Written By: Keith Makenas
“What is it like to work with Chanel Ryan, in a word, uplifting, in two words, amazingly uplifting!”
Actor Barry Ratcliffe
“Chanel was a stand out, and was such a pleasure to work with.”
Director, Writer, Actress Jessica Sonneborn
“Working with Chanel was, for myself as an actor, a genuine pleasure.”
Actor Parrish Randall
“Chanel Ryan is a fearless actor!”
Director Billy Pon
“It’s unthinkable to do a project without her.”
Director Don Richardson
That is just a small sample of the admiration directors and colleagues have for actress and model Chanel Ryan. Her talents and vast amount of experience in acting and modeling for feature films, indie projects, prime TV series, and advertising makes her highly desired by directors and producers. Ryan’s good-natured personality is appreciated on set, but she’s also a strongminded and tough woman and that’snot just because of her expertise with full tactical weapons including hand to hand combat. She credits her success to hard work, dedication, drive and more hard work. Her inspiration comes from two strong and self-sufficient women that being her mother and grandmother.
Recently she has taken a little time to develop her acting and producing as she shares, “Over the last year I have taken some much needed time off and have been focusing on building my acting chops while simultaneously developing a slate of films which I’ll be producing and starring in. In some of my recent films I wasn’t doing good work and really wanted to regroup and figure out the kind of career I wanted before moving forward.” Ryan is hoping to make an announcement soon regarding the first film her and her partner will be producing and starring in.
Always eager to further her acting skills, Chanel currently is attending the Taylor School of Acting, which has been voted the best school/acting school five years in a row by Back Stage. She enrolled in the two year intensive Meisner Technique and will be graduating this June 2017. “It has been a huge commitment and I highly recommend his class to any actors who really want to work on their craft and build a solid foundation,” tells Ryan. “I have studied with so many teachers around town and definitely learned a lot from each one. But until studying Alex, I always felt hit and miss with my performances. Sometimes I would give a great performance and other times I was terrible! While going to school I’ve been working on acting jobs here and there but have really lightened my schedule and been focused on becoming a stronger actress and finding the right projects to produce.”
Ryan has worked with legendary directors such as John Frankenheimer, David Zucker, Jonas Akerlund, and well know genre directors Leigh Scott, and Billy Pon. She’s had lead roles and appeared in films alongside Bill Murray, Gary Sinise, Judd Nelson, John Stamos, James Corden, Kane Hodder, Bill Oberst Jr, and Matt Lucas. Chanel has worked alongside the esteemed Barry Ratcliffe on many projects including DORTHY AND THE WITCHES OF OZ, ALICE D, and HOUSE ON RODEO GULCH. Ratcliffe is a fan of Chanel and greatly appreciates her talent, passion, hard work, and a lot more as he shares his in depth admiration of Chanel, “What is it like to work with Chanel Ryan, in a word, uplifting, in two words, amazingly uplifting! My name is Barry Ratcliffe and I play Don Foushee on the hit cable series “Outsiders”. I have been a full time actor for 20 years and I can tell you without a doubt, that working with Chanel Ryan is always incredible. Chanel is one of those rare and gifted actors that is giving, passionate, and devoted to her craft as well as being a hardworking and brilliant and accomplished talent. I give speeches on acting, teach when I can, and wrote a book on Amazon for actors, and one of my best examples is always Chanel Ryan for what an actor should be, what they can be, and what they can create. She gives the world a gift every time she appears on screen”.
“I have had the great fortune of working with her several times and of becoming close friends. I love this profession, and I love the skill, passion, devotion, and sheer ability that Chanel exudes. And trust me when I say, I don’t use those words lightly. I have many friends, that as actors, they are great florist, lol. But your readers probably want to hear about a real life experience with Chanel.”
“We were filming “Witches of Oz” with Christopher Lloyd and Chanel was doing a green screen insert of thousands of monkeys being released on the city. She was unaware that I was watching, but when I saw her performance live and on the screen, I believed her so much, that I had nightmares about those monkeys for a long time, I still do. That is what a true actor is. She takes you on the journey with her, it is like she is looking through the medium and sharing each and every emotion of that moment with you. She is truly amazing.
