Jozanne Marie is an extremely talented actress, playwright and poet whose words inspire.  She uses life’s difficulties to turn them into something positive to help others.  I recently spoke with Jozanne for The Nerdy Girl Express and found her engaging, intelligent and passionate.  Read on to find out what she had to say.

How did you get started in acting?

“I’m from the Island of Jamaica and I always wanted to be an actress. When I came here, my family didn’t consider acting as a career. ‘Get you a real job,’ they’d say (laughs). So, it was always something that was shunned culturally. But it was still a part of my DNA.  So, I had an opportunity when I went to college to audition for a play even though I went to a criminal justice college in New York. You couldn’t major in Theater and Film, but there were other electives you could pick. And they had an off-Broadway director there who was teaching theater. He decided to put on a play of Madea and I auditioned. So, I got my first role in a play. After the play, he came up to me and he said ‘You should be an actor. That’s what you’re called to do and I’m going to refer you to the best acting school that I went to, The Acting Studio.’  So, I took some classes to learn some skills. And after that he hired me in his theater company. And that was the beginning of my acting career.”

What has been your favorite role to date?

“Actually my favorite to play has been in my solo play ‘Beautiful’.  I’m performing in it right now and touring internationally.  I have a one woman show that I share about my life that’s called ‘Beautiful’ and I get to play over fifteen characters.  I get to play my younger self.  I play other people in my life, I play my dad, my grandmother, the neighbor next door.  That’s like my favorite role because I get to play many characters.”

Do you feel being a poet and a writer helps you better in your performances?

“I do.  Before I actually started acting I used to write a lot of poetry.  That was one of the ways I expressed myself and how I felt.  My poetry and writing didn’t help my acting, it’s the flip way for me. My acting helped my poetry and my writing.  Because when I write something I’m a truth teller so I write from deep in my soul.  I’m not your typical writer who sets out to write something creative, I’m inspired by my culture.  It has to really resonate with me and I have to be really passionate about it and the subject matter.”

From reading about you I know that you are involved with helping victims of abuse and inner city kids. How do you feel your involvement has helped and how do you hope to reach and help more people?

“Yes, my play Beautiful is about the personal struggles in my life. And I was a victim of sexual abuse at a young age and a lot of times when you go through things like that and have overcome them you have empathy for others because you’ve walked in those shoes as well.  And I am a big advocate for inner city kids because at sixteen I was a homeless teenager on the streets of New York.  By the grace of God because I was able to overcome them in my life, I felt it was my duty and responsibility to give back.  And know that it’s about healing.  It’s not about the numbers.  I would love to be able to reach a larger platform of people but if one person is impacted by my life, I feel I’ve done my job.

With the abuse, you’re being violated physically and emotionally.  Your spiritual house is being violated.  I’m a big advocate of abuse and spreading the message. It’s difficult for people to talk about, but I’m a big believer in talking about difficult things ‘Okay, this happened so what are we going to do about it?” As long as I’m able to help others with my message, it’s a good thing.”

Do you hope to someday get involved in directing or producing?

“Not so much directing. I would love to produce. I believe there are seasons for everything. Right now, I’m a actress and writer but I do want to expand into the area of producing someday.”

Besides for Beautiful, are there any other projects you’re involved with?

“There’s something I’m working on that I can’t share information about at this time. There are some big names involved in it. As soon as I’m able to, I will make an announcement.”

To learn more about Jozanne Marie:

http://www.jozannemarie.com/