Cynthia Kaye McWilliams was born in Berlin, Germany and like most army brats moved around a bit. Cynthia grew up primarily in Kansas City, Kansas, then moved to Chicago where she attended and graduated from the prestigious Theater School of DePaul University.
While in Chicago, Cynthia honed her skills with stage credits including the lead role in First Breeze of Summer (Court Theater), Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet (Indiana Repertory Theater) and Vivian Baptiste in A Lesson Before Dying (Athenaeum Theater). Just out of college, Cynthia’s first on camera role was opposite Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in Warner Brothers’ The Lake House, followed by a recurring role on FOX’s Prison Break. After that, she landed a lead role in Family Practice; a pilot created by the producers of Lost.
Cynthia supports women & minorities creating their own content, is a believer in artist collaboration and actively supports arts education.
Women Fitness President talks to the stunning actress about her journey to success.
Namita Nayyar:
You graduated from the prestigious Theater School of DePaul University in Chicago and went on to become a successful actress. You are known for your performances on the television series Real Husbands of Hollywood, Prison Break, and Nashville. Walk us through your spectacular journey and tell us how it all began?
Cynthia Kaye McWilliams:
Well, it all began in a small town in Kansas City when my mother met my father at a theme park where they both were working over the summer…I’m kidding, I won’t go back that far, lol! I started acting in high school, doing school plays and community theater. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for students of color at my school so I started a Black theater program and I directed classic pieces like For Colored Girls by Ntozake Shange and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. When I was younger my focus was more writing and directing, but one day during the run of a play I had written, one of the actresses didn’t show and I had to go up for her. I think that I really got the bug. I continued to do everything I could as a young artist in KC, but I knew that if I wanted to pursue acting professionally, I should get to a bigger market and study. So I did! I applied and auditioned for acting programs across the country and thank God, was accepted to my first choice at DePaul University and never looked back. I am currently recurring on Bosch on Amazon and am a series regular on the upcoming drama Coyote on Paramount Network.
Namita Nayyar:
What inspired you towards acting?
Cynthia Kaye McWilliams:
I have always been drawn to language and storytelling. I worked in a library when I was very young…I did story hour with toddlers and shelved books in the stacks…and more often than not, I found myself in the poetry and drama shelves reading plays. I loved imagining the characters in my mind, envisioning the scenes and if you were walking in a nearby aisle you might hear me whispering the lines aloud. I always knew that I would be a part of that storytelling.
Namita Nayyar:
Introduce us to a day in the life of Cynthia, the actress.
Cynthia Kaye McWilliams:
My days are extremely different … that’s one of the best (and sometimes scariest) things about being an actress, the unpredictable nature of it all. In general, I get up in the morning to work out, if I’m filming I have to get up a little earlier, but I prefer to start my day with it, so that I know it gets done. Then, everything else I do that day is sort of kick-started with energy from that workout; from a sense of accomplishment instead of the lingering dread of a workout left uncompleted. The rest of my day is some combination of auditioning, filming, recording voiceovers, taking meetings, discussing or planning ideas, writing for myself, reading for myself, supporting other people’s projects at events, promoting my own projects, studying Spanish (I’ve been doing that for over a year now) traveling when I can or just hanging out with friends.
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