Name: Valerie Meachum

Age: 42

Location: Chicago area, but I travel every chance I get!

Some of my favorite things: Shakespeare, Pre-Raphaelite art, ghost stories, vampires, Cadbury's Creme Eggs, Halloween and velvet.

Most people would be surprised to know that I: am over 40! People keep saying I shouldn't admit my real age because it might get in my way, but mostly they just shake their heads in disbelief and then we get on with our lives.

Hobbies / special skills: Costuming/cosplay, doll crafting, singing, knitting, needlepoint, inventing random craft projects that only get finished about half the time. Historical/biographical research is a biggie right now, because I'm developing a one-woman show about Pre-Raphaelite model/artist/poet Elizabeth Siddal, and am determined to have it ready in time for the 150th anniversary of her death in 2012.

Number of years acting / modeling: 20+

Favorite genre(s) and or film(s): Urban/contemporary fantasy, high fantasy, science fiction and horror.


Acting / modeling gigs that I'm the most proud of: Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer, where I had the opportunity to work with the amazing Patricia Belcher; creating the lead role of Lucy Hale in the play These Honorable Men: The Life and Death of John Wilkes Booth; the title role in the short film Cancer Jean, which I carried without dialogue except for one line.

What I look for in a potential acting or modeling job: A character that fires my imagination and a professional team that will respect one another, get the job done, and have fun doing it!

My websites:

Homepage:
http://www.valeriemeachum.com

Myspace:
http://www.facebook.com/valeriemeachum

Facebook:
http://www.myspace.com/Jenniferebnyc

IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574870

Twitter: @valeriemeachum

Blog:
http://divababble.blogspot.com

Casting contact:
Valerie Meachum

Bio:
Born in the Downriver suburbs of Detroit, actress and singer Valerie Meachum grew up an Air Force brat, logging fifteen addresses by age twelve. She taught herself to read at three and was identified early as an academically gifted child. Dance, music and drama presented the challenges missing in her regular schoolwork, and by her teens she was determined to pursue a performing career. She made her professional theatre debut as Sarah in Female Transport during a semester break from college, and has pursued her dream through all the ups and downs since.

She made her movie debut as the heroic Dr. Tami Bark in the Japanese-style monster feature Raki II: Raki vs. Nemesis, which has been featured at G-Fest, the leading American festival celebrating the kaiju genre. Recently she has kept busy in front of the camera with a variety of roles for up-and-coming Chicago filmmakers, and is now venturing into the evolving world of new media, with a leading role in the supernatural action-drama webseries Scarlet X and involvement in the development of the ambitious sci-fi transmedia project Resonance.

Valerie's stage career has ranged from children's theatre to Shakespeare to musicals to new plays, with favorite roles including Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth, the Fox in Pinocchio, Caroline Neville in Titanic, and Lucy Hale in the world premiere of These Honorable Men: The Life and Death of John Wilkes Booth. She has also worked behind the scenes of numerous plays as a costume designer and fight choreographer, and has directed successful productions of The Crucible, Macbeth, and Cymbeline.

Now based in the Chicago area, Valerie finds time between acting gigs to sing regularly with Elgin Opera and in casual cabaret evenings at Villa Verone Ristorante Italiano. She is developing a one-woman show about Pre-Raphaelite artist and model Elizabeth Siddal, and the century-old farmhouse she shares with her husband is a work perpetually in progress.

Photography Credits: G and D Studios, Mike Smith