Episode 23 - From Disdain to Destiny: Venus Monique’s Acting Journey

In this episode of the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast, hosts Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt interview Venus Monique, an actor, producer, and leader of a faith-based actor's group for women, known for her role as Detective Chris Tanner in the hit crime drama Vindication. Venus shares her unexpected journey into acting after initially disliking it in high school, only to feel called to pursue it in college. She discusses the importance of setting personal boundaries in her career, refusing roles that compromise her values. Venus offers insights into the differences between stage and film acting, her experiential learning curve, and the providential moments that led her to significant roles. The conversation also covers Venus's creation of an actor guide to help others enter the industry. The episode concludes with Venus providing a link to her free acting guide and teasing the next interview focused on her company, Personal Powerhouse.

• Welcome and Introduction
• Venus' Initial Dislike for Acting
• Embracing Her Calling
• Setting Boundaries in the Acting World
• Venus' Journey into Professional Acting
• Finding the Right Training
• The Difference Between Stage and Screen
• Following God's Leading, and Landing the Role in Vindication
• Praise for Vindication
• Resources for Aspiring Actors and Closing Thoughts

Bio:

She’s an actor, a producer, and the leader of a faith-based women’s film group. Venus Monique is working in an industry she never even considered.

In college, God told her to make it her career, so she moved forward in faith and obedience.

She’s since earned numerous awards for her deep emotional range and sincere ability to bring her characters to life. She’s most known for her lead role of Detective Kris Tanner in the hit crime drama, Vindication (translated into over 11 languages), and recently booked a recurring role on a new series based on a hit novel in London.

Venus' Free Acting Guide Download: https://www.personalpowerhouse.com/how-to-start-acting-guide

Personal Powerhouse: www.PersonalPowerhouse.com

About Venus: www.personalpowerhouse.com/venus

Venus on IMDb: www.imdb.me/venusmonique

The Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast helps filmmakers who share a Christian worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. Releasing new episodes every week, we interview experts from varying fields of filmmaking; from screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers, to film scorers,  talent agents, and distributors. 

It is produced and hosted by Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt , and is brought to you by the Faith & Family Filmmakers Association

Support Faith & Family Filmmakers Our mission is to help filmmakers who share a Christian Worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. If you would like to assist with the costs of producing this podcast, you can help by leaving a tip.

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Jaclyn's Actor's Reel Script Writing Workshop: https://www.faffassociation.com/actors-reel

Copyright 2024 Ivan Ann Productions

Geoff: 00:00:00

welcome to the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast.

Geoff: 00:00:02

I'm Geoffrey Whitt.

Jaclyn: 00:00:03

And I'm Jaclyn Whitt.

Geoff: 00:00:04

Thank you for joining us.

Geoff: 00:00:06

Today we're talking with Venus Monique.

Jaclyn: 00:00:08

She's an actor, a producer, and the leader of a faith based women's film group.

Jaclyn: 00:00:13

However, Venus Monique did not always want to be an actor.

Jaclyn: 00:00:17

Actually, she didn't even consider it until she was in college and God told her to make it her career.

Jaclyn: 00:00:22

Since then, she's earned numerous awards for her deep emotional range and sincere ability to bring her characters to life.

Jaclyn: 00:00:28

She's most known for her lead role of Detective Chris Tanner in the hit crime drama, Vindication.

Geoff: 00:00:34

Welcome, Venus.

Venus: 00:00:35

you so I'm glad to be here.

Venus: 00:00:37

Thanks y'all for having me.

Geoff: 00:00:38

Good to have you.

Jaclyn: 00:00:39

Yes, um, okay, so I want to hear about how you got into acting.

Jaclyn: 00:00:42

Did you always want to be an actor?

Venus: 00:00:44

No, no, uh, I actually tried it in high school.

Venus: 00:00:48

I don't really know why I tried it.

Venus: 00:00:50

I think I went for modeling and they were like, well, you're too short to do modeling, but you should try acting.

Venus: 00:00:54

And so I did try it and I did it for about two weeks.

Venus: 00:00:59

I got with an agent.

