Aubrey Shea is a queer nonbinary actor, filmmaker and jazz pop musician from the swampy suburbs of Florida. They grew up a theater rat, working in professional theater by age ten. After deferring Harvard to continue pursuing their film career, they joined ABC's Nashville as Layla Grant - a character who, after becoming semi-famous as a teenager on a vocal competition show, struggles with depression, addiction, divorce, and estrangement from her family while exploring who she truly is as an artist. During their time on the show Aubrey had the honor of touring the country and performing at the Grand Ole Opry multiple times, playing blues and soul music.
They are currently leading the new LGBTQIA+ television series Unconventional, created by Kit Williamson. Alongside Kit, James Bland, Briana Venskus, Willam, Kathy Griffin, Constantine Rousali, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, and Stephen Guarino, Aubrey plays queer bipolar Margot, sibling to Noah (Kit Williamson) coming to terms with her own childhood trauma for the first time as she prepares for having a child with her wife Eliza (Briana Venskus).
Aubrey's writing & directorial debut Decadeless premiered at the Portland Oregon Women's Film Festival for women, trans and nonbinary creators in 2019 and can be watched in the film section of this website. They are currently working on their second short film Acceptance, an intimate, intergenerational queer narrative centered around a family living in Lake County, FL.
Aubrey's debut album Happy Birthday was released on their 28th birthday, November 26 2021, under their musical alter ego swampz. While sonically referencing jazz, 1940s-era studio movie musicals, and 80s synth pop, this album thematically focuses on depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
In the future, Aubrey would like to go to school to study Critical Ecology, Human Evolutionary Biology, and Sociology.
