Denzel Washington

012 Yolonda Ross on That One Audition with Alyshia Ochse

Yolonda Ross
Yolonda Ross 1920 960 Alyshia Ochse

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

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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
036 Robert Baker on That One Audition with Alyshia Ochse

S2 036: Robert Baker
S2 036: Robert Baker 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Find the Humor in the Drama and Kill the Table Read

Born in Memphis, TN to a guitar player father and an English teacher mother, Robert grew up on a lakeside farm in Eastern Arkansas. Starting out in professional regional theater at age 15, he went on to attend the Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting theater program at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. While performing in numerous school of theater, student, and independent produced plays he began working in television and film during his junior year and continued on through to graduation while producing and performing theater of his own . Robert Baker currently recurs on SUPERGIRL as the comic villain Otis Graves. And recently wrapped recurring arcs on WRECKED, THE SANTA CLARITA DIET and RIVERDALE. He can be seen as legendary Texas ranger “Big Foot” Wallace in the A+E Miniseries TEXAS RISING as well as tragic real-life detective Bryan Ridge in THE DEVIL’S KNOT opposite Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth. His film VIRTUALLY HEROES premiered at Sundance. Other big screen hits include INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL opposite Harrison Ford, LEATHERHEADS opposite George Clooney and OUT OF TIME opposite Denzel Washington as well THE LONE RANGER. On the small screen he is best known for his long recurring arc on GREY’S ANATOMY as ‘Dr. Charles Percy’ and ‘Randal Kusik’ on JUSTIFIED as well as countless roles on shows like Blindspot, The Magicians, Six Feet Under, and Mad Men..

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“Nobody wants to see what you’ve planned. They want to see you exist.”

“Denzel Washington is never going to say the same thing twice.”

“I really try to make it a little different going in everytime, for your own sake. That’s a real trap, trying to replicate what worked.”

VIDEOS:

Show Links:

Credits:

  • WRITER: Erin McCluskey
  • SOUND DESIGN: Zachary Jameson
  • WEBSITE & GRAPHICS: Chase Jennings
  • ASSISTANT: Elle Powell
  • SOCIAL OUTREACH: Bebe Katsenes

093: Chris Chalk
093: Chris Chalk 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Find Your WHY

Today we’re sitting down with actor Chris Chalk as he shares how he’s made a career working on Broadway, on TV, and in Film—with some of the industry’s most notable names and memorable projects—like Denzel Washington in FENCES on Broadway, in 12 Years a Slave, on Fox’s Gotham, The Newsroom, and the Netflix mini-series When they See Us. From auditioning across from Denzel, to curating a team of supportive reps who have his back and helped him fight for his goals in this business, he has lots to share about setting an intention in his work and staying excited about the process of telling stories on stage and screen.

In addition to his lengthy list of credits, you can also see him in the upcoming and anticipated HBO series Perry Mason.

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Listen On iTunes

 

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“What is the intention of your life? What is the intention of every relationship? If you just make it a habit everywhere, it will just exist everywhere.”

087: Russell Hornsby
087: Russell Hornsby 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Today we have a fascinating conversation with actor, Russell Hornsby—from Grimm, Seven Seconds, and The Hate You Give—as well as FENCES, both on Broadway and in the film, his career is full of valuable lessons he’s learned.

After twenty years in the industry, he shares how a long-term career was not a given reality for him, but rather something he’s had to fight for every step of the way. His advice is equal parts inspiration and tough love, so whether you’re just starting out or are a few years in, he’s got some healthy perspective about being honest with yourself, doing the work, and putting everything you have on the line for your art.

Russell Hornsby is an American theater, television, and film actor. He is known for his roles as Edward “Eddie” Sutton on ABC Family’s Lincoln Heights, as Luke on the HBO drama In Treatment, as Detective Hank Griffin on the NBC series Grimm, and as Lyons in the movie Fences.

After finishing his studies at Oxford, Hornsby moved to New York City and was subsequently cast in leading roles in Off Broadway productions of To Kill a Mockingbird (as Atticus Finch), Joe Louis Blues, and Six Degrees of Separation (as Paul). In the late 1990s, he decided to move to Los Angeles in order to transition into television and film. He has appeared in several different television productions including appearing in recurring roles in Haunted as Detective Marcus Bradshaw and Gideon’s Crossing as Chief Resident Dr. Aaron Boise. His other television credits include Grey’s Anatomy, Law & Order, and In Justice among others. He also played running back Leon Taylor in ESPN’s drama series Playmakers. On the big screen, he has appeared in such films as After the Sunset, Big Fat Liar, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, Keep the Faith, Baby, Meet the Parents, and Stuck among others. In 2000, Hornsby appeared in the Off-Broadway production of Jitney for which he won a Drama Desk Award and an Obie Award.

He starred in the NBC fantasy drama Grimm from 2011 to 2017. In 2018, he played Isaiah Butler in the Netflix crime drama Seven Seconds. That same year, Hornsby joined the cast of the movie Creed II.

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Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“Know why you’re going into this, know why you’re doing it, because the industry doesn’t need you. They don’t care. You can’t do this for the moment or think you’re going to get rich, because it’s hard.”

“Not what are you WILLING to do, what are you GOING to do to stay in the game?”

