Photography: Greg Nation Photography

I count myself incredibly lucky to be able to do a photoshoot like this. Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with ANTM: America’s Next Top Model. I love taking photos. My love of creative photoshoots goes WAYYY back. Back to when I lived in a small farmhouse with my mom and brother. I would make my brother walk into weeds and on bridges with me to do a photo shoot.

In this photoshoot, I was able to take my years of planning outfits, locations, and concepts for photos, to use those skills to have have the best photoshoot ever.

In this post, I’ll show you my behind the scenes preparation and work for my photoshoot.

My Photoshoot:

For my senior pictures, my goal was to recreate a collection of photos that I had saved for YEARS. My photoshoot would have 2 Parts

1. An Indoor Studio Photoshoot. (Professional, Classy, Boss)

2. Outdoor Photoshoot (More traditional Senior Photos)

For the studio portion, I pulled creative and fashion inspiration from Lilly Singh (Youtuber), Danielle Brooks (Orange is the New Black), Yara Shahidi (Blackish, Grownish), and Michele Obama (duh) to create this photoshoot. I can’t believe how well it turned out…

My Photoshoot Inspiration

For years, I obsessed over these pictures — black girls acting boss and being as confident as ever! I compiled a Pinterest board and it as a reference for my outfits and the photographer! We also had an outdoor portion, which I have to be honest, I did not plan as much. Luckily my graduation cap and gown came in, and I was able to wear that for a lot of my pictures.

Photoshoot Prep and More

After I planned out my photoshoot, we scheduled dates and times with the photographer, Greg Nation. Crunch time. I ordered outfits off of Zara, which (thanks to COVID never came in time). My mom and I stayed up three nights in a row, watching Love is Blind, and we were able to finish it the night before. I created my second Pinterest Board for the outdoor portion of the photoshoot. On the day of, I woke up early, and went to target where I bought setting spray, blazers, hair gel, lip gloss, and more.

Other random items I bought that day (and my mom ended up bringing)

1. White frilly tees

2. My faux gucci belt

3. Gold earrings

4. Fake eyelashes

5. Eyeliner

6. My mom’s Calvin Klein Dress

My Photoshoot

I was so happy the day my photoshoot came. And when I walked into the studio, I could not believe my eyes. First of all, Greg has the coolest set up ever. It was so professional and classy. I could not believe it. He took two photos of my step-dad Kent, and I knew that this was the photoshoot of my dreams.

I walked in and he showed me his studio, and let me set my clothes down. He let me have large amounts of creative control and test out so many ideas that I had saved. We started inside, and then went to a park for my more traditional photos. I will let the behind the scenes photos speak for themselves, but I really have to say this was one of my most favorite projects. Work with people who are talented, and bring your best ideas, and only amazing thing can happen. Huge shout out to Greg Nation for making this possible! Another huge shoutout for my mom and stepdad for connecting me with this photographer and assisting me the whole time. I could not have done it without you guys.

All my life I thought I would live in LA. But with a twist of fate I’m moving from my small town to New York City. Accepted to NYU’s Tisch School, I’m excited to start my new journey. I’m an aspiring actor and filmmaker and I’m so excited to be designing my own degree at NYU’s Collaborative Arts Major. Some days, it doesn’t seem real, and with NYC’s future so uncertain it makes me uncertain as well. But I know that I will be living my deam life in the mecca of theater.

Nyu 2024

“The New York University Tisch School of the Arts is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University, and is among the most competitive film schools in the world to enroll in.”

“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!! I want to do this. I have only dreamed of a day like this. ”

— me, begging my agent

My Runway for a Macy’s Fashion Show was EXHILARATING. Step after step, all eyes on me, I walked up to the podiums and did three poses. I’ve done photo modeling before, but I was approached by my agent to walk down a runway for Prom/Formal clothes. As someone who loves dressing up, I emailed my agent: 

A few months later, she told me I booked the job!! In this video, I show you guys my experience going into the Executive Office of Macy’s and try on any Macy’s prom dress, formal dress, and junior event dress for the show! 

After my rehearsal, there was a lot of waiting. In the meantime, I watched SOOO many of Victoria’s Secret runway fashion shows; it hurt. Then the actual day came. And wow, that was exciting. Here are some pictures:

And a Vlog!

HI Y'ALL:) WELCOME to my description box! Here you'll find... ▶ Backstory on the Video!! ▶ Updates with Me ▶ Links to Connect with ME ▶ Links to MORE videos ...

Thank you for watching it. For more of my #HollywoodJourney, be sure to check out my social media!

Marie is announcing the launch of her new book “How I Became a Teen Actor: Everything You Need To Know About Starting Your Teen Acting Career”.

Her book is a must-have How To for any kid and teen who want to gets started in the industry but do not know where to start!

Publishing date is TBD but keep your eyes and ears peeled for the pre-order date!

I have been training with Creative Actors since I was sixteen years old. Creative Actors is a comprehensive weekly acting program. In this acting class, they improv, cold reading, camera technique, scene analysis, character development, and more. On September 23, they featured me on their Instagram saying:

“…What a talented young actress. She has really stepped up her game in class and in her career. She’s regularly booking roles and starting to produce her own content. This is just the beginning! We can not wait to see what you do next Marie!…”

I have also collabbed with Creative Actors, producing, acting in, and co-writing a slice of life Christmas Movie “Nice to Meet You” which is still in post-production. I hope to continue to work with them in the future.

Check out their page here: https://www.creativeactorsworkshop.com/

still from Marie’s docu-drama posted on creative actors social: @creativeactors

MY FIRST EVER MUKBANG?? I DONT DO MARTIAL ARTS ANYMORE?? Come with me to Target, and then Burger King while I open up to you guys for the first time and update you guys _ ACTING ADVICE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wHVM... MY MONOLOGUES: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SgYg... ACTING/FILM SET EXPERIENCES AND STORIES: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

Marie has done acting Youtube videos for as long as she can remember. From Disney castings to monologues, Marie’ channel has been largely centered around the same few themes.

But in Marie’s most recent, she breaks out of the mold that her and her viewers are used to. In this video, she takes her viewers on a drive with me + mukbang. Definitely something a little more trendy and …Vsco girly.

Marie’ s recent video is part of her attempt to bring her viewers more into her world. Although they have watched her grow up for a long time, she is just now starting to get open and personal with her viewers about the stuff that goes on in her life.

And in thi video she does. She opens up about her struggles in martial arts, her recent depression, and what it is like to adult. If you want someone to relate to with all of the #adultingstruggles, this video is a must watch.

Hefti Media produced a series of five music videos. I starred in every one in their 2019 edition. As the oldest on set, I was able to act as a role model and a leader.

A day on set filming a music video starts with a rehearsal day before the actual rehearsal day. At rehearsal, the kids work out the kinks of their performance and get fitted for the music video. As you can see, O got to wear her favorite color — yellow!

On the day of filming, kids and their families head down the Marina. Kids alternate filming and doing cool dance moves with hanging out with their families and the other kids.

Overall, it was a really fun experience! Spending time hanging out with some of the coolest young talented actors in her area in one of my favorite pastimes.