When a person looks at the career of some actors they might nod and raise an approving eyebrow, but with others, they might sit back and be sincerely impressed at that moment since the list of credits might take a while to read. Loretta Devine is one of the latter since reading her list of credits is something that will make a lot of people say ‘wow’. She’s been in enough projects that she should be far more recognizable by more people instead of being labeled by some as ‘that actress’ since she’s easy to pick out from many others, but some people simply don’t know her name that well. She does have a long history of being a supporting or extra character and not a lead, but there are enough roles in her history that many people should be able to think of at least a small handful of appearances that she’s made. Lately, she’s given her talents to the movie Spell starring Omari Hardwick. Just from the trailer, it’s obvious that she’s every bit as important to this project as she’s been to others in the past that have made good use of her acting skills. But she does appear a bit scary as Ms. Eloise since the purpose behind keeping Hardwick’s character kept and contained get a little bit insidious as the involvement of hoodoo is bound to make this movie kind of a compelling one to watch.
Many people would no doubt call upon many of her appearances as some of the best that they’ve ever seen, but one that comes to mind is that of Pigfoot Mary from Hoodlum, which wasn’t a huge role but was more than enough to be convincing since she had quite a few lines and delivered all of them perfectly. The attitude that she can bring to any role she plays is great since one can easily believe that she’s feeling every bit of the character and isn’t holding back much. It does feel at times as though some actors aren’t quite connecting with the characters that they play, but Loretta is one of the many that thankfully can channel whoever she’s playing and play them to a tee, which means that any project she’s working on is that much better for it since actors that know what they’re doing tend to heighten the experience of even the worst movies and create a bright spot that not everyone sees, but is there all the same. Loretta is a definite bright spot in whatever she plays in since she’s been someone that has popped up over and over throughout the years in one movie or TV show after another. In some ways, one might think that moving around so much might mean that an actor isn’t entirely satisfied to just sit still and is a little more unreliable than most, but if one is looking at things practically they would understand that actors need to keep hustling in order to keep their reputation and to keep up the appearance that they’re worth hiring. Much like any other artist, an actor has to keep up appearances, they have to continue to hone their craft, and they really need to make certain that people still want them around for their skill.
It sounds like a constant hustle and grind, and sometimes that’s just what it is since even the best actors need to find something to keep them busy, whether it’s side projects or their main career. Very few actors can just sit back and allow things to come to them since the best among them will be those that hustle and find parts that they want, that they can take on, and that they can accomplish in a way that no one else can. Some actors find that their career will continue to build and build so long as they take on anything and everything, while others might feel the need to be more selective. It’s all a matter of gut instinct sometimes and knowing which parts to take and which to avoid. In the beginning, like a lot of artists, actors just take on whatever they can get in order to pay the bills, and as one can imagine this isn’t always the easiest thing to do since scraping and bleeding, in a metaphorical sense, for a place at the table isn’t always easy. But the more dependable one becomes, the easier things will eventually get, even as the difficulty level of what one is doing continues to rise. At one point an actor will realize that what they’re doing might not be easy, but at one point it might have felt entirely out of reach and is now something that simply comes to them after a career spent toiling away for greatness. Loretta Devine has done a great deal of work in her time and continues to do so. Hopefully, she’ll continue to keep on doing what she’s become so exceptional at.
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