Jamelia Amor never thought she would direct stage plays.

 Amor, 36, has been involved in the entertainment industry in a number of different capacities. She is a proud full-figured model and was featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” segment “How to Look Good Naked” in 2008. She is also an actress—she played a role in a short film, “Crossing Jordan,” which was directed by a filmmaker and Columbia student, Marion McMillan. 

She is now branching into directing Christian plays. She is also the assistant director for “Desperate Part II,” the sequel to “Desperate,” a story about obstacles families face as they struggle to overcome heartbreak and disappointment, while remaining faithful to God. 

 The Chronicle spoke with Amor about how she got into directing, her inspiration and the entertainment industry. 

THE CHRONICLE: How did you get involved with directing and acting in Christian plays?

JAMELIA AMOR: I have been directing for the past year with R & J Productions. It came about when I took a break from the entertainment industry for about two and a half years. A friend who I’ve know for years, Richard Gallion came to my church, and he’s pretty well known. To get back into the swing of things, I started to sit in on his rehearsals to see what they were working on and what they were doing I was at home after one of the rehearsals, and I had an open vision of how the scene was supposed to go, so I immediately sent him a message telling him and he said, “You show us and tell us what to do,” and I wasn’t expecting that. I did it, and it turned out wonderful. The cast and everyone who came to see thoroughly enjoyed the entire show. Directing was nowhere on my radar, but years earlier a woman of God prophesied to me [that] I would be writing and directing. That’s never something I saw on my radar, let alone anything that has to do with entertainment, so I originally told [Gallion] no, but the next morning his words kept floating in my spirit and so I had to say yes. 

What plays have you directed?

I helped to direct the very end of the show of “Desperate Part I,” “Living Without Love” was the second production and my first full production was working as the assistant director for R & J Productions and “Desperate Part II” was the second production I worked on as the assistant director [alongside Gallion]. 

Do you have any plays coming out in the near future?

[Gallion] is working on writing some new material for the production company [and I am] about to go into some intense training for the next three to four months to work on the acting [and] directing so we can produce more shows. 

How have your plays affected your church community?

We did touring through different churches, community organizations [and] community centers [and took] some of the cast with us and showed the DVD of “Desperate Part I.” [We had] the cast take pictures and [sign] autographs [with the church and community members]. We would also pray for people, we would talk to them, and if they had questions about what they saw in the play [or] spiritual questions, we would minister through that and take time and answer [those questions]. That was an awesome experience.