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So you’re interested
in my life story, huh? Well, I must tell you that I am one very lucky
person…and my life has been a dream so far.
 Believe
it or not, It all started at the beach when I was in my teens! I was
lying there soaking up the sun when a swimwear company approached
me to model for them. Well, as you can imagine, I was SO excited.
Of course I said yes!! What could be better than getting paid to hang
out at my favorite place? An extra bonus was getting free swimsuits.
I was in heaven!
The
next significant episode that helped shape my career happened at the
park! I know you think I’m making it up, but I swear it’s
true. While my friend Diane and I were hanging out, we were asked
to audition for an upcoming catalog shoot. The audition process was
relatively painless. The casting director snapped a few Polaroids
of each of us, had us fill out paperwork, and we were on our merry
way! The next day I received a phone call notifying me that I had
booked the job and was to report that Saturday with Diane!! What luck!!
You can imagine how thrilled I was! The third remarkable event encouraged
me to pursue a career in modeling and acting. I was having dinner
with my friend Stephanie and her family. Stephanie’s older sister,
Kim, was just breaking into the film industry as a wardrobe stylist
working on a Roger Corman film. (Yes, she is now very successful.)
Well, guess who was coming to dinner?!? Yup, the director himself!
He thought we were really cute and invited us to Venice Beach to be
in the film - WOW!! I was given a small role in a film entitled “Beach
Balls”. Promise not to laugh when I tell you about my part.
I played a waitress dressed in a bikini, with a rubber ducky inner
tube around my waist, flippers on my feet, and goggles on my head!
It’s okay to laugh…it was rather comical. But hey, ya
gotta start somewhere!
Since
I am a big believer in fate, serendipity, and karma, I took these
three occurrences to be omens. Things seemed to be going my way, (maybe
that’s because I’m a Sagittarian - we are thought to be
good luck!) I decided to get serious and start pursuing a career more
aggressively. I started by having professional photos taken. Some
of them are quite sad! So sad they are laughable!. I then began studying
with an acting coach, got a theatrical agent, and started auditioning.
Lucky for me (even with my funny photos,) the jobs started pouring
in... a few shorts, various public service announcements, commercials,
T.V. shows, and several full-length features. And of course modeling
jobs ranging from swimwear to magazine covers; diet products to the
Home Shopping Network. Fortunately for me, my luck keeps getting better
despite all the competition…and rejection. Believe me there
is a lot of that!
More
and more opportunities continue to present themselves and consequently
my life keeps improving. I’ve had the good fortune to work with
many famous celebrities, actors, and directors while traveling all
over the United States as well as many tropical locations. And this
is called work?? I’ve appeared on many television shows including:
“Roseanne”, “General Hospital”, “The
Magic Show”, “The Ricki Lake Show”, and “The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” You may also have seen me on the
E Channel in fashions shows such as “Frederick’s of Hollywood”,
“The Swimsuit Spectacular”, and Fox Sports net 54321 with
host BMXer Kip Williamson for Benchwarmer Trading Cards.One of the
highlights of my career so far was the incredible experience of working
with Gary Sinese and Mare Winningham in the TNT movie “Wallace”
directed by John Frankenheimer. I had a featured role as a southern
belle named Susie. I was excited and terrified at the same time! Working
with such experienced and talented actors, and such a well-respected
veteran director made me realize how much I still had to learn and
motivated me to get moving!
Remember
the Universal film BASEKETBALL? I was cast as one of the Dallas Felon
cheerleaders. It stars those zany creators of “South Park”,
Matt Stone and Trey Parker with cameos from Jenny McCarthy, Yasmine
Bleeth, Kato Kalin, and Reggie Jackson! A whole new wacky sport called
Basketball is created. The cheerleaders (that’s me) are not
your average cheerleaders, oh no! “Frederick’s of Hollywood”
provided our “uniforms”. Mine was black leather lingerie,
with a whip instead of pompoms. Get the idea?
