Aesha Waks

Last updated

Aesha Hash Waks is an American actress of Israeli descent, born and raised in the Far Rockaway, Queens section of New York City.

Contents

Early life and education

Waks was born to Israel and Mindy Waks. She is of Israeli, German, Russian, and Polish descent. Waks's father works in fashion and interior installation. Her mother, Mindy, was a full-time artist. Her parents named her after Stevie Wonder's song "Aisha". Her brother, Geffen Waks, is a hip-hop artist.

Waks guest starred in WWOR-TV’s Romper Room at age five and sang the national anthem at Shea Stadium for the New York Mets at age seven. Waks got her SAG card by skating in a Honey Combs commercial and went on to do many more commercials including Levis, Buffalino Boots and Microsoft. Waks then performed in a number of television guest spots including New York Undercover , City Kids, Third Watch , and Late Night with Conan O'Brien .

Waks studied drama at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. As a high school student, Waks was also a professional choreographer and world tour dancer for Reel 2 Real and made appearances in music videos for Wu-Tang Clan ("Oh God"), Elton John ("Believe"), and Tag Team ("Whoomp There It Is"). During that time, Waks was paying for her Broadway dance school lessons by performing as a cage dancer for the Palladium and The Limelight.

Waks attended Kingsborough Community College and earned a Bachelor of Science in media and communication from the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. [1]

Career

Waks went on to appear in other films including A Brother's Kiss (1997), Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five (1998), A Packing Suburbia (1999), Remedy (2005), Priceless (2008), Night Stream (2013) with Andre Joseph, and The Bad Apple, which featured Waks on a billboard campaign for Lydia Leung between Canal and Lafayette St. in New York City. Waks cameoed in the internet comedy series, POYKPAC , for Ryan Hunter. She also helped produce in a music video for Riff Raff and also had cameo roles in the music videos for "Midnight Sprite" and "Bo Jackson Freestyle". Waks, also a singer and songwriter, performed her self-entitled song "Fun Dip" on Fuse TV and appeared in her music video "Neck Bop" which was produced by Al McDowell and featured a cameo by Miri Ben-Ari. Aesha recently co-starred in the fourth episode of Gotham for Warner Bros. Television on the Fox Network.

Waks is the host of the Women in Fashion and Film Festival. [2] She has also worked closely hosting with Chance TV. Waks is known for her cover and centerfold on High Times magazine which was also featured in Playboy magazine. [3] She has also been in Maxim and the cover of Lifestyles Magazine. [4] She appeared in runway shows such as Lincoln Center Fashion Week for Popluxe by Richie Rich as well as Skrapper, Chong Cha, Allen & Suzi, Patricia Fields, and various others. In 2013, Waks made a guest appearance on XOX Betsey Johnson on the Style Network.

Waks has also worked behind the scenes for MTV as a crowd hyper and casting director and as a production assistant for The Andy Milonakis Show (2005), an associate producer on Good Humor (2002), and When the Devil Comes (2013).

Waks has been appearing on page six of the New York Post since the release of her movie "A Packing Suburbia" in 1999. Most recently with her former fiancé, Liam McMullan, son of photographer Patrick McMullan. [5] The couple had a band called Danger who recorded the song "Bad Press" produced by Michael Jackson's protege, Eddy Cascio.

Awards

Waks studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, Bill Esper Studios, Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and Centerstage. Waks has starred and co-starred in over 40 films and won two best actress awards at the Olympia Film Festival including best actress for the title role of Gena in Arresting Gena (1997), co-starring Adrian Grenier, Sam Rockwell, Brendan Sexton III, Summer Phoenix, Paul Giamatti, Rini Bell, Heather Matarazzo; produced by Goodmachine directed by Hannah Weyer) and two French Avignon Film festival best actress for lead role Rayna in the film Money Shot (1996) costarring Stephen Lang and Tamara Tunie.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1996 Celtic Pride WaitressUncredited
1997 Arresting Gena Gena
1997 A Brother's Kiss Young Lex's Girlfriend
1998 Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five Cindy Goldclang
1998One Deadly RoadDanielle
1999A Packing SuburbiaCeleste
2000 Wannabes Stephanie
2002White BoyWaitress
2002The Brooklyn BoysCocktail Waitress
2002Good Humor: The Movie 2001Dena
2003The Undertaker's DozenBelle
2005 Remedy Johnny's Girl
2005Tinsel TownBartender
2005Rose Woes and Joe'sHooker
2005LovesickSharon
2008The Drum Beats TwiceAlice
2008PricelessJenny
2017When the Devil ComesSister Claire
2017Smoke ScreenEmma Pierce

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1992 The Grind DancerEpisode #1.4
1993 CityKids MarisolEpisode: "The Curse of Ali Baba"
1999 Third Watch FranEpisode: "Anywhere But Here"
2014 Gotham Co-WorkerEpisode: "Arkham"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary-Kate Olsen</span> American businesswoman, fashion designer and actress (born 1986)

Mary-Kate Olsen is an American businesswoman, fashion designer, equestrian, and former actress. Her acting career began at the age of nine months, with her sharing the role of Michelle Tanner with her twin sister Ashley Olsen in the television sitcom Full House (1987–1995). They also starred in numerous films together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen</span> American actresses (born 1986)

Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen, also known as the Olsen twins, are American fashion designers and former actresses. Mary-Kate and Ashley made their acting debut as infants playing Michelle Tanner on the television sitcom Full House (1987–1995). As they grew older, they began starring in other television shows, films, and media through their own production company, Dualstar. The twins became preteen icons, and some of the wealthiest women in the entertainment industry at a young age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haylie Duff</span> American actress and singer (born 1985)

Haylie Katherine Duff is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Sandy Jameson in the television series 7th Heaven, Amy Sanders in Lizzie McGuire and Summer Wheatley in Napoleon Dynamite. An avid food blogger, Duff had her own cooking show, The Real Girl's Kitchen, in 2014. She is the older sister of Hilary Duff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Newmar</span> American actress (born 1933)

Julie Newmar is an American actress, dancer, and singer known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real estate mogul. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Katrin Sveg in the 1958 Broadway production of The Marriage-Go-Round and reprised the role in the 1961 film version. In the 1960s, she starred for two seasons as Catwoman in the television series Batman (1966–1967). Her other stage credits include Ziegfeld Follies in 1956, Lola in Damn Yankees! in 1961, and Irma in Irma la Douce in 1965 in regional productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gena Rowlands</span> American actress (born 1930)

Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands is an American retired actress, whose career in film, stage, and television has spanned nearly seven decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), both of which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Opening Night (1977). She is also known for her performances in Woody Allen's Another Woman (1988), and her son Nick Cassavetes's film, The Notebook (2004). In 2021, Richard Brody of The New Yorker said, “The most important and original movie actor of the past half century-plus is Gena Rowlands.” In November 2015, Rowlands received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her unique screen performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivica A. Fox</span> American actress and producer

Vivica Anjanetta Fox is an American actress, producer, and television host. Fox began her career on Soul Train (1982–1983), and played roles on the daytime television soap operas Days of Our Lives (1988) and Generations (1989–1991)). In prime time she starred opposite Patti LaBelle in the NBC sitcom Out All Night (1992–1993). Fox's breakthrough came in 1996, with roles in two box-office hit films, Roland Emmerich's Independence Day and F. Gary Gray's Set It Off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Hunter</span> New Zealand model and actress

Rachel Hunter is a New Zealand model, actress, and host of Imagination Television's Rachel Hunter's Tour of Beauty. She has appeared on several magazine covers, including Vogue, Elle, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, and Harper's Bazaar. She has been on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue twice: in 1994 and in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gena Lee Nolin</span> American actress (born 1971)

Gena Lee Nolin is an American actress. She is known for her television appearances on The Price Is Right and Baywatch in the 1990s. During the early 2000s she played the lead role in Sheena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patsy Kensit</span> British actress and pop singer

Patricia Jude Kensit is an English actress and was the lead singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder in the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracee Ellis Ross</span> American actress

Tracee Joy Silberstein, known professionally as Tracee Ellis Ross, is an American actress. She is known for her lead roles in the television series Girlfriends (2000–2008) and Black-ish (2014–2022) receiving nominations for five Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the latter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Cassavetes</span> American actor, director, and screenwriter

Nicholas David Rowland Cassavetes is an American actor, director, and writer. He has directed such films as She's So Lovely (1997), John Q. (2002), The Notebook (2004), Alpha Dog (2006), and My Sister's Keeper (2009). His acting credits include an uncredited role in Husbands (1970)—which was directed by his father, John Cassavetes—as well as roles in the films The Wraith (1986), Face/Off (1997), and Blow (2001).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allison Scagliotti</span> American actress,singer,songwriter,musician and director (born 1990)

Allison Scagliotti is an American actress, musician and director, best known for her roles in Drake & Josh, Warehouse 13, and Stitchers. She performs as a musician under the name La Femme Pendu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gal Gadot</span> Israeli actress and model (born 1985)

Gal Gadot-Varsano is an Israeli actress and model. She was crowned Miss Israel 2004 and represented her country at the Miss Universe 2004 pageant. She then served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years as a combat fitness instructor, whereafter she began studying at IDC Herzliya while building her modeling and acting careers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mindy Kaling</span> American actress, writer, and comedian (born 1979)

Vera Mindy Chokalingam, known professionally as Mindy Kaling, is an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. She has received numerous awards for her work, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Tony Award, and was nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Sarafyan</span> Armenian-American actress (born 1983)

Angela Sarafyan, sometimes credited as Angela Sarafian, is an Armenian-American actress. She has appeared as a guest star in several television series and has acted in the feature films: Kabluey (2007), On the Doll (2007), A Beautiful Life (2008), The Informers (2008), A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (2011), Lost & Found in Armenia (2012), and Reminiscence (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anders Holm</span> American actor, comedian, writer and producer

Anders Holm is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is one of the stars and creators of the Comedy Central show Workaholics and starred in the short-lived NBC series Champions. He, along with fellow Workaholics creators Blake Anderson, Adam DeVine, and Kyle Newacheck, formed the sketch group Mail Order Comedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skai Jackson</span> American actress

Skai Jackson is an American actress best known for portraying the role of Zuri Ross in the Disney Channel sitcom Jessie (2011–2015), which she subsequently reprised in its sequel Bunk'd (2015–2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Olsen</span> American businesswoman, fashion designer and actress (born 1986)

Ashley Fuller Olsen is an American businesswoman, fashion designer and former actress. She began her acting career at the age of nine months, sharing the role of Michelle Tanner with her twin sister Mary-Kate Olsen in the television sitcom Full House (1987–1995). They also starred in numerous films together.

Arresting Gena is a 1997 American crime drama film written and directed by Hannah Weyer and starring Aesha Waks, Summer Phoenix, J. Smith-Cameron, and Sam Rockwell. It premiered in competition at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexa Demie</span> American actress and singer

Alexa Demie is an American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Madeleine "Maddy" Perez on the HBO teen drama television series Euphoria. Demie made her feature film debut with a minor role in the comedy-drama Brigsby Bear (2017) before starring in the coming-of-age film Mid90s (2018) and the drama film Waves (2019). She has also appeared in numerous music videos.

References

Aesha Waks at IMDb

  1. Harvey, Tim David (2016-10-17). "FILMS FOR FRIDAYS: GIRL ON FIRE-An Interview With Aesha Waks". FILMS FOR FRIDAYS. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  2. Hartstein, Meryl (2015-03-11). "FASHIONABLE DIALOGUES: AESHA WAKS". womenfashfilm. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  3. High Times magazine (USA), July 2004
  4. Lifestyles Magazine (USA), October 2001, Vol. 30, Iss. 176
  5. Guest of a Guest (USA) 4 June 2009, pg. 2, by: Racheal Hruska, "Meet Liam Mcmullans Fiance Aesha Waks"