GayGirlsGuide.Net:Culture*Fashion*Lifestyle*Travel

Get “Personal” with Actress/Director, Azariah Gunn: February Artist Spotlight

Posted on 31. Jan, 2010 by admin in Interviews

By: Kris.H

I first met this sultry soul on the dance floor of a Brooklyn party.  With magnetic beauty, bright eyes and an electric personality, it was easy to become immediately drawn to her presence as I joked that she gave me a mixture of “Jada” and “Jasmine”.  Deep, introspective and eloquently poetic, she speaks about her love of humanity when creating her art. Ms. Gunn’s first experience as a writer and director came at the tender age of nine when asked to perform her written play about peer pressure to her fourth grade classmates. She laughs about her intensity even as a child, “People think that I became intense, I’m like no…that came from the womb!”, she responds playfully. Since then, this actress, playwright and poet  has been trailblazing through television, film and theater productions with roles in Law & Order, Cadillac Records, Premature and her award-raving semi-autobiographical play, The Phoenix Does Rising”. Under her production company, “It’s Personal Films”, she will release her first directorial project, “Spare Change” this Spring 2010.  I get a chance to speak with this talented beauty one-on-one on her interpretation of love, art and inspiration.

On directing Your First Film:

“I love directing.  It’s incredibly overwhelming, in a good way, when you write something and then you see its beauty coming to life through somebody’s interpretation and honesty. I also love working with talented actors and seeing them evolve into their greatest potential; its very gratifying.”

The Fruitation of  “Spare Change”:

” It was a spur of the moment, ‘Ra-Ra’ type of thing.  I listened to Kanye West’s Heartbreak Hotel and there’s a song in there that talks about a guy whom people around him can talk about their family and their lives and all he can talk about is his cars and his money. He feels like life is passing him by and it resonated with me.  So I was writing and writing and writing… and eventually it was done – 8 versions later.  Sent it to people and the feedback was bananas. They asked me if I was going to do it and I said, “no no no”. Then I was talking to my business partner, Jeff Greene who loved the script,  jumped on board. He believed in it and believed that it was a story that needed to be told. It felt, for me, like it was a necessity – that I didn’t have a choice. It needed to be done then and I was the one who was supposed to do it. Once I said it – everything went into motion.”

The Beginning of Your Career as a Writer and Poet:

I’ve been writing forever. I write from a personal space – it’s my way of trying to figure things out. I was in the 4^th grade when I wrote, directed and starred in my own plays and they had messages and had something to say. I wrote one called “The Risking Kid” and one was “The Smart Kid”. The smart kid was about a smart girl who tried to dumb down so people could be her friend. The other was about drugs and falling into peer pressure. I was always writing and always creating and performed it for homeroom and my teacher had me take it around to all the fourth grade classes. We had discussions on them – I was deep!

Your Inspirations:

Humanity. Love. People. I studied psychology [at Howard University] so I have an affinity for how the mind works. . I feel like we live in a world that is so jaded. I feel like we’ve become very detached as human beings to one another. Nobody has an opportunity to accept people as people; their vulnerability, the things that make them unique - some good, some challenging but no one should feel ashamed of being themselves and I just think that’s just very indicative of our cultures. We’re believing the lies so much that we don’t know how to interact with the truth.

In the film (Spare Change), what I love about Louise, the homeless guy, and Trey is that they are a reflection of one another. Louise was Trey; he was a successful musician and now he’s homeless and I’ve seen people on the subways and I watch how other people react. It’s one thing to feel uncomfortable but it’s another thing to act like that person doesn’t even exist. That blows my mind because that’s somebody child. They are connected to someone in this world and that can easily be you.

On Becoming An Actor:

I think there is a difference between being a craftsman and being an actor; wanting a career and wanting to be a star – they are not the same thing. And when I coach, that is one of the biggest things. I don’t coach people who come to me and say, “Oh, I wanna be a star” that’s when I say, I don’t want your money because you don’t respect it enough for me. I always use this analogy – just because I watch Grey’s Anatomy every night does not mean that I can perform a surgery – no it doesn’t work that way.

Favorite Actors:

Meryl Streep, Jeffrey Wright, Angelina Jolie, Phyllip Seymour Hoffman, Leonardo DeCaprio – I feel like he’s a young legend in the making.  Matt Damon, the entire cast of Angels in America and Sean Penn.

I tend to gravitate towards male actors but Meryl Streep and Angelina Jolie are about their work.  Angelina does what I call “ugly acting”; she can get away with just being beautiful but she doesn’t. She’s so connected that I feel voyeuristic when I watch her perform because she is so giving of everything in her and that to me is so transcending and that’s my aspiration as a performer.

Most Memorable Role to Date:

I think the most memorable role I did was the one in Law & Order as an undercover cop. That was a really exciting role. It was a glimpse into where I felt like, where I feel like my future is going. That was probably the most memorable moment and also doing my film – seeing that come to life. There are no words to express how amazing that was to just see it all unfold and happen; my cast and crew and seeing what it takes to wear all these hats.

Advice to Those in the Industry:

First and foremost, know who you are. Don’t let anyone or anything define you and know what you want from this business. When you figure those things out, and if you decide that you want a career, then put in the work.

Quote You Live By:

“Its Personal” – It is all personal, I say it all the time. When its personal, you are going to go the distance, you’re going to work that much harder because it means that much to you.  Ive been through a lot and I have a real affinity for young women and self esteem. Its something that’s very important to me because we live in a culture that can make them feel that they are nothing and it breaks my heart. And somewhere, somebody has got to tell them that’s not the truth and I feel that’s part of the work that Im supposed to be doing.

Visit the Official Page of Spare Change - The Movie at http://www.indiegogo.com/spare-change-the-movie

Tags: Artist Spotlight, Azariah Gunn