16 minute read
Ciera Payton
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Bringing Many Roles to Life
Written by Mia Nicole Photography By Amina Touray Hair by Matilde Campos Make up by Jayme Kavanaugh
One of the greatest gifts that an actor can have is the ability to become the individuals that they were chosen to portray. Denzel Washington effortlessly became Malcolm X. Forest Whitaker embodied the role of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland and Ciera Payton – who must have taken a page out of their book, became Daytime Talk show host Wendy
Williams. From the first to the last “How You Doin” on January 30, 2021, she instantly became Wendy Williams.
Big Shoes to Fill During the Pandemic When Wendy Williams shared with her audience or as she says, her co-host that she was doing her biopic in 2020, social media started talking and her fans decided that they wanted to have a part in who played their Queen. Payton’s name was constantly tossed around the internet. “I kept getting Twitter and Instagram messages from Wendy’s followers telling me that I should play Wendy,” Payton says, “I was thinking that would be great, but because I wasn’t watching the show at the time, even though I was familiar with her, I didn’t know she was doing a movie. So, I thought to myself, okay, let me start watching her to get a sense of who Wendy was. I began to study her, watch the show, find things about her on YouTube – everything about her. Then about eight months later, I got an audition. I got the part, and the rest is history.
An Actor’s Challenge As an actress, Ciera knows that bringing a character to life can be fun yet challenging. “Knowing that I was going to be playing Wendy was a challenge. It was not like I was being hired to play someone from the 1800’s or someone that no one knew. I knew that I had some really big shoes to fill and with social media and the fact that everyone knew Wendy, it could become a challenge to become her. I really worked on my portrayal of her.” Payton laughs. “I started studying for her for months, maybe even a year before I even got the audition. I wanted to make sure I executed the character and give the audience their Wendy as much as I could and give them my version
of her.”
Another challenge that they faced was having to shoot the movie in the middle of the pandemic. “We were supposed to shoot March 2020, right when things were shutting down around the country, we filmed in Canada, and production shut down as well. We then were supposed to go back in July and then August, but finally started filming at the end of September,” Payton remembers. “When we finally wrapped up that last day, tears were flowing, and everyone was happy because we were able to get it done during challenging times around the world.”
With Williams serving as executive producer, unfortunately, because of the pandemic, the two never met but spoke several times over the phone. “Wendy was definitely a voice behind the scenes. She was watching all the dailies and she had a voice throughout the writing and filming of it,” Payton says. “I had to virtually do the Wendy Show, which was awesome, but I totally wished that I would have been able to be there in person to soak it all in and meet her and stand next to her.”
One thing that Payton hoped for was the approval of her portrayal from the Queen of Daytime. “I heard when Wendy saw my audition tape, she was so excited and super giddy and kept saying, ‘Oh my God, she has my mannerisms and my voice down! She is doing my eyes.’ I was told that Wendy was over the moon with my portrayal, and really loved how everything turned out.”
Lilly Comes to The Oval Payton first met Mr. Tyler Perry in 2008 after being cast as an extra in Madea Goes to Jail. Ten years later, she once again found herself working with him in Madea’s Family Circle. “Then a year after that, I ended working with him on The Oval on BET. When I got the role of Lilly, it was a world that I didn’t know a lot about because it was a brand new fictional show. Tyler is so secretive with his projects which I love, but as an actor I am like, I need more! I need to know what is going on! All I knew about Lilly was that she was a fashion designer, worked for the First Lady, and was married to the Chief of Staff and I didn’t even know his storyline; I was totally in the dark. I had to really peel back my imagination and build the foundation of a woman who would go into an airport bathroom and have sex with a man and then be bold enough to shoot him. Being from Third Ward in New Orleans, I was trying to add some pieces of me. Trying to give a voice to Lilly was the most challenging, but it was also exhilarating. Later in the script and in season one, it is discovered that she is from Watt. I am glad that I used being from New Orlean as my frame of reference. But like me, Lilly came from poverty and a rough upbringing but found a way to really polish herself and get around the elite crowd, stand up straight and speak properly. She became a Cameleon and transformed herself into this fashion designer who is now married to the chief of staff; I go on Twitter and people are so invested in Lilly and that storyline. “
Seasons two and three of The Oval were also filmed during the pandemic. “So many people in the country lost their jobs because of the pandemic and the entertainment industry suffered as well. Tyler made an extra effort to make sure that we were employed during that time and our storylines kept going. Coronavirus had shut everything down and it was tough for a lot of us – not just financially but mental-
Finding A Balance “My life right now is about just trying to stay healthy,” Payton states. Hanging out with friends and going out in public is something that she can no longer do. “I can’t hang out or just go in public because I could book a job tomorrow and if I was just hanging out with 10 of my friends, I might test positive, have COVID and I could lose my job.
