Home Interviews It’s Time for Black Women to Take Rightful Place in Hollywood … An Exclusive Interview with Actress Simone Moore

It’s Time for Black Women to Take Rightful Place in Hollywood … An Exclusive Interview with Actress Simone Moore

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It’s Time for Black Women to Take Rightful Place in Hollywood … An Exclusive Interview with Actress Simone Moore

From Blockbusters to the prime-time small screen, Simone Moore has made her impact in the world of entertainment and has worked alongside many industry greats. Simone Moore is someone who absolutely knows what she wants. Moore is a Brooklyn-raised, British-Jamaican Hollywood actress. Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, She spent most of her teenage years in Brooklyn, New York City with her extended family, and started singing and dancing by age 5. In high school, she studied Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday’s complete catalogue of songs. She would take off to Manhattan to perform in talent shows and modelling events. 

In her almost 20 year career, Moore has been busy carving a niche for herself in the entertainment industry. She’s been an actress, writer, singer, and solo performer, in theatre, film, and TV, in commercials, and voice-over. She holds a Master’s degree in theater from the University of California at San Diego. 

Classically trained Simone has garnered critical acclaim in The New York and Los Angeles Times for her Shakespeare roles and her work with the Civilians Theatre Company in New York and The Shakespeare Center LA where she recently played Lady Macbeth. Her move to Los Angeles has been very fortunate as she has quickly booked leading roles in independent films, heavy guest-starring, and recurring roles on television including Boston Legal, Cold Case, and Without a Trace. 

Her solo play “The Divorce Comedy” premièred at the REDCAT in Los Angeles, during their 2020 New Original Works Festival. Simone is a soulful singer and designer. Her interests include travel, Afro Cuban Dance, rammed earth, and other forms of sustainable architecture. She speaks Jamaican Patois, English, and French.

A-CHOICES: Tell us a bit about yourself, your educational and family background?

Simone: Hi, thank you for having me, I’m Simone Vicari Moore, I am a classically trained actress, born in Montego Bay, Jamaica and I grew up in Brooklyn New York. I started out in New York as a model and voice-over artist. I went to school abroad at the Sorbonne Nouvelle, upon returning to the states I did a Masters’s degree in Theatre at the University of California at San Diego. I signed with Endeavor Talent Agency out of school, I went on to act Off-Broadway in New York and then moved to Los Angeles where I work in film, television, voiceovers, theatre, and solo performance. My mother and father are Jamaican-born, most of my family live in Jamaica, New York, and London. I’m the only one out here in Los Angeles. 

A-CHOICES: Can you describe what influenced you to pursue a career as an actress?

Simone: I’ve always sung and danced, even when my audience was my dolly, a coconut, or my Seventh Day Adventist neighbours doing their Saturday morning matins. I would sing Tina Turner at the top of my lungs and dance on the veranda. However, I made the decision to act, while living in Paris as a student at the Sorbonne Nouvelle, I would spend time traveling around Europe. I sat in a lot of parks, squares, and spent time thinking quite a bit about what I wanted to do. I had this image in my mind of a very posh black woman, that I wanted to see myself become and I wanted to be an example to young girls coming after me of a very dignified black woman. I suppose it was a response to feeling undignified in the environment I was in, my 18-year-old brain said, “I am going to show these people that a black woman can be dignified and I’m going to do that by being an actress”.  

A-CHOICES: You were a distance runner for 4 years,tell me more about it?

Simone: Hahaha! Yes, I ran high school track, my specialty was the 400 and 800-meter races because I am skinny with long legs. They called me Gumby because I am double jointed and was really flexible. Anyway, I had a long stride, so distance was perfect for me. The girls that ran 100 and 200 meters had much bigger thigh muscles than I had, I wasn’t built for those races. I enjoyed distance running and still do it to this day, most days I run 3 miles a day. So high school track set me up in life to have a very high metabolism and a fitness practice. 

A-CHOICES: What’s like playing Corretta Scott King on the HBO series Random Acts of Flyness?

