As a model, actress, and business owner, Atanasha Thomas does it all

By Lena Zhu | Published by September 18th, 2019 

Atanasha Thomas didn’t always know she wanted to be an actress. At the age of six, she was placed into local fashion and runway shows with the help of her grandmother. She started getting acting roles and seriously acting in high school. 

Thomas, a freshman studying Business Management, has been in shows such as Orange Is the New Black, HBO’s Girls, Deadly Devotion, and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. 

“At first I was kind of nervous, I didn’t know what to expect,” Thomas said. “For instance, once I had to do a Christmas scene and I had to eat a cookie [for that scene]. I had to keep re-eating the cookie to do it over and over again. It’s tiring but it’s fun because you get to meet new people.” 

Although she has played a student and a churchgoer in Orange Is the New Black, she was not a follower of the show. 

“I’ve actually never watched the show before,” said Thomas. “They were already on the fourth season and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to catch up [on watching the show]. I was with one of the inmates and in a flashback scene from when they were kids.” 

Based on the amount of work and scenes shot on a particular day, Thomas would get calls asking her to come back for another day or two of work. As a result, she was not able to attend all her high school classes.

“No, they don’t let you know in advance how many days they need you for,” Thomas said. “At times I think, ‘Oh I’m working tomorrow, I have to take another day off school.’ I don’t like taking off of school but I was getting paid in return.”

However, she was not simply allowed to skip classes and use the acting job as an excuse. Working as an underage actress, she had to retrieve a permit that allowed her to skip classes in the middle of the day if need be. Even afterward, she would need a physical note to bring back to her teachers as proof that she was working.

Shooting the scenes held a different experience. Sometimes scenes can range from a few hours to a whole day. 

“One time I was shooting until 12 or one in the morning and I had the class the next morning,” Thomas said. 

However, she would still find the time to do her homework and go to class.

“If I know that I have work, I will try and ask for my homework in advance or do all of it the night before,” Thomas said. “I would also bring my work with me because there are a lot of times when you’re on set where you’re just sitting.”

Money was a different issue since acting rates vary based on what needs to be done. At the end of the specified amount of days, they would either automatically send the actor the check or put it into the trust fund if one has been set up.

“The rates that I have gotten would be about $150 a day,” Thomas said. “Then they will let you know how many days they will need you for. They either automatically send you the check or they put it into your trust fund.” 

Along with her modeling and acting career, she also runs her own business. Named “Dilemma Products,” her site sells edge brushes, flat irons, bags, slides, and brand t-shirts. With her Business Management degree, she hopes to fuel her own business and ultimately create a franchise.

In the future, Thomas wants to be so successful to the point where she can give back to her roots.

“I want to make so much money that I have no option but to give back,” Thomas said. “There are a lot of people who get to where they want to be and forget where they came from. I don’t want to be one of those people.”

Her advice for unsure but ambitious others is to “go for it.”

“There were times where I would stumble and don’t know where to start but I would talk to other people,” Thomas said. “You always have to talk to somebody else because you can always learn from them. Whatever you want to do just do it because that’s the only way it’s going to get done.”

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