Ellington

Erica Michelle has known all her life that acting would be her career. Now, at 26, the Jackson State University alumna has completed her first movie role and has several other projects in the works.

"I came out of the womb acting," Michelle says. "... I've always had that drama-queen mentality. ... Acting just exists in me."

Michelle was born in Meridian, but moved to El Dorado, Ark., when she was about 5. Jackson State drew her back to Mississippi soon after she graduated from high school. "I always said that I wanted to go to a black college," she says.

After she researched several schools, a visit to JSU clinched the deal for Michelle. She met another student from Arkansas who convinced her that the school is where she wanted to be.

As it turns out, she didn't stay long. Opportunities to go to California lured her away from academics a couple of times to pursue acting. In 2010, though, she was back at JSU to finish her degree. It was like beginning all over again, she says, but after the false starts, this time, Michelle stuck with it.

When her guidance counselor told Michelle she wouldn't graduate until 2014, Michelle put a different, personal plan into place. She gave up TV and partying, and she hit the books, hard. Michelle's renewed focus and hard work paid off, and she finished her coursework in just 22 months. She graduated magna cum laude in 2012 with a degree in theater.

"I was the first theater major in the history of the university to be elected as the College of Liberal Arts Grand Marshal, and I received the academic achievement award for maintaining the highest GPA," Michelle says.

Michelle is working on a book to tell her whole story, which includes a few run-ins with the law--though she's saving those details for print. She hopes to publish the story within the next couple of years.

Now a resident of New Orleans, Michelle had some misgivings about auditioning for what would be her first movie role. She thought the film, "The Last Exorcism, Part II," would conflict with her religious beliefs. "It's kind of a sensitive topic," she says.

After reading the script, though, she realized her part wasn't satanic, and that she was, after all, a professional actress just playing a part. She didn't have to take the film's premise into her life. The movie came out March 1, and Michelle plays the character of Daphne.

"It was a great experience," she says. Michelle recently auditioned for a part in a "Vampire Diaries" spinoff and for a new series, called "Government Lives." She also has plans to direct a play.

Michelle says she'll stick with life the South--specifically Louisiana, which has lots of film activity. Her work frequently takes her back to California; she'll be traveling there in May for a couple of months to work on a project.

"When work calls, you kind of have to go," Michelle says. "But I don't see myself moving to Los Angeles permanently unless I have to."