An actor from Marina who stars in a new Netflix series talks puppets and ‘the hustle.’

As a young actor, landing a Netflix deal is no easy feat. Diona Elise Burnett, an actor and puppeteer currently based in Los Angeles but raised in Marina, would know.

Burnett, 29, attended Monterey High School, where she says she was too shy and insecure to perform. But with a little help from her parents, she finally got the full drama club experience, majoring in theater at CSU Sacramento. “I felt like I wanted to be an actor, but I had so many doubts. My dad especially told me, ‘You should study theater if it makes you happy. Why not?’ He was right. This is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

She thrived in an academic environment, earning a bachelor’s at Sac State and became a finalist in the Kennedy Center for The American College Theatre Festival, which gave her a full ride to the Steppenwolf Theater company in Toronto, Canada. She went on to get her associate’s degree from the New York Conservatory. Then came the hard part – moving to Los Angeles and trying to land a gig.

Now she’s been cast in as a voice actor and puppeteer in Michelle Obama’s Netflix series, Waffles + Mochi which follows two best friends on a quest to become chefs.

Weekly: You’re starring in Waffles + Mochi and it’s a puppet show. You have such an expressive face. Was it difficult for you to transition into doing voice acting? Or does that translate behind the scenes?

Burnett: How I describe it is that it’s a puppet show with people. I puppeteer two of the characters: Steve the Mop (and the voice of him) and MagiCart 3000. Puppeteering is really physical, you just don’t see it. So is voice acting. But I’m making faces, I’m using my hand and arms playing different motions, flailing around and swaying side to side. My job is to physicalize these otherwise inanimate objects through the camera.

It took you a while to get here. What is hustling like?

When I moved to Los Angeles, I needed a place to live and I needed a job. I was sharing a room with my sister who was already living in a woman’s house. I was literally sleeping on my sister’s floor. That was stressful, and that was the first month. After that, we found an apartment and lived for a year together.

So while I was looking for gigs, I worked as an usher for the Pantages Theater. I don’t regret working there because it was such an eye-opening experience, like how rich entitled people look at the people working at the theater.

I remember this woman was whispering to her daughter, that these 20-somethings helping them into their seats probably didn’t go to college. These people were like me. A lot of them were students at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy down the street, putting themselves through school or working until we could get a job.

I worked at restaurants and tried to audition as much as possible. It was hard. But I wouldn’t have been able to get through it without my parents. I come from a strict Buddhist household and they encouraged me to keep going.

Was there a specific moment or person that really motivated you to become an actor?

Yes, Zoe Saldana. I remember seeing her in Star Trek and thinking, “I want to be that. I want to do that. She’s so cool.” She gets to make believe she’s this alien from Avatar. She just brings so much energy into the characters she plays. I love her so much.

What are you currently binge-watching on Netflix?

I just got into this really great series French series, Lupin. It’s a really cool, master of disguise show.

What’s your dream role?

My dream role – not that [Emma Watson] did a bad job – it’s that I would have loved to play Hermione Granger. During the quarantine I’ve been really into the Harry Potter books, they are so good.

If you could have a conversation with your younger self, what would you say now?

First of all, do not eat Top Ramen until you’re 20 years old, because you’ll become addicted to it.

I don’t know. Probably something like, keep being you, your weirdness and all. Some people will think it’s too much, but you won’t see them again. Keep smiling, like Simba from The Lion King.