Best Actress Nominees 2023

Arianna Lexus is an award-winning SAG actress and producer, who has been working full-time professionally since 2014. She has always had the desire to perform and started displaying her passion at a young age through theatre. After receiving a full scholarship for the performing arts, Arianna took a break from pursuing her dream of performing to raise her newborn son, Matthew, instead choosing to work as a Licensed Massage Therapist for ten years and coordinating international education at a children's hospital. 

It was in 2014 that she had a dream telling her to quit her job and pursue her acting career once again. In her mind, it was now or never. Some may call that cliche or crazy, but she called it fate and knew that was God guiding her down the right path. Everyone thought she was crazy and making a huge mistake, chasing some pipe dream that could never become a reality, but she knew they were wrong and followed her heart. It was extremely difficult, considering the lack of support she had from family and close friends, yet fortunately for her, there were a few close people that truly believed in her and her talents, including her boss at the hospital, who became like a father figure to her and insisted she do this! 

This road she chose to follow hasn’t been easy, it was filled with blood, sweat, tears, challenges and endless disappointment, yet she knew if she kept with it, one day it would be worth it. In 2021, after several years of fighting and clawing her way through stereotypical roles and/or a lack of substance in the roles offered to her, Arianna finally got her big break with the lead role in Matthew Cichella’s “God’s Not Here”, which is the first faith-based anthology film ever created. Life had seemingly finally turned around for Arianna, finding a home in faith-based films, but what came never she could have never expected.

While riding high off of successfully wrapping “God’s Not Here” and despite being in the best shape of her life (including doing some hardcore stunt training) and being fully vaccinated, Arianna and her entire family were diagnosed with Covid-19 in December 2021. After 20 days of being sick at home, her family finally got better but Arianna, unfortunately, found herself getting worse and worse until one morning she woke up unable to walk and was experiencing the most horrific pain she ever felt. Covid-19 had attacked her body, blood and bones causing her to be hospitalized for the next four months, seeing more than 100 doctors and specialists, amongst 13 different hospitals, all while getting zero answers as to how to defeat this deadly virus. 

While battling the life-threatening symptoms caused by the disease, including swelling in her organs, red fire rashes that burned her body, loss of consciousness at times, among endless other complications, Arianna began to question her once strong faith. She had always been a believer but in this dire time of need, she couldn't understand why God would do this to her. Why would He allow her to suffer so badly for such an extended period of time, in front of her only child? She cried out to God, begging Him to just take her and release her from this pain.

At one point, when the pain had become unbearable, she thought about taking her own life. Her family was frantic and scrambling to find answers. Her mom began reaching out to prayer groups and healers all across the world. The truth was no doctor was going to be able to heal her. She knew her only chance was to give it to God and put her trust in faith and believe God would provide!

It was once Arianna finally let go and chose God, renewing her once strong faith, that a miracle happened! A healer her mother located called Arianna on the phone and offered to pray with her. During this prayer, Arianna could feel the Holy Spirit saving her. She began crying healing tears and knew that no matter what happened going forward, she was going to be okay. Arianna had prayer warriors from all over the world praying for her and the magnitude the power of prayer has is just so profound!

Arianna was sent to rehab the next day, arriving in a wheelchair, unable to walk on her own. Within nine days of arriving, Arianna was kickboxing, swimming, doing yoga and running obstacle courses. The staff at the rehab facility were at a loss for words, describing it only as a true miracle! She went home and stopped taking all 13 medications she was previously told she would be on for the rest of her life. She began a routine of taking vitamins, eating healthy, and learning to heal from the trauma she had experienced. Not only could Arianna walk again but she began stunt training as if nothing happened, despite having AVN from Covid-19 in both knees and her right foot! Unfortunately, the shift in happiness was short lived as in May 2021 only 2 months after coming home from the hospital her mother attempted suicide and was hospitalized, almost losing her life as well. Life was once again testing Arianna. She knew that making faith-based films would make her a target of evil forces, as the darkness was again trying to stop her from helping to spread the word in beautiful faith-based films about God, faith, love, loss, hope and forgiveness. Despite the extreme trauma that was for her debilitating at times, Arianna once again, with God on her side and a strong believe in faith, fought back.

With her mother slowly recovering and Arianna’s own health on the mend, she once again decided to overcome the odds and fight for her dream, this time going on to film and produce the sequel to “God’s Not Here,” called “God’s Not Here 2: A Testament of Faith.” But not being one to let the darkness win, she immediately followed that film up by acting in and producing the the psychological thriller, “Hyde Out”. Aside from all the trauma Arianna was already facing in her life she found herself being abused and mistreated by some very disrespectful men on this specific set where she was already in such a fragile state mentally, emotionally and psychologically due to the nature of that role and how her trauma personally related to those events. Instead of caving under the extreme pressure and circumstances Arianna not only took the abuse she did so with a smile on her face continuing to be kind to the men who wronged her and somehow gathered the energy and motivation to complete that film. With only being out of rehab less than six months and still mentally overcoming all she had recently endured; Arianna was able to fight off the darkness and complete two feature films. 

To this day, Arianna continues to use her platform as an actor and producer to spread positivity into a world that so desperately needs it. Whether it be spreading the message of hope and faith in the “God’s Not Here” series or raising awareness for victims of domestic abuse and violence as well as suicide prevention in “Hyde Out,” or being a voice for women in the industry fighting for equality and an end to the discrimination and abuse women face so that they can feel safe to be creative and do their jobs! Arianna is on a mission to help and inspire as many people as she can.

With all she has had to overcome and with everything that she has been able to accomplish, despite all the trauma she has endured, Arianna knows that anything is possible if you believe and have faith! They say our test is our testimony and Arianna plans on using her story to help inspire others overcome their trials and tribulations in life!!