Student juggles classes, acting career

Vonii Bristow is not your average college student. It's not that his life of balancing school­work and two jobs sets him apart from the thou­sands of students at Winston-Salem State - it's his act­ing career.

Bristow, a senior economics major from Greensboro, is channeling his inner thespian as he ventures down the unpredictable road of acting.

While he is just receiving due acclaim for his recent role in films, Bristow has been in the entertainment industry since he was 3.

"I modeled from the age of like 3 to 6," he said.

From then on, Bristow emerged from tiny tike model to an ambitious young college actor.

In December 2013, he began rais­ing eyebrows after being featured in a TV One movie titled, A Christmas Blessing, where he acted alongside Omari Hardwick ("Being Mary Jane") and Lisa Arindell Anderson (Madea's Family Reunion). In A Christmas Blessing, which was directed by radio personality Russ Parr, Bristow played Kilo, a high school charismatic hard knock who stirs trouble in the life of his love interest, Kara played by Jahnee Wallace ("Sleepy Hollow"). Although Bristow is unlike the char­acter he plays, the Greensboro native said it wasn't difficult to get into char­acter.

"There were parts of the character that were completely me - nice guy, charming - but then there were parts that I had to bring out. I played a thug essentially. I had to make it believ­able to not only everyone else but to myself. I had to believe I was that guy."

This was Bristow's first strong sup­porting role.

Just four years before tackling lead supporting roles, Bristow was barely discovering his love for acting. During his senior year in high school, he stepped out on faith after drop­ping out of the Dudley Early College Academy of Education, Engineering and Health Sciences to pursue a drama course.

"I just decided I wanted to take a drama class. I had been wanting to take one, but I was part of an academy where they gave me the classes I had to take," he said.

"Once I realized the curriculum I was on was something I didn't want to do, I dropped out, which was a really big step."

His grandmother, who is highly involved in the arts, encouraged him to delve into acting.

Bristow said after taking the drama course, his love for acting grew.

"I was told that I was good, but it wasn't like I knew what that meant. But, that was the first thing where I felt like 'I really might want to do this.'"

From there, the Greensboro native was featured in plays including "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" at WSSU and "Why Me Lord" at North Carolina A&T. Bristow's first swing at film came during his first year at WSSU, where he played an extra in Trinity GoodHeart.

"I worked probably like 10 to 12 hours for all of four seconds in a bar scene. The film is actually in the library," Bristow said.

"It was an extra opportunity. I didn't get paid for it. I had to travel on my own; I didn't even get a copy of the film. But I did get the experience."

Bristow quickly used this gained experience to score other movie roles.

Over the course of his career, Bristow has worked with other great names such as Romeo Miller (Jumping the Broom) and Mishon Ratliff ("Lincoln Heights") in Frat Brothers; and director-actor Burgess Jenkins ("Army Wives") in Find a Way. Jenkins is also Bristow's acting mentor.

One actor that Bristow said he looks up to is Hollywood veteran Leonardo DiCaprio.

"When you see him in a role, you don't see Leonardo DiCaprio; you see whoever that character is," he said.

Bristow said the Inception star has appreciated over time with his consis­tent work on-screen.

"He's in the spotlight because he's an actor, but he's not an attention-seeker. He sticks to his craft and con­tinues to produce good work."

While his acting career takes up a substantial part of his life, Bristow said he still manages to keep his life balanced. On top of being a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Bristow also works in Blair Hall, the administration building at WSSU.

"It's definitely a matter of pri­oritizing and attacking things as they come," he said.

"I don't have time to be bombarded. I just try to stay focused and keep my mind in the right place. "

He said that some of his professors are more understanding than others when it comes to him missing class because of his acting schedule.

Bristow said he recently finished filming his first commercial with the NBA and looks forward to tackling other acting opportunities as they come.