22. That was my age when I finally saw a Black woman in mainstream media that wasn’t being portrayed as yet another negative stereotype. This Black woman was powerful, influential, intelligent, pretty, a go-getter, stylish and simply a person on TV that I wanted to emulate. I was so inspired by her and thrilled to see her on TV. the show was called SCANDAL written by the incredible Shonda Rhimes (also known for Grey’s Anatomy) and she later went on to produce “How to Get Away with Murder,” which also had Viola Davis as an incredible lead role. While these were the first role with Black women leads that really caught my attention, I knew that there should be more. I notice now that there is still something missing. I love Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and RomComs (Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Vampire Diaries, Star Wars, Harry Potter etc.) and want to see more with a Black woman as the leading role who is the desired love-interest who is sought after and admired. You can check out my Instagram stories where I will go over some of my experiences when I dabbled into acting in Denver and NYC, specifically with type-casting and how that can be so limiting especially for Actors of color. I hope that the future of Hollywood is more diverse and inclusive. When I say diverse, I mean EVERYTHING: Black, White, Hispanic, Latinx, Asian, Native, Indian, all ages, Disabled, Abled, and within that, any gender.
During my time in New York City, I had the pleasure of meeting plenty of Actors who were striving to make their dreams come true. They would work multiple jobs between their auditions, acting gigs and acting school. Many of the Actors I have spoken with have had issues when it comes to landing their ideal because oftentimes casting directors will often assume at the way you look, determines what role you can play. They have even made people compromise who they are in order to get a role. I go more into depth about this on my IG stories. This makes it difficult for Actors of color to obtain leading roles because sometimes people in charge can be afraid of diverting from the status-quo. While we have started to see more diversity, we still have a long way to go. My dream cast would be to see all types of humans represented in one TV Show/Series/Movie. The reason being, the more we see different people interacting with one another, the more we are able to dismantle the implicit biases and negative thoughts about people who are different from us, and we can see them as humans just like us. This production would be something along the lines of fantasy and science-fiction where everyone has their own individual issues but they work together collectively as Humanity in order to create an Ideal World. Hollywood has more of an impact than we think. I truly hope that this changes within the industry as there is so much talent and so many stories that have yet to be told. Here are the headshots of some amazing actors that I was privileged to meet in NYC and on IG. Give them a follow and support their endeavors to make Hollywood more diverse!
ADINETT NSABIMANA
Adinett photographed by Connor Clayton 
Adinett photographed by Connor Clayton
ADINETT NSABIMANA
HERITAGE: Born in Burundi, raised in TX
DREAM ROLE: “I’d love to be part of the Marvel Universe. I’ve always wanted to. Right now I love The children of Blood & Bones book by Toni Adeyemi. Her trilogy book will be turned into movies. I’d love to be part of it somehow (fingers crossed).
I also am a sucker for a good rom com. I watched them every weekend!!!”WEBSITE: Adinette Nsabimana
AMY KEUM
AMY KEUM
HERITAGE: Korean American
DREAM ROLE: “I’d love to play a scrappy, tough heroine who fights the bad guys (like a Katniss type) or I’d also love to play the weird friend from a Romcom (Awkwafina-ish), I’d also love to play a very calculated villian.”
WEBSITE: Amy Keum
LASHONZA FEATHERSTON
Lashonza photographed by Jennifer 
Lashonza photographed by Patrick Stocking
LASHONZA
HERITAGE: Black
DREAM ROLE: “My dream role would be in a period piece overseas. I’m hoping Bridgerton’s next season!”
WEBSITE: Lashonza
AWESTA ZARIF
Awesta photographed by Emily Lambert
HMU Brad Laskey
Awesta photographed by Emily Lambert
HMU Brad Laskey
AWESTA ZARIF
HERITAGE: I am from Afghanistan and was born there.
DREAM ROLE: “One dream role would be something like Khaleesi! Another would be Richard in Richard III by Shakespeare, another one would be something like Fleabag.”
WEBSITE: Awesta Zarif
ARIELLE TILLETT
Arielle photographed by Deborah Lopez 
Arielle photographed by Deborah Lopez
ARIELLE TILLETT
HERITAGE: I was born in Brooklyn, NY my family is from Belize
DREAM ROLE: I would love to play some type of magical creature or anything with supernatural powers
WEBSITE: Arielle Tillett
ANDREA RAMOS
ANDREA RAMOS
HERITAGE: Mexican heritage. Born in Durango, raised in Houston, TX
DREAM ROLE: “I am a sucker for a good period drama. A character with a ton of character development, dialogue, and maybe some excellent fight scenes would really thrill me 🙂 I am really drawn to scripts that pay a lot of attention to the little details.
I also am loving the amount of new work and storytelling being used through the medium of television–the opportunity to really develop and tell a rich story in a longer format than traditional films or plays is super exciting to me and something I hope to be more involved in.
A Shakespearean tragedy is always my cup of tea as well.”
WEBSITE: Andrea Ramos
CHHAYA NENE
CHHAYA NENE
HERITAGE: 100% East Indian
DREAM ROLE: “Bio-pic telling the stories of those who haven’t been told. IE a Female Freedom Fighter.”
WEBSITE: Chhaya Nene
MIMI HAYES
Mimi Hayes photographed by Vanessa Samuel 
Mimi Hayes Photographed by Vanessa Samuel
MIMI HAYES
HERITAGE: Irish/French
DREAM ROLE: “Playing myself in my comedy/drama TV show about my life.”
WEBSITE: Mimi Hayes
Podcast: Mimi and The Brain
CHELSIE OVEROCKER
CHELSIE OVEROCKER
HERITAGE: Biracial half Black and White
German, Dutch, French, Indian, and English.DREAM ROLE: “Aside from pursuing a career in journalism/ entertainment correspondent I would love to act in a role that people especially young women can look up to. Someone who faced struggles along her journey and was able to overcome any obstacle. Then for fun, it would be cool to play a someone similar to a Rachel Green because I mean come who doesn’t love Friends?”
NICOLETTE TEMPLIER
NICOLETTE TEMPLIER
HERITAGE: Haitian-American
DREAM ROLE: “Irina from Three Sisters (Chekhov)”
WEBSITE: Nicolette Stephanie