Interview with Sher Shearey

Sher Shearey began her step into the industry back in 1989 when she did a commercial for Imported French Chocolates. Sher Shearey was a member of The Singing Angels for 8 years, which was a children’s performing arts chorus; Drama Club and American Music Theater in High School along with hip hop dance classes that she took.

Sher Shearey did not plan to be an actress. Her father was a musician and her mother modeled for Barbizon. Sher grew to love modeling and music from watching her parents explore it and never thought twice about acting, even after her first commercial in 1989 when she was six years old.

Sher Shearey began her step into modeling in 2008 with her first photography shoot. From there on, Sher Shearey became a featured model for Nifty Magazine and cover model for Orlando Talent Magazine. She has also been a model in various music videos including ones for Marcc Gregory.

http://t.co/J2KDlmMcn3 #modeling #model #salon #hair #beauty pic.twitter.com/1SWqO1sf7c

— Sher Shearey (@shershearey) September 30, 2013

I decided to step into the acting world and give it a shot in 2008. My first step into the acting field was for a student film for Full Sail University where I was an extra. As soon as I stepped on set, I felt something that I never felt before. There were no words for it. It was all based on an emotion inside of me that hit me really hard. I decided to move forward and see where this world would take me in the acting industry. I stuck with my gut feeling and the route that it took me was more than I could have ever imagined.

We all have an element in our life and mine was found within acting from this point forward. The acting field has changed my world for the better and has pushed me completely out of my comfort zone. I quote “ Why do I love acting? I love it because I get to work at a craft I love with all my heart. We all have a certain element for something that we all try to find. I found mine in acting. It puts me in a state of mind to where I get to challenge myself whether it is in the characters that I portray or the scenes that I have to embrace. I never limit my challenges, instead I challenge my limits”.

How did you become an actor
In 2008 I was twenty-five when I decided to give the acting field a shot. I looked at my life and saw that something was missing, let alone felt that something was missing. At the time I didn’t know what it was, but as soon as I stepped onset for a project, I knew what was missing and went with it. No one brought me to acting. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and went towards something that I was willing to take a risk and see where it would expand me.

I have never had any formal training to become an actor. I’ve never taken any acting classes, had an acting coach, etc. Everything that I have accomplished has been done on my own and with my own determination and motivation to grow as an actor on my own. We all go through tough points in our lives where financially we can’t accomplish certain things we would like to. Taking acting classes, having an acting coach isn’t free and shouldn’t be; however managing college tuition takes a lot out of you at times.

Acting isn’t something that has been handed to me. It takes work to succeed at it and it also takes time to study yourself as an actor as well as the characters that you are portraying and take the advice from others and apply it. It also takes long hours. Working on set isn’t a short time span. If you want to accomplish your goals of being the best version of yourself within the acting industry, you have to be willing to put in the time to accomplish what you need to.

Blessed to have the opportunity to have been here last night and see one of the films I was in 🎬🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/6198HARui7

— Sher Shearey (@shershearey) March 4, 2017

What acting technique do you use
We all find our own ways to perfect our own acting techniques. I like to step into the method acting technique. There are certain roles that I take to develop certain characters. One is taking the character and establishing that character outside of the set. For instance, you and a co-star (depending how comfortable you are with each other) can go out in character together to be able to develop those characters. Just as if you were to go out like a regular night out, you go out in character. Now this is all going to depend on what character you are portraying and such. If you were going to portray a serial killer within a movie, I would not condone going out in public as one. Do that within your own private time to develop the mentality of that character and study the real life serial killers within your own time. With the cases of method acting, you need to pick and choose your characters with this one of how you’re going to emotionally establish the character.

What wrong impressions do actors hold about acting
I have seen others jump into the acting field and think right off of the bat that this is something that anyone can get into. Yes and no. Acting is something that you have to work hard at and you either have it or you don’t. Acting isn’t something that is just going to fall right into your lap. The acting industry is very competitive and it’s something that you have to have full motivation, determination and the passion for to exceed all your expectations. Acting isn’t a hobby. Acting is a lifestyle. I don’t like when I hear others say how acting is just a hobby for them. A hobby is collecting souvenirs from all the places that you have traveled too; acting is much more than a hobby. It’s your life and your career into something that will broaden your horizons if you take it seriously enough.

We are now on Amazon! https://t.co/BFiHxtReoL pic.twitter.com/hUc9ysVNTf

— Sher Shearey (@shershearey) May 19, 2016

Do you take courses to improve your craft
I don’t take any courses nor do I have an acting coach. Just because I haven’t had any formal training on becoming an actor, doesn’t mean that I haven’t succeeded at acting. Being on projects with others, there have always been others who have guided me whether it has been the Director, Producer or fellow co-stars. I take what I learn on set from others and I have applied it towards my next project or within that project that I was working on at the time.

