David Mamet Archives - Alyshia Ochse

July 27, 2021

Yolonda Ross

Yolonda Ross https://alyshiaochse.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/012-Yolonda-Ross-on-That-One-Audition-with-Alyshia-Ochse.jpg 1920 960 Alyshia Ochse Alyshia Ochse //alyshiaochse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/TOA-Logo-2x.png July 27, 2021 July 28, 2021

Grace of Intuition

Yolonda Ross can currently be seen reprising her role as the no-nonsense single mother ‘Jada’ in the fourth season of Showtime’s acclaimed series, The Chi. The show was created by Emmy award winner Lena Waithe that explores the interconnectedness of a neighborhood community of characters on the South Side of Chicago, featuring current storylines that range from defunding the police to her character’s fight against breast cancer.

An independent film darling, Yolonda made her feature film debut in the award-winning independent film Stranger Inside in 2001. Yolonda went on to win an IFP Gotham Award for Best Breakthrough Performance for the role, as well as received her first Film Independent Spirit Award nomination in the category of Best Debut Performance. In 2014, her work in the John Sayles film Go For Sisters garnered her a second Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She appeared in Denzel Washington’s award-winning feature Antwone Fisher, as well as the independent films Yelling To the Sky opposite Zoe Kravitz, Woody Allen’s Whatever Works, Lila and Eve starring Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez, Whitney directed by Angela Bassett for the Lifetime Movie Network, Annie Silverstein’s Bull, Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There, Ana Lily Amirpour’s Bad Batch, Nuotama Bodomo’s Afronauts, and Elegance Bratton’s award-winning short film Walk For Me, in which Yolonda starred and produced.

Yolonda has also portrayed recurring characters on several high-profile series including, Ms. Green in the Baz Luhrmann Netflix series The Get Down, Claudia on ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder, and her role as documentarian Dana Lyndsey on HBO’s Treme. Additional television credits include guest starring roles on Law and Order, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, 24, and Chicago PD. She was featured in the PBS American Masters documentary How it Feels To Be Free, about Trailblazing African American Women Entertainers.

Yolonda made her directorial debut with the 10-minute hybrid short film/music video Breaking Night, about a young girl taking control of her destiny. The short film officially became the music video for the famed Manfred Mann song, “Blinded By the Light,” and was in rotation on VH-1 Classics.

Most recently she performed in David Mamet’s newest play Four American Women during the pandemic. The two have developed a mutual admiration of each other’s work which inspired him to write for Yolonda the roles of Nora in the hit show The Unit, and Kelly in the biopic Phil Spector for HBO.

As a writer and director, Yolonda is currently developing her feature debut, Scenes From Our Marriage, along with other film and television projects.

Resources

QUOTES:

“I am placed here for a reason. I am placed her for Black women.”

“I use music for everything. I understood emotion through music so dialogue kind of became lyrics to me. I used my repertoire of music to understand how to evoke emotion.”

“I will ask other actors about scents because there’s a certain memory you get when you smell people. If we start working together I will ask them what they like so I can wear it for them.”

Credits:

WRITER: Juan Francisco Villa
SOUND DESIGN: Zachary Jameson
WEBSITE & GRAPHICS: Chase Jennings
ASSISTANT: Elle Powell
SOCIAL OUTREACH: Bebe Katsenes

July 31, 2018

051: Isidora Goreshter

051: Isidora Goreshter https://alyshiaochse.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/1-3.jpg 1500 1000 Alyshia Ochse Alyshia Ochse //alyshiaochse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/TOA-Logo-2x.png July 31, 2018 August 12, 2019

Isidora Goreshter is a talented and nuanced actress best known for her role as Svetlana Fisher in Showtime’s Emmy nominated Shameless. She is also known for her work in The Petal Pushers and Happy Anniversary. She has previously guest starred in 2 Broke Girls and Ben & Kate. Isidora Goreshter teaches a masterclass at Anthony Meindl’s Acting Studio. You can see Isidora in the latest season of Shameless and the upcoming Clara’s Ghost, a Bridey Elliot film that recently debuted at Sundance.

Always keeping it real, Isidora will walk you down a path that’s included extra work, standing in for A-listers, going from student to teacher to student of her very own teaching, bringing a 9 day old human to the set of Shameless, and living that beautiful reality where a no-line audition becomes a series regular role.

Tune into our Interview on iTunes HERE

Resources

QUOTES:

“If I’m not 100 percent me in the role, I can’t be authentic in my acting…Even if it’s a different character, I have to make it myself.”

“I had this light bulb moment…My ego is so obsessed with result that I’m missing the actual point of all of this, which is knowledge, and learning and joy.”

“I guess through teaching it made me relax and just kind of surrender to the moment.”

“As actors we are so much validating ourselves by the measure of our success, and the measure of the success of others, and I was measuring my talent by how successful I was, and that is a slippery slope, man.”

“If you want to be a good actor I think you have to learn who you are first, before you can be anybody else.”

VIDEOS:

October 10, 2017

014: Marianna Palka

014: Marianna Palka https://alyshiaochse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/1-feat.jpg 1500 1000 Alyshia Ochse Alyshia Ochse //alyshiaochse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/TOA-Logo-2x.png October 10, 2017 August 12, 2019

Born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, Marianna Palka is a passionate actress and humanist filmmaker. Marianna can be seen as Reggie in Netflix’s new original series “GLOW”, which follows the personal and professional lives of a group of women who perform for a wrestling organization in Los Angeles. At the age of 17, Marianna moved to New York from Scotland to study at David Mamet and William H. Macy’s Atlantic Theater Company. From there, she amassed numerous roles in theater, film and television. Marianna made her first journey to Sundance with her film GOOD DICK in 2008, starring Jason Ritter and herself. She returned in 2010 as a Sloan juror. Marianna can be seen in Peter Mullan’s 2011 BAFTA award winning film NEDS and in the lead role in director Jeremiah Jones independent film RESTIVE, which won the Audience Award at the 2011 Austin Film Festival and was nominated for Best Actress and Best Feature Film at the 2012 Charlotte Film Festival. She appeared in two short films which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival; SPOONFUL by director Jenee LaMarque and Bryce Dallas Howard’s second film WHEN YOU FIND ME, executive produced by Ron Howard for the Canon sponsored Project Imagina8tion. She returned to Sundance again in 2014 with the short documentary THE LION’S MOUTH OPENS. Marianna recently returned from yet another stint at Sundance after premiering a film which she wrote and starred in, BITCH; a surreal, manic, funny, absurd, tragic, and painful depiction of family life about a woman who takes on the identity of a wild dog. BITCH had its international premiere at Sundance London this June. She is currently directing EGG, starring Alysia Reiner, Christina Hendricks and Anna Camp.

On the small screen, Marianna’s work includes HBO’s “Girls”, “Derek and Simon”, and Comedy Central’s “Drunk History”.

Tune into our interview right HERE

Resources

QUOTES:

“Art and money are the same thing. You make money from art. Money is there to support art.”

“Richness of life is in art. The most beneficial thing you can do to survive as a human being is to go work as an artist.”

“I’m working with joy and positivity. Never think about the project as good or bad, I just follow the instinct and believe it in.”

“Self love is not selfish. Take the time to love yourself so that you can be the portal to the artist message.”

“Acting can heal something or someone out there. Performances are there to support the human experience.”

“People hire your enthusiasm and your self-belief. Being up for it is what people employ.”

“Leave space for the absolute miracle that is suppose to happen.”

David Mamet

Yolonda Ross