SERAYAH MCNEILL

IMAGES BY FIDEL GONZALES

BY Marcus Gregory Blassingame

Serayah Encinitas, California born and raised singer, actress and dancer Serayah McNeill who is best known for her break out role as ‘Tiana By Marcus Gregory Blassingame McNeill Brown’ on hit series “Empire” which is currently in its sixth successful season as a top-rated Drama on Fox (which was halted by the pandemic). Serayah’s acting accomplishments coincide with her musical talent so much that one of her hit songs “Driving Me” inspired the producers of Freeform’s hit show “Blackish” staring Yara Shahidi and Tracee Ellis Ross, to pick up the song and feature it prominently in one of the episodes.

The accomplished actress is continuously landing superb roles in sensational projects like Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s ‘Black Mafia Family’ Series at Starz along with prominent icons Snoop Dogg and La La Anthony. Displaying a diverse array of range the young trifecta of talent will also be cast in Seven Deadly Sins, a TD Jakes project. “In Black Magazine’s” Fashion Director Marcus Gregory Blassingame chatted it up with National Film and Television Award nominee with over a million IG followers and fellow Gemini (born on June 20th) Serayah about life growing up and breaking through walls to become the accomplished actress that she is, dominating Young Hollywood.

MB What does your name mean?

SM In biblical times (translating to “God Is Ruler”) the name was given to a princess.

MB How do you feel about how people react when they find out you are a Gemini?

SM (Laughs) I hate some people’s reactions, we’re just so misunderstood. Typical reactions toward me usually result in quotes like, “Really? OMG, you are the nicest Gemini I’ve ever met, I usually never get along with that sign”. I’m like “wow really”. I think that (just like a few other signs) we are misunderstood. Are you a Gemini?

MB Yes, I was born May 31. People make Geminis seem like nut cases, but I’m so calm and drama free.

SM Yes, see? You are on that Taurus cusp. My birthday is the 20th of June, (I know the sign ends on the 21st) so my cusp is more towards Cancer.

MB As High School Basketball Captain, what position did you play?

SM My position was Point Guard. My favorite role was defense (fast break all day).

MB If you had a chance to play one on one with your favorite player, who would that be?

SM Allen Iverson.

MB Girl are you getting past that crossover? All you would see is a blur the whole time.

SM Yes it would a blur. It would be an awesome experience to play with him though.

MB Are you into fashion?

SM I love fashion

MB Who is your favorite designer?

SM I like what Virgil Abloh is doing as he’s creating for different brands. I love what he did with the Off White brand and most recent Louis Vuitton collection AW21 celebrating the ethnic culture. Whatever he touches has his unique signature to it. I love his story as well. His Louis Vuitton AW21 show was ingenious. It’s timeless as he featured poets Saul Williams and recording artist Yasin Bey (Mos Def) to perform in one of the most culturally energized shows this season.

MB Will we ever see a black Luxury brand?

SM It’s possible for Fenty to fill that role for it just takes one person to wear it. Of course she’s Rihanna, but once a few more people of note begin to champion the brand, it has potential plus she is very luxury. I also like Kerby Jean-Raymond (Pyor Moss). The last Fashion Week that I attended was 2018 and his show blew me away. There is something unique about how he designs for a street aesthetic that’s very elevated. Kerby and Fenty will possibly to go the luxury route eventually.

MB Which designers do you feel cater to your size and frame symmetry?

SM That’s why I want to create my own line because nothing really fits me. Items are either too long or too wide. Being petite I find the inseam and crotch zippers too long . It’s really hard to find many brands for me so I get things altered.

It’s in my plans to create a line that caters to petite because I love fashion, but I have no idea of where I fit into the brand space? Petite doesn’t mean you don’t have curves yet you don’t have Fashionova curves, you’re kind of in the middle where you don’t really know what brands cater to your sizes.

MB When did you begin pursuing acting?

SM I seriously pursued it right before Empire When I was young and it was something I always wanted to do. I did take classes when I was much younger, however child acting is a different vibe. I didn’t get into the auditioning and serious space until I was 19. I had a big platform on Empire though I didn’t have a lot of moments, I saw myself growing in class. I was like, “man I can’t wait until I have a character that I can really dig into like I was doing in training”.

MB Did you train with the standard acting coaches?

SM I trained with Tasha Smith who has this “take the bull by the horn approach”. I love that because I see that in my co-actor Taraji P Henson.

MB What was your biggest challenge that you overcame in acting?

SM My biggest challenge that I overcame was vulnerability. I took private classes as well, but it wasn’t until I began to take classes with other actors and having to perform in front of a class full of people. It wasn’t until it sank in and a big part of it is pulling from past experiences or fantasy, which this is really almost like healing (therapy). You’re really going through some of your real emotions and wearing them on your sleeve and putting them in front of people, the screen, and the camera, during a class of 20. That’s when it soaks in to me while being ok with personal challenges and flipping them to wearing a venerable sleeve for the scene and breaking through that barrier. For a lot of people when old things start coming up you kind of naturally suppress revealing emotions than show them. It’s a big thing for actors, especially male performers when it becomes hard to lay into that vulnerability. It’s so much more interesting on screen and also people find you to be more relatable.

MB What was your biggest challenge that you overcame in life?

SM The biggest thing for me is to keep going. In my early years I’ve experienced hard times and homelessness at the age of 5. Where I come from pushing all those bad experiences to the side and getting down to the work every day pushing myself to go harder and be stronger and be more creative is my drive. Some of those still haunt me and it’s about embracing it, all the short comings, the no’s, doors slammed in my face, all the times being displaced, all the times people doubted me and didn’t want me to win. I’m just embracing it all and using it to make me stronger. And I’m definitely breaking through that glass ceiling . I’m just in the moment and I just keep pushing and that’s where I’m at now.

MB What type of dance do you specialize in? SM I love Hip Hop and Jazz is one of my favorites,

MB Are you fluent in street dance?

SM I love street dance but I’m more into grooving than breaking, isolations and tutting is freaking hard. “Laughs”.

MB How many times does it take to get a Tik Tok routine right?

SM It’s different because it’s smaller movements and the reels are really super fast (short). They’er really on the one, but not in the groove so its a new vibe that I’m learning now.

MB Who inspires you musically?

SM I’m inspired by Anita Baker, Fred Hammond, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Faith Evens.

MB When did you know that you had what it takes to pursue a music career?

SM It was always something I loved. I began performing at these small showcases that my mom would book for me. Then I did this Disney winter fest performance and the children gravitated towards me and loved me so that’s what inspired me to keep going. The fact that I made children happy along with other little moments where people were touched.

MB Who are some of your favorite music producers?

SM I’d love to work with Missy Elliott, London on the Track, Timbaland, Ryan Leslie and 40 (Noah James Shebib (Drakes producer)

MB What projects do you have coming up?

SM I have a Lifetime film part of a series that TD Jakes is doing called Envy. It’s going to be the first part of a seven part series based on the Seven Deadly Sins. Next is a film called The Favorite Son, a BET movie and a Swirl Films production, Robin Givens is directing and starring in it. I’m currently booked on a Netflix series with Kevin Hart and Westley Snipes called True Stories.

MB What do you think of the Clubhouse Social Media App?

SM I’ve been asked to create rooms and “moderate” with people which is super dope and for me its about how I want to go about (approach) it. I want to be mindful about how I use the space. I do Motivational Mondays on my Instagram Live and I’d like to do that on CH.