Jamaican actress on her way to Hollywood
Heather Simms decided from early on that she would not allow her colour, or her nationality, to be obstacles to her ambitions of an acting career.
With a part in a revival of the August Wilson’s play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Charles S Dutton, Simms is well on her way.
“Whoopi is like a mother, a sister and a girlfriend on the set. I couldn’t ask for a better experience especially since it’s my first Broadway play,” Simms, whose parents are Jamaican, told All Woman in an interview recently from New York.
Besides her debut on the Great White Way, Simms is also featured in the film, Head Of State, in which comedian Chris Rock makes his directorial debut. Head Of State, which stars Robin Givens, opens in the United States on March 28.
Simms has built up a healthy resume with guest spots on popular television series such as Third Watch, Homicide and Law And Order. She has also appeared on the daytime soap opera As The World Turns, as well as King’s County, Stomping At The Sugar Love’s and Muscle Car.
But how did this former history and English major get into acting? According to her, it was always on the cards.
She first acted in plays at school, such as Hansel And Gretel, but knowing that her parents would not support her going for a degree in drama or theatre, she pursued history and English at Tufts College in New York City. But that would not stop her from maintaining interest in her first love. When she realised the drama department at her college was not dynamic, she created a black theatre company at Tufts. But after graduating, she wasn’t sure what to do.
“I thought this was the part where I’m supposed to get a job,” chuckled Simms who worked odd jobs, while taking small theatre gigs.
When her father insisted she also get a Master’s degree, Simms knew exactly what her next move would be. She auditioned for the newly-formed acting programme at Columbia University’s drama department and was accepted.
“I don’t think you can teach anyone to act although you can enhance your skills, that’s what you go to school for,” she said. “You have the gift and they give you the tools to enhance it.”
Simms’ ‘gift’ for acting has long been recognised by her colleagues, family and friends since she was four years old, when her mother encouraged her to recite a poem in a talent show. After appearing in her elementary school’s version of the Grimm Brothers classic, and hours of acting studies, Simms has not disappointed.
One of her biggest goals as an actress is to convince casting agents and directors to widen their perspective on stronger roles for black women. “There are black people living everywhere in the world, I can find a Jamaican restaurant anywhere in the world,” she told All Woman. “Knowing that, why not conceive of me as playing an Irish girl, or a German or Russian? As an actress, that’s what I want to project.”
Indeed, Simms counts some of the leading black actors in the United States as her biggest influences. “Before I was cast in this play or knew anything of it for that matter, I started reading as much as I could about Whoopi Goldberg, my respect for her deepened as I learned more about her,” Simms stated. “Here was a woman who refused to be categorised.”
Angela Bassett, British actress Emily Watson, Susan Sarandon, Kimberly Elise, Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington are other actors Simms admires, mainly for their “transformational qualities”.
Although she was born in the United States, Simms has made it priority to visit the land of her parents’ birth. She says she has been visiting Jamaica since her youth.
As for the future, Simms says the sky is the limit for her career – on the stage or the screen. “There is no comparison, each one feeds you differently. I can truly appreciate the craft that goes into both,” she concluded.