Venus: 00:01:01

I was with an agency for a year, but for two weeks I did like classes and all this stuff in LA and there were these weird...

Venus: 00:01:10

act like a squirrel, lay on the ground, like all these super weird things and I was like, this is terrible.

Venus: 00:01:16

I don't know why people want to do this.

Venus: 00:01:18

And so when I, got done with that, I was like, okay, year is over, I'm moving back to where I came from, and I hate acting, and that is not in my future.

Venus: 00:01:26

And then in college, God was like, Hey, you're doing acting, which I can gladly tell that story if you want.

Venus: 00:01:33

But no, to answer your question, I hated acting.

Jaclyn: 00:01:36

that's interesting.

Jaclyn: 00:01:37

Yeah, it sounds like, you know, they wanted to get you out of your comfort zone, but it's like, yeah, but that's really weird.

Venus: 00:01:42

Super weird.

Venus: 00:01:42

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:01:43

Probably common.

Venus: 00:01:44

I think so, honestly, I think it was.

Venus: 00:01:46

And I was just like, if this is what they have to do, like, this is not for me.

Venus: 00:01:50

but that was my only experience of it.

Venus: 00:01:52

So I thought that's what you do across the board.

Venus: 00:01:55

I don't...

Jaclyn: 00:01:55

Mm hmm.

Jaclyn: 00:01:55

Mm hmm.

Venus: 00:01:56

Yeah, I don't know

Jaclyn: 00:01:56

Wow.

Jaclyn: 00:01:57

Yeah,

Geoff: 00:01:57

Okay.

Geoff: 00:01:58

So a moment ago, you said, I can go into that story if you want, uh, when you were in college and you felt that God was saying, you're going to get into acting.

Venus: 00:02:06

It was the weirdest thing.

Venus: 00:02:07

I was just walking on campus, and I hadn't thought about acting, like, at all.

Venus: 00:02:13

I was getting my degree in kinesiology and sports science, and then I was walking on the sidewalk, I guess to another class, and I looked over and I saw the theater building, and it just hit me.

Venus: 00:02:23

I want to do acting.

Venus: 00:02:24

Why am I not getting my degree in theater?

Venus: 00:02:27

But the other part of my brain, it was like both parts woke up.

Venus: 00:02:29

And the part of my logical brain was like, no, you hate acting.

Venus: 00:02:33

But then it was like, immediately I realized, Oh, that wasn't my thought that just came in.

Venus: 00:02:37

That was God.

Venus: 00:02:38

It really felt like it just dropped into my head.

Venus: 00:02:41

And I immediately knew like purpose.

Venus: 00:02:43

Oh, that's what I'm supposed to do.

Venus: 00:02:45

Acting.

Venus: 00:02:46

Okay.

Venus: 00:02:46

And so I literally, after I felt that, I guess, firmness.

Venus: 00:02:50

I went to my dorm room and I got out a notebook and I wrote down like my five lines in the sand in red ink.

Venus: 00:02:57

And I just remember I wanted to write it down before...

Venus: 00:02:59

if I knew for sure that I was going to do this, which I did, then I didn't want to get stuck in those sticky situations that actors often get stuck in and they compromise, and they compromise.

Venus: 00:03:08

And so I had just written down five things that I knew I wouldn't do if this was the thing I'm supposed to pursue.

Jaclyn: 00:03:14

Are you able to share those things?

Venus: 00:03:16

Um, I don't remember what they are now.

Venus: 00:03:18

I know now what I will and won't do, but I think one of them is I won't promote alcohol or cigarettes.

Venus: 00:03:23

So, like I won't do a commercial for it, but I may play someone.

Venus: 00:03:27

Yeah, I may play someone who does that, um, and I won't wear a bikini or a bra and underwear.

Venus: 00:03:34

I just won't do swimsuits in general, like I won't be in that outfit.

Venus: 00:03:39

Kissing a dude is one of them.

Venus: 00:03:41

And that like, for me, that even goes like, there's lesser offensive things that I still wouldn't do, but kissing for sure and beyond, I will not.

