Dick Wolf

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

LINKS:
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

095: Peter Facinelli

095: Peter Facinelli 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse

Do Your Best Work, The Subjectivity of Art

No stranger to Hollywood, Peter Facinelli’s craft as a leading man has undoubtedly created a strong foothold that has transcended from the spotlight as actor, to behind the camera as a notable director, writer, and producer.

With a myriad of credits under his belt, Facinelli is likely most recognized for his starring role as Doctor Carlisle Cullen in the blockbuster TWILIGHT franchise, based on Stephenie Meyer’s #1 New York Times bestselling literary series. Next up for Facinelli is the STX film COUNTDOWN starring opposite Elizabeth Lail, P.J. Byrne, and Jordan Calloway, as well as RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL (September 13th, 2019 release) starring opposite Nicolas Cage, Laurence Fishburne, and Leslie Bibb,

Facinelli recently completed his second directorial feature HOUR OF LEAD, which he also wrote starring Anne Heche, Thomas Jane, and Jason Patric. He made his debut as a director last year with the indie sensation “Breaking and Exiting,” starring Jordan Hinson and Milo Gibson.

Additional recent credits include the 1920’s mobster pic GANGSTER LAND, the thriller ASHER, opposite Famke Janssen, Ron Perlman and Richard Dreyfuss, Damian Harris’ indie feature THE WILDE WEDDING opposite John Malkovich and Glenn Close, as well as the Chris Silverton thriller HEARTTHROB starring Lone Skye and Keir Gilchrist.

Other past film credits include the cult classic “Can’t Hardly Wait,” opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt, FREEZER, with Dylan McDermott; Penny Marshall’s RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS, with Drew Barrymore; THE SCORPION KING, opposite Dwayne Johnson; the dramedy FINDING AMANDA, with Matthew Broderick; TEMPTED, with Burt Reynolds and Saffron Burroughs; a starring role in Walter Hills’ sci-fi thriller SUPERNOVA, with James Spader and Angela Bassett; THE BIG KAHUNA, opposite Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito; DANCER, TEXAS, POP.81; FOXFIRE, alongside Angelina Jolie..

Despite success on the silver screen, Facinelli has also made his mark in television with such credits as the CBS Drama S.W.A.T. as Michael Plank, and Dr. Fitch Cooper on the full seven season run of Showtime’s hit dramedy NURSE JACKIE. Among its numerous accolades, the series earned Emmy, SAG, Golden Globe, and Writers Guild Award nominations, as well as being named one of AFI’s Top Ten Television Shows of 2009.

Facinelli additionally portrayed villain “Maxwell Lord” in the first season of the hit CBS show SUPERGIRL, and starred opposite Anna Friel in NBC’s drama AMERICAN ODYSSEY in 2015. He also appeared in
GLEE, DAMAGES, HBO’s SIX FEET UNDER, for which he shared the cast’s 2005 nomination for the SAG Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama; as well as a starring role in FASTLANE in 2003.

In 2010 Facinelli started the production company A7sle Films. Its first feature, LOOSIES, was a
fast-paced dramatic comedy that Facinelli wrote and starred in about a clever and romantic pickpocket in
the New York City subways. It co-starred Michael Madsen, Jaimie Alexander, Vincent Gallo, and Joe
Pantoliano. The company later partnered with FilmDistrict to produce the true story horror picture THE
LAST WORD, based on a documentary of the same name about Johnny Frank Garrett, which premiered
at the Austin Film Festival in 2016, and was directed by acclaimed indie director Simon Rumley. The company has additionally produced projects across film, TV, and digital platforms with Electus, 5×5, Boom Comics, College Humor, YouTube, ISH, and ARC Productions.

A man of many trades, Facinelli augmented his writing repertoire in 2015 when he co-wrote After the Red Rain, a YA novel with New York Times best-selling author Barry Lyga, which was distributed by Little Brown Company. It is a dystopian novel set in a future world of environmental collapse and mass poverty, where a mysterious boy named Rose discovers that he possesses inhuman powers that can irrevocably change the lives of everyone on the planet.

A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Facinelli splits his time between New York and Los Angeles.

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Resources

LINKS:
PRESS:
QUOTES:

“Agents don’t get jobs, they get you opportunities.”

“Agents don’t get jobs, they get you opportunities.”


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ALYSHIA OCHSE

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

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