We recently connected with Nessa Amherst and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Nessa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I didn’t really have formal training in acting until much later in life, with the exception of some acting classes at Indiana University Northwest and the University of Missouri-Columbia as an undergraduate. I was always under the impression that I was simply good at what I did because a lot of people complimented on my performances onstage, and I didn’t need any one-on-one acting coaching. But I think after extended periods of not booking any work because of the repeated feedback from casting teams on honing and refining my skills to not always be so “passionate” without any control of my emotions in the audition room, that was when I realized that I needed to swallow my pride and find an acting teacher & coach to help me consistently.
There’s a lot of humility that comes with realizing that even though you have a natural gift, you still need to work at it with regular training and exercising the muscles every chance you get. If I’d realize that sooner, I wouldn’t have been so resistant to getting regular acting coaching a bit later on in my career. But the regular training has made a huge impact on my acting this past year, and it has really challenged me to be more grounded and in control of my emotions when I’m in auditions and callbacks, and even performances.
One thing that has helped me in the past year as an actor is learning how to not overthink my performance, aka get into my own head. Breathing exercises and simply being able to play was a big change for me after years of sticking to the rules out of fear and traumatic environments, and also being able to know how to refine that playfulness and use my imagination in a way that doesn’t always mean to be passionately angry or loud. It’s those moments of stillness, holding the rage to not lose the argument, and sometimes performing the monologue in a different way than what’s on the page can help exercise the creative muscle in a new way that teaches you courage and even a little bit of improvisation.
It’s funny – the simple act of swallowing my pride and admitting that I needed proper instruction was a huge obstacle that prevented me from starting sooner, along with fear of being criticized and becoming overly critical and bitter about yourself & the industry itself. It’s a tough obstacle to overcome, but it’s one that is necessary in order to get better at what you do.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I am a professional actor & writer based in the Washington, DC area, with credits ranging in theatre, web series, short film, and voiceover. I’ve had the opportunity to perform with organizations based in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, California, South Carolina, Illinois, and New York. Some of my favorite roles include The Survival (National Queer Theater & Lincoln Center), Julia Caesar (Barefoot Shakespeare Company), Dresses That Twirl (Young Playwright’s Theater), Klecksography (Rorschach Theatre), Runtime Error (Transformation Theatre), #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence (1st Stage), Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (Voices Festival Productions), and A Guide to Modern Possession (District Fringe). I’m also a member of the Canady Foundation for the Arts professional acting company, and I’ve had the chance to perform in two theater for young audiences shows across the DC region, including Callaloo and Holiday Block Party. These programs are geared towards students of color, with the purpose of educating and inspiring the next generation of artists of color to be creative and find their voice in the performing arts. I’ve recently had the pleasure of having a featured role in the upcoming web series, Off the Hill, that’s premiering online later this year, and I also have some more projects under wraps that I can’t wait to share with everyone later on this year!
As a writer, I regularly share biweekly blog posts on my life, career, and everything in between on my website, which I encourage everyone to check out. I am also the proud author of the monologue, Define “Black,” which has been published in an anthology called 08:46: Fresh Perspectives, which is now available to order on Amazon.
I’m especially proud to announce that I wrote my very first play, Define “Black,” based on the monologue of the same name. It will be making its world premiere at District Fringe in Washington, DC this summer, as part of the SPARK New Play Reading series. This is a very personal story to me, based off of my experiences growing up as a black woman and not being considered “black” enough by some of my black peers and the outside world around me, and even finding myself having to become more “black” in order to get cast in some shows & projects, which is not who I am at all. I’m excited for audiences to hear this heartfelt story, and I’m looking forward to its future as a possible full production somewhere down the road.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
This past year, I’ve been on a health and wellness journey, which is more than just getting healthier physically, but also strengthening and healing my mental, emotional, and spiritual health after so many years of trauma. And the very first thing I had to learn was how to actually put myself first and say “no” to things that no longer serve me.
For many years as an actor and an individual, I’ve always found myself saying yes to everything and anything out of fear, especially in the form of people pleasing. And it was bad whenever I tried to say no and put myself, people would shame me into believing that I was selfish for not caring about others and I would always find a way to grovel for forgiveness and go back to the original pattern of saying yes and putting other’s needs first all the time, and my needs came secondary, if they even came at all. There were plenty of times when I was running on an empty tank, but I still pushed myself to serve others. Sometimes it would not be pretty – I would find myself exploding or bursting into tears, not being able to effectively communicate my needs to others because I didn’t want to let anyone down nor did I want to hear that I was selfish.
Things came to an ugly head last year, as I was in the middle of a musical theatre production, and I was in an environment where it was chaotic, unsafe, and even traumatic for me. But I was still the person that still showed up professionally and put other’s needs before my own, even when things were an absolute mess. The show barely came together, and by the end of the run, I was deeply worn out and broken. I made a promise to myself that I would start taking better care of myself, and that would mean actually doing what I wanted to do, and not always say yes to everything and anything anymore.
It was a rough process because from putting myself first, I had to unlearn past beliefs and untrue affirmations about myself that was put into my head by people who didn’t have my best interests at heart, and I also had to confront some painful memories that negatively impacted my life and wellbeing. But every time I said yes to doing what I wanted to do, or even needed to do, I became a better person. I basically retaught myself to exercise and eat healthy, I had to learn what it meant to be kind to myself and give myself grace, and teach myself what it means to slow down and listen to my body and talk to myself kinder than I’ve ever done.
I believe that saying “yes” to myself and what I truly needed for my life and career made a huge impact because it’s teaching me that I deserve so much better than what I settled for, and I shouldn’t ever settle for anything less than what I needed in order to thrive as an actor & writer. It’s hard to say no to the things that you can easily get cast in, but I believe in the long run, it will help me see that the right roles and opportunities can come to me without being blocked from the projects that were meant to come to me in the first place.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I’ve discovered within the past few years that a vital mission of my creative career is to be more empathetic to communities and people that are generally viewed as unloved or unworthy to be accepted by others as human beings – from doing shows and projects involving the LGBTQIA+ communities, people who visit loved ones in jail, sexual assault victims, polyamorous families, transgender people, nonbinary individuals, and so many other groups of people where I get to walk in their shoes for a show or developmental workshop – and to see with my own eyes that all of them want the same things that many “normal” people want.
Things like love, acceptance, respect, relationships, understanding, a good laugh, and just someone to listen to should be the expectation of everyone, no matter who they are and where they come from. We shouldn’t let our fears stop us from treating one another with kindness, understanding, and empathy, just like we shouldn’t allow people to belittle and disrespect others to stomp over us simply because they have more money and clout. We all need to learn to see our differences as something beautiful, and to be afraid of each other.
The arts matter because we get to be reminded of the importance of our humanity, and I’m so grateful that my driving mission of empathy has been a big part of getting into the spaces that I need to be in to be reminded of how much of a positive impact kindness and understanding each other can make for all of us.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nessaamherst.com
- Instagram: @nessaamherst
Image Credits
DJ Corey Photography, Matt Simpkins Photography