This is a show for families that kids and adults will appreciate, with amazing music! I’m super excited to be apart of such an amazingly talented group of people so if you’re in Toronto or you’re visiting from July 4-14th, I’d LOVE for you to come see me on stage! Go to bremencity.com for tickets and more details
Hey guys! A few weeks ago I did a fun interview with Vibe Vixen to talk about my upcoming web series, “Black Actress”, being a women of color in entertainment and working with the amazing Issa Rae. Check out the interview below and a big thank you to Vibe Vixen for the feautre!
If Kerry Washington taught us anything this year, it’s that 2013 is the year of the black actress. Although the plight of brown-skinned thespians is a never-ending story, the emergence of web series like Issa Rae’s Awkward Black Girl not only gives us meaty characters, but it allows for creative freedom. For Canadian industry vet Andrea Lewis (Degrassi, Cadet Kelly), this new media breakthrough makes being a black actress more exciting than ever before. Her upcoming series of the same name will spotlight the quirky everyday life of Cory Bailey, a mildly successful actress struggling to overcome Hollywood roadblocks.
Vixen recently caught up with Lewis to talk about teaming up with Issa Rae, running a successful IndieGogo fundraiser and her craziest audition experience.
VIBE Vixen: Is there camaraderie between you and other Toronto entertainers?
Andrea Lewis: Yeah! Any city or place you come from where there’s multiple people pursuing the same career, you definitely meet everybody and get to know everyone fairly well, whether it be on a professional level or friendship wise. I’ve always been blessed and very fortunate that I’ve lived in different parts of the U.S. and I always have friends there that are from Toronto. So, I’m never far from home [in a sense] which is really good.
Is there one person in particular you count as a close friend?
I’m really close with Melanie Fiona. She’s been my girl for many, many years. Maybe because we’re both Canadian. We both have West Indian background. She’s just a truth teller. Melanie keeps it real all the time. She’s always been my closest friend.
At what point did you realize being a black actress was going to be difficult?
I knew being a black actress was going to be difficult when I was 14. I started in the industry when I was only a toddler and I think if there’s one big thing you learn right away, it’s who you are or what you are in terms of the protocol and list of parts. There was always projects that wanted the token person of color. I was going to auditions that wanted people of color period and not just black girls. Everybody’s there and they’re just trying to fill one role. You learn that very quickly. It’s eye opening. It makes you take a stand, whether you’re going to stick by the stereotype or you say ‘Eff it, I’m going to create my own opportunities.’
Did you feel the same way on Degrassi?
My character a lot of the time was the token girl of color in a scene. She wasn’t necessarily significant. I might’ve been in a ton of episodes. I might’ve been in advertising and all kinds of things, but you didn’t always know things about my character or you didn’t get to hear her speak. I used to ask and talk to them about developing my character a little bit more and giving me a little more shine, but it was always fairly difficult. That’s just the system unfortunately. Luckily, we’re in a time now where the first lady is a black woman and you have TV shows like Scandal. There’s a real sense of turning around to bring in more people of color.
Canada is not like the U.S. in the sense that we don’t have a Canadian BET. We don’t have shows that have a full cast of black people. It is a feat itself to have been on such a recognized show in Canada and the U.S. as a person of color. That is an accomplishment.
I saw this video late last week and wanted to post it immediately but I got a little busy, but a late post never hurt nobody! Anyway, this has got to be one of the most inspiring videos I’ve ever seen. Two boys Malcolm Brickhouse and Jarad Dawkins formed a heavy metal rock band, Unlocking the truth and despite getting bullied in school by their peers they are sticking to being ORIGINAL! To see this kind of confidence at such a young age is beautiful. I’ve heard people say many times that you should always remain a kid at heart and watching this video you see why. If we had the spirit of these 2 young boys we’d all be confident, comfortable and sure of ourselves for who we are and what we want in life. I hope Malcolm and Jarad continue on this journey because the sky is really the limit. Don’t let anyone tell you what you should be, be you, believe in your dreams and watch the journey unfold better than you could’ve imagined.
Unlocking The Truth – Malcolm Brickhouse & Jarad Dawkins from The Avant/Garde Diaries on Vimeo.
This is one of the goals that I’m currently working on and I will admit, it’s a little bit of struggle for me right now but I’m ok because I recognize that this is a transition period for me. Having the right group of people around you is key to reaching a high level of success. You need people that are like minded, inspire you, encourage you, motivate you and you are able to do the same for them.
This year I’ve had to make a few cuts to some of my friendships because these relationships weren’t serving or inspiring me anymore and I wasn’t inspiring them either, so it was time to move on. You’re not bitter or upset, you just able to recognize when it’s time to look for something more. So like I said this is a goal that is transition right now so I’ll have to do a part 2 on when I’ve gathered the perfect team, but the key message in this video is to look around and make sure that you’re surrounding yourself with the perfect team.
