Features

Chyna Lane

By RYCH McCAIN

At the recent American Film Institute's premiere at the world famous Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood for the movie Precious, one of the female cast members overshadowed the presence of Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry and the film's star, Mo'nique, on the red carpet. That young actress was Chyna Layne.

Layne plays Rhonda, the classmate of Clareece "Precious" Jones played by Gabourey Sidibe. They are students at a special education school for misfit students who have been kicked out of everywhere else.

Chyna Lane

By RYCH McCAIN

At the recent American Film Institute's premiere at the world famous Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood for the movie Precious, one of the female cast members overshadowed the presence of Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry and the film's star, Mo'nique, on the red carpet. That young actress was Chyna Layne.

Layne plays Rhonda, the classmate of Clareece "Precious" Jones played by Gabourey Sidibe. They are students at a special education school for misfit students who have been kicked out of everywhere else.

Aubrey Mann

His full-time job has been entertaining audiences as a torch singer mostly at night for the past 40 years. That's why Toronto-based singer Aubrey Mann's wife was in total disbelief a few months ago when he boldly announced he was seeking a day job.

The entertainer, who celebrated his 58th birthday last Saturday, had just released a new CD celebrating his four decades in the music industry and was looking for a new challenge.

Olunike Adeliyi

Though her name was not well known in the movie industry, she was a perfect fit for the character that the producers of the CTV series, Flashpoint, were seeking to fill a role for their third season.

An extensive search in Canada produced just one individual, Toronto-born Olunike Adeliyi, who compared favourably with the physically strong and "tough as nails" character that the producers were looking for to play Leah Kerns in the Canadian police TV drama series that recently won three Gemini awards, including Best Drama.