Baltimore Actress Jennifer Rouse - why she loves acting and her city

Actress Jennifer Rouse is well rounded in performing - musician, model and actress. An actor named Mark Redfield who Jennifer has been friends with for years suggested she take an acting class. She took the advice and landed her first job on season 2 of The Wire. Jennifer loved the whole atmosphere of being on a film set.  She has been to L.A. numerous times to network. This has allowed her the big break of knowing some great contacts. The Baltimore native has a manager in New York that schedules work and auditions. Most of Jennifer's work has been between New York and Virginia. During this fall Jennifer will be in Canada acting in the film called Stingy Jack.

Jennifer realizes that every actress obstacle is the competition for roles. Jennifer truly believes that actors should keep taking classes and seminars to improve their craft. But a major part of this business is networking. The best thing is to meet as many people as you can who are in the industry. Jennifer attends alot of conventions and film festivals. You never know whom you may meet and what it may lead too. Jennifer also takes advantage of the social networks like Facebook and MySpace which open up a lot of opportunities to contact other actors and filmmakers. 

Just this week, Jennifer acted in a video series for Boston University that teaches people how to speak English. A few weeks ago she finished up Episode 3 of The Adventures of Louanna Lee, which is a teen series from Maryland producer Lee Doll. Jennifer also showed her talents in films like My One And Only, Body of Lies, State of Play, SALT, One-Eyed Horse and the John Waters film A Dirty Shame. Acting isn't the only thing that Jennifer is involved with. She associate produced and starred in Mark Redfield's The Death of Poe.  Besides her 10 episodes on the TV show The Wire, Jennifer also acted on The West Wing as a secret service agent.

In two years Jennifer wants to be able to say that she has continued to find interesting roles to play and to work on the other side of the camera with the production teams of film. She is currently writing a screenplay that she hopes to produce. What does Jennifer think of Baltimore City's need to jump start the independent film scene? She thinks competitive tax incentives needs to be corrected. Maryland used to be among the most popular states in the country for filmmaking. Now, with the tax incentives cut we've dropped to almost the bottom of the list. This forces local actors and actresses to travel elsewhere to find work. It would also be great if a large studio facility were built in the state so films could be shot in their entirety here in Maryland. Additionally, if the state government would offer tax credits to the studio like they do with sports complexes like Camden Yards it would make the prospect of a Maryland facility more attractive. With role model actresses like Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Susan Sarandon, Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet, Jennifer is eager to keep working in film. You can learn more about Baltimore's own Jennifer Rouse by view her website www.jenniferrouse.com.