FLOYD COUNTY, Ind. — A Kentuckiana native is shining on the silver screen. 2021 Floyd Central High School graduate Caroline Siegrist recently made her film debut with an appearance in the box office hit 'It Ends with Us,' starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
"I think back to my younger self and think about how crazy it is," Siegrist said about her role as mean girl "Katie" in the movie. "I saw a casting call and I loved the book, so I sent it to my manager and said 'oh my gosh I have to get an audition.' And she said 'you don't really look like Blake Lively.'"
"And I was like 'I know, I know, but still I think it would be fun to audition,'" she added with a laugh.
Siegrist's burgeoning career is mostly focused on musical theatre. She started at a young age, supported by mentors like Megan Bliss, who's been working with her since her first shows at Derby Dinner Playhouse.
"The first time I heard her sing my jaw hit the floor," Bliss, who also choreographs shows for Floyd Central, said.
As a student at Floyd Central, Siegrist became a rising star in the school's talented galaxy of performers
According to its website, Floyd Central's theatre program has been recognized several times by the Educational Theatre Association as one of the top theatre programs in the country, was named "Best Theatre School in the Midwest" by Stage Directions Magazine in 2013, and was asked in recent years to pilot high school productions of hit Disney Theatrical Group productions.
"The standard of excellence for all the performing arts here at Floyd Central is and has, as long as I've known it, been extremely high," choir teacher, and theatre program music director, Angela Hampton said.
"They treat you like a professional at Floyd Central," Siegrist said of her time there. "They know you're a kid, but they definitely hold you to that standard."
After a year at Indiana University, Siegrist left school for New York in early 2023 to launch her career. Already, she's clinched her movie role and a run as Katherine Howard in the musical 'Six' on a cruise ship.
"She's now teaching me, even though I used to be her teacher, that 'oh you can break the mold and be successful,'" Bliss said.
"To see a kid, whether they're thriving as an engineer, or a doctor, or teacher is an amazing thing," Floyd Central psychology teacher Katrina Uhl said.
Siegrist once dreamed of being on Broadway, and though that's still in the cards, her vision of success has changed.
"My younger Caroline, I've made her proud, so I think for me the biggest thing to know I've made it, I think I just want to work on projects and shows that feel really fulfilling for me," she said.
Whether on stage or on screen, her Floyd Central family is ready to give her a standing ovation.
"I know she’s just getting started, she’s going to be a big name some day," Bliss said.
While Siegrist lives primarily in New York now, she paid a visit to Southern Indiana earlier this week to perform at the 50th anniversary of Derby Dinner Playhouse.
The next planned production from Floyd Central is "Mamma Mia."