Station 19 Star Stefania Spampinato Shares Swimsuit Photo From Sicily

1. Vegetarian Days

Spampinato is passionate about protecting the planet. “Have a vegetarian day!” she says. “If you are not ready to give up meat for life, have one meat free day every week. It takes 1,800 gallons of water to produce a single pound of meat. In the US meat consumption alone accounts for 30% of our water footprint.”

2. Love Letter to Sicily

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Spampinato loves Sicily so much she made a short film called Zita Sempri. "This film is a little bit of a love story to Sicily, to my mom, to the relationship that we had, and it's an invitation for us women to shed the guilt that we carry throughout generations," she says. "I was inspired to shoot it in Sicily because that's where I grew up. That's where I'm from.”

3. Dancing Background

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Spampinato has been dancing and performing since she was six years old. “I kept studying dance and after graduating high school I moved to Milan where I got a BA in performing arts,” she says. “That led to a super fun and fulfilling career in dance and theater that lasted over 12 years. I traveled all over the world and was involved in collaborations with some incredible artists. In 2011 I decided to move to LA where I quickly fell deeply in love with acting. I decided to stop dancing to study acting and practice acting with anyone that would give me the chance to.”

4. She Almost Quit

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The journey to success didn’t always run smoothly for Spampinato. “It has been incredibly hard and challenging, I almost quit several times,” she says. “I don’t think anyone enjoys dealing with rejection on a daily basis, but the love for the art form always kept me going and with help and the support of the loved ones I stuck to it.”

5. Support From Loved Ones

Spampinato owes her success to the people who never gave up on her. “I was very lucky, I met a lot of incredible people along my journey that believed in me and supported me throughout my journey, but the person that I owe everything to is my mom,” she says. “She loved and supported me unconditionally my whole life. She brought me down to earth when I was getting too cocky and she lifted me up when I was sinking. She sacrificed a great deal of time, effort and energy to allow me to follow my dreams. She will always be my idol and role model. Always.”