About me

Hi! I'm Clarisse, and I am a French-American actor. I grew up in Lyon, France and have been living in New York City since 2009. I just graduated from Columbia University with an MFA in Acting, and previously obtained my BA from Barnard College. I am passionate about Theatre and all performing Arts. I also love learning languages, reading, traveling, skiing and hiking.

I have work experience in various fields, which have made me very responsible, efficient and compassionate. Amongst other things, I have been a Host at a casual fine dining restaurant, an Incident Manager at Roadside assistance call center, a House Manager at a Theatre, a brand ambassador for a cookie company, and a receptionist at a hedgefund. All these jobs have allowed me allowed me to meet many different kinds of people. I am always very curious to learn about other people, how they think, what they are interested in and how they feel about the world.

One of my favorite jobs has always been babysitting. I love taking taking care of children. I started babysitting my cousins when I was a teenager, and before that I used to invent stories for them at family gatherings, about characters I made up.

I have been babysitting in New York for almost 8 years, for French and American families throughout the city. I always look forward to it, because I admire my kids' energy and imagination so much and we have a lot of fun together. I like to have conversations with children and try to get to know them, no matter how old they are - I ask about their day, their interests, school and friends etc. I am also always ready and willing to play with them and enter their imaginary worlds.Games I have played with children range from board games and hide and seek to improvising and inventing games on the spot with them.

With two of the kids, we once spent a long time getting dressed up and doing a contest of who had the weirdest look and face. With the little two year old we've played a bunch of games that happened in the spur of the moment and could go on for hours. I could pretend to be asleep and have her wake me up forever, play ball with her doll while I was carrying her doll, play pretend concert with her little guitar... She likes to "help me cook" by playing with water and plastic cups in the sink, or we pretend to clean the apartment together. We also often play with her little color blocks, coloring books, stickers, dolls, stuffed animals etc. I like to always ask her about colors, shapes, numbers and words in French in English, to see what she is learning and how she thinks and responds to things around her.

In addition to my playful side, I can be very structured and responsible; parents trust me and have often recommended me to other families. This past year, I have worked with four different French families in the city. I babysat a two year old girl ever week, and the other children I babysat on average once a month depending on when the families needed me. I picked the children up from school and walked them home. We would then do homework if necessary, play some games or watch cartoons, make and have dinner, get ready for bed (including putting on diapers for some children), read stories and sing in French and English, and then go to sleep!

I always let parents know how the day went and what happened, if I have specific questions, or if their children did something great!