At age 21 Joi Richardson is pursuing her childhood dream of becoming an actress with commercial credits and a successful television episode to begin building her body of work.
When Richardson was a little girl she and her sister Jessica would reenact parts from movies the two had watched. In school, however, Richardson admits she was considered a jock. She played basketball for the Puckett Wolves and still enjoys a game now and then. These days , though, most of her workouts are done at the gym.
She is very mature and wise for a young woman her age but she is determined to become an actor. Richardson has already learned balancing a healthy lifestyle in that she chooses to work out only four days a week so as not to burn out. In addition, she eats healthy foods during the week like salmon and fish but will splurge some on the weekends on favorites like cheesecake, cake, pie or cookies. Just not all at once.
Richardson is the youngest of four daughters raised by single mom Evelyn Richardson.
Rather than ask her mom for help, Joi found her first job at Wendy’s in Magee. It helped her pay her way but she was miserable. Before she graduated from Puckett Attendance Center in 2019, one of her junior high teachers asked Joi about the possibility of working at a bank. She interviewed at PriorityOne Bank in Magee and has been working part-time ever since.
“A lot of my coworkers have asked, ‘Joi, I don’t see how you do it, with all the stuff you have going on!’ It honestly helps being part time. When I’m here, I’m here. But when I get a booking and I have to go off, Lee (Maddox), my manager he’s very flexible with me. He sees how much I do when I’m here. I’m grateful that they need me.”
Richardson works primarily out of the Magee Lending Center, the main branch in downtown Magee; however, she goes where Maddox asks her to, whether it is Mendenhall, Richland or the retail branch on 49 North. She says flexibility is key to her career pursuit.
“I knew I wanted to do TV and film,” Richardson said, as opposed to theatre. The two mediums are very different. She began researching on line and found That’s A Wrap Acting Studio owned by Tammy Nichols, acting coach. At the time Nichols had three studio locations – Hattiesburg, Jackson, and Ocean Springs. Richardson sent an email and Nichols responded. “She is truly how I got started and how I got working. She helped me get the ball rolling.”
Richardson also gives credit to assistant acting coach Jessie Owen Cope, who has a degree in acting from University of Southern Mississippi.
Richardson decided to take a year off from the studio to focus on her studies at Hinds Community College, where she received an associate’s degree in art appreciation. “My uncles and my family always harp on, ‘Joi, you have to have a Plan B just in case acting doesn’t work out.’”
She did return to the studio and gives God credit for pushing her. “He was like ‘Joi, you’ve got to get back to it.’ That’s when I really started getting the ball rolling.”
Tammy and Jessie helped Richardson find agent Angie Moncrief out of Flowood, and the bookings started coming her way. Joi has been in several commercials, but her biggest claim to fame right now is a part in the television series Interview with a Vampire on AMC. She explained it was a long progression with almost a hurry up and wait process but well worth it. The part was booked in 2021but the series did not begin airing until fall of 2022.
Richardson spent two weeks in New Orleans for the filming, enjoying one week with the crew at a local hotel and the second with a family uncle. “It was such an experience!” She was in a scene with two of the lead actors, Jacob Anderson, an actor from Game of Thrones and Sam Reid, known for his role in the movie Belle. “I was having fun, acting like I belong there. I try not to be nervous; I try to talk myself out of being nervous. I try to just have fun and enjoy the moment.”
Her studies continue online at Mississippi State University too. Richardson hopes to complete her bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies by May 2024, her Plan B. Just in case acting does not work out she will still be in media.
“I will say that in this industry a lot of us get so caught in wanting to make it, just be the next big thing. My word of advice if I had to give my advice to anyone is just stay in your own lane. Don’t focus on what other actor friends are doing. ‘She’s booking this; why am I not booking anything?’ I see a lot of that with this certain industry. I’ve learned over the course of my time doing this just trust that whatever God has for you it will not pass you. If it’s meant for you then it will happen. I’m very grateful. I give all the glory, all the thanks to God because I know it was Him who did give me this opportunity.”
