BWW Blog: De'Ja Williams - Introducing Me

I think it's only fair, dear reader, that I tell you a little bit of myself. If you are to continue indulging in this relationship we are forming it would only suffice that you know a bit about me and where I come from. I am a rising junior attending the private prep school MICDS in Saint Louis Missouri. I am an actress, poet, and story teller. I have always known I was an artist. Details often jump up at me and claim my attention. Sometimes they were sights or smells--vivid and demanding to be translated into art. The world has always been a bright and lively place to me. Through the years my mediums have danced about: from singing to dancing, painting to acting, drawing to modeling; however, the stage has always been my true home.

Around the time I turned twelve my aunt, a former New York City actress, introduced me to her traveling troupe which was made up of teenagers all a bit older than me. It was called Forty Corners: Young Artist for Justice and Peace and it was my gateway drug into High School Theater. It was my first real dose of the acting world and she became my mentor. I wrote poetry and skits for the troupe and we performed them everywhere in St. Louis: from being invited to the Art Museum to the grand opening of the new library downtown. It was designed to help teenagers in the inner parts of the city--those who might be at risk to doing something stupid or getting into trouble--to use their talents and power for something positive. We respected and used each other's' strengths to pull off stellar performances that promoted peace in the most dangerous and blood stained corners of my home town. It gave the students a voice when they thought no one was listening and it provided a positive outlet amongst great negativity. It was the first time I was put on a stage to present what I could do. The words I wrote and worlds I created moved people to tears and to stand up and share their voices. It was in these years that I worked with my aunt and other artists that I realized my burning desire to do more. I wanted to use my voice and my talents to bring other people's' stories alive and to inspire others. When my aunt left to go back to New York, I was left as president and mentor of the traveling troupe. A honor I have held until I passed the torch on this previous year to finish school and apply for colleges.

At the age of fourteen, I auditioned for the Central Visual Performing Arts High School in Tower Grove. I performed a monologue and looking back my voice probably cracked with forced emotion, my eyes filled with artificial tears, my backstory was flimsy at best and my feet danced. I got into the school but turned down attendance when I was offered a spot at MICDS where I could balance art with academics.

As a freshman I took Ms. Hood's Acting I class and it was my first proper introduction into theater and Thespis and thespians. I quickly took all the notes I was given: how to feel the pull toward the audience as to make sure that my face is always visible and grand vs minute blocking. I studied how to push myself to feel the emotions my character felt and not just respond to words on a piece of paper. I found myself looking at other works of art and taking into account the choices they made: to say a line with a certain tone or the way the playwright chose to word a scene. When I entered her Acting II class I rekindled my love of photography and cinematography that I had fiddled with in the former year. I began making videos of my own and taking pictures any time the light hit me just right. I also learned how to hide emotion in order to show it and simultaneously learned backstage what it took to put on a good performance. In Acting III we've studied comedy and tragedy and audition strategies. These lessons have already begun to pay off as I received the title of Best Actress in a lead role and a superior rating by the International Thespian Society at the Missouri Thespian Conference in January. I also have been casted in the Statewide Thespian Play for the 2017 Missouri Thespian Conference next January--stay tuned for updates when we go to acting book camp in two weeks--and played the role of Lizzie Bright Griffin in Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy at Coca.

Acting is about taking risks. It is putting yourself in someone else's shoes and daring to feel what they've felt, however; it is not always the easiest thing to do. It can be draining and even dangerous if you don't take care of yourself--in every sense of the world. My favorite director once told me that you have to respect your work space, your scene partner, and yourself to turn your fascinations in fantastic works of art. He has since given me many pieces of outstanding advice and I live by every letter. The biggest part, and most important one, about being an actor is to find something or someone you are passionate about and share their message with others.

With much love and adoration,

De'Ja Marie Williams

To post a comment, you must register and login.