ONE TO WATCH: Marisa Devonish

“Don’t follow your dreams, chase them!” – Marisa Devonish, Actress/Screenwriter/Producer

Hollywood is chock full of aspiring actors, producers and screenwriters – so much so that sometimes you wonder what it will take to stand out from the crowd. Meet Marisa Devonish, an actress, screenwriter and producer who has just what it takes to stand out in any crowd.

Intelligent, humorous, beautiful, versatile, creative, and talented, Marisa is one to watch. As she says in her interview, you can put money on it.

This was one of our more lively and enjoyable interviews, as she is someone who knows what she wants and she has a working plan to attain her goals. We know that it will not be long before the world becomes very familiar and comfortable with the creative genius that is Marisa Devonish.

Check out what she had to say in her interview:

THE HEAT MAGAZINE: Tell us a little about yourself.

MARISA DEVONISH: I’m originally from Brooklyn, New York – born and raised – and I’ve been out here in L.A. for about six years. Naturally, I came out to L.A. for the acting thing, to be an actress. It’s been interesting. I’m staying true to the comedy roots that I started back in New York. I started out on Chapelle’s Show. Then when I moved out here, the first job I got was on Nick Cannon’s “Wilding Out”, Season 2. I got to do a couple of skits with Kim Whitley, Nick himself, Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Epps, and then from there I decided to do my own skits on You Tube. I have over a dozen silly videos on my own page. Now I’m getting into writing – scripts, shorts, sitcoms – that’s where I’m headed now. You can’t just do one thing in L.A., I see. You have to wear many hats.

THE HEAT MAGAZINE: What else have you done? We see you have a pretty long resume.

MARISA DEVONISH: Yeah, I’ve made quite a few shorts. I was in the remake of “Every Little Step” with Wayne Brady and Mike Tyson. There’s a funny story behind this because when I was in New York, people said I look like this certain person and I just did not see it – and she has blonde hair – I moved out to L.A. and I heard it numerous times, even from Ray J. Then I get cast for Superhead – Karrine Steffans – in the “Kiss and Tail: The Hollywood Jumpoff” documentary. I said, ‘OK, maybe I see it now.’ That was in 2009 when it came out on DVD and then they actually put it on Showtime and HBO/Cinemax. The jokes and calls came in from everywhere. I could kind of see it – we have the same complexion and our hair was the same color. That’s pretty much what I get recognized for now.

THE HEAT MAGAZINE: How was it to play Karrine Steffans?

MARISA DEVONISH: I enjoyed playing her character and if you know anything about her life …

THE HEAT MAGAZINE: What other work have you done?

MARISA DEVONISH: I’ve done some modeling. I did a Journeys back to school catalog back in 2006 and I started modeling with another magazine. Anyone who knows me knows, if you see me one day and then the next, my hair might not be the same – it might not even be mine (LAUGHS). I love changing up my look. I wasn’t really an eye candy, men’s type model, but I was in Show Magazine. I was in their very first issue that came out. I also actually wrote, produced and starred in Serial Dater, which will be out in February. I’m going to play a gal from London, so I took on an accent and it was actually pretty believable, so I can add British accent to my resume. It’s very interesting working on other people’s projects where you’re just coming in to act for the day and then you’re actually producing a project. I wore so many hats. Not only was I in it, but I co-wrote it and co-produced it. I also did craft service. I was cooking for 15 people a day and I was also helping out with makeup, wardrobe, hair, set design, and I was shopping for props. I don’t think I ever want to do it again (LAUGHS).

THE HEAT MAGAZINE: Wow, you really did do it all.

MARISA DEVONISH: Yeah, there was a team of FIVE of us. It was very stressful – nonstop.

THE HEAT MAGAZINE: What made you want to get into acting and the entertainment industry?

