Only 16, this Memphis kid has performed nationwide and stars in ‘Michael’
Briarcrest student Jaylen Hunter, pictured May 18, recently starred as young Marlon Jackson in “Michael”. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
For the last 35 years, Chrysti Chandler has led the Young Actors Guild, which offers arts and theater programming to Memphis youth. After training thousands of performers, she can instinctively identify top talent.
And when a 7-year-old Jaylen Hunter showed up at the nonprofit’s summer camp in 2017, she knew he would become a star.
He was a triple threat who could act, sing and dance. He was funny and charismatic. He excited crowds. He quickly and thoroughly memorized scripts, and you could count on him to know not just his lines but everyone else’s.
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Young Actors Guild Michael Jackson Broadway Briarcrest High School Jaylen Hunter Subscriber OnlyThank you for reading The Daily Memphian. Your support is critical.
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John Klyce
John Klyce is an enterprise reporter with The Daily Memphian who writes a wide range of in-depth features, as well as profiles about local leaders, scientists, musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, and anyone else doing exciting and important work in this city. He previously spent four years with the Memphis Business Journal, where he covered public companies, startups, and innovation, and a fifth year with The Commercial Appeal, where he covered education, and chronicled how gun violence and poverty were affecting Memphis youth and their families. He has also been a fellow with the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. John has a B.A. in journalism from the University of Memphis and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Boston University.
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