Rising Stars: Meet Kharisma Cato

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kharisma Cato.

Hi Kharisma, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up in the super small southern town of Beaufort, SC where everyone knows each other, it was always an exciting night anytime you could go to the one movie theatre that we had. As such, I will never forget when I went to the movies and saw ‘Titanic’ and felt like the characters were living in their reality for me personally and that there was allure to this TV land where I could only imagine ever being. The characters on the screen were larger than life. Literally, lol, they were so big on the screen and in rapport with the audience and artistic community and I could only imagine what that actually felt like. I wanted to experience that big feeling of living a reality onscreen, telling compelling and convincing stories, and influencing other young people to dream the same until it becomes a reality. As a result of this artistic infatuation, at a young age, I developed a true passion and respect for the craft and vowed that eventually, sooner than later, I would pursue it.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Despite my high school drama club experience and the single theatre class I was able to take in undergrad, landing here in Los Angeles was a triumph considering the trail to get here. Post-grad, I jumped right into my medical career and remained in SC for roughly 2-3 years doing what I considered to have been getting trapped by a distraction, however now recognize it as a foundation. Eventually, some traumatic life events [particularly a robbery and a reallllllly bad breakup] happened and I ended up taking a work assignment in Houston, TX where I eventually became especially serious in taking film acting class. Whilst in SC, I practiced some work with an agency in a neighboring town, as there were no opportunities at the time to explore arts in my hometown. That said, I later learned that the agency was more model-based than acting, followed by a single one on one monologue session with someone that I paid $100 to later learn that was ridiculous! Welp, I suppose limited opportunities allow for limited options to learn.

As a registered nurse, I was granted a great deal of flexibility when I began travel nursing and as such was super blessed with a nursing assignment to begin as soon as I landed in L.A. for my UCLA acting program, which was perfectly aligned with my quality of life plan for my move, only to find that every contract was canceled once I arrived. Not to mention after learning about the housing options around here, I was even more taken aback, considering I found that my irreversible locked in contract with AirBnB for the rentals I’d booked were unreasonably priced, however I had a legal agreement to honor and as you can imagine, in addition to program fees, domestic and financial matters definitely took a toll in terms of my plans. Particularly considering my plans now would be heavily affected by the cancellation of what would have been my money coming in. Beyond my profession by day, my acting journey has been less than smooth as well. I’ve taken multiple classes throughout the city, particularly to note the Phaedra Harris Actors Lab, Richard Lawson Studios Scene Study, Groundlings and UCB improv training and Lesly Kahn’s Comedy Intensive to name a few. Bombing and blowing auditions out of the water are still the teeter totter of my creative career, but the fun reminder of why I choose to “play” always grounds me. That said, I am still very blessed. From learning and producing my resume, demo reel and headshots over time, I grew more and more proud of how far I’ve come. Being across the country from my family takes a toll as well, however I’ve managed to make some pretty good relationships out here and feel supported to continue on.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
One thing for sure is that I am a working woman! I am a registered nurse with a specialty in telemetry [heart monitoring] and have been for *cough* quite some time. *cough* I am proud of listening to my mom believe it or not. Hindsight is certainly 20/20 and in these most spontaneously dreadful times, I am proud of and pretty well known as a frontline worker. There lies a subtle difference between pride and passion, and whereas I am truly proud of my healthcare work, I am especially passionate about my creative cinema-driven artistic work. My mom and I tussled with the final say so in whether or not I’d graduate high school and full on pursue my dreams or go to a university and study toward a “stable, traditional” profession. My mom always believed in me, but coming from a super small town [Beaufort, SC] she was especially hopeful for my stability and helped me come to an understanding for my plan. Naturally, my adolescent dream of becoming a professional actress was a dream at the time, from helping care for my grandmother and additional research, I learned that with the flexibility of nursing, I could maybe turn my dream into a reality. That said, as I got older and closer to graduation the possibility of going to formal art or drama college really enticed me thereby leading to the fork in the road when faced with the final post-grad decision.

Thankfully, my mother and I came to an agreement where if I pursued and obtained a solid backup plan, then by all means I would not only be free to further pursue my art with undoubted support, I would also likely be able to fin for myself financially and more securely knowing I have a more solid foundation. Boy was she right because I could have never imagined this world we live in and I thank The Lord everyday for the blessing of having a career/job that is quite guaranteed – at least as far as needs go. I struggled with determining if I have any specific skills, besides being unbelievably charming lol, that were actually noteworthy. I can cartwheel, sew and on a good day maybe even hit a split- ha- psych, maybe ten years ago lol, but how many of my peers can say they know how to triage a rapid response team in a Code Blue CPR/resuscitation protocol, assume and assign roles, start emergent IV needle sites, balance patient needs and med administration, all while juggling rehearsing lines and script analysis both in my head and during virtually any downtime throughout the 12-hour night shift? I’m sure there are plenty, which is great, but I know through working said night shift and confusing my days as a result, willfully studying around my schedule, submitting auditions no matter how much time available or sleep loss and managing to keep my eye on my creative prize all while handling the tolls of daily successes and failures could certainly be something to set me apart. Especially these days. Nursing is my work, but performing arts is my play… and passion. I became a nurse to support my dream, and frankly I believe anyone who comes across my vocal ass will easily gather that in an opening conversation. Not because I shun that part of me, but because my work is my foundation, but my play is my bloom atop it.

