Acting Out My Pain with Shaquita Smith, Ep #74
Welcome to Coming Clean Podcast! I’d like to take a moment to ask you to go to my website, comingcleanpodcast.com, and register. Submit your information to receive the first chapter of my upcoming book, set to be released in the next couple of months. But today is not about me.
Today is about our guest, Shaquita Smith. Shaquita is an actress, a producer, and a motivational speaker. She’s from Birmingham, Alabama and now lives in Atlanta. A graduate of Troy State University and American Intercontinental University. She is also a very active spokesperson for mental health— which as you may know, is dear to my heart— and she has been a feature on the Imperfectly Perfect Campaign.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
What was it that drew Shaquita to pursue an acting career? [1:47]
Some of the roles Shaquita plays and how have they have impacted her [5:27]
What are her roles doing for the African-American community? [7:26]
Why mental health is so important to Shaquita [11:58]
The effect sharing your story can have on those who hear it [14:39]
How has adversity as a child and woman helped Shaquita as an actress [18:01]
Upcoming projects Shaquita is working on [22:44]
How is the industry-changing as a result of COVID-19 [26:06]
How can people participate in making a real change? [31:58]
How roles Shaquita has played have had influence on her life
Shaquita says that playing Captain Larabee in NCIS New Orleans gave her the courage to be strong and to fight for something. That role gave her the opportunity to be dominant and when she looks back she thinks “Wow! I can do that! I can be the woman that's taking charge.”
Shaquita says she also enjoyed playing Baby Blue on BET where she portrayed a mother that's dealing with postpartum depression. She knew that role would impact lives, change perspectives, and help women. She knows that every time someone watched that film, they're not looking at her, they're looking at the difficulties and the trauma that postpartum can actually do to women. She says it really hit home because she knows that it can heal, it can encourage, and it can impact women from all races, that women from all over the world can identify with that particular role.
Mental health awareness and why it’s something Shaquita stands up for
Mental health issues are important to Shaquita because she’s dealt with them in her childhood and even as an adult, she continues dealing with them, especially being in the acting community. She says that she never really got the help that she needed to process the changes she went through from being molested, being adopted by her grandmother, and then going into acting. In this field, you face a lot of no’s. There is a lot of self-doubt about whether or not you’re going to make it. All of that plays on the psyche in so many ways.
How sharing your story can have ramifications you may never know of
The reality is that we share our story not because it's unique, but because it's a story of many. The moment that we are able to share our story with transparency and honesty, we give unspoken permission for others to do the same. I know that because I have seen a plethora of stories that have come up as a result of the Imperfectly Perfect campaign, or as a result of my community Coming Clean, or as a result of many of the communities that have developed because of social media. You just never know who will hear your story and connect with you.
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