Tesi Johnson, Gleaner Writer

Melanie Johnson is set to take on the international movie industry after nabbing a small role in The Dialer, which will begin filming in New York next January under the direction of actor/director Ryan B. Adams, whose most recent work is seen in 'Coach Carter' starring Samuel L. Jackson. She was discovered by Adams at the 2006 World Championships of Performing arts, where she earned silver for acting and bronze for modeling. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

In September 1996, Melanie Johnson was expelled from Immaculate Conception High School (ICHS), after a fellow student maliciously brought her winning photograph in the Miss Jamaica Petite Fashion Model competition to the attention of the school authorities. Ten years hence, the embarrassment of that ordeal has faded in her past and Melanie has gone on to find a bit of success in the same area that once brought her shame. She has also used her penchant for the stage to launch her acting career.

Journey to Hollywood

After learning of auditions for the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) through a local morning programme, Melanie ventured to the Louise Bennett Garden Theatre seeking to represent Jamaica as a model and actress. She performed an impromptu piece depicting a mother reprimanding her mischievous child. Before then, her only acting experience was in a few television commercials, local television programmes, and a short course in acting at Edna Manley School for the Visual and Performing Arts (EMVPA).

Her modelling experience was more extensive having once held the title of Miss Jamaica Petite Fashion Model, where she worked on several runway shows and even did a spread in French Elle alongside the now acclaimed Carla Campbell. She impressed the judges and just a few weeks later she was soliciting sponsorship to go to Hollywood to represent Jamaica and compete with other entrants from all over the world.

"My journey to Hollywood was no fairly tale," she explains. She, like many other entrants, faced difficulties in coming up with the roughly US$2800 needed to make the trip. When it almost seemed hopeless, Mount Royal Development came to the rescue.

On arrival in Hollywood, California, the odds seemed to be against her as the competition seemed pitted against persons of her ethnicity. "I am a generally confident person, but I admit feeling a bit intimidated at the stares from the blond, blue-eyed 'beauties', who looked at us as though thinking, 'duh, of course, we're so gonna, like, beat you'", she said, effecting the same scornful manner that a young American might. "I could smell the racism, but in those situations you have to hold your head especially high," she asserts.

On opening night in the Hollywood Palladium, Melanie dressed in her bandana costume felt awed by surroundings. "I had to pinch myself. I could not believe I was in Hollywood," she said. When the curtains closed, she came away with two medals - silver for acting and bronze for modelling - as well as a small role in an upcoming film. "I bet not many of 'those girls' did as well", Melanie joked.

Her film debut

Ryan B. Adams, an actor/director, whose latest works is seen in Coach Carter, starring Samuel L. Jackson, had offered Melanie a role in one of his latest projects, The Dialer - set to begin filming in January 2007. Adams advised Melanie that had she stayed in Hollywood a little longer after the competition, like many other contestants did, she would have been open other opportunities. She however had obligations in Jamaica and left right after, with the intention to return soon.

This November she will travel to New York to iron out the details of her role in 'The Dialer', and return in January to begin filming. For this film, Melanie explains, "Even if I only get five minutes on screen, I am humbled, because you have to creep before you walk and people are fighting every day to nab small parts like these."

Things are looking positive for Melanie on the international side, but she still wants to maintain her 'roots' and not lose the aura of Jamaica. "I don't ever want to do an interview and say 'yea man, wa'sup man, what the dilly-yow'", she said between laughs. "I admire David Heron's work, and would love the opportunity to some day work with him", she says with a tone of awe. "He is so talented. He is my favourite Jamaican playwright.

She also admires the work of local actresses Karen Harriot, Audrey Reid and Leonie Forbes, who she describes as 'the queen bee'. On the production side, she would like to someday work alongside Chris Brownie and Lennie Little-White.

Ultimately, Melanie hopes to become mainstream and follow in the footsteps of Jamaican-born Grace Jones, whose most significant work was playing a Bond girl in the 1985 Bond flick 'A View to Kill'. "When you call her name, people know who she is", she says. Her biggest role model however is Angela Bassett, who she compares to Cicely Tyson: "She isn't afraid to reject scripts that project blacks in a negative light," Melanie explains. "Like her, I want to be able to select movies that uplift me, " she says.

Now the young beauty is focusing on establishing herself firmly in the local market while actively pursuing her international career. She lauds her supportive family, and her grandmother especially with whom she regularly consults. "Persons have once before discouraged me, but now I surround myself with only those who are supportive," she explains; "especially that young man from 'the wire' who holds the key to my heart."