Simone: Playing Coretta Scott King was a very life-changing experience. She is such a brilliant, grand, compassionate person. I say “is” because she is a person I live with in my home, I have her pictures on my walls. Well, let’s take it back… working with Terence Nance and Mariama Diallo was a dream. The set was very improvisational, creative, and alive. They had very talented people on set during my shoot day, including actress Tonya Pinkins, solo performer Okwui Okpokwasili, actor Anthony Chisholm. I don’t recall getting a script ever, it was all improvised, and I really needed to find my hook into the role, so I channeled her spirit. I had many questions, but my main question was why did she give up her career as an opera singer? I meditated and asked and finally, I received an answer, so I ran with that. I had never done that before at the start of a role, usually, it comes later, but I had to work quickly and wanted to bring an authentic meeting of my artist self and the spirit of the character.  

A-CHOICES:In brief tell us the process you go through to try out and then get a part for a movie/television show/commercial?

Simone: It’s always very different, sometimes it’s a phone call with an offer (those are the best), and other times it’s 3 or 4 auditions (a meeting where you perform the role). The studio, network, director all have to give their approval, so sometimes it takes a while to get everyone’s OK. 

Every audition is a goldmine, a chance for a wonderful opportunity… that’s me being positive… really, it’s kind of nerve-wracking, you never think you have enough time to prepare, etc … OK, you said briefly. You get the script or just sides (the pages you will read when you act the part), you prepare the work, then you go in and read for casting or the director. When I get the part, my manager calls me and we negotiate the pay and other terms. These days most meetings are on zoom. I have to go do one as I’m writing this so I’m going to stop here, be back in a moment…. 

A-CHOICES:You appeared in Boston Legal. Tell us about your experience being on an Emmy awarding winning show with some of the best actors/actresses?

Simone: It was wonderful, I was playing a Haitian Restavek which is a child who has come to the house of her “owners” as the house help, usually because their family can’t afford to take care of them. They are basically treated like house slaves which opens them up to many indignities. In this case, the character was impregnated by her master, and she was on trial for his murder. I went to the audition, looked around the room, and decided that no one was going to get that role but me, I was resolute. I knew I could bring the complexity, humour, and depth of emotion this character required. I didn’t want this girl’s life to be glazed over, I wanted her to be complicated and authentic. At the call-back (which is the follow up auditions) I was very ill, I crawled out of bed, went to the call-back, and crawled back into bed when I returned home. On the set most of my scenes were with Gary Anthony Williams who was wonderful and very protective of my character, Rene Auberjonois was so generous, the director Steve Robin just opened the space for me to fill it up, he guided us, but gave us a wide playing space at the same time. I enjoy working with people who are dedicated to their craft and working at a high level. One of the writers, Janet Leahy, gave me one of the best compliments I’ve ever received, she said, “You know, you write these things and sometimes you wonder if anyone will be able to play it, …you did it.” After the Boston Legal experience, I realized that I am courageous and can take on the most challenging roles.  

A-CHOICES:Did your experience living in France help you land the role as a Haitian girl in Boston Legal?

Simone: Yes! Hahaha! I had to adlib (improvise) some lines, so I called my French friend Boris, who I met the second day I arrived in Paris. For the Haitian Kreole accent, I called my friend Joanna who is Haitian and who I also met in Paris and she gave me the number for her auntie in Miami and that is whose voice I referenced for the role. I had her say all the lines of my script back to me then I practiced with the tape. It’s a family affair, no actor is an island. Every actor should use all the resources they have at hand to hook into that role. Research, research, research! 

A-CHOICES :What do you enjoy doing the most television, commercial, live theatre, or films?

Simone: I love working, it is where I feel most at home and most alive. I’m fearless when I’m acting, in real life I’m kind of reclusive. I like doing television because it pays well and you get to work with remarkable people. I love film because I really get to play and create a character from the ground up, film feels more intimate to me as well, and film is forever. 

My favourite, my most alive, most creative is when I am playing Shakespeare. 

A-CHOICES: What is your typical day like?

Simone: Hahaha!! Boring!! No, I’m kidding! My typical day… Every day is different. I wake up, do my prayers and meditations, exercise, usually I have a script I’m reading or an audition to tape, set up in my studio, tape, clean up. Grabbing bites in between. I teach and coach actors young and old so sometimes I have classes. I zoom a lot. Lots of meetings. Lots of screens. The work stops, when it stops, I try to be in bed by 10:50 pm.  