VIDEOS:

077: Amanda Warren
077: Amanda Warren 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Today we’re chatting with actress, Amanda Warren, whose incredible artistry is matched by her wisdom, insight, and extraordinarily grounded and compassionate energy. She has established herself with a resume that is not only lengthy, but loaded with some of TV and Film’s most respected projects in recent years. From her work with Martin McDonagh and Darren Aronofsky to Denzel Washington, Francis McDormand, and beyond, her work ethic and craftsmanship has earned her the respect of her peers and gained the attention of artists across the industry.

She shares how she works on set, what she’s learned from working with world-class artists, and how she stays focused on her own journey—putting in the work, one step at a time.

Most recently her on screen work includes THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, THE PURGE for USA, MOTHER, HOUSE OF CARDS, BLACK MIRROR, THIS IS US, HBO’s THE LEFTOVERS, and Apple TV’s new series DICKINSON.

IG: @amandawarrenofficial

 

Tune in

Listen On iTunes

 

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“We do not need to adhere to this ‘stuggling artist’ theory anymore. This is your craft, this is your talent, you are giving of yourself and your tools. I’m going to give you my energy and pay you to see it…”

“You do the work at home so you can play on the day. If you do the work at home, you can do everything 7000 different ways to Sunday.”

“There’s a lot of money that goes into telling stories, expecially with the screen work, and time is money. It is so valuable, expecially these days. People need to know that they are trusting you with not only the story, but the money that they’re going to put into this.”

“There are quality rejections–quality ‘no’s.’ Just because it doesn’t work out for you then, doesn’t mean it doesn’t work out later.”

“What makes those great people so great at what they do…what makes them great craftspeople is that they work with their scene partners, they are never above their scene partner.”

“We’re in the business of saving lives…it’s an escape for people. Don’t think about the business, just bring them with you. Help them escape, help them stop thinking about business.”

VIDEOS:

028: Joy Bryant
028: Joy Bryant 1500 1000 Alyshia Ochse

Joy Bryant was born in a modest home in The Bronx, New York and as a young woman, was enrolled in an inner-city outreach organization called “A Better Chance,” designed to encourage minority talent. Joy was also blessed with brains as well beauty and remained an excellent student throughout her high school years. As a result, she was awarded a full academic scholarship to Yale University.

While enrolled as a full-time student at Yale, Joy was discovered by a modeling scout from Next Models Management and subsequently pursued a career as a fashion model in Paris. Her slender yet classic beauty got her an exclusive contract with prestigious brand names such as Tommy Hilfiger and the Victoria’s Secret lingerie catalogue.

Joy’s acting debut came about in 2001 in Robert Townsend‘s Carmen: A Hip Hopera. An MTV production, the film also starred Beyoncé and Mekhi Phifer, along with several hip-hop superstars. After a small role in the Eddie Murphy action comedy Showtime, she made her big breakthrough in Denzel Washington‘s directorial debut, Antwone Fisher. In 2003, she co-starred with Jessica Alba in Bille Woodruff‘s romantic drama Honey.

Most notably, Joy is known for Jasmine on 6 seasons of PARENTHOOD and Amazon’s hit show GOOD GIRLS REVOLT.

Tune in to hear how Joy handled the transition of brains to beauty and what ultimately drew her into acting.

Tune into our Interview on iTunes HERE

 

Resources

LINKS:
QUOTES:

“I was taking a leap like I had a trust fund.  I didn’t have an actual trust fund.  I had a ‘trust’ in me which is some currency.”

“I don’t want years to go by and think I woulda, shoulda, coulda.”

“If it’s a mistake, it is my mistake to make.”

“Acting felt good enough to be curious about it, but I was completely terrified.”

“Our job is to be more human than human.” | CLICK TO TWEET

“I feel like I am just now understanding my own hands.  Understanding what makes me ME.”

“I’m on this wave and I’m not really knowing how to surf it, but I haven’t been knocked off it yet.”

“I walk into the casting session and Denzel is in the room and I lost my mind. I was totally losing my mind.  I was tripping.”

“If it was just about who was the best actor most people would not have a career.”

“Skill wise, most people would not have a career.  There are other factors involved in why and who gets a job.  Other factors that have nothing to do with you.”

“Whether or not you get a job is beyond your control.  All you can control is what you do when you go into the audition room.”

“We are looking for moments in an audition.  We are not looking for a fully realized character.”

“Acting is a confidence game.”  | CLICK TO TWEET

“Being nervous or doubting yourself is not a quality that you just have at the beginning of your career.  It happens and fluctuates throughout your whole career.”  | CLICK TO TWEET

“We were in the most incredible acting class with Denzel Washington.”

“Denzel was able to say the most in directing with saying the least amount of words possible.”

“Dig your roots down deep and hang on because you are not trying to be the leaf you need to be the tree.”  | CLICK TO TWEET

“Your sense of self can’t be connected to your career.”

“Do the task with the energy that the task demands.”  | CLICK TO TWEET

“You live a choice driven life.”  | CLICK TO TWEET

“Education was my ticket.  It expanded my horizons and experiences.”

“I didn’t get to study the stars in astrology, but I ended up among the industry in the stars.”

 

VIDEOS:

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ALYSHIA OCHSE

Los Angeles-based actress, bestselling author, host of That One Audition podcast, entrepreneur, & mother.

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