<\/p>\n
Garcelle Beauvais has long been a powerful presence in Hollywood\u2014first as a face on international runways, then as a charismatic television star in the 1990s and early 2000s. But in recent years, she\u2019s emerged as something more. As the executive producer and star of Lifetime\u2019s award-nominated franchises, including \u201cBlack Girls Missing\u201d and \u201cTempted 2 Love,\u201d and a former co-host of \u201cThe Real,\u201d Beauvais has used her voice to challenge assumptions, champion diversity and navigate fame with rare vulnerability. Born in Haiti and raised between worlds, she brings a perspective that\u2019s both global and deeply personal, and she\u2019s only just getting started.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI think the universe knew I was going to do this before I did. When I came to the United States, I had no idea about filmmaking and television or being a model. I used to dance and put on recitals for my family as a little girl, butI didn\u2019t know where that would lead.<\/p>\n But, one thing just led to another. I wanted to be a flight attendant because of the travel and how glamorous that would be. Then, journalism was something I thought about, but I didn\u2019t know what that was either. I gravitated toward a lot of things, not knowing where they were going to lead. Then, in my teenage years, people used to say to my mom, \u2018Oh, she\u2019s so pretty. She should model. Does she model?\u2019 We were like, \u201cWe don\u2019t even know what that is. What is that?\u201d<\/p>\n We moved to Miami because my mom was sick of the cold in Massachusetts and she wanted to be closer to Haiti to visit family. When we got there, a friend of mine asked, \u2018Do you want to be an extra in an orange juice commercial?\u2019 I had no idea what that meant, but it paid $75 a day. I was in.<\/p>\n On the second day, I went up to the principal actor and said: \u2018I want to do what you\u2019re doing. How do I get to be in the front of that?\u2019 She didn\u2019t want to help me\u2014she didn\u2019t even want to talk to me. I found out that she was with a modeling agency in Fort Lauderdale called Irene Marie.<\/p>\n So one day I asked my mom if I could borrow her car. I didn\u2019t have photos. I didn\u2019t have an appointment. All I knew was that I was going to that Irene Marie place and maybe they would tell me how I can do it. So, as I\u2019m driving to Fort Lauderdale, I stop at a red light. I lean out to check my makeup with the outside mirror.<\/p>\n As I\u2019m reaching for my lip gloss, a hand comes in the car and scares the shit out of me. It was the woman in the car behind me. She goes, \u2018You should be a model.\u2019 She gives me a card. It was the agency I was going to without an appointment, without photos\u2014without anything\u2014but now I had a card that might show them I belong. They ended up taking pictures and set up tests with photographers. I signed with them.<\/p>\n About eight months later, Eileen Ford of the Ford Modeling Agency was scouting. She came to Irene Marie in Florida. They asked 10 girls to come and meet with Eileen, and I was one of them. My mom came with me, of course. Eileen told me I should move to New York, so I moved at 17 and lived with Eileen Ford because the modeling apartment was full.<\/p>\n There I was on the Upper East Side on 71st and Madison, and I didn\u2019t even know what that meant! I knew nothing. To fast-forward a bit, I just went to New York with my son, Jaid [18 years old], who signed with New York Model Management, and I did the whole round with him. I thought, \u2018Holy cow, what a full-circle moment.\u2019 It\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n There was never the thought that I was going to stop trying.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n But I also never thought it wasn\u2019t going to work out\u2026or that I should go home. There were moments when my dad was back in the picture and he was like, \u2018We\u2019re not sending her money.\u2019 I got a fake ID and worked at the Playboy Club on 59th and Madison as a bunny. I was Bunny Garcelle. I was a waitress, making money while going on go-sees during the day. But there was never the thought that I was going to stop trying\u2014going home wasn\u2019t an option.<\/p>\n There are many projects I didn\u2019t get that I thought were going to be the ones for me. I think when I got to work with, obviously, Jamie Foxx, that was my mini-break. But he wasn\u2019t who he is now\u2014he was a stand-up comedian traveling the country while we were shooting The Jamie Foxx Show<\/em>. I think the big moment is when I got to work with Denzel [Washington] on Flight<\/em>. Even though it wasn\u2019t a huge role, to be up against someone who\u2019s such a heavyweight in the industry finally felt like, \u2018Wow, somebody believes in you somewhere.\u2019<\/p>\n Right now, I\u2019m really proud of the Black Girl Missing<\/em> franchise. The fact that I\u2019m producing now, people take me seriously. I\u2019ve sold a couple of shows recently. I like being able to walk into a room and be taken seriously. Sometimes, I walk out and say, \u2018Who do I think I am? Somewhere, I\u2019m still that little girl from Haiti who asks, \u2018Is this really possible?\u2019 Even though I\u2019ve done the things I\u2019ve done, I think that\u2019s part of staying humble for me.<\/p>\n I was telling someone this earlier: I was doing this history talk for A&E, and when I walked into the room, I didn\u2019t know who was in there prior to me. It was Julia Roberts. She said, \u2018Oh my God, I\u2019m going to need a minute,\u2019 when she saw me. I looked behind me and thought, \u2018Who\u2019s behind me?\u2019<\/p>\n I am just grateful to be here\u2014grateful that my mom brought me here and gave me this opportunity. That always stays with me. Sometimes, when my girlfriend says, \u2018Have you taken stock of what you\u2019ve been able to do?\u2019 I stop and think, \u2018Wow, I can\u2019t believe it.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n