“Acting is 50% trained skill, and 50% natural ability, and she has 120% of both. (I failed math in school). And to work opposite of her in a scene, that is the best you can hope for and I always do. She is prepared of course, but it is so much more. She has done her homework and that is a sign of respect and caring for the other actors, for all the time and hard work of the entire cast and crew, and that is true beauty. Of course she is stunning but I saved that for last because her beauty is so much more. It is the very definition of depth.”
Director, Writer, and Actress Jessica Sonneborn has worked several times with Chanel including the films DOROTHY AND THE WITCHES OF OZ, and THE HAUNTING OF ALICE D. Sonneborn wrote and directed ALICE D www.alicedmovie.com which has racked up nearly a couple dozen awards during its festival run. Chanel’s role in the film as ISABEL was a smaller role, but yet essential to the film. “I’ve known Chanel Ryan for years, and we’ve been in a few of the same movies, but never in the same scenes,” tells Sonneborn. “When I directed, “The Haunting of Alice D.” I was glad that Chanel was available to play the role of Kane Hodders’ girlfriend, Isabel she was terrific! Chanel was a stand out, and was such a pleasure to work with. She’s a dedicated actress and I look forward to working with her again!”
ALICE D (Horror)
In the late 1890s, Davenport House was a famously successful brothel, ruled with an iron fist by an owner notorious for his cruelty and insatiable greed. Virtually imprisoned inside these walls, young Alice was forced to endure years of brutality and sexual slavery—until she took murderous revenge on her captors and tragically ended her own life.
More than a century later, the latest Davenport heir is hosting a decadent bash in the newly renovated mansion – complete with drugs, prostitutes and just one rule: Anything goes. But the fun has barely begun when strange, terrifying things begin to happen… Suddenly, the legend of Alice’s tormented ghost proves to be very real as the guests discover firsthand that vengeance never rests in peace!
Filmmaker Billy Pon is a master of horror not only for films, but he’s also the owner of two state of the art haunted attractions in West Texas (www.bloodybill.com). His latest film CIRCUS OF THE DEAD (www.circusofthedeadmovie.com)stars Ryan along with BillOberst Jr. and Parrish Randall. The filmhas won numerous awards and currently is available on VOD, DVD and Blu-Ray.
CIRCUS OF THE DEAD(Action/Horror)
Family man Don’s visit to an old, run down Big Top circus and chance encounter with a nihilistic group of clowns leaves him fighting for his life and the lives of those he loves. As Don becomes drawn deeper into lead clown Papa Corn’s games, he comes closer to the edge of reason and sanity. Armed with guns, knives and a ’68 Camaro, the clowns lead Don on an all night crime spree through oil soaked West Texas. Papa Corn’s wild ride brings blood, gore and mayhem to all he encounters.
CIRCUS OF THE DEAD is an intense psychological horror that contains some extremely graphic moments and some dark comedy. Ryan’s character Tiffany endures a lot of the disturbing moments and she was the most ideal actress for the role. “Chanel Ryan is a fearless actor!” tells Pon. “She didn’t flinch a bit after reading the COTD script. I think being fearless is a great trait for an actor and she has it in spades!!!”Bill Oberst Jr. also acknowledges her audacity,”Chanel Ryan let me lick her face without complaint (although she did scream a little.) I like her and think she is an incredible talent. Next time she gets to terrorize me. It’s only fair! She is a good friend and one helluva actor.”
One of the talented stars of CIRCUS OF THE DEAD is Actor Parrish Randall and he utterly admired working alongside Ryan for her performance and professionalism. “Working with Chanel was, for myself as an actor, a genuine pleasure,” says Randall who played Ryan’s husband in the film. “The lady is a genuine professional who comes to the set totally prepared. Stunningly beautiful, the camera loves her…and through that camera lens, so does the audience! She’s much more than an actress who is simply aesthetically pleasing to the eye however, in addition she is also consistently solid in the delivery of her performance and she’s 100% a trooper. When involved in any horror/action genre film, there’s always those action scenes in which one has to be willing to take a few scrapes and/or, oftentimes, even a few knocks while performing certain stunts as required by the script for the camera…and Chanel was one who rose to the occasion and did so without fail. She always remained the professional and, even when her character was being put through some of the more torturous horror film genre moments, she still remained sexy as hell! Hey, what can I say, with complete respect intended I’m being honest here! She is one amazing talent with whom it was a professional joy to work.”
