{"id":15577,"date":"2017-03-06T18:48:55","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T18:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T16:59:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T21:59:16","slug":"daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Daysha Williams ’17 has gotta have an acting career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daysha Williams\u2019 Clark University experience has been a series of serendipitous moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She first arrived on campus intending to pursue a career in public relations, but registered for a\u00a0First-Year Intensive<\/a>\u00a0course called \u201cHow to Act Right on and off the Stage.\u201d In that class, she met\u00a0Raymond Munro, professor of theatre arts, and discovered both a calling to theatre as well as a trusted faculty adviser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter taking his class, I knew I wanted to take a course with him every semester and, naturally, that turned into a theatre arts major<\/a>,\u201d says the Clark senior. \u201cIt just happened so organically.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After deciding on theatre, she felt a tug toward teaching. Williams started working with faculty member and improv specialist\u00a0Daniel Balel<\/a>\u00a0on the program \u201cTeaching Creativity in Main South,\u201d which taught acting skills to high school students from Worcester\u2019s Claremont Academy. When funding was cut last year, Williams brought the program to Clark\u2019s Little Center, and she oversees it under the direction of\u00a0Gino DiIorio<\/a>, professor of theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a core group of six students who are all about it, including two students I taught last year,\u201d Williams says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, she went to New York in January for an open casting call for director Spike Lee\u2019s new 10-episode Netflix series<\/a> based on his groundbreaking 1986 film \u201cShe\u2019s Gotta Have It.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And she earned a part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of this is in line with where I am in my life and my journey.\u00a0It\u2019s like I\u2019m exactly where I\u2019m meant to be.”<\/p>daysha williams \u201917<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Williams\u2019 path to the role started during a day at the beach last summer. While with a friend, she met a woman whose photographer husband worked closely with Lee, and the man snapped a few photos. When Lee later mentioned the role in conversation, the woman thought back to the beach and showed him Williams\u2019 photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams appeared at the open casting call for Lee\u2019s series, though she\u2019d considered skipping it and just sending a resume and headshot. Lee recognized her from the images, and she received a call-back about two weeks later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams credits Munro, whom she jokingly calls her \u201cmanager,\u201d with encouraging her to travel to her hometown of Brooklyn for the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was on campus, thinking that I have a lot going on and I wasn\u2019t going to go, and he just kept shutting down any excuse I came up with, telling me I needed to go,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filming went smoothly. Williams was on set for three hours and finished her scene, a love scene, in one 20-minute take, later returning for background work. The series is set for a summer release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams plans to focus on live theatre, but said it was a dream to work with the iconic director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI said if I was going to do film, that\u2019s one person I want to work with,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve already fulfilled a goal before I even graduated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back on campus with a life goal in hand, Williams is turning her attention to her work with the Claremont students, and particularly enjoys collaborating with them on character development and scene work. She hopes to stage a dramatic comedy with the students in April after exposing them to the entire theatre experience, from playwriting to auditioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, as a teaching assistant for one of Munro\u2019s classes this semester, she\u2019s putting to use what she learned in a physical theatre workshop last summer in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about incorporating movement with acting, dance, sound voices and exercise,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve been getting amazing feedback about it, and that\u2019s where my heart is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her free time, Williams is involved with event planning for\u00a0Hip Hop Collabo, a student-led dance group, and operates her own business, AsanaRa, which sells a line of handmade holistic care products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation, Williams hopes to continue working with the Claremont students and helping students in an urban environment connect with theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToo often we ask kids to go somewhere far from home to find peace,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s hard because they might not have the means to do that, so I want to help them with theatre programs in their school where they can use their life experiences in a healthy way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She remains primed to hit the stage and work where the integrity of the production outweighs all else. She recognizes, though Munro\u2019s instruction, that theatre is a study of self and there\u2019s a psychological factor to being a good actor. \u201cIt\u2019s not about putting a mask on,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou aren\u2019t really portraying anything,\u201d she says. \u201cYou\u2019re identifying and illuminating the traits of that character within yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combine that with a little trust in the universe and you\u2019ll see where Williams is standing right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of this is in line with where I am in my life and my journey,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s like I\u2019m exactly where I\u2019m meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Daysha Williams\u2019 Clark University experience has been a series of serendipitous moments. She first arrived on campus intending to pursue a career in public relations, but registered for a\u00a0First-Year Intensive\u00a0course called \u201cHow to Act Right on and off the Stage.\u201d In that class, she met\u00a0Raymond Munro, professor of theatre arts, and discovered both a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15578,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"#525250","story_headerImg":15578,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[225],"displayed_author":[445],"featured":[],"topic":[149,204,194,119,195,184],"class_list":["post-15577","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-humanities","displayed_author-jessica-zandan-m-a-05","topic-community-service","topic-film-and-screen","topic-major-in-theatre-arts","topic-student-life","topic-theatre-and-dance","topic-visual-and-performing-arts"],"yoast_head":"\nDaysha Williams ’17 has gotta have an acting career | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Daysha Williams ’17 has gotta have an acting career\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Daysha Williams\u2019 Clark University experience has been a series of serendipitous moments. She first arrived on campus intending to pursue a career in public relations, but registered for a\u00a0First-Year Intensive\u00a0course called \u201cHow to Act Right on and off the Stage.\u201d In that class, she met\u00a0Raymond Munro, professor of theatre arts, and discovered both a […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ClarkU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-04T21:59:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/daysha-williams-clark-university-1500-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/06\\\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/06\\\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\\\/\",\"name\":\"Daysha Williams ’17 has gotta have an acting career | ClarkU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/06\\\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/06\\\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/daysha-williams-clark-university-1500-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-06T18:48:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-04T21:59:16+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/06\\\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/06\\\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/daysha-williams-clark-university-1500-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/daysha-williams-clark-university-1500-1.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":660,\"caption\":\"Daysha Williams standing in front of brick wall\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/15577#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/15577\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Daysha Williams ’17 has gotta have an acting career | ClarkU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Daysha Williams ’17 has gotta have an acting career","og_description":"  Daysha Williams\u2019 Clark University experience has been a series of serendipitous moments. She first arrived on campus intending to pursue a career in public relations, but registered for a\u00a0First-Year Intensive\u00a0course called \u201cHow to Act Right on and off the Stage.\u201d In that class, she met\u00a0Raymond Munro, professor of theatre arts, and discovered both a […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/","og_site_name":"ClarkU News","article_modified_time":"2026-03-04T21:59:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":660,"url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/daysha-williams-clark-university-1500-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/","name":"Daysha Williams ’17 has gotta have an acting career | ClarkU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/daysha-williams-clark-university-1500-1.jpg","datePublished":"2017-03-06T18:48:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-04T21:59:16+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/06\/daysha-williams-17-has-gotta-have-an-acting-career\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/daysha-williams-clark-university-1500-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/daysha-williams-clark-university-1500-1.jpg","width":1500,"height":660,"caption":"Daysha Williams standing in front of brick wall"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/15577#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":0,"name":"ClarkU","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ClarkU News","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/15577"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/","name":"ClarkU News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/daysha-williams-clark-university-1500-1-1024x451.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/15577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/15577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27292,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/15577\/revisions\/27292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15577"},{"taxonomy":"displayed_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/displayed_author?post=15577"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=15577"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=15577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}