JOY BRYANT NEWS, INTERVIEWS & UPDATES



News for 12/10/2006


The following article appeared in the August 2006 issue of Essence Magazine





News for 9/20/2006


Joy Bryant Sets Her Sights on L.A.

Elizabeth Khuri
Times Staff Writer


Joy Bryant was smart enough to get into Yale and smart enough to drop out to model. Now the self-proclaimed fashionista is carving out an acting career. She won acclaim with roles in "Antwone Fisher" in 2002, "Honey" the next year and "Get Rich or Die Tryin" in 2005.

This fall, in Emilio Estevez's "Bobby," she'll be a member of an ensemble cast that includes Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore and Sharon Stone.

At 31, Bryant figures she's on her way in Hollywood, but she still keeps busy in the fashion world, employing celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe for appearances and recently signing a contract with Cover Girl. Coming from a humble background in the Bronx, she regularly counts her blessings.

"Everyone has obstacles and everyone experiences pain," she says. "The question is, do you use it as an impetus or do you let it drag you down? I guess I've always been the person for whom the glass is half full."

In the photo gallery, Bryant wears designers' plentiful visions for the fall season: fur jackets, capes, blousy tops paired with leggings and full pants. Crank up the volume.



News for 2/20/2006


The following article appeared in the November/December 2005 issue of Hollywood Life Magazine





News for 10/8/2005


The following article appeared in the August 2005 issue of InStyle Magazine





News for 2/23/2005


Bryant in 50 Cent's Locked and Loaded

Source: Variety


Paramount and MTV Films have hired Joy Bryant to star opposite 50 Cent in the untitled action-adventure film formerly titled Locked and Loaded, says Variety.

Bryant will portray the love interest of the main character in the movie, directed by Jim Sheridan (In America). Shooting is expected to start in the spring.

Terence Winter, an executive producer and writer on The Sopranos, is scripting the tale of a drug dealer who turns away from crime to pursue his passion, rap music.

Bryant previously starred in Antwone Fisher, Honey, Haven, and Badasssss!. She'll next be seen in Universal thriller The Skeleton Key.



News for 6/1/2004


Shooting Begins on Universal's The Skeleton Key

Source: Universal Pictures


Principal photography recently began on Universal Pictures' The Skeleton Key, a contemporary supernatural thriller, that stars Academy Award nominee Kate Hudson (Raising Helen) and Peter Sarsgaard (Shattered Glass). Iain Softley (K-PAX) directs and produces the motion picture, which is written by Ehren Kruger (The Ring). Daniel Bobker (the upcoming The Brothers Grimm) and Double Feature Films' partners Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher (Along Came Polly) serve as producers. The cast also includes Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Gena Rowlands, Academy Award nominee John Hurt, and Joy Bryant (Antwone Fisher).

Set largely in the dark atmospheric backwoods just outside of New Orleans, The Skeleton Key stars Hudson as Caroline, a live-in nurse hired to care for an elderly woman's (Rowlands) ailing husband (Hurt) in their home ... a foreboding and decrepit Gothic mansion in the Louisiana delta. Intrigued by the enigmatic couple, their mysterious and secretive ways and their rambling house, Caroline beings to explore the old mansion. Armed with a skeleton key that unlocks every door, she discovers a hidden attic room that holds a deadly and terrifying secret. Peter Sarsgaard portrays Luke, the local attorney working on the couple's estate, and Joy Bryant plays Jill, Caroline's best friend.

Joining Softley behind-the-camera are director of photography Dan Mindel (Spy Game), editor Joe Hutshing (Something's Gotta Give), production designer John Beard (the upcoming Thunderbirds) and costume designer Louise Frogley (Man on Fire). The film is executive-produced by Clayton Townsend (Bad Company).



News for 4/6/2004


The following article appeared in the November 2003 issue of Vogue Magazine





News for 3/28/2004


Bryant unlocks 'Key' role for Universal

By Chris Gardner


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter)-"Antwone Fisher" star Joy Bryant has signed onto "Skeleton Key" alongside Kate Hudson and Peter Sarsgaard for Universal Pictures. Shooting is scheduled to start next month with Iain Softley at the helm.

Written by Ehren Kruger, the New Orleans-set story follows a young woman (Hudson) who begins to experience spooky things in the home of the elderly couple for whom she's caring. Bryant plays the friend and roommate of Hudson's character. Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher and Daniel Bobker are producing the project, with Universal's Holly Bario overseeing at the studio along with Scott Stuber.

Bryant is repped by CAA and Untitled Entertainment. She most recently appeared onscreen opposite Jessica Alba in Bille Woodruff's "Honey," also for Universal.



News for 11/11/2003


Bloom Finds Indie 'Haven' at El Camino

By Chris Gardner


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Orlando Bloom is set to star in and co-produce the crime drama "Haven" alongside co-stars Bill Paxton and Gabriel Byrne for El Camino Pictures and helmer Frank E. Flowers, who is making his feature debut on the project.

