Briana Roy's Black Girl Magic
Article by Aida Toro, Photo Editorial by Shannon Sewell
The Black Girl Magic movement is rising once again and this is due to successful young women like Brianna Roy. Roy may only be 14, but she sure as heck makes an impact...and not to mention that she is a major social media influencer with over 400K followers on Instagram!
“When I was six years old, I used to try on different clothes in front of the mirror and pose while asking my parents to take my pictures,” said Roy. “That’s how I got inspired to become a model.”
For Roy, her career started in Miami, Florida at the age of seven. She started modeling for companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Avis Budget, Walmart, among others. She then relocated to Los Angeles which is when she landed National and International Television Commercial gigs.
“One of my favorite projects was for Nike in 2017,” said Roy. “I did an international print ad for Nike and I was also on their website’s home page for three months.”
So far, Roy hasn’t been assigned a modeling project she doesn’t like. Aside from modeling for prominent print ads, Roy is also an actress and has appeared in a variety of television game shows, series and web series, as well as short films. One of her biggest projects was playing the role of Nina in the thriller “Reclaim”, where she also received the chance to star alongside John Cusack and Ryan Phillipe.
“Playing the role of Nina in the movie “Reclaim” was such a great experience for me and I learned so much from the other actors I worked alongside,” she said. “They are talented and experienced, therefore they taught me a lot, especially John Cusack with a long-lasting career in acting.”
Roy said it was not easy to play the role, especially while filming in Puerto Rico since it was a place she visited for the first time and also was not fluent in Creole or French during that time. She had to study and practice the languages a lot, however, she must admit that she was instantly connected to her career due to the fact that she is Haitian American.
Roy has also guest-starred on Disney Channel’s “Ravens Home” as Natalie, “On Recovery Road” as Young Trish, and recently on ABC’s Blackish alongside the hilarious Anthony Anderson. Lastly, she’s also starred in a feature film called “The Forgiven” as Bendu William and guest-starred on a Web Series called Social Circle which will be out soon.
“Social Circle is about girl empowerment, diversity, different problems teen and tween girls go through, about culture, race, and overall finding your identity,” she said.
Now as a social influencer, Roy is inspiring through digital platforms as well. Her quest as a social media influencer began when she started posting pictures every day across all of the platforms she was utilizing. She even started to create some cool videos to post on an app called Funimate. She noticed that a lot of young kids were reaching out to her and asked her to post more because they felt they related to her content. They asked Roy for advice, fashion tips, hair products, modeling, and so much more.
“As I am growing and my fan base is growing, brands started to reach out to me asking to collaborate,” she said. “I enjoy posting about hair products because as a proud afro carrier, it’s really important to show other girls that it is okay to wear your natural hair and not be afraid to show it off.”
Outside of being an Influencer, actress, and model. Roy said she is just her, a Leo born on August 14th, 2005 in Hollywood, Florida who likes to goof around with the family.
“I try to spend some quality time with my family and cook which is also my passion right now,” she said. “Also, designing clothes and rap for fun.”