Alumni Spotlight: Sipiwe Moyo '01

Meet Sipiwe Moyo '01, a working actor and health coach, who has a bachelor's in acting from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. We recently caught up with Sipiwe about her life as an actor, some of her proudest accomplishments, and a few of her favorite Indian Springs memories. 

What is your current job title and what are your main responsibilities?

I just finished working as a lead actor on a new series that premieres April 29 on Apple TV called Widow’s Bay starring Matthew Rhys. It’s a comedy/horror/thriller. I am excited about this show because I feel it will be a special one unlike anything else on tv right now. I consider myself a “journeyman actor,” meaning that I work regularly, my skills are known and trusted, and I’m active in the world of entertainment without being a celebrity. As is this case for most working actors, we are the backbone of the entertainment world because of our consistency, accessibility, and talent. As a New York actor, that means I’ve been on shows like FBI, Law and Order: SVU, Blue Bloods, and Raising Kanan. Journeymen (and women!) are hard-working actors who pound the pavement and keep productions running by doing great work and then going home. We are “Pros from Dover” sent in on a mission!

 

I am reluctant to give advice because, in creative fields, everyone’s path is unpredictable and unique. Generally: take risks. I regret spending too much time early on trying to give casting directors what I thought they wanted and waiting for someone to give me “permission” to be bold in my acting choices. So much of what is needed is for you to bring yourself and your own unique qualities to the forefront. That’s not taught - you must trust your own instincts, take chances, ask questions, and don’t worry about sounding dumb. Try out for something that might not necessarily be in your wheelhouse. Feel the fear and do it anyway. It’s less important to “get it right” and more important to be boldly authentic. What happens after that is out of your control.

 

Also, there can be a lot of “meantime” between gigs and what you do in the meantime is very important. Yes, it can be scary, but mostly you need to live your life and have things that ground you: family, chosen family, community, spirituality, fitness, other healthy passions – anything that grounds you. When you have an artistic temperament, it is easy to get unmoored by day-to-day life. For me, family life is very grounding and gratifying so that then when I go off into the crazy la-la-land of character and story, I can really let loose knowing that I have a ground zero of my everyday life to reset me when I’m done. 

 

Acting is a "people" business, and having a southern sensibility and growing up in supportive environments like Indian Springs, you have a certain openness and willingness to be friendly on set and in auditions. If you can have a personal connection with people that is genuinely curious and interested speaking as yourself, it’s simple but significant. 

 

Hard work is another skill, and at the end of the day you have to just sit down and study. Research everything you can about the role and the story. Get up early, get in and stay in shape, be on time. Run that scene over and over again. It can be tedious and arduous, but you just have to do the work. Coming from Springs, I had a good muscle for studying – lock it down and get it done. You can’t skip over that part. 

The work I am most known for is Orange is the New Black because I was on that show for two seasons as a recurring guest star and part of the ensemble. That show was special because it was one of the first streaming shows that people binged, and it was a largely female cast. It was a career launching pad for many women of color and a vehicle for actors who had talent but didn’t get to work much because of a lack of opportunities. It was a familial and happy set, and I’m still good friends with many of my cast mates and crew members. I felt especially lucky to be on the last season of Orange is the New Black and there for the last day of shooting. There were folks who’d been working on the show since its beginning. It was so emotional because they had made such a huge cultural impact by depicting women from all walks of life in prison. At the time, that was groundbreaking, and it feels good to have been a small part of such a milestone in the Golden Age of TV.

 

There is no typical day. Most of my life is mom life – that’s my #1 job – in my car shuttling from activities, pick up, drop off, errands. I am also a holistic health coach, and I am preparing for a wellness workshop series right now that I’m very excited about. I have health coaching clients that I see and, I am always auditioning because, as a journey woman actor, that is what you do. Auditioning is a skill that I always have to be ready and available to do, and properly preparing for that is extremely important. Luckily, post pandemic, auditions can be done at home. Before, it was a 1.5 hour round trip commute into the city, getting a babysitter, sometimes a few times a week. I much prefer walking down to my basement! And of course, on the very best days, I am on set.  

