Vinessa Antoine – Never taking anything for granted!

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“I would walk into my auditions with my infant son with me. I would feed him, put him down to sleep in the stroller, and pray that he wouldn’t wake up during my audition.”

How important are your goals to you? Just how committed are you to your goals? What are you willing to sacrifice in order to achieve that goal?

What I have learned from some of the brilliant women I have interviewed for our Women Empowered Feature is that if you find yourself fully committed to your dream, the motivation to achieve it will follow. It is why Vinessa Antoine has risen to peaks of success, and her star power continues to rise.

Going by the nickname Vee, or Nessa, this resolute Tobago native was born on July 21^st, 1983 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I had the opportunity to speak with Vinessa about the importance of focusing on the excitement of discovery, improving herself as an actress, exploring and experimenting with her talents, and using her motivation to fuel her during the hard times.

Vinessa’s career started at the age of four when she studied ballet at the Royal Academy of Dance in Toronto, Ontario. “I danced until high school,” Vinessa tells me. “My parents asked me if I wanted to go to University and I said no way. Dance was what I wanted to do, and I was going to do it. They gave me an option, but let me know that if I decided to go the dance route, I was on my own. You know West Indian parents; they have very old school thoughts on what they think an acceptable career path should be.”

With that, Vinessa left and headed of to Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City. On her own it was difficult but not impossible. While dancing, she worked three jobs, which allowed her to make enough money to survive in the big city. She danced for three years, and decided that she was going to do acting lessons as well. “I wanted to be that Broadway chick too,” Vinessa explains. “I was 21 years old, and I wanted to express myself in a multitude of ways.”

 Her hard work began to pay off when she accepted her first role on the show Soul Food, playing Bird’s best friend. It was at this time that she discovered she was pregnant. “The last episode I was pregnant, and they didn’t know it. It was horrible because I was nauseated most of the time. Imagine my surprise when the actor who played Bird’s husband walked up to me and said, “You are pregnant. I can tell because you are glowing.”

It was after Soul Food that Vinessa’s life began to ramp up. Her manager and agent decided to drop her, so with her son strapped to her back, Vinessa made the trip to Los Angeles. “I had no car, and only a few dollars to my name. I ran from audition to audition. I booked a lot of commercials (more than I anticipated), and this is how I survived when I was out there. I would walk into my auditions with my infant son with me. I would feed him, put him down to sleep in the stroller, and pray that he wouldn’t wake up during my audition. It was a struggle, but I am a tenacious person.”

After some time out in LA, Vinessa came back to Toronto and began to do some work here. It is awesome to see how quickly life seemed to move for her from this point, and we spoke about what she learned while in each of her roles.

“I have had the opportunity to play some great roles. One of my first roles when I returned to Canada was in the show ‘Being Erica.’ I learned a lot by watching the lead, and I took the lessons and applied them in my future roles. I was cast in a show called ‘Heartland,’ which was really fun for me because I had the opportunity to learn how to ride horses. I had a chance to do some stunt work in my next role on a show called ‘Haven.’ I like the fact that it was a role that allowed me to be a little rebellious, and a little naughty. I felt the same way about my character in ‘NCIS.’

In ‘Lucky 7,’ I played Isaiah Washington’s daughter, which was an experience in itself. It was also the first time that they pulled the plug on a show while we were shooting. It was like, ‘Yeah, we are done here,’ and the crew just walked off set. I was disappointed because it was going to be the first time that I was really exposed to the American audience. My exposure came when I was on General Hospital. This role grew my fan base. It was very fast paced, and during my time on the show, I had to learn a lot of lines, and there was a lot of dialogue. It was not my favourite role. I just was not able to sink my teeth into it.”

Vinessa’s most recent success has been playing the role of Marcie Diggs in the show Diggstown, which premiered on March 6^th, 2019, on CBC Television. The story follows a corporate lawyer who reconsiders her priorities after her aunt commits suicide following a pernicious prosecution. Marcie teams up with a group of lawyers who struggle to keep personal disappointment and demons out of their practice. The team works actively in the community finding justice for their diverse clients, as they explore topics of racism, poverty and gender bias.

The show balances provocative and poignant stories, and keeps the viewers hooked with the emotional drama that happens out of the courtroom. With clients facing: homelessness, unemployment, and imprisonment, the lawyers have to untangle the facts to find the truth ensuring that their clients are treated fairly. “What makes this show so gripping,” Vinessa tells me, “Is the fact that the people and cases in the show are relatable. These cases are real, and it is about people going through extraordinary situations.” The show is currently being broadcast on CBC Gem’s, and earlier last week, Diggstown was picked up and will be airing on BET’s new streaming platform BET+.

Vinessa’s final word for young actors and actresses; “Know who you are. People will try to make you into something they want. No one can do you better than you.”