Victoria Thomas Archives

November 3, 2020

S2 030: Ahna O’Reilly

S2 030: Ahna O’Reilly https://alyshiaochse.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/030-Ahna-OReilly-Square-2.jpg 750 750 Alyshia Ochse Alyshia Ochse //alyshiaochse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/TOA-Logo-2x.png November 3, 2020 November 2, 2020

Kismet and a Work Ethic to Back It Up

Ahna O’Reilly is an American actress from Northern California but also grew up all over France and Washington State. She attended USC for one year as an English major before she dropped out to pursue acting and never looked back.

Ahna forayed her great love of literature onto the screen starring in an adaptation of Steinback’s IN DUBIOUS BATTLE, and two Faulkner adaptions, AS I LAY DYING, and THE SOUND AND THE FURY. She has also graced the Off-Broadway stage in THE LONG SHRIFT at the Rattlestick Theater and THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM, which won three Lucile Lortel Awards, including Outstanding Revival.

Appeared in nearly 50 films to date, including such marquee films as FRUITVALE STATION, MARHSHALL, JOBS, and BOMBSHELL, Ahna is perhaps best known for her breakout role in THE HELP, for which she won a Screen Actor’s Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

She is currently starring in Apple TV’s THE MORNING SHOW.

Resources

QUOTES:

“I was really driven by how much I LOVED Elizabeth (my character) — I loved the book, I loved the dialect, I just loved it so fiercely!”

“You do realize how different it is; what we think something is going to do for us, and the reality.”

“What makes you an interesting actor in the long run is the life you live.”

VIDEOS:

Credits:

WRITER: Nicole Steinwedell
SOUND DESIGN: Zachary Jameson
WEBSITE & GRAPHICS: Chase Jennings
ASSISTANT: Elle Powell
SOCIAL OUTREACH: Bebe Katsenes

August 6, 2019

089: Eme Ikwuakor

089: Eme Ikwuakor https://alyshiaochse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Eme-Ikwaukor-Horizontal-3.jpg 1500 750 Alyshia Ochse Alyshia Ochse //alyshiaochse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/TOA-Logo-2x.png August 6, 2019 August 12, 2019

Dive In and Take The Risk

Today’s guest’s journey is a roller coaster ride full of defining moments, times when everything seemed to be working against him, but ultimately lead him to where he is today. From multiple heart attacks by the time he was 21 years old to getting cut from some of recent year’s most recognizable films, Eme Ikwuakor has continued to press on and shares how he took the deep dive into an artistic career.

Eme Ikwuakor is a triplet, born In Wheatridge, Colorado and the son of Nigerian parents (his father is a college professor in Nigeria). Attending the University of Colorado on a track and field scholarship, he was considering a sports marketing major until a college advisor recommended an acting course. Ikwuakor signed up and was quickly cast in the part of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird. It became a life-changing experience. Always fascinated by history and African-American rights issues, Ikwuakor then became heavily involved in the Interactive Theater Project in Colorado, a professional acting troupe that specialized in theater for social change. This experience became a great influence on his career goals. During this period, he was cast in Ink, the critically-acclaimed, locally produced, independent science fiction feature that won Best Colorado Film at the 2009 Denver Film Critics Society awards and was considered “one of the best films of 2009. (JoBlo)” This positive experience taught Ikwuakor a great deal about how to independently produce projects, market and take chances. Arriving in Los Angeles after college graduation with a B.F.A in Performance Theater, Ikwuakor took a series of jobs to support his acting and producing ambitions. His life-changing project, Chance, was a short dramatic film, which he wrote, produced, co-directed and starred in. Its insight encouraged him to drop his day job of three years and focus entirely on his acting career. Since then, he has never been busier. Ikwuakor’s television series credits include Outlaw, Love Bites, Victorious, The Comeback, Silicon Valley, Castle, Hawaii Five-O and We Are Angels. In addition to Ink, he has been featured in the films The New Republic, Murder in the Dark and Not Safe for Work. He continues to work actively for social and political change. Currently, Eme is starring on ABC’s, Marvel’s Inhumans.