 

I can’t talk about Springs without talking about my sister, Koliwe Moyo ’94, who passed away in 2017. She was a big personality and an Indian Springs celebrity in my eyes.  I remember going there as an elementary school kid and thinking the place was so cool – the ’90s Indian Springs with tie dye Pop Out Fair shirts, hippy Birkenstocks, and kids just wandering around looking cool. Koliwe was at the center of it all, laughing and having so much fun hanging out with her friends. It really looked like the place to be. Then, I had a jolt when I started attending and realized how academically rigorous it was. It was A LOT of hard work. What I remember fondly looking back is the downtime. It was pre-smart phones, so if you weren’t in class or studying for a major test or assignment, you were just sitting around talking. We were often outdoors naturally becoming a close-knit community who would just chat, laugh, and joke. Someone would get up and go to class, others would join, and there was no other digital destination. We were only there, no constant photos – you just had to be there. I’m nostalgic for the simplicity of that and grateful I had it. The opportunity to gather, chat, and share ideas and be heard is central to Springs.

 

Being very involved with theater, I have great memories of rehearsals and downtime with the theater teacher, Elizabeth Holcomb, and all the theatre kids (shout out Keith Nelson '00, my Romeo!) Elizabeth was a great mentor to me. She was new then and had fresh ideas and was open to and supportive of my passion for acting. I was cast as Juliet, and that wouldn’t have happened had a more “traditional” theatre teacher been there. I felt very seen, supported, and respected by her. Having a mentor like that is very important for a young person. We look up to the adults in our world for guidance and affirmation and, in a close-knit setting like Indian Springs, that can have a huge effect on your experience and growth. I’m so lucky she was there for me. She inspired me to take risks in acting, directing, and even helped with my college theater audition tapes (on VHS!) that eventually led me to study acting at NYU. When a teacher understands and sees that spark in a student and helps them channel it in a healthy way, it can be life changing. It was for me.

 

Theater was a lifesaver, as I’ve said, and I was also in the African-American student caucus which was meaningful because there were only a handful of black students then, and it was important for us to come together, find a safe space of solidarity, do service projects, and have fun.

 

Chats like this, sending videos for celebrations, talking to students when I’m in town, staying close with friends from Springs. I think it would be different if I lived in Alabama, but Indian Springs is always in my heart. I grew up only two minutes away, so it’s practically an extension of my childhood home! 

 

Something I’m actually teaching my kids about now is philanthropy, as I’m often fundraising for their school (think Indian Springs, but all girls!). Starting to think of yourself as a “philanthropist” at a young age is important because it binds you to causes and institutions that you care about now. You don’t have to wait until you are old and rich, you can be a philanthropist at any age and at any amount, and in even different currencies. It doesn’t always mean a check – support can be volunteering your valuable time and talents. What matters is your role in supporting a place that you love and keeping it alive and vibrant.

 

Free time? Ha! Since it would not be cool to say “sleeping and drinking wine,” I’ll say that now that my kids aren’t babies, I’ve rediscovered reading and have started a “black lady book club” where we read books by and about black women. It’s fun (and there’s also wine!). I love traveling with my family and watching movies – I’m bingeing a bunch now in preparation for Sag Awards voting. Every so often, I escape and pop into the city to catch a show. What a treat! And I spend a lot of time in community – my kids’ school, my church, my neighborhood, my town – any chance to gather in fellowship is really important to me right now.

I would love to still be “journeying” and working as a series regular on a prestige TV show. Everything else, I wouldn’t change – if my family is healthy, we’re contributing in our community to make the world a bit better, and peace is the order of the day – I’m happy!

 

Feel the fear and do it anyway. Anything worth doing and that you care deeply about will be scary, but if you’ve worked hard, prepared, and you believe in yourself, then feel the fear and do it anyway. Don’t let the fear, the doubts, the comments, the haters – whatever that noise is – don’t let it stop you. Trust yourself. And be patient. There’s value in playing the long game. I have decided I am going to keep doing this until I can’t do it anymore. I’ll have someone wheel me onto set and whisper the lines to me in a little device in my ear…I’ll never quit!