The Actors Lounge

Kendrick Cross is a bicoastal actor working in Los Angeles and Atlanta, with roots in South Carolina and Smoketown, the Shepherd’s Square neighborhood in Louisville, KY, a place of humble beginnings, made famous by Muhammad Ali. He started his professional career on the

The WB’s hit show Dawson’s Creek and has made more than 75 appearances in film and television since. His roles span characters on House of Payne, Drop Dead Diva, The Game, Insurgent, The Haves and The Have Nots, Acrimony, Containment, House of Cards, Homeland, Mr. Mercedes, Black Lightning and now on the new family nighttime drama Ambitions, where he plays Mr. Titus Hughes. Produced by Will Packer and Jamey Giddens on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Kendrick went to Wiesbaden High School in Mainz, Germany, Lower Richland High School, ultimately graduating with an Academic Diploma from Spring Valley High School in Columbia South Carolina. He holds a Computer Science degree from the University of South Carolina

Salkehatchie where he played Division 1 Men’s basketball earning “Most Improved Player” his first year. He’s an accomplished poet, having opened for, most notably, Boyz 2 Men and Charlie Wilson. Performing for the kids in the ‘Cities in Schools’ program and at the Annua.

Martin Luther King Day at the State Museum in Columbia. Growing up in a military family, he developed a love for travel and experiences that continues today. Globetrotting took him to many places including Japan, where he played basketball extensively, and Germany, where he spoke the language fluently. In addition to acting, he has produced poetry CDs and hosted weekly spoken word, open-mic events to collect clothing for the homeless. Louisville, Kentucky bestowed him the honor of April 14th as Kendrick Cross Day and in addition, he and his mother Sharon Maddox were recently awarded Citizen awards and the Key to The City. Kendrick’s beloved father Archie Cross, of Chickasaw and Cherokee roots, passed in 2017, but remains an honored part of the fabric of this actor’s life and story.

I am 25 years young, born and raised in Oakland CA! I’ve  always known I wanted to be an A-list celebrity actress and that I absolutely would be! From the time I was able to speak I’ve been in  church plays, school plays, beauty pageants etc. Once I got to college I  realized that if I don’t take myself & my dreams serious then no  one else will. I soon started professionally acting & it has been life changing. In 2  years, I have grown drastically as a woman & an entertainer!

Santiago  Rosas was born and raised in the state of Arizona to immigrant parents  from Michoacán, Mexico.  Santiago, a graduate of the Meisner Technique  Studio in San Francisco, has called the Bay Area home for seven years.  He’s been in such roles as Benny from the “North Pole Show”, Raymundo  from “Driving while Undocumented” and starred, co-wrote, and produced  the short, “Indulto” where he won the Best Actor award in the 2017  Sanford Meisner Film Festival. In his leisure time, he is actively  involved in his communities in Phoenix and SF/Oakland and loves to play  and listen to music.  Check out his website www.santiago-rosas.com

Jasmine Burke is an  award-winning American Actor, Filmmaker, Author, Entertainer who studied  on full scholarship at Kennesaw State University and studied film at  Harvard. Currently starring as the mischievous Dr. Christie in Bounce TV's #1 rated Original Drama Saints and Sinners. Also recently  Co-Starring in Fox's Star, VH1's Drumline: A New Beat and Love Is on  OWN, to name a few. When Jasmine isn't in front of the camera acting  she's behind it writing and producing her own content. As well as  mentoring Clark Atlanta University and Georgia State University film students through her non-profit MintyFestival.org Jasmine  won "Best Director" at the 2010 Women in Film and Television  International Film Festival for her directorial debut Lucky Lotto.  Adding Author to her credits in 2018 with the release of her book Work  Your Audition, "motivation and techniques to help actors book the job".  To hear Jasmine's new afrobeats single Take Ova, and to keep up with  this multi-talented artists visit www.JasmineBurke.com and follow @TheJasmineBurke on IG, Facebook and Twitter.

