Interview: Moriah Brown on Being a Quadruple Threat + the Netflix series, Raising Dion
Actress, Moriah Brown, is a quadruple threat. Not only can she act, but Moriah is also a producer, dancer, model, and singer. Her big break was working with ModCloth as a model, which led to other jobs, but the recent release of the Netflix series, Raising Dion, is where Moriah has had her biggest break so far. It’s in that show that Moriah is not only able to showcase her acting skills, but also her dancing ability. Moriah plays Willa, the best friend of Nicole, a widowed mother who is raising an African American child with superhuman abilities. Get to know everything about her role, how long she’s been acting, her YouTube channel, DareYou2DreamTV, and her definition of self-love.
GLITTER: How long have you been acting?
MORIAH: Professionally, I’ve been acting for about five years, but I actually started acting when I was about four years old. My mom put me in this preschool that was bilingual in Spanish and English; I’m half Mexican, and she wanted me to learn the culture through that which involved heavy dancing and acting! Since then, I knew it was what I loved doing!
GLITTER: What would you say was your big break?
MORIAH: In the print modeling industry, I’d say for me my big break was working consistently with a global brand called ModCloth, it led me to work with such great brands like Wet N Wild, Colour POP Cosmetics etc. So many people saw me in the campaigns, and all of it was happening while I was still in college trying to figure my life out! Lol, so that was cool. When it comes to acting, personally I feel like my big break is still to come, honestly Raising Dion has given me so much notoriety it’s been a huge blessing to be a part of such excellence; however, this to me is the BEGINNING of my big break! I’m so honored to be a part of such a much-needed series in our community, and I can’t wait to see where it goes!
GLITTER: What can you tell us about your role in the Netflix series, Raising Dion? Who do you play? How are you like or unlike your character? Is it true you’re a classically trained dancer as well?
MORIAH: In Raising Dion I play the role of Willa, a dancer and best friend of Nicole, who is the widowed mother raising an African American boy with superpowers. I feel like I relate to this role a lot actually; dance was a huge part of my life. Growing up and living in east la with my mom’s side of the family in a Mexican household, mariachis and dancing in front of the family was always a show and a big part of the lifestyle! And my dad and mom always encouraged it when I was younger. Dance truly is a passionate thing, and I feel like Willa on the show never stopped training in dance, so Nicole comes to her to find that passion again and maybe even a job lol! As a best friend to many in real life, I feel like Willa and I are alike in those ways, always wanting to include or help and support loved ones when in need, especially when in need of some dancing in their life! Haha, and yes, I trained a very long time ago but really hadn’t picked it back up since I got the role of Willa! And let me tell you training for that again was so very painful but well worth it! Lol
GLITTER: How has being in the spotlight influenced you as an influencer?
MORIAH: Being in the spotlight has inspired me so much! A lot of responsibility comes with the spotlight, and I feel like I was brought in the world to unite. Maybe like one month after shooting the show, I was just led by the spirit to do something impactful that would unite a tribe of young influencers I knew in LA who are real genuine souls and all about unity! So I had put together a group of Influencers that I call Tribe, I’m still working on the title. As a tribe, this group comes together whenever we want to celebrate each other’s endeavors/accomplishments as well as support each other’s brands. Right now, I’m working on an annual ‘End of the Summer Bash’ that I started this past summer, which turned out to be a huge SUCCESS! We had multiple brands sponsor the event, and within our tribe, as a unit, we have over 1.7 million combined followers! We enabled new up, and coming brands to increase their customer base and followers all by just showing love and support to them at our event! So much is in store for the future of this group now that I’ve created a vision using my draw as an influencer.
GLITTER: What can you tell us about your YouTube channel, DareYou2DreamTV? Who have you interviewed on your channel?
MORIAH: Ah this is my little baby. It started as a passion project of mine. I was going to school for journalism, and I fell in love with editing videos of myself interviewing up and coming artists, so I started DAREYOU2DREAM. It’s actually on pause as of right now since I’ve been focusing on acting but I have soooo many plans for that brand in the future. I think back then when I had started it; I was only able to get like one mega up and coming pop star to Interview lol his name was Cody Wise! He was like a little MJ to me, a very talented dancer and singer; Will.I.am was also his mentor. That was a real fun one for me to edit and put up on the YouTube page! Definitely more to come when I get it back up and running.
GLITTER: How do you prepare for each of your roles?
MORIAH: Honestly, it depends on each role. I do a lot of research on the kind of role, look for real-world examples to draw from as well as dissect performances of other actors and glean nuance from other performances I have admired. I get extremely inspired by actors who have done it before me and see how I can make their mastery my own. I am always learning.
GLITTER: What is your approach to auditioning?
MORIAH: Honestly, I’m still learning myself! Lol, I’ve only been doing this professionally for about 1/4 of my life. I want to go in as prepared and possible and believe in my take. That is the part I can control. You have to mentally be strong when dealing with the auditioning process and the rejection of not getting a job. I’ve been offered roles, and for example, I ended up not getting a job when a deal was on the table because someone they originally offered the same role to was available all of a sudden! Talk about heartbreak. So now with more experience under my belt, I’ve just learned that timing matters and it’s not always because of you! I feel like as long as I continue to put my best out whatever is meant for me will come at the time it’s supposed to! I’ve learned to let go and trust the process.
GLITTER: What do you like to do in your free time?
MORIAH: I love being in the music studio! My boyfriend is a lyrical music artist, so being able to be in the studio is so liberating! I love to compose songs or add background rifts and runs! Singing and writing is another talent of mine that comes so natural to me. But other than that I’m a night owl I love being out with my close gals or staying up super late watching movies. 😍
GLITTER: Do you have any celebrity crushes?
MORIAH: Um, duh! Let me see man. There’s a few. Definitely Leonardo DiCaprio has always been my number one, Johnny Depp for sure, Frank Ocean, Michael B Jordan of course, Trai buyers is a mega hottie and talented actor; honestly, I can go on.
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