About the Job
Aiysha Levinsky
The Note
About the Job
Biracial Black/white woman or appearing. Preference to appear about 28 years old. Natural textured haistyles preferred during the shoot. Preference for comfort with some improv dialogue. This character has a worldly aesthetic with some afro-punk elements. Character Background: Aiysha (pronounced Aiy-sha, not Ay-ee-sha) Levinsky is a Newspaper and Freelance Photographer working in Oakland. Outwardly, she puts on a professional persona that has her life together and everything under control. However, her tragic flaw as a people pleaser is that she always caters to others and suppresses her own emotions. An introvert, she often walks looking down, and generally tries not to draw attention to herself. She has an anxious tic of biting her nails or lip. Her mother is Black, and her father is white. She mainly grew up in the Black community and is very disconnected from her father’s side of the family. Aiysha’s parents separated when she was very young. She initially grew up with both parents in the home. There were happy moments, but also a lot of arguing that she has early memories of. Her father moved out when she was 6. Aiysha would continue to see him twice a week. They would go out and do fun things, and from a young child’s perspective, he was the “fun parent” and her mother was the serious one. But he eventually became neglectful and stopped properly taking care of Aiysha by not buying her food during their outings, neglecting to care for her when she was sick, and exhibiting general odd behavior. Aiysha began to fear her father and grew more and more uncomfortable around him. After much turmoil, growing tired of being in between her parents' fights, and tired of his psychological mind games, as she got older, she grew to realize that her father was a neglectful parent, and her mother’s seriousness and actions were those of a responsible parent. With no outlet for her unaddressed emotions, she decided to stop seeing him when she was 10.
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