Check out these other films that Ryan is in that are either currently available or upcoming.
BUSTED REALITY(Comedy)
Directed and written by Don Richardson, Ryan stars in this comedy about three women determined to be famous by any means necessary!The film is available on FUNNY OR DIE
http://www.funnyordie.com/bustedreality/playlists/310904
Richardson initially wasn’t sure if Ryan could work around the filming schedule due to her being out of the country for pre-production, but he knew he needed her for his film and was persistent, “I didn’t know I was looking for Chanel Ryan until I found her. Now it’s unthinkable to do a project without her,” tells Don Richardson.
As mentioned, Ryan’s jam-packed schedule almost kept her from being casted as she shares, “I originally auditioned for BUSTED REALITY and met writer/director Don Richardson. He was interested in working with me, but was concerned about booking me because I was leaving town to work in Canada for a week, and wouldn’t be around for rehearsals.”
“Fast forward, I believe it was a Saturday night and Don contacted me offering me the lead role. At this point I was pretty exhausted. Thinking I had a few days off when I got back to L.A. I booked myself around the clock in Canada. Appearing as a media guest at Wizard World Convention during the day and then each night after I hosted different events – a club one night, a bowling party the next night, and a party the last night. Needless to say I was pretty tired! Before committing I wanted to read the full script and make sure it was something I felt like I could pull off on such short notice. Long story short I said yes! Was able to rearrange my schedule and fly back to L.A. a few days early. Memorized and worked on the script on the flight home and went to work the next day!”
“I fell really lucky to work with a lot of the same directors both theatrically and commercially over and over. Don contacted me last summer and said he was getting ready to do a comedy/horror called ATTACK OF THE BIMBOS and would I would like to play “Barbie” , “The Leader Of The Bimbos”! I said yes so I guess that makes me the head bimbo! The HBIC! LOL.”
This leads us to her next upcoming film, ATTACK OF THE B.I.M.B.O.S (Action/Horror/Sci-Fi)
Ryan is the “leader of the bimbos” in this comedy directed and written by Don Richardson.
“The fate of humanity is at stake when a woman and her rogue M.I.B partner fight to stop a shape-shifting alien race from Venus on a mission to conquer mankind.”www.imdb.com/title/tt4856180
BAD KIDS GO TO HELL (Comedy/Mystery/Thriller)
Ryan plays the comical and peculiar Ms. Gleason in BAD KIDS GO TO HELL and brought her experience and professionalism to the set which was greatly appreciated by Director Matthew Spradlin as he shares, “Working on a film is stressful enough, so when an actress comes in who is as prepared as Chanel, it makes everyone’s job so much easier. And when an actress knocks the scene out of the park, like Chanel did in “Bad Kids Go To Hell”, then the audience wins as well.”
From IMDB: The Breakfast Club meets The Grudge in this sexy, dark comedy-thriller! Six prep school kids from Crestview Academy, home to the spoiled offspring of society’s elite, find themselves stuck in detention on a frightfully dark and stormy Saturday afternoon. During their 8 hour incarceration, each of the six kids falls victim to a horrible “accident” until only one of them remains. As each of these spoiled rich kids bites the dust, the story takes on a series of humorous and frantic twists and turns. Is one of the kids secretly evening the school’s social playing field? Or have the ghosts of prestigious Crestview Academy finally come to punish the school’s worst (and seemingly untouchable) brats? One thing is for sure…Daddy’s money can’t save them now.
