At 12 years old, La Mesa’s Zoe Bernard maintains a packed schedule.

From rocking out in two bands including San Diego’s School of Rock, acting in multiple YouTube videos and films, writing original songs and playing a plethora of musical instruments, she’s no stranger to the stage. After a series of auditions in Nov. 2020, Bernard landed a role in Wes Anderson’s newest film “Asteroid City,” which was released last month and filmed in Chinchón, Spain.

In the film, Bernard plays Bernice, an attendee of the Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet Convention in a unique and quaint American desert town set in 1955. Working alongside notable actors such as Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johanson, Maya Hawke, Jason Schwartzman and many others, Bernard commented that the interactions with everyone, both on and off set, were a memorable part of filming.

“There were no trailers on set and when we’d go off set everyone, including the big actors, would go into one room and we’d just hang out and that was really awesome,” Bernard said. “Tom Hanks was super nice, and he’d bring riddles for me in his mask every day and would call me over after we’d filmed a scene.”

Bernard further explained that Anderson’s support and filming process was something she enjoyed and will utilize in future projects.

“[Anderson] had me read each of my lines 250 different ways, so it took us a day to film one scene,” Bernard said. “The process was really cool; it wasn’t that difficult because he was guiding me through it. He really paid attention to every detail. For one scene, the group of us school kids were sitting at a table and we were all different heights and ages, so if someone was taller than others, he would slice their chair, so we were all sitting at the same height. It took him about an hour to align the camera so it was perfect and everything in the frame was symmetrical. It’s amazing, you can see how much work he puts into his movies.”

Prior to working with Anderson, Bernard began acting at age eight and attended auditions with her sister throughout the Los Angeles area. She landed various roles in commercials, short films and even played a young Hannah Stocking in the viral comedic YouTube videos. Throughout each of her projects, Bernard has received encouragement from her loved ones.

“They’ve all been super supportive,” Bernard said. “Everyone in my family really loves ‘Asteroid City.’”

This summer, Bernard is touring with San Diego’s School of Rock’s Touring House Band in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. She plays the bass, drums, keyboard, guitar and is currently learning to play the saxophone. Bernard also owns a banjo and a violin, which she hopes to learn one day.

“We played the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame,” Bernard commented. “It was great playing with other bands. We realized how much more we needed to push to be better. Every show since then has been better and better.”

Her second band, Kid Tributes, are recording original music — which they plan to release on Spotify in the near future.

Bernard’s future dreams include combining these two worlds into one.

“My goals are definitely to be in more movies, for sure,” Bernard said. “I always want to keep the auditions flowing because you never know where your next opportunity will come from. I really want to be in a movie where I’m playing music, that would be awesome.”

For Bernard, staying consistent with auditions is something she’d recommend to those wanting to break into the acting industry.

“I auditioned a lot before I eventually booked something,” Bernard commented. “I did small stuff and commercials and honestly, I would recommend to just keep auditioning. You’re not going to get into everything. It’s not always about you, it’s about the character or a specific look. Eventually you’ll find something that’s perfect for you.”

Although “Asteroid City” is Bernard’s first feature film, the young actor has two additional feature films set to release in the future — one of which is entitled “Switch Up,” and stars Cristián de la Fuente.

Whether she’s acting in new projects, writing songs or learning several instruments, one thing is for sure — Bernard’s schedule is in fact jam-packed.