Princess Davis has had an incredible love for acting since she was three years old. As her love and passion for acting grew, her mother enrolled her at Vancouver Young Actors School where she excelled. She’s never looked back! Princess is set to appear as Terry in Mary J. Blige’s Real Love and Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman, inspired by Blige’s biggest hits, premiering on back-to-back Saturdays on Lifetime, from June 10th. We had the opportunity to speak to her about her career, current projects and what’s next.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. For readers unfamiliar with your background, please tell us more about what drew you to a career in the arts.
From a young age, I was always drawn to the feeling of magic. I remember being three years old and watching shows on Family Channel and thinking that TV was so magical. I didn’t understand the concept of actors or what they were doing, but I thought it was all super special and I really wanted to be a part of it. I kept telling my mom that I wanted to be magical just like the people I saw on the box which I later learned was called a TV (laughs).
So, when I was four years old my mom put me into background acting, and from there I learned how they made movies and I immediately fell deeper in love with acting. My mom then enrolled me in acting classes, I got my first agent, and started auditioning.
Actors get to express the fragility of life and I thought it would be an incredible thing to spend my life doing. As an actor, I get to be heroic, villainous, in love, silly and so many other things without the fear of reprisal. I love acting because it makes me a lighter human, I get to express different parts of myself that I can’t express daily out in the world.
You trained at Vancouver Young Actors School and the LeBlanc School of Acting. Please tell us more about your experiences and how these institutions prepared you for working in the industry.
Vancouver Young School of Acting was the first acting class that I took on my journey. It taught me so many skills that I still use today. I remember in one of my first classes we did an exercise called “The Hallway” where you account for some of your deepest and most emotional memories in order to evoke emotion for your scene. I remember being so scared but the deeper I got into the exercise, I realized that I was so much bigger than my fears. I want to be able to use my emotion to inspire people in film, I want to use my sadness to make other people feel seen by telling stories that are raw. I learned how to control my emotions and where emotions sit in my body and it was a very exciting time, especially as a young actor.
The following year I went to Leblanc School of Acting. This institution had one of the biggest influences on my career. My acting coach Julian Leblanc helped me get an agent that really saw me. I also learned who I was in that class and how to express myself fully as an artist. I expressed the sides of me that were weird and that I thought were unaccepted. I started bringing my personality to my characters and living my truth within scenes. That class also brought me a lot of great connections. The people I met at that school, I’m still very close friends with. They are some of the most inspiring and talented people I know, and they really prepared me to have a professional career as an actress.
You’ve worked on numerous projects including Showtime’s “Yellowjackets”, Hallmark’s “A Gift of Peace”, “A Bridesmaid in Love”, voiced Black Widow in “Marvel Battleworld: Treachery at Twilight” and featured the award-winning short film, “Consumer”. Looking back at your career, what projects have been most challenging, and why?
I filmed ‘The Gift of Peace’ last year in which I played a character named ‘Regina’, and it was a really challenging character because there was so much emotion that was required for some of the scenes. I was also playing a character that was very similar to me. In the movie, my character goes to a grief support group because she recently lost her mom. When I was filming this movie, I recently lost my stepfather, so it was very challenging going to set and knowing how emotional I had to be. It was scary to approach but it was also very rewarding because I got to honor my stepfather by filming that movie and I know that he would be very proud of me and I loved every day on that set.
Have there been any particular chapters in your career that have changed your appreciation of the industry? If so, what did you learn from this experience?
An exciting thing about acting and being part of the industry is that you never know what will come tomorrow. I had a moment last year in my acting career where I was up for the biggest role that I’ve ever been considered for and I was flown out to do a chemistry test. I was super excited about the whole process and totally convinced that this was my part because everything seemed so perfect. On the day of the chemistry test, I found out I got COVID-19, so I was unable to do the chemistry test which was heartbreaking! After that moment, I did a lot of rebuilding of who I thought I was as an artist and as a human. There was a lot of forgiveness and trying to maintain positivity even when things seemed so crazy and chaotic. I learned a lot of self-love, and I learned how to trust my intuition. I’m actually still learning these things.
But later that year I booked Real Love and Strength of a Woman and if I got the other part I was up for, I wouldn’t have been able to play Terry. I’ve come to learn in trusting my journey and allowing myself to be uncomfortable. If I fail, I will get back up, I will never stop trying and I will always trust in who I am as an artist. Looking back, I’m at peace with that chapter because it taught me that one moment does not define me, life is full of so many things and I want to really be able to appreciate it all. You never know what will happen tomorrow, especially in this industry. If I fall, there’s always tomorrow.
What do you look for when choosing a role?
I’m not at that point where I get to turn parts down, although being able to get offers and choosing what role I want to play would be a dream! I like to think that my soul and the universe choose roles for me (laughs). My favorite roles are the ones that challenge me to be different from who I am. I love characters who are far more courageous, broken, or scared than I am and who are just simply trying their best. I’m drawn to characters that society wouldn’t necessarily like or appreciate based on their past, because those stories are important and need to be told. Telling stories that are raw reminds us that we are all connected and shows us the fragility of life. I want to do roles that challenge me, whether it’s drama, sci-fi or comedy. It’s really exciting as an actor to find layers and depth and I want roles that invite that.
You star as Terry in Mary J. Blige’s Real Love and Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman, inspired by Blige’s biggest hits, premiering on back-to-back Saturdays on Lifetime this June. Firstly, can you tell us how you landed the role, and what can audiences expect?
Yes! I had a really awesome casting story! I got the audition when I was working on “The Gift of Peace” and we were just wrapping up production. It was a very busy set day, so I got home really tired and my intention that night was to film the audition. But as I was driving home my mom called and she was like “The cat’s missing, I think she ran outside”. So instead of filming my audition that night I spent hours outside crying and knocking on doors looking for my cat. Hours later my mom calls to say she found the cat under my bed, so I go to bed super tired that night and the next day I get my co-star to practice my lines with me. She asked me what it was for, and I told her “Real Love” produced by Mary J. Blige. Later that day, she was talking to the cinematographer on set, asking him what project he was working on next, and he was like “I’m doing Mary J. Blige’s, Real Love”! She told him that I just auditioned for that role, and he literally called the director and sent him a still of me on set and told him that I should be in the production! I’m so grateful for that! I worked really hard on my audition, booked a callback audition for it, and literally two days after finishing the other movie I found out I booked “Real Love.” It was a dream come true!
My character’s name is Terry, she is very energetic and very much herself. She really knows who she is and walks with so much swag, and she really wants the best for her friends and family. Truly a ride or die. It was so much fun playing her. Audiences can expect a beautiful love story that makes them think about what real love means to them.
Ajiona Alexus (Kendra), Princess Davis (Terry), and Kenya Jordan (Ashley) on Mary J Blige’s Real Love.
Please tell us more about the production. Was Mary J Blige heavily involved in so I the casting and project?
Yes! Mary J. Blige was heavily involved with both projects. Both of these movies are based on her songs, and she also gave her creative input to the production team and worked very closely with them! She had a really busy schedule so she couldn’t make it to set but it was so lovely working with her team! Everyone was so nice.
What other projects are in the pipeline?
Right now I’m just auditioning for a bunch of different projects. I’m getting positive reception and great opportunities right now so I’m very happy and grateful! I’m also going to be traveling a bit so it’s going to be very nice to switch up my routine and go on a little vacation.
Where can our readers find out more about you?
On Instagram at @Iamprincessdavis and Twitter at @Imprincessdavis. Thank you so much for speaking with me, I really enjoyed my time here!
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