Tonight (July 16th), BET’s “Tales” which is in its second season, will premiere their latest episode inspired by Mary J Blige’s “My Life” song, in which The Knockturnal’s own Chasity Saunders will star on the episode as the character Ashley. After years of interviewing a who’s who of Hollywood A listers, Saunders is ready to show that she can stand toe to toe in the same spotlight as the greats on screen.
Chasity Saunders: Tales is my TV debut as an actress. I have been in the entertainment industry almost ten years now, and I got my start with BET actually doing BET Rip the Runway. So I’ve done modeling for the past few years, and now I’m transitioning and pivoting and going model turned actor, even though I always was still training as an actress, modeling was number one. It was maybe about two and a half years ago that I really just truly decided okay I want acting to work and I don’t want to be naive about it, I don’t want to think something is gonna come to me just because I’ve had success in another area. So I got into classes and yeah it just started to take off for me now. So yeah it’s really exciting.
The Knockturnal: I noticed on your Instagram that you worked with Tasha Smith. We interviewed her when she directed TV One’s film about Falicia Blakely and she discussed her Tasha Smith Actor’s Workshop. Can you discuss working with Tasha and taking part in her workshop?
Chasity Saunders: I absolutely credit this opportunity and my debut to TSAW. I heard about TSAW for years. I have a lot of friends that are friends with Tasha. Tasha and I have a lot of mutual friends and a lot of people would tell me when I would express that I wanted to become an actress they would say you gotta go to TSAW, you have to coach with Tasha Smith. And it’s so funny because back in 2011 when I still lived in New York City and was an entertainment journalist I interviewed Tasha when she did the film Jumping The Broom. So now to fast forward and to be taking classes at her studio I listened to all the people like Tracy Twinkie Byrd casting director and friend of mine, my girlfriend Nafessa Williams who also privately coaches with Tasha from time to time, all of my friends were telling me how amazing she is as an acting coach. So I decided to audit the class a couple of years ago actually and when I moved to LA and got serious about acting I said this is the studio I need to be at. And I got into classes a little over two years ago. I’m in the master class at TSAW and it’s absolutely shaped me as an actor, it sharpened me as an artist. I’ve just gotten so much more comfortable in who I am as an artist by being able to fully express myself and to fully grow and learn. We do the Ivana Chubbuck’s technique in Tasha Smith’s class, and a couple of year’s ago when I still lived in New York City and I was modeling for Beyoncé, I actually took some classes at Ivana Chubbuck Studio and I fell in love with the Ivana Chubbuck technique. So when I got into class at TSAW and learned that Tasha had trained at Ivana Chubbuck Studios over twenty years ago and that her and Ivana are still friends to this day and that would be the technique that I would be using I was like wow ‘this is meant to be’. This is a technique that I love. This is a studio that I’m already familiar with that I took classes with and now I get to learn from someone who I’m so inspired by. Tasha is such a star, she’s so amazing and she really really loves us. She’s like a mother. She loves art and she loves that studio and it just comes through in every single class and it has really just helped me grow as a person and as an artist. So I just love, love, love my master class at TSAW.
Behind the scenes of BET’s “Tales” episode 205 – Mary J. Blige’s “My Life.” (Photo: Brian Douglas/BET)
The Knockturnal: Can you talk more about the transition from interviewing actors as a reporter vs. working with the actors as an actress?
Chasity Saunders: Oh my God yeah. I was an entertainment journalist. I was a television and broadcast communications major, I graduated from Norfolk State University, and I always knew that I wanted to be an actress. I actually started being an actress when I was younger and then when I went to college theater was my major but they dropped theater as a major so then I went into a career exploration course and I found mass communications television and broadcast and I kind of fell in love with it because I was still able to be an artist. I think I’m a truth seeker and a storyteller at heart and so whatever way it shows up for me is how it shows up. So when I was able to take that career exploration course and find out more about television and broadcast and journalism I really fell in love with it because it was something I was doing already on my own just to learn about the business of show business. I think people get caught up in the lights and the glamour of it all and what they don’t realize that ninety percent of show business is the business part. So with being a journalist I really for the past ten years I got to be in a master class of my own to find out what it was gonna take not just from an outsider looking in but from somebody that gets the chance to interview A list artists and directors. I got a chance to interview so many people working with The Knockturnal. I love The Knockturnal and I would do all the press junkets and fly from New York to LA and interview people like Tyler Perry, and Jennifer Garner and Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson, and Kevin Hart, and I would hear these stories about how it took them 18 years to get something going and how they had to be in class and how they couldn’t give up and all those great things. So it’s been really awesome for me to come from a place of being the journalist and being a entertainment reporter and hearing these stories about what it took for people and then actually having to get out there and hit the ground running and do the work myself it kind of helped prepare me to know that it wasn’t gonna be easy but it would be worth it because I could see people from its inception of having a dream and then what it took for them to get to that dream. So pivoting now from journalist to actor has been incredible for me because I get to see it from both sides and I respect every aspect of it.