A-CHOICES:How would you describe yourself?

Simone: I describe myself as an artist. 

A-CHOICES:Do you have a mentor or role model who is helping you along the way in your acting career?

Simone: I would consider Diane Venora an acting mentor. Ben Donenberg of the Shakespeare Center Los Angeles has also been like a mentor to me. My colleagues Desean Terry, and J Kyle Manzay have also been like mentors to me.

A-CHOICES:What challenges have you encountered while pursuing your dream?

Simone: The main challenge was just accepting who I am as an artist and a person. I was raised in abject poverty in my childhood, I don’t come from an acting background, acting never seemed like a viable career choice to certain members of my family. I couldn’t see the value in what I was doing, what God has blessed me with, but my spirit knew, so I kept at it. I encourage young people to learn who they are first and foremost, learning who you are is freeing. Just notice your emotional responses and what your body is telling you. Other challenges have been cultural differences, I had a heavy Jamaican phrasing style, I grew up on an island, so my rhythm is slower, I’m regal and so I come off very formal in a town where most people seek to appear casual and accessible. One year, around 2015, I was pretty burnt out, I went to the doctor and described my symptoms, I asked him if I needed medication, he looked at me nonchalantly, swayed in his chair and said, “no, you are just a black actress in America.” Hahaha!! He said, “go to all of your auditions, and focus on doing the things you love to do.” I didn’t even recognize the challenges I was having in life, were connected to living the life of a black actress in America, I hadn’t thought of it that way before that moment. 

A-CHOICES:Who or what inspired you to keep pushing regardless of the challenges you’ve encountered?

Simone: I don’t know. I have a strong sense of duty to life. I came from dirt roads and outhouses, I will not let anything stop me. When I was born my mother put me in God’s hands and there I reside. 

A-CHOICES:How would you describe acting? What is the most memorable screen character you have played?

Simone: That requires a very long answer. Acting, in performance, for me is like surfing, an athletic sport that is also a balancing act. Boleslavsky says, “Acting is the life of the human soul receiving its birth through art.” My most memorable character on screen… I remember all of them, they 

are real to me, I respect them and I’m very protective of their lives.

A-CHOICES:What do you want from a director during a production?

Simone: I love directors who know how to talk to actors, or will just say what they want, who choose really good actors and give us room to play. I recently worked with a director who wanted my character to be more of a villain but didn’t express that to me. The script didn’t convey that they wanted my character to be mean, so on set there was a lot of me doing it over and over again, beyond the usual amount of repetition. They asked me to be angrier, or sassier, which didn’t make sense to what I saw on the page or what was happening in the scene. Once I saw the finished product, I thought gosh, why didn’t they just say they wanted her to be a bitch, I love playing complicated women! Instead, they tried to change the tone of the character in the moment, it was manipulative and weird. It didn’t feel good. 

A-CHOICES:What do you like most about working on a television show?

Simone: The thing I like most about working on television is the writing. A well-written TV script can take over your whole body if you give in to it, and you will be doing work that you never could have imagined. I think TV writing has to really understand psychology, like what triggers those responses in us that are below the surface. TV is all rhythm and hair! Hahaha! So, if an actor’s instrument is open and available, really magical things can happen.

A-CHOICES:Do you get recognised much in public and what sort of reaction do you normally get from people ?

Simone: I am a bit of a chameleon, so I’m completely unrecognizable if I change my hair, which I do often. Usually, people in the business know me more than people on the street. On the street, people will stare and smile when they recognize me. Sometimes they mistake me for other actresses, in which case, I just say thank you, and smile!

A-CHOICES:Viola Davis has said that Black qactors are treated like “leftovers” in Hollywood. Would you say that it’s time for black women to take rightful place in Hollywood?