Venus: 00:03:49

Um, there's something else.

Venus: 00:03:51

There's like two more things.

Venus: 00:03:53

But yeah, that's kind of the gist.

Jaclyn: 00:03:54

Yeah, yeah, so basically just starting by saying, okay, if I'm going to do this, here are my boundaries.

Jaclyn: 00:04:00

And just, like, recognizing that within this industry, like you said, there are people that compromise and compromise, and then eventually, they don't even know where their boundaries are anymore, or even if they have

Venus: 00:04:10

Exactly.

Venus: 00:04:11

And that...

Venus: 00:04:11

to me, when I tell people, like when someone asks for advice for new actors, I'm like, know your boundaries, number one, but also make them known.

Venus: 00:04:19

But when I say know your boundaries, I'm talking about writing it out because when you write something out, you have to finish the thought.

Venus: 00:04:25

You can't think like, yeah, I don't think I would do, I don't think I'd cuss.

Venus: 00:04:28

I'm not sure.

Venus: 00:04:29

Like I, yeah, I feel like one of my lines is going to be that I won't do this, but until you write it down and you have a period at the end of it, that's when you know it's firm and you've thought about it.

Venus: 00:04:39

And so you can always go back and be like, this is how I felt, unaffected.

Venus: 00:04:43

When I wasn't influenced by money.

Venus: 00:04:44

When I wasn't influenced by connections.

Venus: 00:04:46

When I wasn't tempted with fame.

Venus: 00:04:48

So writing those things down before anything comes of your career is like one of the best things you can do.

Jaclyn: 00:04:53

Yeah, and I mean, even like what you were saying with making them known, my son did some background acting and so one of the, things that we did with letting the agent know was that he didn't do Halloween scenes, nothing with magic in it.

Jaclyn: 00:05:06

Um, you know, so then she just didn't call us for those roles.

Jaclyn: 00:05:10

So he got called for the other ones, um, like he was willing to hold hands with a girl and pretend like they were boyfriend and girlfriend, uh, but he was not going to go and participate in these things, that had to do with magic or Halloween or whatever.

Jaclyn: 00:05:22

It was just, it's not part of our lifestyle and we're not going to go out there and pretend that is.

Venus: 00:05:27

I love that you said that.

Venus: 00:05:28

That's not on my list, but it's on my internal list.

Venus: 00:05:30

Like I wouldn't do that.

Venus: 00:05:32

But you're so right.

Venus: 00:05:32

Cause there's magic, sorcery, witchcraft.

Venus: 00:05:35

I mean, may be if it's a spiritual warfare story, I will do something, but as far as promoting it and things like that, no, no Halloween.

Jaclyn: 00:05:43

Yeah, exactly.

Jaclyn: 00:05:44

I think that's kind of the thing too.

Jaclyn: 00:05:46

If it was something that was not glorifying it, but that happened to be part of the story where, you know, the redemption came from, that's a different situation.

Jaclyn: 00:05:55

And I think it would be like a case by case as far as where the comfort level would be.

Jaclyn: 00:06:01

Uh, but like you said, with not wanting to promote drugs or alcohol, uh, it's the same thing where sometimes it's about, am I promoting it or am I recognizing, like, is the storyline saying, okay, this is not healthy.

Jaclyn: 00:06:15

And so then the storyline is about redeeming somebody out of that situation.

Jaclyn: 00:06:20

Then there might be a different approach to it.

Jaclyn: 00:06:23

So we'll come back to some boundaries in a bit, because it's a very interesting conversation, but I want to hear more of how you moved into it, because for somebody to just say, OK, so I guess I'm going to go into acting.

Jaclyn: 00:06:33

OK, so then how does that happen?

Venus: 00:06:35

Yeah, I'm, I'm glad ya'll ask that because I'm somebody who likes to know the how.

Venus: 00:06:38

When someone's like, yeah, I just made the jump.

Venus: 00:06:39

And I'm like, no, but where are all the baby steps you did in between?

