About Venus Monique | American Christian Actress

Hi! I'm Venus Monique.

It took me a looong time to say I'm an actor - because I never wanted to be one.

God told me to do acting while I was in college, so here I am, being obedient to the call... and you know what?

It's been a fun ride.

A short overview of my journey...

I started getting gigs with Craiglist...

Then I booked a stand-in gig on the The Lying Game (an ABC Family show) for almost 2 seasons...

Which led to me working on larger films as the stand-in for Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, and a couple of others.

To get around more Christian filmmakers, I volunteered at The Attic Film Fest in Austin, TX as the Emcee where I got to interview some uber talented filmmakers...

This allowed me to connect with Dallas Jenkins (The Chosen), Jarod O'Flaherty (Vindication), Brent McCorkle (Jesus Revolution, I Can Only Imagine), and Jamie Sterba (Simon Says).

Meeting Jarod led to us working together on a short film, and he eventually cast me as Kris Tanner, one of the lead detectives in his show, Vindication.

Some tools and training...

When I moved to Austin, TX, I tried several acting classes and workshops to see what fit me best. Some of those were:

Carol Hickey - this was my favorite technique; I trained with Carol for about 4 years
Laurel Vouvray - I did Laurel's Meisner training for about 2 years
Harry Mastrogeorge - former teacher and director at American Academy of Dramatic Arts; he also directed some episodics such as Miami Vice, The Love Boat, and the Mary Tyler Moore Show
Debi Derryberry - for voiceover work; Debi's best known for being the voice of Jimmy Neutron
Irene White - she taught improv and is amazing
Stephen Bridgewater - we did some cold read classes and acting for the camera workshops
John Williams - he's a casting director in Austin; his commercial workshops were always super helpful
Donise Hardy - another commercial audition workshop
plus many more workshops with various coaches

Awards and blessings...

God's provided some amazing blessings and a lot of work for me since starting this journey:

Riding ATVs for a Ford commercial was definitely a fun day
I booked a Rexulti (depression) commercial for which I didn't even audition
The first play I tried out for, I booked the lead role, and the first feature film I auditioned for, I booked the lead role (I think these were God confirming what He told me to do)
I've been a stylist in a Great Clips commercial, the bride in Say Yes to the Dress, the patient in a dental commercial, a basketball player in a Big 12 commercial, plus a ton of other work
Going to Big Bend National Park for my lead role in Genesis has been a highlight when it comes to filming locations
I've had a recurring lead role in a popular Christian crime drama series (Vindication)
Doing Krav Maga training for a self-defense commercial was a ton of fun
During a musical, I started out as the understudy, then got bumped up to a newsie shortly after
And I've earned numerous Best Actress awards, along with multiple nominations in other categories