FINDING ME WHILE PORTRAYING OTHERS: MEET ELICIA A. MOORE
By: Angel Charmaine
Photography:
October 20, 2023
My mind was fixed on finding me. – Elicia Moore
Elicia is a mother, soldier, and an actress. When I talk to her, she seems to be very matter
of fact, structured and practical in her thinking. Therefore, I was intrigued by the actress
part of her life. Considering this edition of the magazine is about embracing the new, I
invited Elicia to sit with me for an interview to discuss the how and, probably more so, the why
she decided to pursue acting while also being a soldier in the U.S. Army.
Elicia says she has been acting for six years; she started in 2016. Without much small talk, I
come right out and ask her, “Why acting?” She replied, “The short answer. I divorced. I divorced
in October 2015, and I started this journey on what life looked like for me. I went in straight out
of high school, and not even a year or two down the line, I’m married. Then, I go through the
whole divorce thing, and I jump right back into it [marriage] and did it again. I never figured out
who I was outside of someone else, and I won't lie to you. A lot of it was scary. A lot of it was
trying. A lot of it was lonely, but it has showed me that, man, I can really do whatever it is I
want to do. When it comes to acting, it's crazy because I was going to get into voiceovers.
Everybody would tell me all the time that I have the perfect voice. People would tell me that I
can set up call messages, do voicemails, radio. You know, like the midnight Storm voice. They
said, you have that voice. I got told I have the call girl sexy voice.”
We both burst out laughing at that, and she continued. “My very first gig, no acting experience
under my belt or nothing, it was a lead role at a student film with UNC Winston Salem. The
name of the movie was called Low Miles, and I remember being out there and being on set. I
guess I made the comment like, yeah, this is my first film, and I'm just excited and in awe of the
cast, the crew, everybody moving around and everything. Somebody heard me say that it was my
first time, and I had somebody come up to me and say, ‘I'm sorry. Um, is it true?’ I said, ‘What?’
They said, ‘You've never acted before.’ I was like, ‘Uh, no, this is it. This is my first time.’ And
they were like, ‘Wow, you're such a natural.’ She laughs as she says, “It's funny because to even
look at myself from then until now, I'm glad I got a coach.” She continues, “But, that's what
kicked it off, doing that first film. And I was like, I kind of like this film thing, so I did that and a
couple of other little gigs. At this point you're just building your resume.”
She continues, “Then, I moved from North Carolina to South Carolina. I went to Sumter
first and did not even make it a whole year. I could not stay in Sumter another second. Oh,
my goodness, that was rough.” I interject and ask if she is from the Carolinas. She says, “I
am from the great state of Oklahoma, Angel. The military brought me to Carolina. I got off
active duty in 2010, and my husband and I were stationed in Germany. I got off active duty
there. He got stationed in Atlanta at Fort McPherson. When I got off orders, he was active duty,
so we moved to Atlanta. I worked on Fort McPherson, which is now Tyler Perry Studios. I was
on the Reserve Command side of the house. He was on the Forces Command side of the house.
Well, they took that installation and said, okay, we're not using it as a military installation
anymore. We're going to relocate you to North Carolina to Fort Bragg, so we went to Fort Bragg.
I just remember telling my husband that this is just too much moving around for the kids. It was
one of my reasons for getting off active duty because every time we would relocate the kids were
just not gelling. They were not liking to have to leave friends, not liking the new environments.
In the beginning, it’s fun and cool, and it's an adventure, but after a while, it just gets old because
you don't have anybody to connect with.
Our children were young when I got of active duty, and they just weren't taking a liking to it. We
even stay in North Carolina that long when we got there. He was deployed again, and after the
deployment, I was like, oh, buddy, I can't do this no more. Yeah. And he was like, well, I just got
orders to go to Shaw Air Force Base, which is in Sumter, and I just remember saying, ‘I'm not
going. I'm done.’ I was done doing this with the kids and then moving around. There was no
stability in it. I got off active duty, so that I could be that stability for them. That's how I ended
up with divorce number two, and that’s how I jumped into this acting thing. I was just trying to
figure out what life looked like for me.”
At this point, I am trying to figure out how she goes from young Oklahoma girl to married
Oklahoma young woman, to military woman, wife and mom, divorcee, wife again,
divorcee. There are so many pieces, and they all lead to actress. I am curious to know not
just the, why acting, but why acting now. So, I ask Elicia what led her to the “now” moment, the
I am going to pursue acting now. She laughs and says, “I was at work just talking to coworkers,
and I was having a conversation with someone, and they said, ‘You know what? You would do
great doing voiceovers.’ I have this thing about never wanting to limit myself, so when
somebody says they can see me doing something, I ask myself if they are seeing something in
me that I am not seeing in myself. I never want to put limits on God in whatever He’s doing in
any season of my life, so I decided I would just ride this gravy train and go wherever it was
taking me.”
