It is magnificent and terrifying to be 22 and graduating college, to know that the pillars that have held up the routines, the relationships, the social strata upon which you have predicated your personhood are in imminent danger of crumbling as soon as you cross the stage to receive your degree. Henceforth, you are self-reliant. Henceforth, your own voice is the most powerful tool you will ever wield. When we speak, Natalia Bryant is mere weeks from that fraught stage-crossing; the daylight hours spent on the USC campus alongside esteemed professors and favored peers dwindling by the instant. 

Yet, Bryant sits, calm and polished. It appears to be just another Thursday afternoon for the 22-year-old USC film student, who got matcha with friends before sitting down to discuss every soon-to-be graduate’s favorite topic: the future. It doesn’t take long to see that there’s no shortage of passion and curiosity coming from Bryant: within her (as is within anyone soon to make their entrance in the Real World) is a yearning to figure out who she is—to define herself. She’s already well on the way to self-actualization, having been the face of several fashion campaigns: David Yurman, Victoria’s Secret PINK, and Uggs. She’s also modeled on runways, interned for Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment, and been a participant in student films far before she entered the twilight of her college years. Perhaps it is this wealth of life experience that keeps Bryant poised on the occasion of our meeting, with no feelings of post-graduate terror boiling to the surface.

As the daughter of the late NBA great, Kobe Bryant, and with a schedule consumed by club volleyball, most of Bryant’s childhood was defined by sports, but Bryant was always drawn towards the arts. She makes it clear that her passion for film started long before she considered studying it. When asked about her favorite filmmakers, she mentions Greta Gerwig and Sofia Coppola without hesitation. It’s clear that her love for the auteurs goes beyond admiration for Bryant—there’s recognition there. “I grew up in a female dominated household watching Sofia Coppola’s films [portray] women and especially girlhood,” she laughs. “[They portray] women in such a truthful way.” Dreamy portraits of girlhood and chaotic representations of sisterhood seem to mirror her own experiences. She dragged friends to the theater to see Gerwig’s Little Women five times, a film that made her feel seen in a way few others had and gave her friends a glimpse into her life. The characters in these films are shaped by love, loss, and self discovery through community and solitude, something she’s truly beginning to navigate as she steps into adulthood. 

Bryant interpolates these experiences in her senior thesis film, which explores the complex dynamics between two sisters learning how to support each other on the eldest’s wedding day. When it comes to the difficulties of life as they relate to the film (and to her own) she notes that, “everybody experiences [girlhood] in their own way.” Bryant finds comfort in these differences, and to her it’s the mundane that inspires her the most. “I think the biggest impact on my creative process is just everyday life. I think you can find creativity from anything and everything.” She takes note of her surroundings and is aware of how her relationships affect her, “the energy that you place around you can have a big effect on your outlook…that plays a key part in [developing] creativity.” 

Bryant has found comfort in the simple moments, but she learned to pay extra attention to them in school. She recalls a moment in one of her film analysis classes where they watched Finding Nemo. The film might be regarded by others as unserious in its nature, but for some reason, the absurdity of analyzing a children’s film, with all of its attention to detail, stuck. Bryant admits that every time she watches a new film—for adults or children—she remembers the way her professor pointed out important moments that would normally be overlooked: “That [technique] just plays in my mind,” she muses. The devil may be in the details, but so too are the angels; the small joys. 

Of course, Bryant isn’t just attracted to mundanity—she’s been involved in laborious interdisciplinary projects at school, where she collaborates with dance and music majors. “We shoot music videos…we bring people from the dance school [and collaborate on the videos for the music majors]. It [makes for] such a collaborative environment,” she smiles. Bryant tells me that her artistry is shaped by her surroundings and her creative peers—but which part comes from within? 

“As a kid you have a mentality where there’s no limit, so therefore you don’t put up any barriers to stop creativity. You don’t put up walls,” she says. “You have to imagine there’s nothing stopping you.” There’s a dream inside her that isn’t simply defined by her work output—Bryant’s dream is inextricable from finding a clear, uninterrupted voice. 

When asked what Bryant might need to let go of to find this voice, she falters. Perhaps the most difficult part of becoming oneself creatively isn’t letting go of what doesn’t serve you, but rather, bringing your inner child along with you into an uncertain future. Natalia Bryant—of the present, of the past—will define herself on her own time, and her path won’t be defined by a degree or a name. She’s writing her own story, and she’s only just finished chapter one. 

Photographed by Phil & Sara

Styled by Siena Montesano

Written by Kayla Hardy

Hair: Ray Christopher 

Makeup: Marie Vargas

Flaunt Film Music: Pale Jay