Venus: 00:06:43

Um, I actually created an actor guide for people who are trying to get into the industry, because I would get a lot of other people trying to do it, or moms wanting to get their kids into it, and they're like, What did you do, and how did you get started?

Venus: 00:06:54

And I would be writing the same thing to all these people, because I want them to know what I did.

Venus: 00:06:58

And so I ended up creating a guide, which, I'm happy to offer if you guys want.

Venus: 00:07:02

But once I knew there happened to be two major feature films shooting near my college and somehow it was like a God thing at my work.

Venus: 00:07:14

This guy came in, he was the prop master and he, he was looking for, I guess just different props, clothing items in our store.

Venus: 00:07:21

And when he was checking out, I heard him telling my, fellow coworker about it.

Venus: 00:07:25

And as he was leaving, like walking out the door, I was like, Oh, I want to be in that film.

Venus: 00:07:29

Um, I said something like that.

Venus: 00:07:31

And he heard me.

Venus: 00:07:32

So he came back in with a business card and he was like, Hey, I heard what you said.

Venus: 00:07:36

Here's my card.

Venus: 00:07:37

We're going to be filming this day.

Venus: 00:07:38

Come out there.

Venus: 00:07:39

And I was like, whoa, yeah, so it was wild so I showed up and I did the whole like extras thing and then another film came out and so I was like a little more comfortable.

Venus: 00:07:49

I don't remember how I got on that one or even knew it was out there but I was also an extra.

Venus: 00:07:53

So one of them, the first one was with um, Daniel Day Lewis And then the second one was with Tommy Lee Jones.

Venus: 00:07:59

And so it was like big productions for my first experience on set.

Venus: 00:08:03

Yeah.

Venus: 00:08:04

And then after college, knowing that that was what I needed to do, I was like, well, I guess I need to go somewhere where there's acting opportunities and coaches and all of that.

Venus: 00:08:14

So I went to a certain town for a little bit, did a little bit of acting there.

Venus: 00:08:17

Um, a friend saw on the news that there was a feature film that was casting.

Venus: 00:08:22

And so I was like, well, I didn't hear about that, but I went and looked it all up and she's like, yeah, you need to do it.

Venus: 00:08:28

Cause they knew I wanted to do acting.

Venus: 00:08:30

And I looked it up and I was like, oh, they're having auditions.

Venus: 00:08:33

I think it was like in two days or three days or something.

Venus: 00:08:36

And I submitted to it and they wrote back like, yeah, send us your headshot and your resume and all that jazz.

Venus: 00:08:41

Well, I sent it.

Venus: 00:08:42

And then I didn't hear back.

Venus: 00:08:43

And I was like, well, I guess they didn't like it.

Venus: 00:08:47

Like maybe they don't want me to show up, but at the same time they didn't say no.

Venus: 00:08:50

So they already put in the news, like where they're having auditions.

Venus: 00:08:54

I'm just going to show up.

Venus: 00:08:55

So I showed up, I wasn't on the list.

Venus: 00:08:57

So I had to wait to be the very last person to audition.

Venus: 00:09:00

And I did audition and I ended up booking the lead role in that movie.

Jaclyn: 00:09:04

What?

Venus: 00:09:04

like, what?

Jaclyn: 00:09:05

Wow.

Jaclyn: 00:09:06

So,

Geoff: 00:09:07

Lead role.

Geoff: 00:09:07

Crazy.

Jaclyn: 00:09:08

So being naive allowed you to get cast.

Venus: 00:09:10

Pretty much.

Jaclyn: 00:09:11

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:09:11

Like, I don't know how this goes...

Jaclyn: 00:09:13

If you don't get called back, you're like, well, they didn't say no.

Venus: 00:09:16

I'm going for it.

Venus: 00:09:17

And so, yeah.

Venus: 00:09:18

And then, so that was in that little town.

Venus: 00:09:20

But then when I was like, okay, I need to do the coaches and the acting classes and opportunities, that's when I moved to Austin, Texas.

Venus: 00:09:26

And I was like, all right, I guess, I guess I got to figure this out.

Venus: 00:09:28

And that was like a whole nother beast of trying to figure things out.

