Solea Pfeiffer is having a New York moment. For as long as she can remember, she’s wanted to have a photo shoot in the middle of a city street—the kind where “people stop to figure out who you are and what’s going on.” On this vibrant spring day in the New York neighborhood of Tribeca, passersby are contemplating exactly that. If they don’t know Pfeiffer yet, they will soon.
The Zimbabwe-born American actress—whose credits include Broadway’s Almost Famous, the 2022 film The Jazzman’s Blues, and soon, Shakespeare in the Park’s production of Hamlet—always knew she’d make it here. The only question was when?
It helped that Pfeiffer’s “deeply academic” parents supported her every artistic move. At 8 years old, she took music-theory classes, which, she says, helped shape her into the singer she is today. And when she declared violin as her life’s purpose, they obliged. However, seldom do existential discoveries truly happen in grade school. And Pfeiffer says, “Around 13 or 14, there was nothing anyone could do to make me practice the violin.”
Short-lived as it was, her childhood passion served a key role as Pfeiffer’s introduction to the arts. “It became very clear,” she says, “theater was what I was meant to really do.”
Although Pfeiffer felt confident in her decision to pursue theater, her assuredness would be tested. School years were about fitting in, and the actress couldn’t find her place. “I spent a lot of [that time] feeling really not confident, really not good about myself,” she says. Even when she finally did find fellowship amongst the theater kids, she still couldn’t seem to find her footing.
“I wasn’t getting roles,” she recalls. “My freshman year, all of my friends were in the musical, and it broke my heart.” They invited Pfeiffer to do makeup for the production, which she was “even less qualified to do.” She adds: “I’d do all the kids’ makeup, and then they’d go and fix it themselves.”
Today, the role of the outcast doesn’t seem like a fit for Pfeiffer, whose joie de vivre at age 28 is infectious. But she says those years cemented her love of the craft. “I realized, I love to do this. I love to be with these people. I love to be in an environment where I get to sing, even if I’m not the lead, even if I’m not being seen.”
In 2022, Pfeiffer was picked up from her Broadway rehearsals by a private car and driver that took her to the airport. She was headed to Toronto for her movie premiere. “I remember thinking, If I told my 15-year-old self what I was up to today, she’d be freaking out,” she says.
Her New York moment is no different. As an artist on the verge of a breakthrough, Pfeiffer is right for this role: the embodiment of INFINITI’s Infinitely You campaign. The QX60 is a place to feel pride, to take a deep breath, to collect your innermost thoughts, to pat yourself on the back for making it out of the house on time. Designed with both the driver and passenger in mind, it allows you to enjoy the ride—no matter the perspective.
When shows draw their final curtain or callbacks don’t come, Pfeiffer takes the driver’s seat. Whether she opts for a meditative moment, a confidence-boosting mantra, or a journal prompt, the narrative is hers to control. And the one she chooses time and time again is one of determination.
As someone who is reaching the heights her 15-year-old self dreamed of, Pfeiffer has a message for that girl and many others. “There’s always a reason to celebrate. If you can’t find those, what’s the point?” she says. “You made it this far. Let’s celebrate that.”
Photography by Nick Riley-Bentham; Art Direction by Michael Sarpy; Creative Production by Hannah Miller; Talent by Jennifer McLawhorn; Styled by Sarah Slutsky Tooley; Hair by Karla Serrano; Makeup by Camille Thompson
