Tiffany Elle Burgess has always been creative, but up until recently, she didn’t know that would extend to acting.
Burgess, who lives in Atlanta, is an author, screenwriter, and one-third of the team behind Tyler Street Films. She can also be seen on screen as Olivia, the daughter of main character Celie, in the recent 2023 film adaptation of “The Color Purple.” The film won Outstanding Motion Picture at the 2024 NAACP Image Awards.
Burgess has been writing since she was a little girl, and is the author of three children’s books and multiple screenplays. But after doing a showcase with Premier Actors’ Network in 2019, she was signed by People Store Talent Agency as an actress – something she never expected to happen.
Soon after, she got the chance to audition for “The Color Purple” – starring the likes of Fantasia Barrino, Colman Domingo, and Danielle Brooks – and she landed the role, making her big screen debut. Rough Draft Atlanta recently spoke to Burgess about her journey to film and her experience on set.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I read that you got your degrees in biology and public health. How did you make the switch over to acting? What was that decision like?
Tiffany Elle Burgess: I’ve always been a creative because I’ve always been a writer. I’ve been writing since I was a little girl. The cool thing about Emory, where I went for my graduate degree, is they have these courses that you can take. You know, you pay the tuition, you get the discount as an alum. So I decided to take creative writing and publishing years ago, like in 2007 or 2008, so I could really hone my character development skills and all of that good stuff.
That helped me stay in tune with my creative life. I wrote a couple of children’s books, and then I wrote a screenplay with my partners [Lawrence Watford and Jack L. Manning III]. We own Tyler Street Films, a production company. My screenplay was written in 2016, and that really was my introduction to the creative world outside of writing children’s books. I’m still in public health as a consultant by day, so I’m juggling both careers.
I’m glad you brought up your children’s books. Is that something you want to do more of in the future?
Burgess: Absolutely. I’ve written three. That’s one of my passions. I’ve got seven nieces and nephews, and they’re not babies anymore. The youngest is 16, the oldest is 31. But I still like to write for children. Since I was a little girl, my short stories and things were mostly children’s stories. Growing up in Nashville, I would win these contests. It’s just always been an outlet. A way for me to escape. It’s almost like a way to escape reality and go into my own little world in my own mind and create my own environment. That’s something I just absolutely love to do.
When it comes to writing or acting or producing, is there something you enjoy doing more so than the others?
Burgess: At this point, I feel like I enjoy all of it. All of it feeds me in a different way. Writing is just always going to be my first love, because literally I’ve done that since I was five or six years old. But I would say there’s something about acting out the character and bringing a character to life, and just the energy on set – all of that has filled me, you know?
And the production – to see something go from … first an idea, and then a pitch deck, and then a beat sheet, and then I’m scripting out our first short film “Flipped.” To actually get it shot and produced, and then watch people’s reactions – because it’s been screened all over the country – I don’t know the word to describe the feeling, you know what I mean?
You mentioned your production company, Tyler Street Films. When did that endeavor come about and what’s been the most fruitful part of that for you?
Burgess: 2016. So the guys and I all went to Hampton University. We’re all alums, we all have different backgrounds from graphic design, to – I think Lawrence was a sociology major or something, and then I was bio/pre-men. Law went on to film school, and Jack is a photographer, and I was always writing. We formed the group, or company rather, when Jack came to me with the idea for “Flipped.” He had taken the photos for my first children’s book, “Skin Like Mine.”
At the same time, I was in a grief process. I lost my grandparents in 2015. They have been married for 71 and a half years in rural Tennessee, and they died 10 months to the day. So I feel like all of that pushed me, right? Jack knew that, and he’s been my friend. He was like, you’re such a talented writer and I have this idea.
We talked about it, and at the same time, I lost my aunt that summer. Now it’s three major, prominent people in my family – because my aunt was like my second mom, and everyone’s in Tennessee – [have] passed away. And my aunt was a creative. She would write, she would act … she just had all this energy. Through grief and going through that process sometimes, it can push you, and on the other side of it is something beautiful that you know that you’re loved one can be proud of. I was grieving my aunt, and I sat one weekend at Starbucks and I wrote the script for “Flipped.” We started shooting from there, we formed Tyler Street, and that was all 2016. It came out in 2017, and then we’ve had some subsequent films and now we’re in the middle of pitching a television series.
I know that you got involved with Premier Actors’ Network early in your career. How did that shape you as an actor and help push your career forward?
Burgess: We call it PAN Fam. That’s what it’s called. Premier Actors’ Network was just very instrumental. I attended my first class with an actor here, who has been in “Black Panther,” he’s on “Average Joe.” His name is Stanley Aughtry. We went to Hampton together, and he is my significant other. So, my boyfriend and I go to the class, and I was there just to watch these people do their thing so I could take the words, you know? I was getting inspired as a writer. And they just poured into me. They were like, we see something more.
