![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/files\/2013\/03\/cassi-davis.jpg\")
<\/a>Alexis Anderson<\/strong> Speech Communications and Theatre majors were privileged to meet actress Cassie Davis on March 26, 2013 in the Rose E. McCoy Auditorium. The actress spoke about the ups and downs of the performing arts industry for aspiring actors.<\/p>\n Davis, a native of Holly Springs, Miss., is best known for her character Ella Payne on the television show \u201cTyler Perry\u2019s House of Pain.\u201d She also frequently works with director\/actor Tyler Perry in a number of stage plays and has played many roles in his various productions.<\/p>\n Her other acting roles include the Spike Lee film \u201cSchool Daze\u201d and television appearances on a number of sitcoms including \u201cLiving Single\u201d, \u201cMarried with Children\u201d and \u201cThe PJ\u2019s\u201d.<\/p>\n Mark G. Henderson, Interim Chair of the Speech Communications and Theatre department and the Director of MADDRAMA said, \u201cI think it was a great opportunity for the students. Our training is to connect our classroom experience with real life experience. It is an extension of becoming an aspiring actress.\u201d<\/p>\n Davis talked about the struggles she faced during her childhood and how difficult it was to become an actress without any support from family.\u00a0 She also shared stories about her relationship with Perry.<\/p>\n \u201cI first meet Perry in Atlanta after I moved from Mississippi. \u00a0Tyler was so intrigued to meet me, yet he was funny and laid back about his approach,\u201d said Davis<\/p>\n Many students were impressed and honored to meet the Mississippi-born actress.<\/p>\n Chris Cox, a senior political science major from Moss Point, Miss., said, \u201cPerforming for Cassie was a great feeling, she was an inspirational actress for me growing up as well as my family. I hope to see her soon on the big screen again.\u201d<\/p>\n James Lehaman, a mass communications graduate student from Greenwood, Miss., said, \u201cCassie Davis has been an inspiration today and she inspired so many people with her life story. It was an honor to perform for her and present her with an honorary award.\u201d<\/p>\n Davis closed the discussion with a Q&A session for students and took several photos with the student body and the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alexis Anderson Blue & White Flash \/ Staff Writer Speech Communications and Theatre majors were privileged to meet actress Cassie Davis on March 26, 2013…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1901"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n Blue & White Flash \/ Staff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n