We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rolanda D. Bell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rolanda D. below.

Rolanda D., appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

Over the years, I’ve learned that what’s for you is for you as long as you continue to show up, your journey will be what it’s always meant to be.
There were times that I felt that if I was exposed to my craft sooner with the necessary mentorship, I may be in deeper with my career as an artist.

Growing up I didn’t have the opportunities I know a lot of young people have now. But being an only child growing up with many cousins & the kind of imagination I have, I realize I’ve always had a “thing” for creating stories whether through writing or improvisation.
The one thing I say I wish I knew coming up was that there was an arts school in my neighborhood (OSA: Oakland School for the Arts) that I would’ve loved to look into and audition for.
Overall, I’m still very grateful to have made the choice to take up acting after graduating high school because I found my purpose and I’m still on the path I’m meant to be on.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Rolanda D. Bell and I’m an actress/storyteller born and raised in Oakland CA.
I started acting, with intention, in 2011 after performing in the International Collegiate Theater Festival Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.
A few years later in the midst of my uncertainty of how to go about my love for acting in a serious way, I auditioned for a local general auditions through Theater Bay Area Organization when I would later be invited to audition for a film, now known as “Blindspotting”, where I was cast in my very first film in 2016. After filming & going into theaters in 2018 I was blessed with the opportunity to audition for director Joe Robert Cole and then eventually cast in what was my 2nd film on another level on Netflix named “All Day & A Night” starring actors like Ashton Sanders, Jeffery Wright, Yahya Abdul-Mateen and more.

Once I joined SAG-AFTRA I was excited to go to LA and find a way to plant seeds but the world shut down due to COVID and I was forced to find ways to stay creative and even producing experiences that related to my love for bringing people, creatives specifically, together.
I was inspired to curate a series of events to not only raise money to move to LA but build a bridge from the Bay to LA. Being that I had taken some time to get away during Covid and gone to SoCal, I discovered a community of black artists who too were from not just the Bay Area but across the country who were striving to pursue their artistic dreams.
Although I’m still on the mission to build that bridge and find residency in SoCal, I’m still inspired to keep at building spaces for artists to come and fellowship/network together as I’m on my path of being a storyteller.

Currently, I am based in the Bay Area and continuing to build my resume through theater, voice over, film and all that God has set up for me on this journey.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist in my opinion is being able to possibly heal and inspire someone to live in their own truth(s).
A lot of my own family dont know or understand how much having their support means to me. And even if I can’t get the support as I would wish, I know that there’s either a few of my close family who do support, including the many people I’ve never met in my life or who have seen my work and enjoy it enough to continue to pull up to a show and feel moved by the work that I do. Those are the moments that I feel reminded to keep moving on my path as a storyteller.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I honestly believe that our community here in Oakland/Bay Area could use more support in providing spaces for artists to just be safe and if there was more opportunities for the talent floating around we wouldn’t be SO dependent on moving to where to work is. I believe that the Bay Area is on its way to getting the help dedicated artists are in need of.

Even if that means getting a group of dedicated creatives together to make a plan ourselves, I feel its on the way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @rolandadene
• Facebook: Rolanda D. Bell-Actress
• Twitter: @RolandaDene
• Other: JE TALENT

Image Credits

Jay Yamada
Shannon StClair
Cheshire Isaacs