, which we filmed in Myakka City, and they look completely different,” she says. “Different landscapes, terrain, even the trees look different.”
Florida’s versatility resonates with Rose, who continues to blur the boundaries of singing and acting. When she was 14, her vocal coach began pushing her to write her own music, and while she didn’t initially think songwriting was for her, Rose currently has seven original singles on all music platforms. “Now, I don’t know how I would live without writing songs,” she notes. When asked if her songwriting style is more dreamy fiction or Taylor Swift-inspired — weaving her personal life and relationships into the lyrics — she jokes that she’s blessed to have a life interesting and exciting enough that she always has something to write about. “My style of songwriting is strangely specific and uniquely personal. Very often, I’ll write a song just for myself, so I can get a feeling on paper, and it’s out-of-my-body-or-brain sort of thing, and my family and friends will be like, ‘No, you have to release that.’” She brings her guitar along to movie sets as a way to bond with coworkers through music and even has a song that will be released on the A Gunfighter’s Deal soundtrack. “I was on set and I was so inspired by the script and by my character, Rose, that I started writing this song. It gives insight into my character and what it felt like to be her for a week,” she says. The actress sent it to the film’s director, R.J. Hendricks, and, to her surprise, he decided to put the song in the movie’s soundtrack.
Looking ahead, Rose is considering spending time in Nashville to pursue more music and is prioritizing collaborations with artists. “It fills my soul up, whether it’s writing or singing with another artist,” she says. “Music is this way of communicating, not just with words, but with melodies and harmonies.” Listen up: She’s got so much more to say.
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