Venus: 00:09:32

Which is a whole story in itself, and I'm happy to share.

Jaclyn: 00:09:34

So for the beginning, for your acting, was it all features?

Jaclyn: 00:09:38

Or did you do commercial work?

Jaclyn: 00:09:40

Like, how versatile were you?

Venus: 00:09:41

Yeah, so in the beginning, once I did those two extra roles in that feature film, I don't remember what year I was in college, but after he told me that, I did do a couple of plays in college, because I was like, well, I guess this is what he called me to.

Venus: 00:09:54

And so I did get, shockingly again, it was just like God confirming it, I got the lead role in a play called, The Children's Hour.

Venus: 00:10:02

Never auditioned for a stage before, but yeah, I got the lead role in that, which was holy cow a learning experience to have that much dialogue in a play and then have to do performances over and over.

Venus: 00:10:13

So I did that.

Venus: 00:10:13

I think I did another play.

Venus: 00:10:15

And then I did, um, I want to say three plays I did in college.

Venus: 00:10:20

And after that, when I told you I moved to that small town.

Venus: 00:10:23

I went to something at the mall, and at the end of that event, there was a guy that was like, Hey, if anybody here wants to be in a film, I have a short film that I'm doing, just stay after, and I'd love to talk to you.

Venus: 00:10:34

And I was like, right place, right time.

Venus: 00:10:36

So, I stayed after and talked to him, and he had auditions, I booked that short film.

Venus: 00:10:43

I don't remember if I did the short film and that lead role for the feature film.

Venus: 00:10:46

Like, I don't know which one was first, but out of the short film that I did, he also did some voiceover stuff.

Venus: 00:10:51

So because we knew each other, he was like, Hey, would you want to come in and do a voiceover part for like this junior college or something?

Venus: 00:10:59

And I was like, sure.

Venus: 00:11:00

And then he was like, Hey, would you want to come back in and do a voiceover for a hotel?

Venus: 00:11:03

And I was like, sure.

Venus: 00:11:04

And then somehow I got like on a mall commercial.

Venus: 00:11:07

I don't remember how these things came about.

Venus: 00:11:08

It was two years that I was in that little town.

Venus: 00:11:11

and I was just kind of doing what I could there.

Venus: 00:11:13

And after the two years I went to Austin, so kind of versatile with no training.

Jaclyn: 00:11:18

Right.

Jaclyn: 00:11:19

Wow.

Jaclyn: 00:11:20

Did you eventually find training that didn't make you crawl on floor?

Venus: 00:11:24

Yes.

Venus: 00:11:25

Yeah.

Venus: 00:11:26

So I didn't actually start training until I moved to Austin in 2010.

Venus: 00:11:30

And I had tried different acting coaches cause I know there's a lot of different techniques.

Venus: 00:11:36

So I would go like audit a class and see if that was something I wanted to do.

Venus: 00:11:39

Sometimes I would do a month.

Venus: 00:11:40

Um, I did Meissner for two years, two and a half years.

Venus: 00:11:44

And then there was an advanced scene study class I ended up doing for four years.

Venus: 00:11:48

I was doing Meissner and the advanced scene study at the same time.

Venus: 00:11:51

And I felt like the advanced scene study class was much more effective and it was healthy, like mentally.

Venus: 00:11:57

And it was, um, it was quick, like I could really get into the character quickly.

Venus: 00:12:01

So I kept that one, but I did try like a lot of workshops, commercial workshops, different trainings, like on camera trainings and improv.

Venus: 00:12:08

And I did all of that before I stuck to that one.

Venus: 00:12:11

And so I think just getting exposed to a bunch of different techniques, really helped.

Jaclyn: 00:12:15

yeah, I bet.

Jaclyn: 00:12:16

I have a question.

Jaclyn: 00:12:17

Sorry, just going back for a second, because you said, you know, that you were in theatre for a little bit.

Jaclyn: 00:12:22

I'm curious, because I know you mentioned it's a heavy load for dialogue and, like, there's a lot of memorization, right?

