Cookeville Native Elle Lisic Turns Childhood Acting Dreams Into Reality

An astronaut. A doctor. An athlete. A pop star. Childhood dreams are boundless. But for one Cookeville native, those dreams are becoming a reality. At just 10 years old, Elle Lisic is no longer dreaming of becoming an actor — she is living as one.

The daughter of Alex and Elizabeth Lisic, Elle dipped her toes into acting at a very young age as part of the Upper Cumberland theater scene.

“I did my first theater show when I was six and loved it,” said Elle. Since then, she has played numerous roles in popular productions at Cumberland County Playhouse, with Peter Pan standing out as her favorite.
“Definitely playing Tinkerbell has been my favorite role at Cumberland County,” Elle recalled. “It was so much fun to be a character everyone knows and loves.”

When schools shut down in 2020, Elle didn’t stop pursuing her passion. “I took acting classes during the pandemic and kept getting more interested,” she said. After watching her older brother, who is also an aspiring actor, participate in a short film the following fall, Elle decided she wanted to try on-camera acting.

Entering such a competitive and creative industry might feel daunting, but in Elle’s case, she had two incredibly supportive parents. Alex, a campus pastor at Life Church, and Elizabeth, who works with the educational nonprofit Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity, began seeking an agent for their daughter. After submitting headshots, résumés, and video demos to several Southeast agencies, interest was sparked. Elle soon landed representation, and auditions quickly followed.

In the spring of 2022, at just eight years old, Elle secured her first major acting role. She appeared alongside accomplished actors including Anna Paquin, Jake Lacy, and Colin Hanks, portraying Susan Broberg in the Peacock limited series A Friend of the Family. The show premiered in the fall of 2022 and is based on the true story of Jan Broberg, who was kidnapped multiple times by a close family friend.

Balancing work schedules, their son Evan’s own budding acting career, and Elle’s filming call times in Atlanta, Georgia, was a major adjustment for the Lisic family — but it proved to be only the beginning.

Following A Friend of the Family, Elle appeared in an episode of Gotham Knights on The CW, playing a flashback version of the character Young Duela. She also recently wrapped production on a short film in Nashville and is currently filming an additional feature with Amazon Studios titled Holland, Michigan.

Dreams have a way of becoming reality, and for Elle, that reality continues to expand. In a remarkable rise, she is set to appear in her first major motion picture, Pain Hustlers, starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans, premiering on Netflix on October 27, 2023.

Despite frequent travel between Atlanta, Savannah, and Nashville, the driven young actress remains grounded. Elle recently appeared in two productions at the Cumberland County Playhouse — The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and Frozen Jr. — honoring her theatrical roots and proving she’s built for the demands of an acting career.

Dreams are becoming reality, and the future looks limitless for Cookeville’s rising Hollywood star, Elle Lisic.

— by Chelsea Dartez | Photo by Cris Stroud | Styled by Seth Overton