Anthony Laurent

At an early age, Anthony Laurent was introduced to living beyond the limits of life and the seductive siren's call created between performer and audience. As the youngest of three children raised on the south side of Chicago, he was given free reign to discover himself and his own limitation. After innumerable trips to local urgent care centers and hospitals to be stitched, braced, bandaged, and nurtured back to vanquish the imaginary dragons of childhood, his parents realized that limitations was not a concept in Anthony's vocabulary. Read more... break beyond the constraints of social norms to explore the myriad of emotions necessary to embody the characters he portrays in his craft.

The call of the stage is not unknown to Anthony. It is a mesmerizing lure to which he was exposed as early as his portrayal of a photographer in his first grade Easter Parade play. The relationship between the artist and the audience was indelibly sealed when he was taught by his cousin to DJ and emcee - he quickly learned how the pleasure of the crowd could be held delicately in his hand; the memories of the reciprocated pleasure fostered by his blending of their favorite songs to the joy he received left a lasting impression on him a thrill that to this day still gives him chills.



The journey back to his first love, performing, has had interesting turns. Upon graduating from Morehouse College with a B.A., he worked in the financial services industry and realized that he also had a passion for educating adolescents about financial literacy. This passion led to his creating a non profit foundation, Kelly's Loving Hands (KLH) which offers financial literacy education to disadvantaged youth.

In the fashion of one committed to be the best at the thespian craft, Anthony has sought and received theatrical training from some of the industry's best practitioners: Peter Miner, Ann Raychel, Susan Batson, and his current acting coach Jennifer Gelfer, of Haymarket Annex Studio. Each has played a significant role in preparing him for his many television appearances on USA Network's White Collar, ABC's All My Children, and Adult Swim's Delocated. During the summer of 2010, Anthony experienced international exposure during his visit to Tokyo in his portrayal of NYPD Detective Smith in the feature film Hotel Chelsea. Other films in which he has co-starred include Jackpot and When I Met a Gun, and Something Old, Something New.

In June of 2011, Anthony immersed himself in the portrayal of I.D. Berkovitch's Yakov in The New Worlds Theatre Project's translation of Under The Cross. It is in the presentation of this young man's pain, self loathing, and self discovery that the audience sees as Ron Cohen of Backstage notes Laurent's "affecting emotionality".

In addition to acting and KLH, athletics and travel are Anthony's passion. He is an avid participant and fan of both golf and boxing as he enjoys the demands that both sports require of the body and the mind. Additionally, he loves to travel and has seen the beautiful pageantry of life in Southeast Asia, South America, Africa, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East.