“The thought of doing voiceovers scared me, but I do love talking, and I thought I could make
this work, so let’s see what happens. The person said they had a friend that goes through John
Casablanca, and that I should go up there and try them out. I jumped on with John Casablanca
and worked through some classes. I thought it was fun and cool. I liked who I was when I was
doing it, and that’s how it started. It was a conversation. I believe in the value of conversations.
My mom taught me that from a very early age. Growing up in Oklahoma, Beggs, Oklahoma to
be exact, my mom would get up like 4:30-5 o'clock in the morning. She'd always have a pot of
coffee running, and no matter what, somebody always stopped by the house just to have a cup of
coffee. They would sit, and they would talk. She didn't realize the value she was instilling in me
at that time, but it made me value conversation. There’s so much value in them, and that
conversation about voiceovers sparked me going to John Casablanca, to me auditioning for
Avanti – their talent agency side. I thought to myself that I could really do something with this
thing, so I kept pushing.”
I ask her if it was a process to embrace this new thing of being an actress or was it just the
natural flow of things for her. She resolutely said, “My mind was fixed on finding me.” She
continues, “I wanted to see what I liked, what I didn't like. I wanted to experience. I found out that I'm a foodie. I love food. I mean, pick a cuisine; it doesn't matter. I love food. It's just these
little things that I learned about myself while embarking on this acting journey. I told myself that
I'm not putting any limits on anything. If I like it, I like it. If I don't like it, it's because I tried it
and didn't like it as opposed to, I wouldn't do it. Now, I am that person who says, ‘Hey, you want
to go do this, this, and this? I've never done that before, so let’s give it a shot.’ What’s the worst
that can happen? I don’t like it. I always want to be flexible when it comes to whatever it is that
God is doing in my life. I don't want to be rigid in that aspect, at all, so I just go with the flow of
it. If it's for me, He's got me. If it's not for me, He still got me. He just redirects me, and we just
keep moving. I just don't want any limitations on myself. That's it. Now, I might be scared, and I
might do it and be scared, oh, but I’m going to do it.” We both laugh at that one.
Switching gears, since Elicia is an actress, I have to ask her what her favorite movie is. She
says, “The movie that gave me the idea that I could do this acting thing and really sparked
me was Gabrielle Union in Deliver Us from Eva.” I exclaim, “Really?” I guess I wasn’t
expecting that answer. Elicia continues, “It is the funniest thing because I just remember
watching that movie and thinking I just love her attitude, her power, her authority, and the way
she could come across and say, ‘Hey, no, we are not eating here. I said, Let's go.’ I just fell in
love with Gabrielle Union in that movie. As for a favorite movie, I don’t know if I have a
favorite movie. I have seasons if you will. For example, in high school, I watched The Color
Purple every day. It's funny because I would fall asleep at the same point every time. I would
never make it to the end of the movie, but I would just come back the next day, and I would try it
again. It wasn't until I picked up the book written by Alice Walker that I finally made it through
The Color Purple. I am for any movie that gives a good display of character development. I love
watching characters develop, like the Bourne series.” Now, she is talking my language. We both
agree that anything Jason Bourne is worth watching. Elicia also shares that Viola Davis and
Regina King are also actresses that inspire her to keep acting and growing in her craft.
I ask her what she would say to a woman who is reading this interview who is at a point where
she wants to “find” herself too. She says, “If I had something to say since this is my season of
personal accountability. I would say, ‘Be true to you in whatever form that looks like.’ Society
will try to sway you one way, and social media is going to sway you another. In whatever you're
doing, be true to you. Be personally accountable for what you're doing and your actions because
it goes a long way. It's almost like the saying, ‘My work will speak for me.’ Your actions will
speak for you. Your integrity will speak for you. What you don't say will speak for you, so just
be true to yourself. The people who are supposed to be in your space are going to be there. The
people who are not, they're not.”
That is a perfect way to end this conversation. Maybe embracing the new begins with embracing
you. I thank Elicia for taking time to interview with me, and she reciprocates by thanking me for
inviting her to interview. I pray you have enjoyed getting to know Ms. Elicia A. Moore.
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Elicia’s Contact Details:
Email: elicia4823@gmail.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/eliccia.belle.moore
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elicia.daniels.58