While she doesn’t claim to be an expert or clinical psychologist, from her personal experience, Payton feels that it is important to maintain your mental health. “From my perspective, just trying to maintain a healthy mental health lifestyle as an artist, is so important. Many actors are not aware of the aspect of self-care or taking a beat, just pausing, and setting boundaries. Those things are important for your sanity – especially being in this business. When you are in a business where you are consistently rejected, it can totally weigh on someone’s mental health, self esteem or confidence; I am just a big proponent of taking care of you. If you need a week to yourself or want to go to the beach, then do it. That will serve you 100 times more than going on 200 auditions. You have to take care of yourself.”
Meditation is an important part of Payton’s daily routine. “I get up early in the morning and meditate. I also meditate in the evening before I go to bed. I also include exercise as much as I can during the week. For me, it doesn’t have to be a 90-minute workout, I might just go take a walk at the park or I watch a 20 or 30-minute workout video on YouTube, because that works for me. I have been reading a lot of self-help and fictional books. Whether you are a schoolteacher, nurse, doctor or a journalist, you must disconnect. You can’t be that every day. Disconnect and step outside of who you are and shift your energy. Go for a walk, read books, do stuff that you haven’t done before like volunteer somewhere, take a class or even learn Spanish. Tap into who you are and find out what gifts you have to offer.”
Spare time and Inspiration from Others “I am not high maintenance, and I just like chilling whenever I can. I love sleeping,” Payton laughs. “But I also like to go to the beach or go for a walk. When I am having a long stretch of time in between jobs, I love creating. I created a blog called, The In Trive - which is a blog about sharing my experiences of the things that I like and highlighting people who inspire me to thrive and inspire others to thrive. In addition, I am finally turning my program that I have been teaching for the last nine years, Michael’s Daughter Project, into a non-profit organization and we will be announcing that in October. When things aren’t super chaotic, I just love to go into the bat cave where I can create and generate some stuff and put it out into the world.” Pulling inspiration from the world around her, Payton loves to step outside of her own world and see what others are doing. She also enjoys reading autobiographies about different people with stories that have paths similar to hers.
With new projects on the horizon, Payton hopes to continue playing strong characters such as Wendy Williams and Lilly Winthrop. “I have worked so hard to be a working actor and a convincing actor, someone who can engage audiences. That is what I have been working on ever since I said I wanted to be an actor and the Wendy Williams movie gave me the opportunity to do so.”
CAHO Kitaori
Interview & Photography By Amina Touray
As a teenage girl, CAHO Kitaori had a dream to be a professional dancer. Today she’s traveled and toured internationally with world-renowned artists while creating a strong footprint and name for herself.
It’s a little before noon, when I meet up with dancer and artist CAHO Kitaori in North Hollywood, to take pictures and learn about her fascinating story from Japan to international tours with world-renowned artists. She’s wearing a beautiful long floral dress with a slit, and the warm wind is sweeping through her long black hair. She truly stands out in the crowd as she walks towards me.
Caho was born and raised in Japan, but was introduced to dance early on - “I was there for 24 years, I started dancing when I was three years old, it was ballet, but I quit after two months because I didn’t like it”, she laughs. Instead, Caho learned swimming, but seven years later, she was brought back into the dance scene. -” I found a place where they were teaching hip-hop. I went there and fell in love with hip-hop. That’s how I started dancing!”
Although Caho’s father originally wanted her to get a regular job and only keep dancing as a hobby, due to the nature of the dance industry being hard to survive in, Caho initially agreed with him. But her life completely changed when watching a live video of Beyonce performing her song Crazy in love. - ”There was one person
who changed my life when I was 15 or 16 years old! When I was watching Youtube, I randomly found the live footage of Beyonce’s “crazy in love” video. There were four female dancers that came to the stage, performing with Beyonce. Most of the dancers have curly hair, which makes them feminine. But there was one female dancer who had super short hair - She was walking towards the stage. Those three seconds changed my life! I was like, Wow, who is she?”. Inspired by her unique style and approach, Caho wanted to be just like her - “I was like, wow, I have to be like her, like an Asian version of her. Her name is Saidah Nairobi. Back in the day, she was dancing for Ciera, Beyonce, Usher, Neyo, everybody”. Caho started to get a clearer vision and goal of what she wanted to do and started planning in her own head where she pictured herself. - “I’m going to be on stage, and I’m gonna be traveling worldwide”, Caho thought to herself. - ”Saidah gave me a dream. I want to be a person who can give people dreams, love, and power”. That same moment Caho knew that she wanted to pursue dancing professionally, and hasn’t looked back ever since. Three years later she’s living in Los Angeles, doing just what she loves.
