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Juliette
Fairley
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Juliette
Fairley was born in France to a white mother and black father
and was raised in San Antonio, Texas before moving to NYC to
pursue her dreams. Juliette has studied with Susan Batson at
Black Nexxus and is currently studying at the School for Film
& Television and with William Esper Studios. She speaks
fluent French and has acted in independent films, TV
commercials, industrials, and off Broadway theatre.
Her claim to fame is hosting a TV show called Cha Ching
Makers for the Discovery Channel. Juliette was featured in
TV Guide as a result of this TV show hosting work. Her
most recent independent film roles were as a love interest to
an ex-con in Countdown, a divorced mom in Nothing to
Say and as a young mom who gets raped by her teen gang
banger son in Gain to Lose.
She is also the author of the cult hit classic Cash
in the City: Affording Martinis, Manolos and Manicures on a
Working Girl's Salary. Currently, she lives on Manhattan's
Upper East Side and is looking to move to LA to take her TV
and film acting career to the next level.
Jay: When did you know you wanted to be an
actor?
When I was 15 years old and realized that I thrived on
drama! My friends told me constantly that I should be an
actress because I was always acting out dramatic scenes for
them. Whenever I had an opportunity to get on stage to
perform, I would jump at it. In high school, I signed up to
perform a comedy act for the talent show but no one laughed at
my jokes. I was mortified. So, I turned my attention to beauty
pageants where I was able to do dramatic scenes as part of the
competition.
Jay: How did you get started in the biz?
After writing four trendy personal finance books and
wishing I were acting instead, I was cast as a tv host for the
Discovery Channel. The network moved me to Washington, DC for
6 months, put me up in a nice apartment in Georgetown and paid
me to talk and cut up on camera. That's when I knew my life
was taking a serious turn towards pure entertainment.
I've been acting in off broadway plays, independent films, tv
commercials ever since.
Jay: Who are your influences?
Gilda Radner-I used to watch her when I was a child on
Saturday night. The entire Good Times cast-We would tune in as
a family every episode. Janet Jackson-Halle Berry-Jennifer
Lopez-they are all trailblazers in terms of breaking down
barriers and they talk about their experiences so that other
actors can learn how to move up in the entertainment industry.
Spike Lee-because he created opportunities for people of
color. Angela Bassett-because she's not afraid to speak her
mind. Denzel Washington-he is extremely talented and vocal
about improvements that need to be made in the industry.
Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburne and Samuel Jackson-I admire
because of their ability to move up the ranks as well as their
talent.
Jay: How much of yourself goes into the characters you
play?
All of me including my past experiences. Currently, I am
portraying Kathleen Cleaver in an off broadway play called
Black Panther Women. Kathleen was battered by her then husband
Eldridge Cleaver. In the battering scenes, an anger takes over
me that I can't contain. The role provides me with a venue to
express rage that is not normally allowed by family, society
and friends. Sometimes I am surprised at my own depth of
emotion that emerges in those scenes where I (as Kathleen)
finally pull a knife on Eldridge and kick him out of my life.
When I was a child, my parents didn't permit me to express
rage. So, this is a perfect role for me to work that past
anger out without hurting anyone!
Jay: What is your proudest moment
professionally/personally?
My proudest moment personally is walking away from a
emotionally abusive romantic relationship with a man I truly
loved. It was the hardest thing I ever did and it took a
couple of years to get over it because I really didn't want to
leave but I had to because the emotional pain became
unbearable and I feared for my sanity.
My proudest moment professionally was receiving fat paychecks
from the Discovery Channel for the TV Hosting job I did on Cha
Ching money makers and walking into that fancy apartment in
Georgetown that was mine for six months.. It proved to me that
if you really work hard at something, eventually the effort
pays off and there's a breakthrough.
Jay: Television, film, stage or comedy which would
you choose?
It would be a toss up between tv and film. TV jobs like
soaps, sitcoms and hosting jobs provide a steady cast and a
steady paycheck, which is what all actors are after. Films,
however, provide an opportunity to work with different
directors and actors over time and an opportunity to work
creatively with different characters for each film role
booked. It's about being creative. That's why we're on this
planet; to create.
Jay: What type of roles will you refuse to play?
Pornographic ones.
Jay: How have you managed to keep working over the
years?
I send out headshots every day, I network at film
festivals, I speak to at least 3 indusry people every day. I
focus on the effort that I am making rather than the outcome.
I don't measure my success by the outcome but rather on
whether I did my best in that day to further my career,
portray a particular character or audition, for example.
Jay: What's on the horizon?
I play a journalist who gets mixed up with a serial killer
in an independent film Love on Ice in late June and Black
Panther Women has been extended. I am being considered for
a number of roles with film directors I networked with at the
Tribeca Film Festival and am rehearsing a role in Gain to
Lose, a student film about a teen gang banger who
accidentally rapes his mother during a gang initiation.
Finally, I just finished hosting a tv pilot that's being
shopped around to development executives.
I am also planning on going to the Martha's Vineyard black
film festival.
Jay: Any words of advice?
Do everything. Do as much as you can. Fill your day with
the pursuit of your dream. Never stop going after what you
want. Decide to die trying. Be satisfied with the fact that
you tried. Some people never even try. It's the effort that we
make not the outcome. Praise yourself for every action you
take towards your goal of becoming a working, well paid
actress/actor, whether it's mailing a headshot, auditioning,
performing in a play or just talking to someone in the
industry. Everything counts. Every action has a reaction. So,
if you take positive actions, you will create a favorable
momentum. I live by the motto of "Polish Over Here, Shine
Over There," which means that the reaction I'm looking
for when mailing out 100 headshots or auditioning every day
may come out of left field, such as a phone call out of the
blue for an acting job I didn't apply for.
Contact her at JulietteFairley@gmail.com
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