MARISA DEVONISH: Going back to when our father had us in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, even though I didn’t believe anything about that religion – I had my Bible and I wrote Madonna in it. My father asked why I would write Madonna in my Bible and I said, “Because I want to be a singer.” I knew I couldn’t sing, but I wanted to be in the entertainment industry. I said I wanted to act. People told me, “You’re always making people laugh. You always have a smile on your face.” So I decided to go that route. It came naturally in high school. I joined the drama club. One of my favorite performances was when I played Helen Keller and my teacher said I did a really good job and that I should go on to pursue it. I decided to pursue it and I did so for about six months and then I got pregnant. It was then that I had the talk with my father and he told me he didn’t know if I’d be able to do that and be an actress. He said you have to be realistic. I took a year off and had my son and I went back to school as a backup. My backup is, I love children and I love teaching so I got my Associate in Childhood Education then I got my Bachelor of Psychology. I hope I’m not putting age on myself, because you’ll never get that out of me (LAUGHS). I taught junior high school for two years – Special Ed in Brooklyn. The kids were all bigger than me. I’ll never forget the first week of school – I said, “Look, I’m an actress. I’m not trying to be a teacher for the rest of my life. If it comes down to it, I will kick your ass, make it look like you attacked me and walk out this building with an Oscar.” They still tested me – I got the same class the following year, but the funniest thing is, they found me on Facebook and the last thing I said to them was, “Send me your report card. I’m not playing. And tell your parents to call me.” I’ll have that as a backup. It’ll always be a backup because the degrees are not going to go anywhere. After that second year of teaching, I packed up and left. I pretty much knew that L.A. was where I needed to be. I was bartending in New York. I’ve started bartending out here. Everybody in the restaurant, whether it’s the chef, the security, the waitresses, and bartenders, are either writers, producers, directors, or actors – up and coming. It was a great place for me to network with people. The hours of a bartender are convenient. You have from whenever you wake up for your auditions until you start bartending around 8 o’clock. Then working with other bartenders and waitresses that are actors and actresses, you can flip your schedule with them because they understand. Everyone is totally understanding. There’s been interesting experiences behind the scenes and in front of the scenes. I can actually do both. You look around in L.A. – you go to an audition and they want an African-American female between twenty-three and twenty-seven years old – they’re all gorgeous. There are hundreds of them there. The people in casting know exactly what they’re looking for. If there are a hundred girls there for that one job, what are the other ninety-nine going to do every single time they go in? I said let me do like Tyler Perry and start writing my own stuff. That’s what my friends call me now – Tyler Perry. I can write. I can produce. I can direct. I can still act. You know, he puts himself in all of his stuff, so I can still get my acting on by doing that as well.

THE HEAT MAGAZINE: So what are we going to see from you in the future, say in the next couple of years?

MARISA DEVONISH: My name will definitely be known as an upcoming female screenwriter. You can put money on that. I’m in the process of attaching some actors and directors to two films I wrote. They’re complete. The packaging is being put together right now. I’m getting word from other actors in the business and producers that have done stuff and have been in the business for twenty or thirty years and they say, “You have a niche here and you have a talent.” A lot of scripts that are in Hollywood, we’re sitting watching in theaters and we ask how did this get made? One, somebody has the money to fund it and two, there’s the connect with, “Oh, you did this film. Let’s see what else you got.” I’m working on that, where people are going to come to me – not only to be in their film, cameo, starring or whatever – but they’re going to come to me for scripts and re-writes to work on their films. My future’s looking bright. I’m excited about it. This year, my writing has really taken off. I’ve always had scripts just sitting and waiting and people have said, “You know, no one’s going to see them sitting in your laptop.”

THE HEAT MAGAZINE: We look forward to seeing some really big things coming from you.

MARISA DEVONISH: I also do spoofs of commercials on You Tube. I also have submitted commercials for the Super Bowl contest. I have a Doritos one that I wrote and starred in. I’m continue to do that and we’re going to actually shoot a Basketball Wives spoof. I’m playing Evelyn.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Heat Magazine knows we will see a whole lot more of Marisa Devonish very soon, along with her work that is sure to leave its mark on the entertainment industry. We wish her the best of luck in all of her endeavors!