Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christina Wilson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christina, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

My most meaningful project to date has been a play that I’ve written called SuffeRING. This project started YEARS ago and honestly, it still hasn’t reached the full potential of what I want it to reach but it’s so dear to my heart. So in college, we were tasked with creating a scene based on a Pearl Cleage play, she’s an amazing playwriting who has written fantastic plays like Blues for an Alabama Sky which EVERY actor should know! Anyway, I decided to do my scene on a play she wrote called Chains about a young woman who is dealing with drug abuse. The thing that caught my eye about this place is that she’s the only one we ever see speak on stage throughout the duration of the play. I thought that was magnificent and it takes a skilled actress to be able to memorize all those lines!

I ended up shooting my scene in a CVS and it followed a young woman who was sent into a store to get feminine products for herself and other young women who were being held captive in a sex trafficking ring. I wrote it from the perspective of her shame and how she felt that it was her fault she was stuck in this situation, which is something that many in this situation deal with. The topic really spoke to me because growing up in Atlanta, you hear about it OFTEN, people going missing, young women not being able to go places by themselves, and things like that so I really put myself within that film.

Fast forward to my graduation, I get a notification that my scene inspired Georgia State to start an annual performance dedicated to sex trafficking, sex workers things like that. That made my heart so happy and I felt inspired that I was able to be an inspiration. So from there, I decided to create an entire play from that scene. After that, I was invited to perform a scene from that play at a local theater.

I would like to do so much more with this play, put the full production on, and give money to sex trafficking prevention charities from the money we make, I have an entire movie planned out for it… I expect this thing to go far lol but from then to now, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to touch o many people with that one class assignment and I hold that project dear to my heart.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into acting my junior year of high school. I always think to myself “Dang, I wish I would’ve started my freshman year” but I know everything happens as it’s supposed to. I did my first play in a competition that year and I won an award for best actress and that right there was the one thing I needed to decide this was my life and was going to be my life until the end of time! I started taking it seriously and auditioning outside of school productions. I turned into one of those “I can’t, I have rehearsal” kids and I was so completely in love with it. Along with acting I began writing my own scenes and plays and asking people to put them on with me, it was perfect.

I went to college at Alabama State University and then transferred to Georgia State just so I could be closer o Atlanta and really be right in the middle of things when it comes to the industry. Fun fact- I’ve always HATED the business! I wanted to be able to just act without having to worry about agents and managers, I felt like it was counterproductive. However once I got to Georgia State I found some amazing teachers who really took the time to work with me and teach me everything I needed to know.

Ever since college my journey has been anything but straight line. I’ve gone from working at theaters to working at Amazon to delivering pizzas… girl, I’ve been through it trying to figure out how to pay these bills and stay happy. If I’m honest, I’m still working on finding my path to my dreams but I like it a lot more these days. I write and produce my own short films which I LOVE, the act of writing a film and then seeing it come to life, there’s nothing like it in this world. I’ve also had the chance to write scripts for other people and theaters and getting paid to ghostwrite has really helped not only my creativity but my bank account! I found my deep love for teaching children theater to work on life skills so I spend a lot of my time teaching at theaters, I’ve been graced with the opportunity to teach all over the country and it’s perfect.

I think what sets me apart is my faith that I’m the greatest to ever do this acting thing. I think as actors, we get in these deep dark places where we start looking around us and looking at our peers and start to ask ourselves what the hell is going on in our lives and little by little it chips away at our faith that we’re going to make it to the places we said we were going to make. It gets tough, but I think for me, I’ve never let that chip away at my want and need to make the vision I se in my life happen. That’s why I’ve been through so many different jobs and businesses because I’m like “Okay, if this isn’t the avenue God is going to use, let me move on to the next” you will never ever ever catch me just sitting round waiting for it to happen because one thing about me, you not about to chip away at my vision!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think for me my goal is and has always been to show the love of God through my artistry. Everything from teaching my young actors how to better their social and emotional skills through my coaching to creating my Eating Artist blog and Youtube channel to help encourage people and show artists that being creative doesn’t mean you have to be broke. I think all of it comes from my want to show people that the gifts God has given you can take you to where you want to go.

My mission (aside from being the best A-List actress the world has ever seen) Is simply to show creatives that they’re important and their gifts matter.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

The fact that there is NOT one way to get to your end goal the same way there is for almost every other career! Let me tell you, the amount of times I’ve had to tell people I can’t just call Tyler Perry studio and ask Tyler to put me in a movie is ridiculous. People hear the word actor and think that it’s much easier than it is. There are so many highs, lows and no’s we as creatives have to deal with and I think people forget that the struggle for us isn’t just money. It’s the want and the ability to create and make art. All the “just do this” and the “all you have to do’s” don’t help! You have to allow actors to find their own way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theeatingartist.com
• Instagram: @tinanotturner
• Facebook: Christina Danielle Wilson
• Linkedin: Christina Danielle Wilson
• Twitter: @theatingartist
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrhUOMwgWKMORN7vtBr3gNw

Image Credits
Destiny Williams