Set Life: Shelli Delgado acts on sheer determination and surprise delight

This is the first in the new ArtsATL series Set Life on local creatives who work in Atlanta’s film and television industry. We’ll talk to those who work on both sides of the camera and explore their struggles and successes in navigating Georgia’s volatile film and TV scene.

Atlanta actor Shelli Delgado vividly remembers the moment she came face-to-face with someone symmetrically perfect. It was in the early days of her very first acting job on eight-season CBS drama The Vampire Diaries in 2009.

“They were putting us all into a van to take us to location, and, all of a sudden, there’s lead actor Ian Somerhalder (vampire Damon Salvatore), standing there, glistening in the sun. And he’s like, ‘Hi, my name’s Ian,’” Delgado recalls.

It was a thunderbolt diversion on a day Delgado remembers feeling like she did on her very first day of school — times a billion.

In the years since, Delgado’s acting jobs include a role in the 2019 HBO Max sci-fi series Doom Patrol, as well as the 2023 Justin Timberlake crime/thriller film Reptile. In 2024, she appeared in Hysteria, Peacock’s comedy-horror-thriller series.

A veteran actor today, Delgado is currently appearing in the new action series The Bondsman on Amazon Prime. “I play Hannah Kusatsu, Midge’s sister, played by the incredible Jolene Purdy. The show stars Kevin Bacon and is brilliant and action-packed, and it has so much Atlanta talent.”

This spring, Delgado also appeared with Samuel L. Jackson in a commercial for Capital One credit cards.

No matter the acting project, she’s still filled with the wonder of the Ian Somerhalder surprise and her early adoration of the craft in all its facets — unsuspected elation, frequent let-downs and ever-present toil.

In that vein, she shares something every would-be working actor needs to know: To stay in the game long-term, you have to love every aspect of it. Even the ones that are so tough they tempt many to quit.

“About 99% of the work is self-taping your at-home auditions, going to cattle calls and putting in the grunt work,” Delgado says. “That part has to be fun to you, too, because it’s not always going to be this amazing day on-set or getting to travel.”

Then she adds, “That 99% is what gets you there. And it doesn’t always pay off in you getting the gig. But you have to love that part, too.”

Acting itself is not all a working actor will do to pay the bills.

“I don’t know many actors who don’t have at least one other job for everyday financial security,” Delgado says. “Right now, I have the privilege of doing a secondary job as education director for a touring theater company called Destination Theatre, where we bring educational theater to all communities.”

In her role there, Delgado works part-time throughout the year until summertime, when she does the bulk of her work in theater education and travels with Destination Theatre. It’s a good fit, because she considers education to be the very thing that steered her toward acting in the first place.

“Years ago, it was my high school dream to be an English professor because I loved telling stories,” she says. “So I went to UGA and all of a sudden found myself doing theater and taking drama and film classes. I realized I could actually be better at storytelling through acting.”

Delgado does theater, as well, noting, “I’m continuing to hone my craft in live theater because it keeps you flexible and adaptable, and these are an actor’s biggest superpowers on set.”

Even though acting is definitely her gig — her greatest love and passion — she works to stay grounded and healthy in her mind-set about the job. She advises up-and-coming actors to take her approach to heart.

“I’ve struggled my whole life to make sure I don’t base my worth as a human being off any successes I have in my career,” Delgado says. “Success isn’t linear.”

So as a self-imposed therapeutic exercise, once a year, Delgado delves into another art form that pleases her — just for her.

“Last year I dropped my first EP that’s streaming on Spotify,” she gives as an example. “And this year I’m working on writing more. I’ve had a book in progress for way too long, so this year I’m telling myself I’ll work to publish it.”

Right now, if she could have her pick of acting jobs, what would she hope for?

“My dream would be to act on a sitcom,” Delgado says. “Because I feel you get all kinds of perks being on-set, being on a show, creating a family and having a character that grows throughout the whole process.”

If that dream came true, she would also want to remain based right where she is. “I’m so proud to be an Atlanta actor. And I’m proud of this industry and the caliber of work Atlanta artists provide,” she says.

Then, at home in more ways than one, Delgado adds with a smile in her voice, “I love to tell good stories.”

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Carol Badaracco Padgett is an Atlanta freelance writer who specializes in film and television coverage. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, her work has appeared in publications nationwide