Simone: Personally, I’m interested in what Mo Abudu is doing in Nollywood currently. Hi, Ms. Abudu! Hmmm, Leftovers? As in an afterthought? Well, the story is that black actors are not a big box office draw, so I guess the powers that be put their money behind who they believe to be more bankable. Ms. Davis’ film The Help cost 25 million to make but made $213 million in gross revenue. So obviously she has star power. You know, I think there are these old stories out there, narratives that people love to repeat, and honestly, in the next few years we will watch them disintegrate, they just need to go, because they have been proven wrong. I’ve heard some producers in Hollywood say that movies with black leads don’t sell internationally. Yet, around the time they were saying this, Sam Jackson was the highest-grossing star at the international box office. Black culture is so pervasive and copied. The international market is thirsty for content featuring black artists. Thirsty. We have to look at the narratives themselves, it’s just a story that somebody made up, it’s been proven wrong, it can be dismantled, and it will. My thing is: tell the truth. If you set a TV show in New York City and it doesn’t have any Black, Latino, or Asian people represented on your show, that’s just not the truth. I commend Ms. Viola Davis for speaking out for all of us. She is at a level in her career where she gets to see who they tap first for projects and perhaps she is speaking to the fact that historically in Hollywood black actors are often the side characters in major motion pictures or on television. In 1968 Ms. Diahann Carroll was the first black woman to lead a TV show in a non-stereotypical role in the United States. It can seem to go back and forth, between progress and the same old narratives. Everyone says black women are hot right now. There have been recent changes, there are black women leads in TV shows and major motion pictures and I hope it stays consistent and isn’t just a trend. As long as we are alive it is our time, there is no business outside of us, the people living and creating during this time, are the entertainment industry. We just have to keep creating, speaking up, and dismantling old narratives.

A-CHOICES:The actor who broke down Hollywood’s racial barriers. He made history as the first Black man to win an Academy Award for best actor. How did Sidney Poitier changed the world?

Simone: Sidney Poitier portrayed dignified black male characters for United States audiences. Historically, black men were allowed to portray stereotypical roles, sing, and dance but rarely did we see a dignified, complex person on the screen. Mr. Poitier however, we watched him talk back to white people on screen, demand respect, go to dinner in their homes, and even return a slap to a white man on screen. He was a man, a real person. In an interview, he said he knew he was representing millions of black people with every move he made. I admire that he didn’t let the responsibility be a burden to him, but rather a reason to be greater. I am very saddened by his passing, I never met him, he was grand. 

A-CHOICES:Your perspective on the effect race has had on your career options?

Simone: That’s a facet of my career that I have to deal with, a system looking at my race, I’m aware, but I’m still going to continue to act and create and I am focused on my career moving forward. 

Hollywood’s focus on proximity to whiteness limits the amount of work that I get seen for. My agents and managers work hard to push me out there. It’s not only black people it impacts but all actors of color. It makes me very sad, sometimes I think of all the degrees, the hours spent studying, my solo play premiering at REDCAT plus all of the success I’ve had, and my white friends have to vouch for me to get a job. They tell me you are so talented, it’s a tragedy that you are not working more than you do. Sometimes I’ll watch a movie with great actors and see parts that I know I would be amazing in, but wouldn’t be considered for because of my race. Racism is so insidious, sometimes its effect doesn’t show up in which roles I did or didn’t get, it goes deeper than that, it affects what I think I even deserve to strive toward. I was trained to give years to the theater and be prepared for it to give me nothing in return. Hollywood is a business machine, it hurts, and I get disappointed, but I just keep going. On an interpersonal level, the majority of the people I’ve worked with in Hollywood have been fair and treated me with nothing but dignity and respect, but racism is systemic, it affects all areas of our lives. It took me years to realize that what I think I can achieve, do, be, has been diseased by racism. I know that, flush its residue from my system daily and push on. 

I mean, not to toot my own horn, but I am exceptionally beautiful and talented! So, where’s all my stuff!? 

It also saddens me when I see my colleagues, other black actresses, who have done all the things and still aren’t getting the benefits from all the work they have put in. They’ve done the solo play, the series regular, and the blockbuster movie and do not garner the pay or recognition that our white counterparts receive.  

A-CHOICES:Tell me about your character “ Denise” in Bea at Rehab

Simone: Denise is dedicated to her job, but she is in a difficult situation. She is a reasonable person surrounded by unreasonable people.

A-CHOICES:How do you motivate your fellow cast mates?

