CONNECT . MOTIVATE . INSPIRE .
FLY GIRL TURNED ACTING COACH
JOSSIE HARRIS WANTS HBCU STUDENTS, ALUMNI TO THRIVE IN HOLLYWOOD
BY ZERLINE HUGHES SPRUILL
N ow that the actor’s platforms and big screen talent are back doing what they do best. While fans are busy deciding on what movie to watch next, or what series to download, actors have decisions to make as well: who will help them perfect their craft? strike of 2023 is behind Hollywood, networks, cable, streaming The answer: Jossie Harris, an acting coach currently based in Los Angeles. She trains actors to perfect their characters by running lines and provides constructive criticism on diction and timing. Harris has worked with actor Ahmad Nicholas Ferguson from Showtime’s “The Chi” and “Power: Book IV,” in addition to actress
a Fisk University alumna and star of Bounce TV’s “Act Your Age.” “When you have dialogue, you have rhythm, so she helps with the rhythm of the line of a scene, with her being a dancer. A lot of acting coaches can not provide that.” Harris is, indeed, a dancer. She spent three seasons in the early- to mid-1990s on the Emmy Award-winning sketch comedy series, “In Living Color,” created by actor and filmmaker Keenan Ivory Wayans. Harris was one of the show’s Fly Girls who performed hip- hop and contemporary dance routines. Additional Fly Girl members included Carrie Ann Inaba from “Dancing with the Stars,” and singer/dancer/actress, Jennifer Lopez, aka J-Lo. Harris was also a popular music video “it girl” who was highly sought after for her dance expertise and unique style. She danced
in videos including Mary J. Blige’s “Real Love,” and Janet Jackson’s “That’s the Way Love Goes.” She also danced in Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time,” and appeared in music videos alongside Bobby Brown, Heavy D, Guy and Color Me Badd, and accompanied
Janet Jackson on the “Janet” tour in the mid 1990s.
“I have to give it up to Keenan because he was the master behind it all … he is such a pioneer,” said Harris. “He is the voice that I hear often. If I wasn’t on set watching, I was with the production team. The rest of the dancers would take off. He would always tell me, ‘you’re going to do great things Jossie’ because I was always there.”
and comedienne Kym Whitley, who starred in
From Dancer to Actor
“Beauty Shop,” “Boondocks,” and “Deliver Us from Eva.”
Being around the comedians awakened something in Harris,
“She sees something that you don’t see,” said Whitley,
1 5 | HBCU TIMES SPRING ISSUE 2024
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease