Source: Brian Jones (@brianjonesphotography) / Brian Jones (@brianjonesphotography)
Name: Shacai O’Neal
IG: @shacai
Agency: Self-Represented
Claim To Fame: Shacai O’Neal is the face of the African Pride Moisture Miracle collection. She is also starring in this month’s original Lifetime Holiday movie Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas.
Shacai O’Neal arrived on her first modeling set as back up talent. She was dutifully flanking the intended main character when someone decided she should be center stage. “I was just one of the extra girls,” she told HelloBeautiful.
She had no idea that the moment would define her modeling career.
“I didn’t think this one job was gonna turn into this, but it was just such a blessing.”
O’Neal was prompted by a friend to respond to an open casting for models for an unnamed beauty brand, one of the few that explicitly requested that potential models arrive with their 4C hair intact, as she was on “her acting journey.” Appearing in projects like Bad Boys For Life and Black Lightning, completing a degree in public relations, and completing a stint as a Radio One intern her goal was to continue seeking success in the entertainment industry by “trying to get in where I can fit in.”
“At first I wasn’t gonna do it. He was like, no, I just think you should try it,” she admitted. The whim landed her on buses and billboards across the nation. The brand continues to call her back year after year for photoshoots, branded video content, and promotional events. The campaigns provide income and exposure for her acting career.
She attributed their choice to continuing to book her to her “professionalism.” She discovered her ability to quickly secure the frames needed for a campaign was actually a surprisingly rare quality, after learning more about the logistics of the industry.
“One thing that I realized, like when I did photoshoots and when we did film and stuff, like the photographers would be like, okay, like we got it. Like that was it. And now we’re just kind of playing and having fun. So I think my professionalism going in and being able to get the job done, um, definitely stood out maybe to them. And also my personality. I’m pretty, pretty personal. I’m fun on set.”
With a charmed entry into the modeling industry O’Neal was disappointed to learn about some of its downfalls. “Now I’ve actually tried to get an agent and everything and I’ve actually struggled in that area because I am only 5’3 as a model, so a lot of these agencies have height requirements,” she said.
She attempted to build on the momentum from being published by bringing her brand of fun industry to a meeting. It worked – at least until the measuring stick emerged. She was “vibing,” with agents at an Atlanta based modeling agency when they asked her height. “
She is clear on what she wants to accomplish from her modeling and acting careers.
“I really just wanna continue to do the work that all these other black women have been doing for as paving away, breaking down barriers for black women, especially Black women with natural hair, because I feel like it’s such a stigma,” she said,
“I see it breaking down even in the acting world. I see the stigma of natural hair kind of being tore down and it’s being accepted more, but there is still that stigma there, that natural hair isn’t beautiful. So I take pride in my natural hair. I take pride in any beautiful melanated queen that walks around with their natural hair. And I hope that I can continue to pave the way or other melanated Queens who look like me and who have dreams.”
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Model Monday: Shacai O’Neal Spent 3 Years On Her First Modeling Job was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
