Sydney Thomas

Sydney Thomas is an American actress. Thomas portrayed Sydney Ashdown on Pureflix series Up on High Ground.

## About

**Sydney Thomas** (born August 12, 1997) is an American actress.

Her most recognizable acting role is as Sydney Ashdown on the television series Up on High Ground (2014–2015).

## Supporting roles and Theater

Sydney began acting at a young age. She was cast into her first film acting role in the St. Louis independent feature film "Hercules: The Brave and the Bold" in 2012 which was released in 2013. Prior to her big screen debut Sydney had been involved heavily with theater, singing and dancing her way into supporting roles for a number of years.
Prior to being cast in Up on High Ground she was a part of the St. Louis areas Pick-a-Little Chorus in Shooting Star’s production of The Music Man.

Also in Jesus Christ Superstar and other musicals including Les Miserables with Young People’s Theatre and Honk Jr. at COCA.

## Up on High Ground

Thomas was the second highest billed female character in the cast for the family and faith based TV series *Up on High Ground*, playing the character Sydney Ashdown.

Thomas appeared in all but one episode of the series that ran on several The CW TV affiliates in syndication and Pure Flix Entertainment from 2014-2015.

For Sydney, *Up on High Ground* marks the second time that Brayden Patterson, Joe McGettigan, Bryan Kreutz and and Erin Morris have worked together that also included working alongside sisters Rylee and Molly Cravens. The first was the 2013 Indie feature film *Hercules: The Brave and the Bold.* In that film,Sydney played the part of Persephone, the wife of Hades. Hades was played by none other than series co-creator Bryan Kreutz.

Kreutz, who worked closely with Patterson on creating believable high-school clique characters had a dilemma while auditioning Thomas for the role of Sydney Ashdown. Actress Sydney Thomas auditioned on the same day and up against actress Dacey Geary by intentional design, that made the casting more interesting. Geary nailed the audition, and made the role that was already in the bag for Thomas more interesting, even getting the suggestion Geary play the role by then un-credited casting director Joel Matzenbacher. Patterson and Kreutz unanimously agreed that Geary could play the role, but offered her a guest appearance instead in a future script for her superb audition. The tough, but close call in casting still had both series creators wanting Thomas after both actresses auditioned and were in a nearby waiting room on the results, because the role was written specifically for Thomas. Moreover Kreutz and Patterson were concerned a bit about Sydney Thomas being only 14, but playing a High school Sophomore at the time of audition. Sydney's believably rich girl gone bad attitude and looks were just the way the role was written for her, even though she was, according to Kreutz, opposite of being bad and very personable in real life.

Thomas didn't appear in one episode because the way the original pilot turned into the second episode after the CW requested a brand new un-filmed and more character establishing 1st episode pilot. Originally Thomas had one scene in a classroom talking on her phone to Savannah while teacher Mr. Charles taught. This scene was used completely with Thomas, but no longer in the second episode and now was included in the newly taped pilot *Superiority of the High and Mighty Kind-ness.* The scene where Dillon is introduced by the principal to Mr.Stu Charles and his class was initially shot in 2013 for the original pilot episode, but shorter. Originally the scene consisted of Sydney proving her superior social prowess by having a long, in class, phone conversation with Savanna Swanson while sitting next to rival Erin. When the series was picked up to produce more episodes, the scene was added onto at the beginning and end a year later. The actors had to have the exact placement, hairstyles, and same wardrobe to tie in with the previously shot footage as it was a year later to add to the newly re-written pilot episode scene. As such, Thomas had no scenes in the aired version of episode two *Friends, Family, and Freeloaders.*

## Personal life and career

Thomas is also a musician; her particular instrument of choice is Piano. Along with vocal lessons, she enjoyed singing in play productions, she used both her piano skills and vocals on screen as the final act of one episode in *Up on High Ground.*

Almost immediately upon completion of the series *Up on High Ground,* Thomas selected Johns Hopkins University as her choice to get a degree. She has officially taken a break from acting to dedicate more time to her degree.

Thomas currently resides in Chicago, Illinois attending Johns Hopkins University studying Political Science.

## External links

\* Sydney Thomas at TV.com