Not to mention, I took a writing intensive immediately after my UCLA tenure with ‘Crash’ producer, Tom Nunan, and proudly wrote my first web series, eventually to be adapted and shot. While in Houston a particular short film that I lead in called “Blood Hero” about a couple dealing with the PTSD of the patriarch of the family after his return from the Vietnam War was a role I was especially proud of considering my new introduction into this cinematic world and the fact that it went on to the ‘Black Film Festival of New Orleans,’ ‘Houston Black Film Festival,’ ‘Trinity International Film Festival,’ and ‘NC Black Film Festival.’ Also to note, I booked both a Ken Nugent and Hilton national commercial in 2020 that was amazing.

Actually change what people know me for – they know me for my extreme fandom and loyalty to my FAVORITE SHOW IN THE WORLD ON PLANET EARTH FOR A LIFETIME OVER AND OVER which is ‘A DIFFERENT WORLD’ !!!!!!! Anyone who knows me knows this; from my paraphernalia be that clothes, phone and computer backgrounds or charms and reposts. This show has been the epicenter of my creative world and although I was initially introduced to this creative desire from watching ‘Titanic,’ I was actually planted into this passion from this very show. I aspire to do work that is as influential, vocal, original and creative as this CLASSIC sitcom that means everything. I will always value the colorful characters and the incredible situational storylines that were so plentiful. This is why I was super happy to have been able to study with one of the castmates from the show, Charnele Brown who played ‘Kim’ on the show back when I was in Houston. I coveted that relationship because that show and their performances and messages really changed the scope of my dream.

As a result, although acting is my first love, it inspires me to produce my own work so as to actually ATTEMPT to achieve the quality and greatness this show so perfectly nailed. That said, I have been working on producing another personal comedic project, as well as a drama with a writing partner. I am also especially excited about beginning my voice over training at the end of January because I plan to dominate this industry layer by layer, skill by skill and I’ve wanted to explore this lane for quite some time, so I’m super excited to do it! Not to mention, one of the most praised V.O. actors is Cree Summer, yet another amazing cast member from my favorite show. I desire longevity and a solid theatrical reputation and won’t stop until I get it!

What matters most to you?
What matters most to me, besides my family [which for those who know me goes without saying] is continuing to make strides in self-love and thereby heightening the altitude of strides I can and will make in my art. Through fine-tuning my heartstrings in order to deliver healthy love to myself, I, in turn, magnify the love I outwardly share. Though it may seem simple for that to be considered an important matter amidst so many other considerations, I choose self-love to be my most prized because for something so simple, it can be so hard to achieve. As a person who suffers from clinical depression, I know first hand how easy it is to be mean to yourself, trust I need no help in that area, but it’s overcoming the mental self-harm that takes immense work. Self-love matters to me because I’ve come to find that so many people are confident, but through lack of true self-love, I believe said confidence can be arrogance worn as a mask over inabilities – to organically love oneself, to organically trust oneself’s intentions and to just, be.

I’m no therapist, but I have great respect for mine and the normalization of utilizing resources that can help us brighten our light and dim our pain. My mother always reminded me that ‘Hurt people hurt people,’ and I’ve been that hurt person before. That version of myself isn’t conducive to my success, or more importantly, my happiness. It matters to me the energy, be it lasting or fleeting that I offer and inject into the world. In continued efforts to achieve and maintain my self-love, I believe that my artistic endeavors will need less validation and yield more unapologetic outcomes. My grandmother taught me that, “It is not your aptitude, but your attitude that determines your altitude.” My altitude in life matters the most to me. Providing a dream life for my family and myself is surely of importance, in which I certainly plan to achieve, however, I also understand that implementing habitual acts of self-love helps me be the best version of myself, allowing for more positive experiences, relationships and outcomes.

This seems vague… the point is, being nicer to myself, understanding the power of words and manifestations, forgiving myself, taking accountability and loving all the bright and dark colors that make this fine hot chocolate goddess lolllll all lead to more positive outcomes personally and professionally.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: imdb.me/kharismacato
• Instagram: @Kharisma4reel
• Twitter: @Kharisma4reel
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/JbOcUUF577o

Image Credits:
Shandon Photography for the orange sweater and green plaid pics