MAYDAY(Action/Horror)
Recently, Ryan just signed on for Massimiliano Cerchi’s MAYDAY currently in pre-production. Cerchi shares a little detail about his film, “Mayday starring Michael Pare’ will begin shooting in 3 months. It will be an action/horror movie that is entirely shot inside an airplane. The story is that, every time the lights go off, a passenger disappears. It’s up to the Air Marshal (Michael Pare’) and a Stewardess to find out what is going on.” Keep updated by following the MAYDAY Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Mayday-436126309914430/
SMALL APARTMENTS (Comedy/Crime/Drama)
From legendary director Jonas Akerlund. Starring Matt Lucas, James Caan, Peter Stormare and Juno Temple to name a few. Look for Chanel as Swiss Miss in dream sequences with Matt Lucas
HELLS KITTY (Comedy/Horror)
Hell’s Kitty is a comedy horror series based on the true life events of Nick, a Hollywood writer, and Angel, his possessed and very possessive pussycat. Originally shot as a webseries with each episode featuring cameos from iconic actors within the horror genre and later edited into a feature film. Look for Chanel in both the finale episode of the webseries and soon to be released film.
HYPNOTIZED (Comedy)
Currently in post-production this comedy starring Vinnie Jones and Kevin Pollak is about five people stuck in an altered hypnotic state, after the hypnotist falls into a coma.
DRAKUL (Action, Drama, Horror)
Sen. Drake is on a quest to initiate a Vampire rapture upon the world, while the members of Cronos – labeled as international terrorists – will risk all to save the world from the darkness of Drake and his minions, known as The DRAKUL.
AZTEQ VS THE PROWLER (Action)
The disappearance of a masked luchador’s ex-girlfriend leads him, and a local police detective, to hunt down a mentally disturbed, deformed kidnapper.
BIGGER THAN THE BEATLES (Drama)
When Beach Boy Dennis Wilson introduced his new pal to the L.A. music scene, sparks began to fly. Charlie, an intense young singer-songwriter, soon was penning songs for the Beach Boys on his way to worldwide fame. Unfortunately, this new-found fame was not of the musical variety. You see…Charlie’s last name… was Manson. This project stems from the short film, “LIE,” filmed for the Atlanta History Center and Minnesota Historical Society. Look for Chanel in a cameo as Candice Bergen.
LOVE ADDICT (Comedy, Romance)
A womanizing attorney is unable to have sex after a hypnotherapy session to quit smoking goes awry and he seeks help from one of his clients, an uptight psychiatrist, who teaches him that there is more to women than just sex.
WOMAN ON THE EDGE (Drama, Mystery, Thriller)
Soon to be released on the Lifetime network.
DEAD SEA(Horror/Sci-Fi)
A Marine Biologist is assigned to investigate the mysterious deaths of marine life in an inland salt water lake that have been attributed to a creature thought to have been the stuff of legend.
In addition to being an accomplished actress, Chanel has been named Sexiest Woman on the Planet by multiple magazines in several different continents. She can be seen in many national advertisements including PEPSI, SATURN, VOLKSWAGEN, DEL TACO, WET & WILD COSMETICS, AUDI, COCA-COLA, and VISA. More than likely, you have seen her in campaigns for ANHEUSER BUSCH, BURKE WILLIAMS SPAS, HARLEY DAVIDSON SWIMWEAR, HARRAH’S CASINOS and MILLER BEER, as well as in fashion shows for FREDRICK’S OF HOLLYWOOD.
On the THE LATE LATE SHOW she stars as James Corden’s wife in the hilarious “Mother’s Day” skit opposite John Stamoswww.youtube.com/watch?v=QwROsG-kHV8
She’s not only dedicated to acting and modeling, she also is very active with animal charities. She would joke that she loves animals more than people! Chanel is passionate about protecting and fighting for animals since people are responsible for their safety and well-being. She is constantly rescuing and fostering dogs and cats while trying to find them a safe, loving home. Proceeds from Chanel’s merchandise available on her website and the many photos she autographs at events go to several different animal charities. There are a ton of great organizations and a few of her personal favorites are listed on the Animal Activist page on her website, www.chanelryan.com/active/index.html
To see more about Chanel and all her films, modeling, and TV seriesbe sure to go to her IMDB page and her website, Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram. Also, check out her amazing Press Highlight video.
PRESS HIGHLIGHT VIDEO:
www.chanelryan.com
www.imdb.com/name/nm0752457
www.facebook.com/pages/Chanel-Ryan
twitter.com/ChanelRyan
www.instagram.com/therealchanelryan
