Amazon Prime’s “Swarm” Actress Nirine Brown is on the Continued Rise of Stardom
On a recent livestream edition of “Listen In With KNN,” an award-winning sports talk podcast and radio show, executive producer and host Kelsey Nicole Nelson sat down with “triple threat” Nirine Brown. Brown is an actress and writer, known most recently for her work in the “Swarm” series thriller on Amazon Prime Video.
To begin the interview, the duo discussed what it was like for Brown growing up in Queens, NY and how she was able to achieve her dreams. Brown shared that growing up she went to a local dance school called the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center and studied under the direction of Ms.Bernice Johnson. Brown said, “a lot of alumni from that studio, such as Valarie Pettiford, who is an amazing actress. She also was one of the alumni. So, I come from a local dance studio in Queens. So, I was busy. My mom’s goal was to exhaust me!” Brown shared that going to a performing arts high school was a really big decision for her. Brown added, “it was the best decision that I’ve ever made.”
Brown found success early in her dance career. At the age of 12, Brown was chosen as “Scary Spice” for a national Spice Girl commercial which led to big interviews with “The Regis and Kathie Lee show,” VH-1, MTV etc.
Elaborating on what her dancing has meant to her as a child Brown said “for me, dance was so much fun! I don’t think I thought of it as an escape until I was older. When I was younger, it was just fun, and I was really good at it. When it’s fun, it’s genuine. People can see that joy. So, I don’t have that dark story. It was just fun.”
Brown attended the Performing Arts Talent Unlimited High School located in the Upper East Side of Manhattan where she was a Dance/Musical Theater major. Her first professional dance job was with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular as a famed Rockette upon graduating high school.
Nelson and Brown dove into her experience as a Radio City Rockette. Brown Said, “In all honesty, I knew who the Rockettes were, being from New York. I did not have a clue about the history of it. So, when I was doing my interviews, I was telling them that I’m going to be completely genuine about the whole aspect of being a Rockette.” Brown realized that it is an honor to be a Rockette because everyone loves it. Brown discussed how everyone sees it religiously as they try to be in a position to see this show. Brown added “I had no clue of the history until I did my own research. I didn’t do that research until I got into it, and I didn’t realize that it’s been around since 1933. And because it was historically white, I did not know this history. They didn’t let their first African American join the line until 1988, that’s a long time.”
Brown described the job of a Rockette as amazing! Brown said, “You do honestly have a sisterhood with all of these women that you’re entering the line with. Most of the eight years that I’ve done it, I was the only chocolate girl in the line. But, I tell people it’s like real world, but as a beautiful holiday Christmas show where we all have the same goals of spreading joy.”
Brown deferred her full dance scholarship she received upon graduating high school which was offered by SUNY Purchase Conservatory College for the spring semester. Brown said “Shoutout to SUNY Purchase who let keep my scholarship. But, I deferred it to January (of that year). I tried to do online schooling because education is very important! So, I was also trying to juggle that with everything. So, I am still in progress, but little by little. There’s no rush. That’s the beauty of college.”
Brown’s career continues to thrive. She has appeared in other media and dance projects ranging from working with notable music artists such as Beyoncé and Shakira. Her training in musical theater was honed through the Broadway Theater Project in Tampa, Fla. where she received a full scholarship.
Focusing on her career, Nelson asked what the experience was like being in different types of productions, specifically television productions. Brown said “For me, it was fun going from Tyler Perry’s show ‘Ruthless’ where I played Lynn Rollins. I played a woman who had a lot of resentment toward her husband due to his time consuming FBI job. So, going from that character to now embodying pop stars of this generation. It’s a lot of inner work.”
Brown’s body of work also Sprinter on Netflix, and as well as the short film W.A.L.L.D in 2022.
Brown has left her native New York and relocated to Los Angeles to continue to pursue her career. Brown spoke about how she was able to keep her professional relationships going after her move from New York to Los Angeles. Brown said “A lot of my people relocated to LA, and when they tell you that this life in this industry is all about relationships, it is legit! That is how I got in the loop of being in all these things is through my relationships with my people. Of course with an agent as well, you have to thrive in this industry.”
Some of her other credits include performing with the First National tour of Wicked the Musical, Fringe NYC Festival musical production of “Scandalous People” at the Minetta Lane Theater. She’s also appeared in “Dinner at Grandma’s” at The Black Spectrum Theatre, and the production of “Hattie… What I Need You to Know” playing as the young Hattie McDaniel starring actress Vickilyn Reynolds at the National Black Theatre located in Harlem, NY.
Brown continues to pursue her career and dreams in the arts, You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also watch this interview in its entirety here:
