Fresh Face in Music + Film + Fashion
Blessing Offor
Born in Nigeria blind in his left eye due to a condition known as congenital glaucoma, Blessing Offer immigrated to the US at the age of 6. The youngest of 6 from a tight knit family, Blessing’s parents made the difficult decision to send him to America where he could be properly educated and treated medically. While this decision caused Blessing’s parents great pain (he hasn’t seen his family his family in 21 years), the decision was made in order to secure for him a better future that would not have been possible for him in Nigeria.In a twist of fate, while playing in his backyard at the age of ten, he was shot in the right eye at close range with a water gun, causing the retina in that eye to detach. This effectively robbed him of his remaining vision, and he has been blind ever since. On top of dealing with the travails of preadolescence, Blessing found himself having to navigate a new world without vision. Says Blessing, “While most eleven year olds were figuring out which basketball player they wanted to be when they grew up, I had to learn the true definition of who I was apart from physical things, apart from vision or no vision.” Blessing attributes this time in his life with causing in him a hyper maturity and hyper awareness of what matters most in life.“Right around this time, we got a piano in the house, and all the energy that I had used to play basketball and run around went into music.” Music became Blessing’s outlet for more than just energy. Around this time he began singing and writing songs, taking voice lessons, and listening to the singers and songwriters that would later impact his style.With a genuine love of people, a zeal for networking, and inexhaustible energy, Blessing embarked on the arduous journey of making his dreams come true. To date, Blessing has opened for such legendary acts as The Temptations, Tower of Power, Average White Band, and Sony recording artist and winner of NBC’s The Voice Javier Colon. He has appeared on a songwriting competition show on Bravo television called Platinum Hit. He has performed at the John F Kennedy center for the performing arts numerous times, and is the recipient of a young soloist’s award for song writing from the JFK Center of Performing Arts.Recently, Blessing was a contestant on Season 7 of NBC’s The Voice, where he has been mentored by Pharrell Williams, Adam Levine, Taylor Swift, and Alicia Keys. He is an artist with Sojourn Records, and his debut record entitled “Roots” was released on February 10th, 2015.
Seamus Dever
Star of the ABC drama Castle, Seamus Dever is in a league of his own when it comes to acting. As Homicide Detective Kevin Ryan, he proves to be a fan favorite; always imparting his charm, wit, and wealth of obscure knowledge.In addition to “Castle,” Dever has played authoritative figures on the likes of “Army Wives” and “General Hospital;” both of which had him starring as a doctor. Other forays into television include “Mad Men,” “Drop Dead Diva,” NCIS,” and all three “CSI” franchises. He’s also appeared in such films as “Hollywoodland” with Adrien Brody and Ben Affleck, and the independent comedy “Ready or Not.” He most recently starred in and produced the Tribeca Film Festival short, “Sequestered,” and has just launched a fundraising campaign for “The Extraordinary Farewell” for which he’ll also serve as both producer and star.Well known to theatre audiences, Dever assumed the iconic role of Alex in A Clockwork Orange for which he received rave reviews and nominations for an Ovation, Garland, and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. Another highlight amidst his over 60 plays and musicals is his notable performance in iWitness at The Mark Taper Forum. This past summer, he starred in LA Theatre Works’ “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”He and his wife reside in Los Angeles with their two rescue dogs and are active in animal rights, environmental causes, and proud vegetarians.RAINE: What has been your favorite audition and why?DEVER: I’ve never really thought about that. Probably my favorite wasn’t even one where I actually got the role. I remember auditioning for the remake of the “Flight of the Phoenix.” I had a wonderful breakthrough with the casting director, Deborah Aquila, where I completely let go of the formality and gave into the situation of the part. I had done a lot of theatre and really was used to being in rehearsals for weeks before I could let go like that. It was a moment that gave me a lot of confidence that I could go deeper; especially in moments of scrutiny. I didn’t get the part, but I got something out of it.RAINE; Do you have a creative process that you undergo that helps you to develop your characters?DEVER: I really haven’t spent much time on the technique of character development lately. There’s a process when you’re in school and you focus on so much technique. Eventually the technique becomes invisible and internal. I feel like I am a character actor but I think all characters are an extension of yourself. It starts with you and that helps you make these imaginative leaps. But in general, I’m very obsessive about my work and it never really leaves me. In the shower, right before I go to bed, sitting in traffic; I’m always thinking about my character. I’ve probably been like that since I was a teenager.RAINE: As the producer of your upcoming film, The Extraordinary Farewell, what words of wisdom can you share with aspiring producers?DEVER: Oh boy...hire people you trust because you can’t be everywhere and can’t do everything. I think I’ve gotten lucky because I’m working with really competent and talented people, but I always try to do too much. You’ll go nuts if you try to handle too much by yourself.RAINE: You also star in the film, can you talk about the challenges that you faced wearing more than one hat on the same project?DEVER: Yes, absolutely. If you are wearing your actor “hat”, you must take off your producer “watch”. By that I mean you can’t be sitting watching the clock and getting all nervous that you’re not going to make your day or you’re going to lose your light, those administrative things. It will get in your way and you will rush your work. Now if you know a way to completely forget about being a producer while you’re acting, please be sure to let me know. Easier said than done.
Annie Wersching
Actress Annie Wersching is best known for her role as FBI special agent Renee Walker on the hit television show 24 opposite Kiefer Sutherland and most recently as the female lead on Amazon’s drama series Bosch which she juggles along with her role as “Lily” on CW’s THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. Wersching has previously appeared in memorable arcs on the likes of Steven Spielberg’s EXTANT opposite Halle Berry, BODY OF PROOF, DALLAS, and CASTLE, as well as guest star roles on REVOLUTION, INTELLIGENCE, and BLUE BLOODS.Wersching portrayed the powerful Amelia Joffe on ABC’s General Hospital. Her other television credits include Supernatural, Cold Case, Hawaii 5-0, Rizzoli & Isles, NCIS, CSI, Star Trek: Enterprise, Harry’s Law, No Ordinary Family, Frasier, and Charmed among others.Born and raised in St. Louis, MO, Wersching studied musical theatre at Millikin University. Upon graduation, she worked for such theatres as Chicago’s Victory Gardens, The Marriott Lincolnshire and the Utah Shakespearean Festival, as well as performing in two national tours.For this mother of two, Wersching is living the creative entrepreneurs dream and proving that you can have it all. She is seasoned veteran that understand the demands of her work but finds perfect balance between career and family life.RAINE: You were the voice and motion-capture actor in the PlayStation 3 exclusive game, The Last of Us. How different is it prepping as a motion- capture actress for a hit video game versus acting in front of a camera? WERSCHING: “The Last of Us” was such a great adventure. I had no prior video game or mocap experience...so it was a blast learning how it all worked. Instead of being in front of “a” camera...there were about 90 cameras capturing us from all over the room! The really great thing about this game in particular, and Naughty Dog & Neil Druckman our director, was that we approached the scenes exactly as we would have in a film or in a play actually! I got my start in theatre, so this was very familiar to me...it was almost like doing theatre in the round, but we just happened to be wearing crazy tight, unattractive outfits with dots all over!RAINE: What has been the most surprising event that has happened to you on set while filming for TV or film?WERSCHING: I suppose that I’m not invincible! Turns out it is surprisingly hard to swim in the freezing ocean with a leather jacket & jeans on at 5am after 12-hours of shooting...I learned this on Season 7 of “24.” I was a little too eager to do everything myself! And this particular near drowning experience was rather eye-opening.RAINE: You are very much about family. How have you managed to work around the demands of acting and raising a family?WERSCHING: It’s certainly not easy! But I feel like my hubby and I are both on the same page in terms of what’s important to us and we make a damn good team. That’s huge. You really basically take a whole year off for a pregnancy in this profession...which is hard. But oh so worth it!! We’ve both been pretty lucky to work mostly in LA., but knew that was too good to be true. I’ve been back and forth shooting in Atlanta for the last few months which is a first. Our 1-year-old has been traveling with me and my 4-year-old has stayed in LA with Dadda. Soooo tough! But we make sure to see each other as often as possible and, of course, FaceTime is crucial. I’ve even FaceTimed for my older boy’s tee-ball practice and the baby has FaceTimed with our cat! Ha!RAINE: What one piece of advice has served you best in your career? WERSCHING: Of course Spencer Tracy wasn’t speaking to me directly, but I’ve always loved the advice - “Know your lines and don’t bump into the furniture.” I like to think I come to a set incredibly prepared and incredibly low maintenance. Maybe it’s the Midwesterner in me, but I believe a low- key, hard worker is something of great value in this biz!