The Miguel A. Nunez, Jr. story is a  message of hope, faith, determination and success. At the age of 17  Miguel A. Nunez Jr. ran away from the small tobacco town of Wilson,  North Carolina. Growing up poor and living in a house of eleven, a house  where he would hide in dresser draws just to be alone and dream of  Hollywood. Months after graduating from high school he made three  bologna sandwiches, wrote a note to his grandparents and ran away from home.

Bound for HOLLYWOOD and a dream he has talked about and dreamed about since he was 3 years old….. HOLLYWOOD! Filled with hopes  and dreams of fulfilling his destiny of becoming a successful actor, he  landed in the filthy streets of Los Angeles, California at 19 with only 2  dollars. Through faith & determination, he has achieved his dream,  appearing in 100s of films and Network TV. His story will amaze you.

Miguel found himself lost at every turn. For months he lived in uncertainty on the infamous skid road, selling his blood for cash so he could eat and  sleeping at Los Angeles County Union Rescue Mission, and all the while  maintaining a strong belief in himself and never giving up on his  dreams. Not allowing anyone to tell him that he couldn’t achieve this  goal. Standing in faith and believing his own conviction of truth he made his dreams come true.

Hey guys!! Today I celebrate 100 episodes of the Actors Lounge. I figured it would be fun to give you guys a behind the scenes peek into The Actors Lounge. So I'm actually the special guest today and my husband is interviewing me. We talk about how The Actors Lounge got started, lessons learned, where I see the podcast going, ways you can support and more. I'm really grateful to all the listeners and support that I've received along the way. It means so much. Let's continue to build this podcast community together! 

My personal IG- @mrsmelanievictor 

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@greenmusicclean

@theblackexcellenceband

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Thank you Actors Lounge Community!! You guys are the greatest! 

Xoxo, 

Mel V. 

With years of experience as a casting associate, esther opened esther + casting in 2009. Armed with a great eye, superb connections, and one of the finest reputations in the casting business, esther + casting is ready to make your next project come to life. Esther is a Michigan native with an east coast vibe from her time spent in New York, but she is happy to call Los Angeles home. She brings enthusiasm and a love of actors to every project and her energy and attention to detail comes through in every session.

Instagram- @donblak 

Donté Clark, born February 27  1990, a native of Richmond California, reigns as one of the most  prolific writers and voices out of the Bay Area arts community. Donté  is not only eclectic in the art of storytelling through the spoken  word, his body language and musical presence in performance is poetry in  itself. He captures the complexities of what  it feels and looks like to be vulnerable within black masculinity while  governed by a society of white supremacy and hyper violence amongst  black youth.

Graduating high school in 2008 he  co-founded an arts collective called RAW Talent (Richmond Artist With  Talent). Based in his hometown, Donté engaged young people in writing  and performance workshops. Securing space for the youth to process their  trauma and rewrite the narrative that has surrounded their community.  

In 2013, RAW Talent led by Donté Clark and his co-director Molly Raynor,  published a written play titled, Té’s Harmony. Which  documents the shared experiences of Richmond youth while making  parallels to the narrative of Romeo and Juliet. The writing process for  Té's Harmony was published in the documentary Romeo Is Bleeding,  executively produced by Russell Simmons on All Def Digital in 2017.  Winning over 30 awards in film festivals all across United States, Donté  has been able to travel the states speaking at high schools,  college/universities and community forums about Romeo Is Bleeding and  his experience with aiding young people to excel in the art community.

Donté  is featured in film titled Kicks, 2016,  which is a tale of urban youth  and the rights of passage to manhood. He has co-starred in two seasons  of The North Pole show,  a political comedy on docu-series about  gentrification and its effects on communities of color in North Oakland  Ca.

October 2018 Donté published his first  collection of poetry “KNOWFREEDOM” which is now available on Amazon. In  this collection of original song lyrics, and short poems, Donté  illustrates the struggles he experiences and observe as the black  community journeys through America to Know freedom.