Solaine finds courage to act in Internet series
In May, popular social media personality Solaine Anderson was contemplating her future after receiving a cancer diagnosis.
Now she has been named one of the stars in a new YouTube series, Balla, produced by Barracks Entertainment, alongside dancehall artiste LaaLee.
Solaine, who plays the part of ‘Miss Bev’, a smart-mouthed, smothering grandmother to the lead character Romello ‘Balla’ Bright played by LaaLee, said that she accepted the opportunity because the role sounded entertaining and did not appear to be a challenge at first.
“I am a really funny person, and like fun,” Solaine said of her personality “in real life” in an interview with THE STAR after the virtual premiere of the teen drama last Friday.
The Internet sensation maintains a calmness which may be misinterpreted by some as her being stand-offish. However, she quickly exclaimed “Me feel fine!”
She also shared that she is satisfied with her performance and that throughout the filming, it was at times hard to remember lines.
“Sometimes di fear of dat [failing] comes in, but me do all right, and dem tek dem time wid me and mek me jus’ do it over and over. I nuh have no fear,” she said.
In addition to the series, Solaine also does a short advertisement for Jamaica Aids Support for Life, one of the sponsors of Balla, where she promotes safe sex practices. The Balla cast had a good amount of time to practise she said, because “COVID did kinda a cut down too.”
As she prepares for the release of episode two, Solaine said viewers can expect great things from her as Miss Bev and “I hope to do more acting.”
Fabian Barracks, founder of Barracks Entertainment, and writer-director of Balla, told THE
STAR that the writing team did not believe he was in his right mind when he suggested Solaine to play Miss Bev, but what started out as a cameo appearance landed her a full-time role.
“I stood my ground because over the 11 years I have been producing plays, I have learnt to trust my gut instincts. The other writers felt that Solaine would have been hard to work with and that she was a ‘mad woman’. I grew fond of Solaine through the Aunty Donna programme. In fact, she reminds me so much of my mom, not because of her affinity to cuss out people, but the softer side of her.”