Simone: I motivate actors by being very available, actors will call me at 11pm at night to come read with them and I will get into my car and go meet them. I coach actors through scene work, some actors have booked major roles from my coaching. I love acting and make myself very available to have the craft live. I act my butt off when the camera is turned on the other actor, I do not check out or let my stand in do the scene. I let my dedication to acting sing, give them juicy challenges in our scenes together, I respect acting and I just try to make it fun. 

A-CHOICES:Who are your favourite fashion designers?

Simone: Growing up my clothes were sewn by a tailor so I tend to love a good fit. I still have my clothes sewn by a dressmaker sometimes. I love clothes, love couture. Grass fields, Andrea Iyamah, Oscar De La Renta, Zimmerman, Valentino, YSL, Imad Eduso, William Okpo. CHANEL. 

A-CHOICES:What are your favourite beauty products / what is always carried in your purse?

Simone: Chanel lip gloss in Insouciance. I also wear Juvia’s Place and Mented. 

A-CHOICES:Do you have a beauty and exercise regime?

Simone: I use beauty products, I’ve been trying clean beauty products alot lately since I discovered the toxins that are in many of our most trusted brands. I use The Ordinary a lot. I try to keep it simple, aloe vera juice to soften my hair, I sometimes wash my hair with clay, which draws out toxins, argan oil to moisturize my hair. I also follow natural hair youtubers like FusionofCultures or The Chic Natural. On my face, I use oils to remove makeup, vitamin E, witch hazel as a toner. Ceramides and Hyaluronic Acid have become my go-to. I do believe that all beauty stems from proper nutrition and exercise. I eat whole foods, no wheat gluten. I eat like what my grandmother would have eaten in Jamaica, boil yam, greens, etc. I practice Iyengar yoga 3 days per week for 2 hours and I run 3 miles per day 3 days a week.

A-CHOICES:How did you handle the lockdown due to the Covid 19?

Simone: I’ve sort of been working all throughout the lockdown. My solo play The Divorce Comedy: A Spiritual Study, premiered at the REDCAT downtown Los Angeles in October 2020 and so I spent most of 2020 working on my play. It was all very up in the air and we were reimagining the process as we went along, the theatre was very good about safety and there were many Covid protocols in place. I rehearsed at the theatre by myself at first, my director and stage manager could not be in the same space with me. Then we moved to my director’s backyard, very masked and socially distanced. It took a village. I was sheltering in place alone for the entire year, so it was great to be in a warm place and have my writing to get me through. The hard part was being away from my family and not being able to travel to see loved ones. 

A-CHOICES:Words of advice/encouragement for the people during the pandemic to keep going.

Simone: Focus on the things you love, stay away from negative energy, keep your spirit buoyant however you can. Pick flowers, read, do things that take you out of thinking, paint, draw, play with water. Refresh your spirit.  

A-CHOICES:Have you travelled to Africa before? 
Simone: No, I have never been to Africa, I would love to go! I did my ancestry and I am 87% West African and apparently 38% Nigerian. Aye! Naija no dey carry last! 
A-CHOICES:What would you say are your major achievements?

Simone: Whatever role I played in getting my mother out of the hospital alive when she contracted Covid. Choosing myself. A deep spiritual practice. The person I have become. My master, and bachelor’s degrees, creating an interior design business, being a successful working actress in L.A and New York. Having the play I wrote, performed, and co-directed premiere at the prestigious Cal Arts REDCAT. Buying properties in Brooklyn, NYC, playing Lady Macbeth, working steadily throughout the pandemic. Stuff like that.

A-CHOICES:For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

Simone: I’m grateful to be alive. My auntie says it’s important to be alive because you can realize your dreams. I’m grateful that I get to live the life of my dreams. Small things bring me delight, the sun, flowers, birds, trees. I love my plants, my home is a sanctuary, I love my bed.

A-CHOICES:What’s next for Simone? Simone: Next, I’ll be appearing on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, I am writing a lot and I have a very delightful project coming out that I can’t talk about as yet. You catch reach me on social media Facebook, IG @iamsimonemoore, follow me come say hello, I will write back. My website is www.simonemoore.com. Thank you for having me! Love you guys!

Author: Gbenga Teejay Okunlola

London, UK

teejayok@gmail.com

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