Jaclyn: 00:12:28

You're memorizing the entire play because you're doing the whole thing in one shot.

Jaclyn: 00:12:32

What is the difference between doing a stage production and film production when it comes to memorizing lines.

Venus: 00:12:40

Yeah, oh man, the camera is so much more forgiving, like, I guess I should say TV and film is much more forgiving than stage if you forget your lines.

Venus: 00:12:48

If you forget your lines on stage, you just hope that your fellow actor can trigger you.

Venus: 00:12:53

Like, you hope that they are in the scene and they can give you that one line that's gonna pull you back in.

Venus: 00:12:58

But as far as, like, getting the work down, I didn't have training when I was doing stage, so I don't know what I would have done differently.

Venus: 00:13:05

But I just was digging into memorizing it.

Venus: 00:13:08

And I will tell you, I probably wouldn't have done as well, but I remember sitting on a bench with one of the experienced stage guys.

Venus: 00:13:17

He'd been doing this for a few years and he was complaining to me about how all these newbies...

Venus: 00:13:20

it was like a bunch of them, but there was a handful of newbies in our play, that when we would have rehearsal, they didn't know the lines.

Venus: 00:13:26

They didn't know the lines.

Venus: 00:13:27

And he was just frustrated with them.

Venus: 00:13:29

And I was like, Oh shoot.

Jaclyn: 00:13:30

And you're one of the newbies?

Venus: 00:13:31

Yeah.

Venus: 00:13:32

Yeah.

Venus: 00:13:32

But I, like, I don't think he was.

Venus: 00:13:34

looping me into them, but it hit me.

Venus: 00:13:36

I was like, oh snap.

Venus: 00:13:38

Yeah, this is a big deal.

Venus: 00:13:39

So thankfully, we had that conversation, because after that I really dug in, and I don't even know how I memorized them.

Venus: 00:13:46

Like, it must have been God, because I didn't have any sort of Training.

Venus: 00:13:50

It's just like, I gotta memorize all these lines in all these, gosh, I don't even know what they're called now, acts.

Venus: 00:13:55

All of these acts.

Venus: 00:13:57

Just, yeah, wild.

Venus: 00:13:58

And then for things like TV and film, it's very different because I have that training.

Venus: 00:14:02

I know how to develop that character.

Venus: 00:14:04

And when you go to film, you get your, call sheet.

Venus: 00:14:07

So you kind of know, all right, I'm doing this scene first, and this is my heavy scene.

Venus: 00:14:10

So I'm going to focus on this scene and like making this real to me right now.

Venus: 00:14:15

And then once that's out of the way, I'm going to dig in a little more to the next scene.

Venus: 00:14:19

I do homework on the whole thing, but then I really get, specific when shooting time comes and we're about to film and I'm like, okay, let me develop this scene much more.

Jaclyn: 00:14:28

Right.

Jaclyn: 00:14:28

So heading to set, you are prepared to, film specific scenes, not the entire episode.

Venus: 00:14:35

I'm pretty much, uh, prepared to film the entire episode because of the homework I've done, but I just get a little more specific on those certain scenes when it's on the day

Jaclyn: 00:14:45

Yeah.

Venus: 00:14:46

Yes.

Venus: 00:14:47

And there's a little bit of, I guess, grace too, or a little cushion whenever, even if it's a scene that you're in, when they're flipping the camera on your scene partner, you're like, okay, I have a little extra time to get this part down if you don't have it down.

Venus: 00:14:59

So there's like pockets of time where you can really get it a little bit deeper...

Venus: 00:15:04

but not on stage.

Jaclyn: 00:15:05

Mm.

Jaclyn: 00:15:06

Mm Hmm.

Jaclyn: 00:15:07

Okay, so after you did that training, like, how far was it from that point to when you got on to Vindication?

Jaclyn: 00:15:13

What was That journey like?

Venus: 00:15:15

That is a Jared question.

Venus: 00:15:18

No, cause I don't know.

Venus: 00:15:19

I don't remember when I actually got on Vindication.

Venus: 00:15:23

Oh yes, I do.