What acting books do you read
Going to be honest when I say that I have never read any acting books in my life.

How do you keep fit as an actor
Us actors need to keep in physical shape, especially if we want to obtain certain roles within the industry. I keep in physical shape by taking runs outside to keep the cardio within my lifestyle and I also do weight training at the gym to maintain the toning and develop the strength I need to have those capabilities to achieve things.

Mentally, I focus on my perseverance. You have to have the mentality that you won’t fail. The road will be difficult in obtaining your goals at times but you have to keep that focus on going forward and run through those obstacles. Faith is the biggest mentality to have. Faith is what keeps me going to achieve what I need to achieve and to get me through the rough patches that I may have come into within the industry.

How do you prepare for a role
I’ve come across something that has helped me a lot with learning lines. I take the script and a notebook. I write down all my lines along with the last line or word of my co-stars and continue to do so from there on. Writing out my lines helps me to memorize them better on top of being able to create the character in my own way. A script is a guideline for us actors. Doing this technique I have helps me do just that because I can write the lines down in my own words (still sticking with the flow of the guidelines) but being able to not sound so robotic when presenting the lines to my co-stars. You want everything to flow as naturally as possible.

How do you create a character off the pages of a script into a person
You have to take your personality and see the personality of the character and apply it to one. For the character I portray in Beyond Scope, who is called Roseboro, she is a very badass, seductive gal. I love to play badass roles so portraying Roseboro fits the whole perspective. I take my personality and look at her character throughout the series and I combine those together. Once you have the vision in your head of how to come about this, it all comes together smoothly.

How do you stay fresh on set
I’ll look at my next lines or the next scenes that I have coming up. There’s times that I’ll take a breather and step outside and focus my attention on the character so I’m not bothered by anyone. Depending on the scene that I have coming up, there’s different routes that I’ll take. Other times, I’ll just sit back and relax.

Describe a memorable character you played
Princess in Unlawful Justice; 2015

Explain one creative choice you took on set
When I was on set of Unlawful Justice, the scene that I had was a very intense action scene that did require stunts and so forth. The director had a vision in his head of how he saw it portrayed with my character. He gave me the direction of how he wanted me to jump over the bar, punch this guy and throw the bag of money and so forth. I saw his vision and what he was going for. I saw how impactful he wanted the scene to be and I delivered. When I saw myself on screen, I had tears in my eyes. The Director told me that “You superseded my vision and you delivered more than I expected”. That feeling alone makes all those long hours worth it on set knowing that you have accomplished more than expected.

What do you want most from a director
I do like to have the ability to connect on a basis that we can throw out ideas to each other on the script. I’ve worked with Directors before that everything has to be done by the book and every word has to be said exactly as to how it’s written. I’ve stopped working with Directors like that. As I mentioned before, scripts are guidelines. To be able to let that person bring their own creativity to the table and be able to make the scene flow naturally is what will bring all of it to life.

What actors do you long to work with
It’s hard to name just one since I have a list of actors I would love to work with. Picking one off of my list would be Michelle Rodriguez.

Why
Complete badass. Would love to partner up on a badass action movie and kick some major booty!

What advice would you give to actors
Don’t be afraid to take risks. The whole aspect of acting is jumping out of your comfort zone and seeing where things will take you. I used to be scared to jump. When you take that initial first jump and see all the potential inside of you that you never thought that you had, that’s what makes you crave for more. Another thing is to remain humble. We all get lost in this world of success and when your success starts to rise, your ego tends to get bigger. Don’t let that happen. Your humbleness is what’s going to take you to the height of your career as well. That along with faith.

Briefly write about your career
I started as an extra in many projects and worked my way up from there. I have worked on numerous commercial’s which included Dom’s Pizza, Orlando Chrysler Jeep Dodge; Interviews for Jaymonique.com and Orlando Our City Radio to name a few.

The films that I have worked on have grown throughout the years from being an extra to supporting roles to lead roles. Something that I never saw coming. Some of my work includes Final Destination 4: Death Trip 3D, Spookerbillies, Johnny Duel, Ghost App, Unlawful Justice, and Walkerz in which I portray “Sarah” which is in pre-production. The newest project that I am working on is “Beyond Scope” in which I portray the character of Roseboro.

All of the projects that I have worked on throughout the years has built me up to be the actor that I am now along with all my hard work and dedication that I have put into each role. Seeing yourself work your way from the bottom to the top is what makes you strive to continue.  The moment I stepped out of my comfort zone and into a new light of acting, the possibilities have become endless. Faith, however, is what has brought me to where I am now.

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