It was an advanced acting class, and I’ve always been one of those people that live – I know this is going to sound really crazy – but have you ever just been around people that sometimes they’re in their own little world? And you escape?
Yeah.
Burgess: Because in life and in society, everything can be so hard and stressful at times. I love imagination, right? They kept telling me they saw something on the outside of being behind the camera. So, I get in front of the camera, and at first I’m just like, in my opinion, hot trash. Like, I’m struggling to remember lines, I’m nervous. And my PAN Fam, Premier Actors Network, under the tutelage of Dwayne Boyd – just a wonderful network of actors and actresses and writers and producers, [supporting] one another – they kept pushing me, and pushing me. And then I did a showcase. Premier does a big showcase, a couple a year. I made the showcase cut.
How did the opportunity for “The Color Purple” come about? What was that audition process like?
Burgess: My agent Thom – who’s amazing, Thom Milam, with People Store – sent me the audition. It was a quick turn around, and he was like, hey – they’re coming out with the new “The Color Purple.” I knew it was going to be based on the Broadway musical. He was like, they’re looking for Olivia, Celie’s daughter. I love “The Color Purple,” so I’m one of those “Color Purple” fans. I submit my audition, and pray … from a religious standpoint, I turn it over. I’m still anxious, don’t get me wrong. But I’m just like, okay – I’ve done the best I can.
Three weeks later, I was finishing work, it was around 4 or 5. I was about to close my laptop, and my cell phone rang. It’s funny, because they’re in my phone, but every time Thom calls you, it’s always like, Tiffany! Thom Milam, People Store. And I’m like, I know Thom – you’re in my phone! [He’s] like, okay. Well, hey – guess what? You won the role of Olivia. Welcome to “The Color Purple.” I just started screaming. He was laughing, and [saying] we’re proud of you over here at People Store. It took off from there. You have COVID testing and music and rehearsals. It’s just been a fun ride.
It came out last year, so that was probably right in the midst of COVID as far as shooting on set. What was it like on set? Not necessarily when it comes to COVID, but just your general experience?
Burgess: 2022 was the first time I was on set, and there’s just all the testing, right? All of the testing and masking, multiple COVID tests to keep everyone safe.
The energy was amazing. It was like, to me, a family reunion. I go into my first rehearsal, and there’s Colman Domingo. He’s just chilling, and he’s like, hey! I remember, he was like, you have some pretty eyes! You know? He’s just energy! And then here comes Fantasia [Barrino], and she’s got her hat on – there’s a picture that I posted, and other cast members posted, from that first day of rehearsals for that scene and song, which is the ending song called “The Color Purple.” She’s coming in, and she’s just got her hat on … and she’s got that North Carolina charm. She’s like, ooh, I like your boots, you know?
Tangela Large was our dialect coach. She’s there the first day, and she is amazing. Amazing. She’s just energy. I’m from Nashville, but my character is coming back from Africa, you know what I mean?
Yeah, it’s probably difficult to get that right.
Burgess: Right? My joke was, I can’t come back, get out the car and be like, hey momma! [Laughs] … Tangela worked with me and everyone else. She worked with folks who don’t have a natural southern drawl like I do, because it’s set in Georgia, shot in Savannah. Tangela definitely deserves her flowers, because she sent us multiple tapes, she went through, she made sure we had a certain nasal [quality], a certain accent she wanted us to use, so that it would be more authentic for where we were coming back from in that scene.
I have nothing to say but just positive, energy, excitement – literally like a family reunion. Great energy, and safe. That was the other thing. Because I am a public health professional by day, which wasn’t widely known, but some people knew. So I appreciated the precautions. Testing can get old, right? But it was necessary.
Yeah. I love the family reunion aspect, and I think that definitely comes across in that scene in the film. It’s nice to hear it existed behind the scenes as well. What else do you have coming up in the future? You mentioned you’re in the middle of pitching a TV show, but what else is there?
Burgess: I audition all the time, which is a blessing. Literally all the time – I turned in two yesterday. So just the constant process of auditioning, a constant process of honing your skills and continuing to learn the craft. The writing, I had an opportunity to write for a show that’s going to be shot on Tubi. I signed a contract and wrote an episode for that, so we’ll see how that turns out. They start shooting in April.
I started just sketching out other scripts, so the writing is definitely going to be continuing. BUt the guys and I, we’ve put a lot into this series, pitching and shooting our sizzle reel, and making sure our pitch deck and our one sheet is tight. That has just been our focus, because we are determined to get this series, that focuses on our time at an HBCU, sold and shot.
Update: After the publication of this article, “The Color Purple” won Outstanding Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards. This article has been updated to reflect that win.