Venus: 00:15:23

Okay.

Venus: 00:15:24

So 2010 is when I moved to Austin, started doing training.

Venus: 00:15:27

And then I found that one class and did that for like four years.

Venus: 00:15:31

And I don't know if it was after that.

Venus: 00:15:33

Yeah, it was after that because...

Venus: 00:15:35

so funny the way God works, but he pulled me out of acting.

Venus: 00:15:38

So I stopped doing that class cause I just felt like, I could feel God shifting things and saying, take a step away.

Venus: 00:15:45

Like, step back from acting.

Venus: 00:15:46

And I was like, okay.

Venus: 00:15:48

And so that was about 2017.

Venus: 00:15:51

And the same time, my agency dissolved.

Venus: 00:15:54

She was a great agency.

Venus: 00:15:56

She was doing wonderful.

Venus: 00:15:57

Yeah.

Venus: 00:15:58

And she was wonderful to work with, but she dissolved.

Venus: 00:16:00

I felt God asking me to step away from it.

Venus: 00:16:02

So my husband and I actually moved away from Austin.

Venus: 00:16:05

We moved out West.

Venus: 00:16:07

We thought we were going to do like oil field stuff or something.

Venus: 00:16:10

And I was out there for about seven months or so.

Venus: 00:16:13

I had met Jared prior to God asking me to step back.

Venus: 00:16:17

It was at a film festival.

Venus: 00:16:18

Jared had just done the first episode of Vindication, which was just a short film.

Venus: 00:16:23

Like, he had no plans to turn it into a series.

Venus: 00:16:26

And so I met him at that film festival, and sometime before the festival ended, he was like, Hey, if this thing becomes a series, would you want to be a detective?

Venus: 00:16:35

Like would you want a recurring role as a detective?

Venus: 00:16:37

And I was like, well, yeah, that would be awesome.

Venus: 00:16:41

But then at the same time I was like, I'm not going to hold my breath because he doesn't know if he's going to turn it into a series.

Venus: 00:16:46

Also, like, you just don't know...

Jaclyn: 00:16:47

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:16:48

Guy with a short film.

Jaclyn: 00:16:49

Who

Venus: 00:16:49

knows, right?

Venus: 00:16:49

Right.

Venus: 00:16:49

And you don't know if people are going to keep their word.

Venus: 00:16:51

So it was just, whatever.

Venus: 00:16:53

But then we had kind of stayed in contact.

Venus: 00:16:55

Jared actually booked me on a short film, which I think was kind of my trial to see if if he liked working with me and to see if I was a diva, like those type of things.

Venus: 00:17:04

So we did that and then when we had moved, Jared messaged me and he was like, hey, that role is ready if you want it.

Venus: 00:17:13

And he knew that I felt God was taking me out of acting.

Venus: 00:17:15

He was like, I know that you feel like God's asked you to step away from acting.

Venus: 00:17:19

So I totally get it, but why don't you pray about it and let me know.

Venus: 00:17:24

And I was like, that would be great because I really want the role, but I really feel like God told me to step away.

Venus: 00:17:28

So I want to be obedient.

Venus: 00:17:30

So I was praying and I was like, Lord, what, would you have me do?

Venus: 00:17:34

Like, I will do what you want, but I'm so conflicted right now because I feel like you gave me both.

Venus: 00:17:39

And he's just so good.

Venus: 00:17:41

So the next day when we were out there and I was going to go find a job, so I went to a temp agency and for your listeners who may not know what that is, it's just like a staffing agency where they put you with different employers for a short period of time while they're needing help.

Venus: 00:17:56

So I walked in and when I walked in, there was a dude sitting on the left in a chair and he greeted me very kindly, which I thought was really weird for somebody looking for a job.

Venus: 00:18:05

But I just kind of brushed it off.

Venus: 00:18:07

And then I go up to the desk and there's no one there, but then this lady pops out of her office and she looks at me and she goes, would you want to be in a commercial?

Venus: 00:18:18

I was like, uh, a commercial for what?

Venus: 00:18:21

And she said, for my staffing agency, I was just in my office praying that God would send me an actor.

