How Hayley Orrantia went from a singing career to ‘The Goldbergs’ and back (2024)

The Goldbergs is ending its 10-season run on ABC this year, but Hayley Orrantia is ready to leverage her other talents for the next stage of her career.

Mainly, the Arlington-born Orrantia says she is ready to refocus on her musical career.

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In The Goldbergs, Orrantia plays Erica Goldberg, the sarcastic and hot-tempered sibling of show creator Adam F. Goldberg. Early in the series, as producers began developing her character, Orrantia had opportunities to showcase her singing — although it was mostly cover music from the series’ 1980s setting.

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“As much as I’ve been able to do covers on the show, I kind of have just been making music when I can and pumping out a song here or there,” she says. “But I haven’t been able to give it my 150% that I have always wanted to do.

“In my whole life, music has always been No. 1 for me. But I had to shift gears when The Goldbergs happened.”

It’s not like she’s a novice. At 29, Orrantia already has packed a lot into her singing career.

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She began singing at 9 and training with a professional vocal coach at 12. She composed her first song at 13. By 15, she had recorded her first EP of cover songs. She also performed at festivals around North Texas, including the Red, White and Blue Festival in Highland Village, her hometown.

How Hayley Orrantia went from a singing career to ‘The Goldbergs’ and back (1)

In 2009, she recorded vocals on Disney’s Tinker Bell and The Lost Treasure soundtrack. A year later, she sang background vocals for Demi Lovato on Disney’s Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam soundtrack. She also sang background vocals for Miley Cyrus on Disney’s Hannah Montana Forever soundtrack.

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In 2011, Orrantia competed in the first season of The X Factor. Last year, she competed in The Masked Singer and finished in second place in the Fox program’s seventh season.

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She also has opened for several country artists such as Brad Paisley, Easton Corbin, Colbie Caillat and Gone West. In 2018, Orrantia went on her 22-city “Strong, Sweet & Southern Tour,” including a stop at The Rustic in Dallas.

In 2019, Orrantia released her debut EP, The Way Out. She hopes to release another EP soon.

“In the past, I’ve done country music, country pop music,” she says. “Now, I would say that it could be more indie pop. ... I’ve always loved pop music.”

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As an actress in 2011, she was cast in the independent film Cooper and the Castle Hills Gang, which premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival.

She credited Cathryn Sullivan’s Acting For Film in Lewisville for acting guidance. “I learned so much at that school,” Orrantia says.

The acting lessons helped. Three weeks after moving to Los Angeles, she landed her role on The Goldbergs.

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In a recent interview with The Dallas Morning News, Orrantia discussed her career journey in detail, as well as her North Texas dining go-tos.

How did your role on The Goldbergs align with your music ambitions?

The character was never meant to be a musician. The fact that Adam F. Goldberg, the creator of the show, just allowed this sort of opportunity for me to incorporate my music or musical ability into the show was really fun for me, because the one thing I’ve always really wanted to do is make music. The show obviously takes up so much of my time in the last 10 years that being able to still get a little bit of [music in] while we’re filming has been very special.

Is your personality anything like Erica’s?

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Closer than I’d like to admit. With this being my first acting job, I had to learn so much. I’m trying to inform [viewers] who Erica is based upon the writing, [but] my character was the only character based on an older male sibling [of Adam F. Goldberg]. There was this freedom for the character to be a little more open for interpretation. So, I just started sprinkling in elements of who I am. But there are times that I see some of the things that writers have [scripted for Erica] that are very dark and mean. Maybe Erica would be like that? I would like to think I’m not like that. But who knows?

What’s the next step on your musical journey?

Just focus on that full time and make music, tell my story and maybe say things that I haven’t felt comfortable enough to say in the past. I’m starting to view music differently, and it’s more than just an outlet for me. Rather than it being viewed as a shifting perspective on what it means to me in my life, I’m having more fun with it nowadays.

Is television still in your future?

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I am really looking forward to trying to produce and direct rather than just performing in front of the camera. So I’m collaborating alongside my fiance, Greg Furman, who’s an amazing writer and director, and I found a really great collaborative group of artistic and talented friends that we all just want to get on the creative side of things and get behind the camera. And so we’ve been working on developing some ideas and pitching that around, so we’ll see what happens.

How was life in Highland Village?

I loved growing up there. It was that classic suburban type of childhood. I went to public school my whole life and rode the bus up until my junior year of high school [at Marcus]. I loved being a part of the community there, and I was very lucky that I got to perform at a lot of different festivals around D-FW growing up. I performed at a pumpkin patch festival that had my mom and dad and two other people there. And then I started to perform at the Red, White and Blue Festival in Highland Village, which had my whole hometown there.

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Finally, where is your go-to dining choice when you’re in Dallas-Fort Worth?

It’s so funny because when I do go home, my parents always tease me for wanting to eat at fast-food places. I’m like: Because they don’t have them here in LA. So Babe’s [Chicken Dinner House] is my No. 1. I really love Rosa’s [Cafe and Tortilla Factory] and their tortillas. I do love barbecue. Is it Hard Eight [BBQ]? And Chick-fil-A. At one time, there were so few in LA that I was able to name every cross street in Los Angeles County that had a Chick-fil-A, because, otherwise, I don’t know where I would get my sweet tea from. For years, I was so sad we didn’t have a Sonic [Drive-In] anywhere out here, and it’s been many years since I’ve had it. I really, really do love Chicken Express. When I can’t get my Babe’s fried chicken, I pop over to Chicken Express.

How Hayley Orrantia went from a singing career to ‘The Goldbergs’ and back (2024)
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