On January 18, 2010 I sat down with multi-talented Actress/Director/Everything else Briana Kennedy-Coker. At a coffee shop in Vegas. This is what we came up with. PeeP it!
Jus Buckingham: Briana, where are you from originally?
Briana Kennedy-Coker: (In a Minnesota Accent) Well I hail from St. Paul, Minnesota. Was born June 8th 1984. In Mid-Way Hospital. Next question please.
Jus: (Laughing) Ok Briana. Well we are both from the mid-west. Ehh… I don’t have anything cool to say about the mid-west. Where did you get your start performing?
Briana: Umm good question. I started performing… well the first play I got was “To Kill A Mockingbird,” at the “Great American History Theater with Ron Peluso, I was seven years old. And from there, I just did tons of theater. Park Square Theater, Children’s Theater, Stepping Stone Theater, Guthrie Theater. All in the mid-west. And I probably did Theater from seven to eight-teen. Non stop. And then I left Minnesota and moved to Vegas. I’m now starting to get into film.
Jus: Well that’s interesting. Now, how did you end up in Las Vegas of all places?
Briana: I ended up here, because my mom wanted to move here. I’ve always had the dream to move to LA, but I wasn’t ready at eight-teen. So I actually stopped U of M (University of Minnesota) midway through my junior year. I studied Film Theory, but nothing was hands on. I wasn’t learning anything, but I was learning how to critique and write about film. I wanted to do more so she proposed moving here, and I said OK. Left everybody. Left all my family and moved here, and transferred to UNLV. I then tried to build my life here, which is kind of hard, but I got hands on with the film program. I graduate in May. So that’s kind of what brought me here and the next stop is LA.
Jus: What do you think Las Vegas has to offer as opposed to other markets in our industry?
Briana: Well, I think the coolest thing about Vegas is most people come from a different place. For me, this was kind of a stopping place, to gather the tools I needed to move to LA. So you end up meeting tons of people from all over, that have all these quirky things. You have a lot of people that want to contribute artistically. I’ve met the coolest people in my film program. Young people that are talented who are looking to go to New York, LA or bigger markets. But we all come from different back-rounds, and we all just come to create. That’s the biggest blessing that I’ve found moving here as opposed to Minnesota.
Jus: In ten years or so. What do you see yourself doing?
Briana: All I want to do is just create. Create. More specifically, I want to goto LA and be a working actress. And like we’ve talked about before, anytime you tell people you want to act. Especially when you want to goto LA, they’re like: “Do you know how many thousands of actors and actresses are there?” And that for me has never been what it’s about. It’s just about working, creating the stuff that makes me happy. And you know being twenty-five, life is boring, mundane, and depressing. So if you can find that one thing that makes you happy. That one thing that makes you want to get up every day, and you can get paid for it. Pay your bills, you’re good. And that’s really all I want to do when I do go out to LA. To be a working actress in film and in television. And then eventually have my own production company. And be able to create projects and cast people that are forgotten or people don’t want to see or think they fit in a certain box. I just want to be a well rounded entertainer, and hopefully a good business woman. At the end of the day, that’s what I want to do… and win an Oscar! (clears throat) Just throwing that in their real quick.
Jus: Ok speed round. Favorite movie?
Briana: Oooo! Well I have two! “Apocolypto” and “A Bitter Sweet Life.” I think I told you about this. It’s a Japanese horror film starring the beautiful Lee Beyung-hun. His American debut was GI Joe. (Laughs) I never saw him in that. But what happens is your so brilliant in your own country, and often times you come here. Your put in like the “Cheesy Hollywood Films.”
Jus: Like Le Femme Nikita
Briana: Yeah! Well I saw the other one that they did. They did an Americanized version.
Jus: Oh, well I just saw the original, and that’s a good example. Because the dude that plays the bad guy in “Bad Boys” is phenomenal in the Le Femme Nikita. And I totally wrote him off as a “fly by night douche bag” bad guy from “Bad Boys.”
Briana: And it totally was not the case. Yeah I think this year will have to be “A Bitter Sweet Life.” Those are my top two.
Jus: OK. Favorite Actor / Actress. Go!
Briana: ooooo! You Bastard! Ok, Sean Penn.
Jus: Yuck!
Briana: Don’t look at me crazy! And of course there is only one queen of film! Meryl Streep! (pauses) You ain’t got nothing to say! I can’t believe you. Well, who are your favorites?
Jus: Robert Downey Jr. And actress, probably Meryl Streep.
Briana: Ok, well we agree!
Jus: Lets see. What else can I ask you? I don’t know maybe that will conclude it. Any final words. Anything you want to promote?
Briana: Well, parting is such sweet sorrow, but I’m working on a Blackexplotation film. With the awesome people of UNLV. Drew Mixon and Devon Byers. We start that in Febuary. And I’m super exited. We’re going to channel Pam Grier!
Jus: Pam Greir! I like the Pam Greir!
Briana: Yeah, that’s going to be a tough one! But that’s what I am working on.
Catch up with Briana:
