Meet Piaget Ventus

Today we’d like to introduce you to Piaget Ventus.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Well, my story begins in the Midwest! I’m from Metro Detroit, which is what we call the suburbs that surround Detroit. If I said I’m from Oak Park, Michigan, most people look at me with a puzzled look on their face until I give in and just say Detroit. A look of relief comes over their face because Detroit is literally the only city most people instantly recognize. Some people actually think Detroit is our capital. Ok, I think I’ve gone on a long enough tangent about Detroit. Moving on.

So living in such a suburban town, I’ve always felt like a big fish in a small pond. My mother saw my attraction to the stage early on and really encouraged me to pursue acting. My first play was “Cats,” I was five and it was just my school’s production and I mean, I didn’t have any lines, but hey, how many people can say their first play was “Cats!?”

I kept doing theatre throughout my childhood, at school and the local community theatre. I’ve literally tried every after-school activity but acting for me was the only thing I was truly interested or passionate about. I was lucky to have such a supportive family because when it came to college time and picking a major, I knew my mother would not be surprised or try to dissuade me from majoring in theatre.

I end up going to Michigan State University but I really had dreams of going to UCLA. Out of State Tuition is EXPENSIVE, so LA would have to wait. Whats four years anyway??? MSU was amazing I got into the BFA program, which you have to audition for and it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I did so many amazing productions while in college. My most notable role was in a play called “In The Blood,” which is the modern-day version of “The Scarlet Letter.” This was my first starring role and the role that made me know this was the right career path for me. I was honored to have the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of the play, Suzan-Lori Parks come and see my performance and also get to speak with her one on one about it. I will never forget that!

So now college is ending, what do I do? LA has been the goal since I was little but suddenly, it didn’t seem right… yet! I end up moving to New York right after I graduate. I struggle but I’m still acting. I join an off off… off lol Broadway Group called Amios. We would put up original short-form shows once a month in a black box theatre and I LOVED IT! There is nothing like performing in front of an audience. You never know what is going to happen. Every show is the same but different. I stayed in NYC for five years, as much as I loved that big, bright, buzzing city, LA was still on my mind.

So I do it, I up and move. I was terrified to start over but I knew the only way to break into a film for me was to go West. I was lucky to have a tribe of friends from college who lived here and made my transition not so scary. I did everything that a new actor does here. I get a serving job at a fancy Very LA private Members Only Club. I’ll let you guess which one. Hint, this is a district in NYC and London. I send out my headshots and resume to every agent I could find. I actually end up getting my current manager after waiting on him at said restaurant. I know soooo LA.

I even become a mini beauty influencer totally by accident mind you. My friend Michelle Meredith and I love lipsticks and makeup so we made an Instagram account called @willitlookgoodonmetho, where we swatch lipsticks on two different skin tones. I’m black, she’s white but the lipstick is the same yet it looks so different on both of us. Randomly the beauty blog Popsugar sees our account and we blow up overnight. We had buzzfeed, yahoo and a slew of other outlets cover us. We got 25k followers literally overnight. This turned out to be very helpful in getting auditions. They actually care about how many followers you have on Instagram when it’s between you and someone else, go figure.

LA has been so great to me since the moment I’ve gotten here. I’ve been able to be so creative in more ways than one. My very first week here my friend, Stephanie Koenig from MSU cast me in a small part for her very popular web series “ Stupid Idiots” just to get me going. I have met some amazing new people along the way, one person in particular Courtney Carter, she was introduced to me by my boyfriend, has always looked out for me and even gave me an opportunity to be featured in her client Liza Koshy’s music video, ‘Dollar Store With Liza’ which has 10 million views. I’ve collaborated on so many projects with such talented actors, Robert DeSanti, MaryLynn Suchan, Michael Cleland, Michelle Serje, Caitlyn Knisley, & Caitlin King, just to name a few. I’ve created a brand, helped create a concept for a television pilot under a production company called Via Novo Studios founded by Sean Gallagher, Albert Abraham, & Josh Maybe, that we shot last year and is currently in post-production.

Fell in love with a man named Sean Gallagher, who is also a brilliant actor, we’ve been together four years this upcoming November 8th. Yes we made it official on the last Election Day (We thought Hilary was gonna win), At least one thing good thing came out of that night lol. I’ve even grown to be more political and use my platform to highlight issues that hit close to home for me.

During this quarantine, I’ve participated in a number of marches and was also on the news talking about Black Lives Matter and what I hope our future will be. I’m so lucky to live here, surrounded by people who uplift and support me. It took me a while but I’ve been here now for five years and I can’t wait to see what else LA will bring me.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s of course not been smooth, what interesting story is? I’ve definitely not walked a straight line; I’ve had to learn hard lessons like everyone else. I wish that I had been more focused in my early 20s. I would often time put my day job before my pursuit of acting because I was just trying to survive. If I could go back and tell my younger self, it’s just a job to pay your bills, go to that audition, take the risk, you can always find another job, I would. I’m glad I caught on sooner rather than later that you have to put yourself first when it counts.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
Besides being an actor, I am a beauty influencer. My brand is called @willitlookgoodonmetho and I share it with my good friend Michelle Meredith. We try the same shade of lipstick on two different skin tones. The results are crazy! Our tag line is “Different skin tones and body types to answer the question: #willitlookgoodonmetho? A guide by amateurs for amateurs!” We also branched out and modeled the same outfit on two different body types. We started this as just two friends having fun but our followers let us know how much our content was needed for them, which makes us feel happy.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory??? Probably playing dress up with my cousin Portia. We would literally make up plays and perform them for our family. We even started a club called The Society Of Friends. We made our parents take us to Joann Fabrics and we made a whole flag for this group out of felt.

Contact Info:

• Website: IMDb.me/PiagetVentus
• Actor Email: [email protected]
• Beauty Influencer Email: WillItlookgoodonmetho@gmail.com
• Instagram: @willitlookgoodonmetho
  @piagetv

Image Credit:
Casey James Knight @cjkheadshots
Iris Ray @irrisrray

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