Joy Bryant, Victor Rasuk and Anthony Mackie also are on board to star in "Haven," with shooting scheduled to begin this month in the Cayman Islands.

Scripted by Flowers, "Haven" takes place over the course of a weekend as two shady businessmen (Paxton and Byrne) flee to the Cayman Islands to avoid prosecution from the federal government. Their escape ignites a chain reaction that leads Bloom, a British native, to commit a crime that has enormous implications.

Bloom ("Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl") will segue from "Haven" to "Kingdom of Heaven," the Ridley Scott epic for 20th Century Fox.

The role in "Haven" marks the first time Bloom has acted for a first-time helmer.

The 24-year-old Flowers wrote and directed the short film "Swallow," which won the HBO short film award at the American Black Film Festival.



News for 6/1/2003


Gina Gershon in 'Three Way Split'


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Gina Gershon, Joy Bryant ("Antwone Fisher") and Ali Larter ("Final Destination 2") are among the stars signed up for "Three Way Split," a suspense drama that will begin shooting June 8 in Los Angeles.

Desmond Harrington ("Ghost Ship"), and Australia newcomer Dominic Purcell will also star in the Hyperion Pictures project, which will be directed by Scott Ziehl, who attracted some buzz with the 1998 festival fave "Broken Vessels."

"Three Way Split," is based on Gil Brewer's 1963 pulp novel "Wild to Possess," described as a darkly comic story of murder, kidnapping, blackmail and sexual deception. Hyperion is also developing a second Brewer novel, "Memory of Passion."

"Many pulp writers worked under pseudonyms, and a few, like Jim Thompson, eventually became famous. But most labored in obscurity," said Russell Marleau, who adapted the "Three Way Split" script and will produce the film with Christian Mills. "Brewer is one who deserves rediscovery because he was a superb novelist writing in a genre that too often emphasized quantity over quality."



News for 3/25/2003


Joy Bryant modeling in the March 2003 issue of InStyle Magazine. Click on the pics to see the enlarged pictures.





News for 1/14/2003


Joy Bryant article from the January 2003 issue of Upscale Magazine. Click on the pic to read the article.





News for 1/6/2003


Pure Joy when Denzel called to offer a role

By Cindy Pearlman
From the Chicago Sun Times


There aren't many women who would have the nerve to hang up on Denzel Washington. But model-turned-actress Joy Bryant did just that.

After three auditions to play Cheryl, the girlfriend of title character Antwone Fisher in Washington's directorial debut, Bryant was sitting at home one day figuring she'd blown it when the phone rang.

"I hear this voice say, 'Can I speak to Cheryl, please?' So I scream, 'WHO IS THIS? WRONG NUMBER!' "

"Then I hear a laugh and this deep voice says, 'Joy, it's Denzel.' So, I screamed, "NAH. STOP PLAYING ME. WHO IS THIS? DENZEL DOESN'T SOUND LIKE THIS, SO I'M HANGING UP ON YOUR ---.' "

Two minutes later, the phone rings again and it's a producer of "Antwone Fisher." "He says, 'Joy, would you please hold for Denzel and could you try to believe him when he says it's Denzel?' I'm dying inside, but in the most businesslike voice, I say, 'Oh, hi, Denzel. Is there something you wanted?' " After he told her she had the part, Bryant calmly hung up "and then I went to throw up, but it was a good kind of thing."

After all, she beat the odds--in more ways than one.

"Basically, 2,000 of the most beautiful women and everyone who has ever been in a music video showed up to try out for this movie." On her second call back, Bryant was told she would read for Washington. "I couldn't stop smiling or looking at him, and when he later told me, 'You're really good,' well, I was trippin'," she says. Now she's a hot commodity, with a role in the upcoming "Honey," with Jessica Alba and Mekhi Phifer. "I'm an urban flash-dancer type of girl who works in a record shop," she previews.

This is a nice turn of events for Bryant, who was reared by her grandmother in the Bronx, N.Y. "I grew up on welfare. My grandma raised three kids on her own and then me and her sister's three kids. If she hadn't quit her job to raise me, I don't know where I'd be today." (Her tough childhood helped her land the role in "Antwone," in which the title character is a foster child. 'I only talk to my mom on and off, and I haven't seen my father since I was 8," Bryant says.)

The Better Chance program in New York led to an academic scholarship to Yale University, where she was discovered by a modeling scout. After high-profile work with with Tommy Hilfiger and Victoria's Secret, she decided to give acting a shot.

"I'm so lucky to do my first big project with Denzel. He told me, 'I want you to know what your character eats for breakfast and when she goes to bed. The truth is in the details, and you have to just be real.' It was good advice," she says, adding, "And from the day I was cast, I always believed it was the real Denzel whenever he called me, too."



From the December 2002 issue of Essence Magazine. Click on the pics to read the article.