Actor, producer Choice Skinner talks about Denise Williams’ ‘She Thinks She’s Cute’ coming to Augusta September 21st

WJBF – There is a new theater production coming to the CSRA: She Thinks She’s Cute , written, produced, and directed by Denise Williams, and actor, producer, director, and NAACP Image Award nominee Choice Skinner , who makes an appearance in the play, chats with WJBF about the production.

Thank you for being here on Celebrating Black Excellence. So let’s get started with you and your career. How did you get started with acting and entertainment?

I moved from Augusta to L.A. back in ‘98, and I went for music because I was doing music here in Augusta. When I got to L.A., I got into stunts, and then from stunts, I segued into film by doing acting. Then, from acting, I got into coaching actors and then directing

You are an NAACP Image Award nominee. So your project is called A New Life. Can you tell us about the film?

Yeah, A New Life is a story about a single father who lost his wife seven years prior, and then he’s entered back into the dating scene by his daughter. I wanted to give a perspective of Black men that hadn’t been seen before. You had movies like [Tyler Perry’s] Daddy’s Little Girl , which I wrote mine before Daddy’s Little Girl . My movie is literally 24 years old. So that’s a sign of, you know, keep going. So, it’s a story about overcoming loss and finding yourself dealing with mental hurdles; stuff that Black men go through that people don’t really talk about a lot. So that’s pretty much what it’s about. It’s doing really good. I can say this: It’s done pretty much across all platforms, over 8 million impressions. So it’s doing really good. I’m happy. They can watch it on Tubi.

Can you talk about the moment when you find out you were nominated for an Image Award. How was that moment for you?

I’m very big on looking at the trades, and that morning, I literally forgot all about being submitted for it. My manager submitted before it, so I saw it on deadline, and I kind of like lost my legs a little bit. I sat down in the chair, and the first person I called was my manager. Then, I called my mom and I said, “Hey, this is what’s going on. Sit down Don’t lose your legs because I just lost my legs.” But it was a tremendous honor. The whole experience was awesome. I wish it for any filmmaker, especially independent filmmakers, because that’s rare to have an independent filmmaker from my distribution company, Buffalo 8, to have that opportunity to be among some of the peers in the industry who are veterans, you know what I mean? So, yeah, it was awesome.

You’re in a new theater production, She Thinks She’s Cute, by Denise Williams. Can you tell us about the play?

Denise Williams is an innovative and very talented playwright. She came to me and told me, “Hey, Choice, I have a play that I want to write you in, and I want you to come in, and I want you to do a cameo.” I was like, “Tremendous, tremendous.” Basically, what the play is about is how Black women interact with each other when it comes to gossiping and finding peace among themselves in it as a community and supporting each other, and also making sure that people understand that from the outside, what people see is not always what it is on the inside. And so, Denise… this piece was very big to her, and it was a major part of who she is. Again, she wrote this over 20 years ago, and so, she’s bringing it to Augusta. It’s fun. It’s very exciting. It has a lot of strong Christian themes in it, but at the same time, it’s very modern. So it’s edgy. People can get a lot from it. So it’s a good piece. It’s tremendous. I wouldn’t be a part of it if I didn’t believe it.

What part are you playing?

I’m playing myself. You know, so it was really exciting to read what she had wrote. I can’t say too much about it because there’s a lot of surprises, but it’s very fun. It’s interesting. It’s going to be an amazing night. We have actually Jamal Lewis and some celebrities coming in. So, the red carpet is going to be phenomenal. It’s going to be phenomenal. Huge red carpet. I think Augusta needs more of that. You know? We need to show up and show out. The play is definitely something that’s definitely needed for the town. The actors have been working on it very hard, and they’re all talented, and it’s a great opportunity for people to come out and support.

Can you tell us where the production is, and what day and time?

Yeah, it’s at the KROC Center. It’s Saturday, September 21 ^st , and it’s at 5 p.m. The doors open so they have some pre-play stuff happening: some entertainment and everything before that point. Then, at 6 P.M., the play starts. So, you definitely want to be there on time, and we have a red carpet prior to all of that as well. You can get tickets at shethinkshecute.com , and you can find more information on Instagram @shethinkshescute .

If people want to know more about you, and they want to follow your journey with what you have going on, how can they get that information?

You can go to Instagram @darkan2000 , and I’m on Facebook: Choice J. Skinner .

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