Venus: 00:18:26

And

Jaclyn: 00:18:28

Oh,

Venus: 00:18:28

was like, That's perfect because I am an actor.

Venus: 00:18:32

Yeah, and it was like God saying, yes take Vindication.

Venus: 00:18:35

That's for you.

Venus: 00:18:36

And so I called Jared like, Jared, I'm in.

Venus: 00:18:38

He confirmed it.

Venus: 00:18:39

So,

Jaclyn: 00:18:39

Nice.

Venus: 00:18:40

How many years?

Venus: 00:18:41

I think that might have been 2017.

Venus: 00:18:43

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:18:43

We talked to Jared recently, so he told us some of that, uh, story of, filming the first.

Geoff: 00:18:48

Episode, which wasn't an episode, just a short film, and then, second short film, and so, uh, yeah, it's an interesting story,

Jaclyn: 00:18:55

and then, of course, we had to go and re watch season one

Geoff: 00:18:58

Yeah, we just season watched one again.

Venus: 00:18:59

he also tell y'all how like he had no plans of it going further?

Venus: 00:19:02

And they were like at the end of the festival route, they weren't going to do anything else with it.

Geoff: 00:19:06

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:19:06

Oh yeah, yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:19:08

it's really amazing and I think it's groundbreaking in the Christian, television, industry, I guess.

Jaclyn: 00:19:13

Like, because a series, like a crime series for Christians, like that's, that never had been done before.

Venus: 00:19:18

Yeah.

Venus: 00:19:19

And it's done so well.

Venus: 00:19:20

It's done tastefully and like, you can be interested in it because it's got that element of the crime drama that you want, but none of the junk that you don't want.

Geoff: 00:19:27

Yep.

Geoff: 00:19:28

And also, even the faith elements are, um, they're just normalized in people's lives, which is, which is normal in Christian lives, it's just not normal on TV.

Venus: 00:19:38

And I love that he is willing to kind of like, step into those areas of, um, I guess, difficulty in life that some people aren't willing to step into.

Venus: 00:19:48

And he addresses that in such a, wise way, I think.

Geoff: 00:19:52

I think so.

Jaclyn: 00:19:53

Mm hmm.

Jaclyn: 00:19:54

Yeah, very clever.

Jaclyn: 00:19:55

All right, so as we come to the close of this portion of our interview, tell our listeners where they can find your download of How to Get Into Acting, the one you were mentioning earlier.

Jaclyn: 00:20:05

Do you have a link or something

Jaclyn: 00:20:06

that they can go to?

Venus: 00:20:08

Yeah.

Venus: 00:20:08

So my company is called Personal Powerhouse.

Venus: 00:20:11

So the link is personalpowerhouse.com/how-to-start-acting-guide.

Venus: 00:20:18

That's literally it with a dash in between each word.

Venus: 00:20:21

And I thought about shortening it and I thought, well, that's pretty specific, so...

Jaclyn: 00:20:24

Perfect.

Jaclyn: 00:20:24

We'll make sure that we have that in our show notes also, but yeah, we want to make sure people have the ability to go and, and download that.

Jaclyn: 00:20:31

It sounds like it's, uh, very useful.

Venus: 00:20:34

And I've got, um, I, I put like the steps that I use to get into it.

Venus: 00:20:38

Everybody has their own journey, but there's pros and cons in there.

Venus: 00:20:41

There's tips that I wish I would have known.

Venus: 00:20:42

There's all kinds of like extra information.

Venus: 00:20:44

It's a few pages, but totally free for whoever wants it.

Geoff: 00:20:47

I think when we do the next interview for the members, we we would like you to get into that a little.

Venus: 00:20:52

Yeah.

Venus: 00:20:52

Yeah, for sure.

Jaclyn: 00:20:53

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:20:53

And we want to hear a little bit more about what you do with, Powerhouse.

Jaclyn: 00:20:57

So we'll see you in the next interview and hear about that.

Venus: 00:21:01

Sounds good.

Jaclyn: 00:21:01

Thank you.