a dream: deconstructed…
At five years old, Byron moved from Florida to Virginia with their stepfather who was in the Navy, and their mother who’d immigrated to ‘the States’ just ten years earlier. If they got anything from their stepdad it was his foul mouth and comedic timing. Their mom made sure they were polite and that they never put anything on a credit card that couldn’t be paid for in cash. She also made sure Byron knew they could be anything they wanted to be.
As an only child, Byron escaped into worlds created with stuffed animals and fitted sheets and performed for their mom’s friends, dancing to Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” in their favorite denim daisy dukes. Byron became fascinated with film when sneaking out into the living room to watch Interview With The Vampire and Waiting To Exhale on late night cable. There was something so telling in their captivation of the not-so-appropriate rendezvous. Byron fell in love with theatre in middle school after seeing a community production of Into the Woods. Immersed, they knew they wanted to create moments, like that, for others.
“Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor”
– Cinderella, Into The Woods
Halfway through their freshman year in the IB (International Baccalaureate) program, Byron decided to focus less on S.T.E.M. motivated academics and transferred to the local Arts high school and became a drama kid. The IB counselor insisted “But you can do theatre at Yale…”. She wasn’t wrong. But Byron went to the Arts high school anyway. After graduating, Byron went on to get their BFA in Theatre Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. There, they had the opportunity to tour children’s theater with Theater IV and perform abroad with The Conciliation Project in uncle tom: deconstructed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Wanting to take the next step in their TV/film career Byron set sights on the growing industry in Atlanta.
Louis: A vampire pretending to be human, pretending to be a vampire.
– Interview With The Vampire
Claudia: How avant-garde.
Byron most recently signed with MAKE GOOD Content, bringing Mike Griffin on as manager.
Artist’s Note:
“When life’s a performance, you never have to rehearse”
Acting for me is presence, purpose and play; on film, on stage, and in my day to day. Acting came to me as an outlet. But what began as a way to escape, quickly turned into my way to connect. My mission as an actor is to be a mirror of multitudes to humanity, to tap into our boundless ability for creation, and to find the universal in the nuanced and specific. Even if right now it’s more like “Here’s your coffee…” Lol.
UPCOMING: Zoey 102 – streaming late 2023 on Paramount+
Thanks for visiting!
Photo by: Jordan Desamours @jordanshootsfilm