As we sit down at an Italian restaurant, Caho orders a meal of pasta. It’s a place that she’s been to a few times, so she’s familiar with their dishes. She continues to share what brought her to The United States. -” This is a funny story” she adds, as she takes a bite of her pasta that was just served. - ”When I was 20 years old, I had the opportunity to audition for a Japanese tv show called Road to Broadway. They were looking for a Japanese dancer who could perform on Broadway in New York. I was participating and got to the final round”. Out of thousands of people, Caho was chosen, and got to showcase her talent. - “So I went to New York for two months to perform on Broadway. That was my first time in The United States. In those two months, I was thinking to myself “I think I can make it here” “.
While her parents supported her dream, her dad still wanted her to graduate from college. At the time, she was in her second year of college but had already made up her mind that she wanted to quit. - “So to get agreement from my dad I had to show my talent to him. That was the reason why I decided to take this audition so that I could prove my talent to him. I made it to the final!” After performing on Broadway, she convinced her dad of letting her quit college. -“At that moment he was like, “you proved it, so I’ll support you”.
After college Caho worked to save money for nine months before she moved to New York. After three months she went back to Japan to tour with a Japanese female artist. -” Her name is AI. She’s a really important person in my life. She booked me for her tour, and I was working with her for a whole year. Then I officially moved to LA after that.”
Moving to The United States required a lot of preparation for Caho, but with her previous experience and skills, things fell into place fast. - “ So to get a visa and be allowed to work in The United States I had to get an agency first. Also, I had to get a deal memo, which is like future work. Those two things are needed to get a visa.”
she says. - ”So I got the flight!”.
Caho had made up her mind that she would have an agency and deal memo, within the two months that she planned to stay in LA, to then go back to Japan and apply for the visa. - ”After I came to LA, luckily they had an agency audition; I went to three agency auditions and got all of it in the first two weeks!”. Although Caho didn’t know anyone in LA, her next mission was to network and build relationships, in order to get the deal memo that she needed. So she decided to take dance classes in order to meet people. - ”So there’s this one dancer, whose name is Brian Drake. Luckily while I was in New York for the training, I met him. He was visiting there. When I came to LA, he DM:d me”. Brian asked Caho to join him at an event, from there and forward he was able to provide her a deal memo! As things fell into place, Caho went back to Japan to prepare for her visa.
While Caho has danced behind world-renowned artists such as Janet Jackson, and with Usher just recently in Las Vegas, her years of experience in the dance industry have taught her one important lesson. -” Be who you are! Be who you really are!”, Caho says firmly, as she looks straight into my eyes. - ”Because most of the time the client already has the vision of what kind of person they want. But for me, I’m going to be who I am all the time because I have my own style. I have this look”, she points at herself and her long hair. - “I never ever want to change my look! I love it because this is my natural long straight black hair”, which makes her so unique.
A normal day in her life consists of self-care, building her brand on social media, and with her agency. -” When I don’t have any rehearsal in the morning, I wake up in the morning, and I go running. That wakes up my body, it also makes me feel refreshed. After I run, I take a bath. I love taking baths! I take a bath like three times a day! I’m Cancer! Cancer is like a water sign, so I think because of that, I love being by the water”, she laughs. - “Whenever I don’t have rehearsal, I have a gym in my apartment, so I always go there to create my style and videos. After that I come back to my home, I record myself, post to Instagram, and send to my agent.”.
Caho hopes to inspire people with her unique style and to continue to showcase her talent and style worldwide. - “Next five years, I’m going to be on TV shows more. To be honest - when I was doing the Usher show, I got the opportunity to be on a TV show as an actress for the next six months. But because I was doing the Usher show, I picked Usher. They watched me last year in audition and wanted me to showcase my own style on TV”, she adds. - I want to be who I am! I like to work with artists but I’m an artist, I have my own style and want to work individually”.
With hard work, passion, self-care, and love, Caho continues to show that there are no limits to what can be accomplished. Be on the lookout!
