Why I’ll Never Make It - An Actor’s Journey

Carrie Bernans is the perfect person to kick off Women's History Month. She is a strong individual who knows who she is, what she wants, and usually how to get there. That’s not to say it’s been all smooth sailing for her, either personally or professionally, but she never lost her faith or belief in what’s possible.

She isn’t just an actress, she’s also trained in martial arts, stunt work, and body movement in addition to theater. Growing up she not only performed in plays and dance recitals but also competed in track and field. She’s been a world traveler and now speaks six different languages. There is simply no way to pigeonhole Carrie into this box or that genre. And it is this variety in her life and her work that has created so much opportunity for her, particularly landing roles in Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame.

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Learn more about CB Seed - https://www.cbseed.org/

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Season 5 offers plenty of ways to connect with me and the guests as well as opportunities to learn and grow as an artist:

• Members-Only Episodes on Supercast
• Coachings and Consultations
• Ask questions to upcoming guests
• Artist Resources and Offers
• Instagram and Twitter 

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot 

Music used in the episode by Blue Dot Sessions and John Bartmann is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

In part two of my conversation with Brie Eley, she talked about her latest project that has been such a mountaintop experience for her and we get into her organization that promotes and supports black actresses, providing them with opportunity and community but also showcasing the vast diversity among these black actresses.

Topics discussed:

• The High Republic - a new digital series from STAR WARS
• Pew Research - social media and Black Americans
• Nielsen Company - 2019 Diverse Intelligence Series report on African Americans

Any actresses interested in learning more about Here and Ready and how to build a profile, head to the Actor Portal: Here and Ready Talent Database for Black Actresses 

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Follow Brie - Website / Instagram / Twitter / IMDB

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Season 5 offers new ways to connect with me and the guests as well as new opportunities to learn and grow as an artist:

• Members-Only Episodes on Supercast
• Coachings and Consultations
• Ask questions to upcoming guests
• Monthly WINMI Newsletter
• Artist Resources and Offers
• Instagram and Twitter 

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot 

Music used in the episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Borrtex is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

When it comes to being an artist, Brie Eley is the very definition of a multi-hyphenate. She is a classically trained actress and improviser, spent more than 10 years in marketing and small business development, and she creates, produces, and directs independent productions.

As Black History Month comes to a close, Brie joins me to talk about the wide variety of projects in her career, the daily grind of being an actor, and the persistence that we all need to keep going. Because no matter how busy we get or how many projects we may take on, finding real success can still be tough and elusive.

Rules for Using Social Media - Jeremy Gordon, casting director

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Follow Brie - Website / Instagram / Twitter / IMDB / Here & Ready

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Season 5 offers new ways to connect with me and the guests as well as new opportunities to learn and grow as an artist:

• Members-Only Episodes on Supercast
• Coachings and Consultations
• Ask questions to upcoming guests
• Monthly WINMI Newsletter
• Artist Resources and Offers
• Instagram and Twitter 

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot 

Music used in the episode by Blue Dot Sessions, and Chad Crouch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

One of the hardest lessons for any actor to learn is to not take constant rejection personally. Adrienne Walker and I continue in part two of our conversation with stories from our own struggles and failures in the audition room and on stage.

We also get into her YouTube Series called 32 Bar Cut as she seeks to help others navigate this tricky business. But first, I did a little deeper into something she said about bringing her blackness into the audition room and try to gain a better understanding of what that means to her. 

join.whyillnevermakeit.com 

Follow Adrienne: Website / Instagram / Twitter / IMDB 

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Season 5 offers new ways to connect with me and the guests as well as new opportunities to learn and grow as an artist: 

• Members-Only Episodes on Supercast
• Coachings and Consultations
• Ask questions to upcoming guests
• Monthly WINMI Newsletter
• Artist Resources and Offers
• Instagram and Twitter 

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 20 Theater Podcast on Feedspot 

Music used in the episode by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. John Bartmann music is public domain.

While the goal of every actor is to perform, our day-to-day job is actually auditioning. As we continue Black History Month here on the podcast, Adrienne Walker from The Lion King on Broadway joins me for a very open and candid conversation about being in such an iconic show. We also touch on some very important issues: auditioning as a black actress and the need for authentic black voices in theater.