I saw this commercial/I’m a better business man than all of you jerks endorsement deal last night and I felt the way I always feel while watching JayZ, “HE’S SO AWESOME, How can I be as awesome as Jay Z?!” Am I the only that feels that way? I hope I’m not full blown crazy but as an artist (which naturally makes me 50-75% crazy) I’m always in awe and so inspired by what Jay Z manages to do as both an artist and a business man. He’s incredible! He always raises the bar visually, musically and as a business man, you just can’t help but be inspired by him! So mark your calendars because I have and July 4th should be a very good day!
P.S The soundbites in this video are all perfect! “We don’t have any rules everyone is trying to figure it out that’s why the internet is the wild wild west” Perfectly said!
Living a happy life comes in all shapes and sizes and it all starts with you and I truly feel that having self love and living a happy life go hand in hand. You have to choose to love your self and you have to choose to be happy! Here are 15 tips small tips to being happy that I found on Emmaorwhatever.tumblr that I thought were perfect ways to “choose to be happy” and a few of the steps on this list were told to me when I begin my journey to being happy. So if you’re feeling down and want to see a change or feeling great and want to continue do so check out this list and let me know if you try any of the steps!
1. push yourself to get up before the rest of the world – start with 7am, then 6am, then 5:30am. go to the nearest hill with a big coat and a scarf and watch the sun rise.
2. push yourself to fall asleep earlier – start with 11pm, then 10pm, then 9pm. wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable.
3. erase processed food from your diet. start with no lollies, chips, biscuits, then erase pasta, rice, cereal, then bread. use the rule that if a child couldn’t identify what was in it, you don’t eat it.
4. get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. sit and eat it and do nothing else.
5. stretch. start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. roll your head. stretch your fingers. stretch everything.
6. buy a 1L water bottle. start with pushing yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice.
7. buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, what you need to do that day. no detail is too small.
8. strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear draw into the washing machine. put a massive scoop of scented fabric softener in there and wash. make your bed in full.
9. organise your room. fold all your clothes (and bag what you don’t want), clean your mirror, your laptop, vacuum the floor. light a beautiful candle.
10. have a luxurious shower with your favourite music playing. wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. lather your whole body in moisturiser, get familiar with the part between your toes, your inner thighs, the back of your neck.
11. push yourself to go for a walk. take your headphones, go to the beach and walk. smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. bring your dog and observe the dog’s behaviour. realise you can learn from your dog.
12. message old friends with personal jokes. reminisce. suggest a catch up soon, even if you don’t follow through. push yourself to follow through.
13. think long and hard about what interests you. crime? sex? boarding school? long-forgotten romance etiquette? find a book about it and read it. there is a book about literally everything.
14. become the person you would ideally fall in love with. let cars merge into your lane when driving. pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. stick your tongue out at babies. compliment people on their cute clothes. challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day. then two. then a week. walk with a straight posture. look people in the eye. ask people about their story. talk to acquaintances so they become friends.
15. lie in the sunshine. daydream about the life you would lead if failure wasn’t a thing. open your eyes. take small steps to make it happen for you.
My schedule has been crazy lately and I haven’t had much time to make sure my hair is prim and proper for every meeting and appointment and unfortunately my curly hair has a 3-4 day expiration period before I start to look full blown crazy so here are some quick fixes I’ve been doing lately to fix my hair when I’m in a rush all while embracing what I’ve got! 🙂
I love Hollywood Reporter for doing these roundtable talks. They’re endlessly awesome and loaded with little bits of inspiration and confirmation that you’re not crazy, you’re on the right track and keep going! Last night I watched the round table with Kerry Washington (Scandal), Monica Potter (Parenthood) Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad), Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), Connie Britton (Nashville) and Kate Mara (House of Cards). These women are all beautiful and have been through pretty much everything in the industry. It was nice to hear them all talk about bad auditions, joe jobs that they sucked at and tv shows they wish they were apart of.
This is a lesson that I’ve learned many times and in a recent conversation that I had with a new actor on set I was reminded of how I used to be ad how afraid I was of people telling me NO! But I realized after awhile that I felt worse not asking than I did hearing a “no” and that “no” didn’t stop me from continuing on until I got a “yes”. If you don’t ask you won’t receive, so please this week ask for everything you want because a closed mouth won’t get fed! xo
#12 on my list is creating a successful youtube channel. I’m part way there by starting the channel in the first place and now to make it successful in an unconventional “youtuber” kind of way. To kick off this goal I decided a few days ago to put out a message on my instagram, twitter and facebook page asking you guys to ask me whatever you wanted and a lot of you responded with some great questions. I wish I could of gotten to them all but I’m thinking of making this Q&A a regular thing, what do you think? Check out my Q&A below where I talk about letting go of my fears to start, “Black Actress”, what happened to TGAW. Advice for upcoming singers and how to stay positive! Thanks to all that sent in their questions.
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