Still of Grace Byers as Edie from BET’s “Tales” episode 203 – Mary J. Blige – My Life. (Photo: BET)
The Knockturnal: A few weeks ago we spoke with Irv Gotti, touching upon the “My Life” episode … what was your initial feeling when you first heard Mary J. Blige’s “My Life”?
Chasity Saunders: I first of all I love Mary J. Blige. I think that she is an icon. I am extremely honored to be on the first ever R&B episode of Tales because they’ve always broken down hip hop songs and turned them into hour long episodic movies and things but this is the first time that they’ve ever done an R&B song and it’s the first time they’ve ever done that for Tales. It feels really amazing and I feel humbled and privileged that I get to be a part of this. I got to meet Irv Gotti on set, and Irv is just so amazing. His entire visionary ideas team is just incredible and he just really really loves music. When we found out it was Mary J Blige’s “My Life” I’m like oh my goodness this is incredible. I feel like so many times we go through life and we don’t get to see that in its truest form. I feel like Mary J. Blige is someone who she gives us all of her even the parts that aren’t so pretty and it becomes art. And so many times we’re able to identify with that. For me I lost my dad tragically four years ago and it really created a huge shift in my life. It was a point in my life where I said ‘okay I have to really really decide what it is I want to do, and I have to give that the most attention and I have to be intentional about what I want to get out of it. When it was the “My Life” episode I’m like wow I am going through something right now. I’m still mourning and grieving the loss of my dad, but I’m still having to get up everyday, I’m still having to show up to my photo shoots when I have them. I’m still having to get up and go to class every Monday, I’m still having to be the backbone for my family. I’m still having to put on this public persona of I can make it through this. And Mary J. Blige’s music helped me through the hardest time of my life so it’s so amazing I get to have a TV debut with a song that was so inspirational and helped so many people out because it truly helped me as well.
Behind the scenes of BET’s “Tales” episode 205 – Mary J. Blige’s “My Life.” (Photo: Brian Douglas/BET)
The Knockturnal: What was it like working with Grace Byers, and can you speak about your character in this episode?
Chasity Saunders: Oh my God, Grace is incredible. She is such an amazing actress, it’s Grace like you never seen her before. She was so welcoming to me she told me “this cannot be your first TV role like no way this your first role”. We started working together before we started filming we would run lines together and she just made me feel so incredible, she made me feel so welcome. She’s such a professional and she’s so beautiful not just on the outside but inside. In the episode she’s the lead and I play her best friend. I manage the hotel that she works at, and I’m there throughout the entire process of her going through her ups and downs in this plight that we see her in. She’s dealing with a lot of things, family issues, drug issues, relationship issues, and I am kind of like the comedic relief. I kind of bring light to the story in certain moments because it is a really heavy subject we’re dealing with but working with her she made me feel so comfortable , she made my first experience amazing and it was really really awesome getting the chance to act with someone who I really respect and for it being my first job and being number four on the call sheet and working alongside Grace Byers, I couldn’t have prayed for a better opportunity.
The Knockturnal: What else are you working on?
Chasity Saunders: Oh my God so so much. So acting is taking off for me now I’m so grateful for that. I recently signed with LINK Entertainment so those are my managers. I have been working on a new web series with Juhahn Jones he’s kind of famous on Instagram, he has a series that he’s doing, and I’m actually gonna appear in the second season of that. I play a character named Sonya and I’m best friend to Apryl Jones’ character in that episode. I also recently did the independent project called Fluoxetine which I’m really proud about that which I did with another friend of mine from TSAW. I’ve auditioning a lot lately, I’ve been going out for a bunch of series regulars. So it’s just really exciting for me to be at the point of auditioning on a regular basis having different shows that I’m filming, different independent projects that I’m working on and having Tales roll out at the same time.
Aside from being an actress I am still a working model. And it’s so crazy because I just did this huge campaign for Ulta Beauty that’s gonna come out for the holiday which I’m excited about. I just did a optical campaign for Zenni Optical and I’m also modeling for Seven7 Jeans right now. So I have some really amazing things happening kind of on all fronts.
The Knockturnal: Any final thoughts?
Chasity Saunders: Feels like a dream. I feel so grateful and so blessed. I just pray that my dad is proud of me. And I hope that coming into the industry as a curvy woman that I can continue to play leading roles where we show different facets of who we are. So like image is so important and I’m just so grateful to be breaking in where being a black woman is being celebrated. So I’m just really excited for what’s next.
“Tales” airs on BET on Tuesdays at 9pm EST/8pm Central Time