But we start off talking about The Lion King, when it and Broadway are coming back, the show’s history both culturally and theatrically, and the pressures she faced in taking on the role of Nala.

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Follow Adrienne: Website / Instagram / Twitter / IMDB

—————

Season 5 brings new ways to connect with me and the guests as well as new opportunities to learn and grow as an artist:

• Members-Only Episodes on Supercast
• Coachings and Consultations
• Ask questions to upcoming guests
• Monthly WINMI Newsletter
• Artist Resources and Offers
• Instagram and Twitter 

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 20 Theater Podcast on Feedspot 

Music used in the episode by John Bartmann and is Public Domain.

In the second half of our conversation, Erin Cherry focuses on her weekly show Sundays with a Cherry on Top, a health and lifestyle show that showcases Black Culture in all its forms. She also joined playwright Mfoniso Udofia, Ngozi Anyanwu, and Chinyere Anyanwu as a founder producer of NOW Africa. This playwrights festival seeks to introduce, and sometimes reintroduce, artists and academics to the masters of African Dramatic Literature, both classic and contemporary.

Thank you for joining me and Cherry for these episodes. Stay tuned next week for my conversation with Adrienne Walker from The Lion King.

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Follow Cherry: Website / Instagram / YouTube

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Season 5 brings with it a new ways connect with me and the guests and new opportunities to learn and grow as an artist:

• Members-Only Episodes on Supercast
• Coachings and Consultations
• Ask questions to upcoming guests
• Monthly WINMI Newsletter
• Artist Resources and Offers
• Instagram and Twitter 

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 20 Theater Podcast on Feedspot 

Music used in the episode by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

For almost a year now Actors have had very little in the way of exercising and using our creative muscles, so in this episode I wanted to remind us of the craft and joy of acting. As Black History Month continues here on the podcast, who better to discuss the ins and outs of acting with than Emmy-winning actress Erin Cherry.

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Cherry, as she prefers to be called, coaches and teaches actors at Maggie Flanagan Studio in New York City. It’s a Meisner based acting program, which basically aims to help actors get out of their head and behave instinctively to the surrounding environment. Well, Cherry put her training and coaching to good use in the Amazon Prime show After Forever. In 2019 she received her first Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Digital Daytime Drama Series. 

In part one of our conversation, Cherry talks about her first love, theater, and the amazing experience she had sharing the stage with Andre DeShields. She talks about making that transition from the stage to the screen and how us actors can handle the consistent self doubt and rejection we face. 

Follow Cherry: Website / Instagram / Twitter 

The life of any actor is one of going in and out of employment. But for Geoffrey Owens back in 2018, his side job was captured in a photo and spread across the Internet. In part two of our conversation for Black History Month, Geoffrey opens up about what led to his job at Trader Joe’s. We talk about the importance of work and how hard it can be for Actors to find it.

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Throughout his career Geoffrey Owens has been an actor, director, and teacher. But for more than 35 years he has been known as Elvin from The Cosby Show. As we kick off Black History Month here on the podcast I sat down with Geoffrey to talk about his own history as an actor, the lucky breaks that have come his way as well as the hardships he’s faced, the photo that surfaced in 2018 of him working at Trader Joe’s, and what it means to be so singularly identified with one show.

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Links and References: Huxtable family watches "I Have a Dream" • Carsey/Werner Production • Alvin Poussaint Interview • Claire sets Elvin straight 

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I think it’s fair to say that artist are an emotional bunch in general. We feel things deeply and react with conviction. And that goes for the wonderful and exciting emotions but also goes for the heavy and worrisome emotions as well. In part two of my conversation with Ashley Monique Menard, she reveals the yen and yang of her confidence and her self-doubt, she compares her dating life to Broadway, and has a few choice words for perfectionism. 

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Don't forget to check out EGCC.edu for free college course and degree programs.

Thank you for joining me for part one of my conversation with Ashley. Come back next week when I talk to Cosby Show actor and theater coach Geoffrey Owens.

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