During
my brief stint on the daytime soap “General Hospital”
I had the fabulous surprise of meeting the singing group, “98
”, who was performing live for the cast during the taping of
the show. I was a gangster’s moll to the very menacing gangster
“Sorel”. I can’t say enough good things about everyone
involved with the creation of GH. Casting, stage crew, wardrobe, make-up,
and cast - they were all incredibly nice to me.
Even
more fulfilling has been my modeling career. To this day, it still
gives me a thrill to book a job and see my image appear on the finished
product…whatever it may be. A few of my favorites include:
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Garth Brooks’ album cover!! Pretty
amazing, huh? I thought so too! It is such a thrill to meet
someone I have listened to on the radio, seen his photos everywhere,
admired his talent, and then discover he is an unbelievably
likable guy too! Any motorcycle racing fans out there? Well,
I was fortunate enough to work with another amazingly nice guy
- professional motorcycle rider, Jeremy McGrath. The Yamaha
ad campaign was based on the whole “Austin Powers”
mania. “Yeah, baby!” Jeremy is dressed in a blue
velvet suit, looking very psychedelic. Three other beautiful
models and I are dressed like Fembots! .
Talk about your sweet tooth! When I shot ads for “Spree”
candy, I was given a whole case of “Sprees” - yum!
Those lasted about three days!! * Oh, and that’s my mouth
your looking at in the ads!
Calling all beer connoisseurs! You may be interested in the
poster for Miller Genuine Draft. It features me along with five
other gorgeous models, all sporting sexy soccer outfits. Imagine
getting paid to be pampered! That’s just what I did while
shooting the ads for Burke Williams Spa. Now that’s living
right.
Las Vegas, here we come! That’s me dancing in ads
for Harrah’s Casino. There is a huge misconception that
it is always sunny and bright in ‘Vegas. I’ll
let you in on a little secret - it was freezing.
Jump on the bandwagon. If you aren’t yet familiar with
Benchwarmer Trading Cards, you will be soon. It’s the
new craze in collectibles. I am lucky enough to be the featured
model on eleven of the cards. Check ‘em out.
Believe it or not. Surely you’ve seen me wearing daisy
duke shorts and a polka dot top in the ads for Ben Nye cosmetics?
Not really - it’s body paint!
Laugh? I thought I’d die. We all know who Bill Murray
is. Well, I found out he is as funny in person as he is on
the big screen. I couldn’t stop laughing while working
with him on an episode of the Murray Brothers Sitcom, “The
Sweet Spot.”
Back to the ‘60s. Filming “The Andy Williams Easter
Special”, for the BBC network starring Andy himself,
was a real kick. I play Andy’s girlfriend whose dialog
is very tongue in cheek. Imagine me all sixtied out with powder
blue eye shadow, frosty pink lipstick, and bouffant hairdo
saying things like “Let’s go daddio” and
“What’s happenin’ crater papa?”
Don’t touch that dial! Be sure to pay attention during
the next commercial break - you just might catch me there.
Some of my national commercials are Pepsi, Expedia.com, Del
Taco, Siemens, Coke, and Visa.
You oughta be in pictures. I have also appeared in the editorial
section of SELF and CONTROVERSY magazines. Cover spots include
LONGEVITY, HAIRDRESSERS JOURNAL, and MINI BIKE to name a few.
This list would not be complete without a mention of “Frederick’s
of Hollywood.” I have done numerous fashion shows for
them, some of which were shot at 4:00 A.M. for the early news
programs. And believe me this woman is not a morning person!
My very favorite was in New York City for “The Ricky
Lake Show.” Talk about chaos!! I learned the meaning
of the word “backstage.” Two shows are taped daily
and all the guests for both shows are running around backstage
nervous and frantic trying to get camera-ready. I know, ‘cause
I was one of them.
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So
there you have it…my life in a nutshell. I love hearing from
you, so please, please keep those emails coming. Let me know what’s
on your mind, and what sort of features you would like to see on
my site. All you questions, suggestions, and comments are important
to me. Be patient with me and help me along. Right now I am what
I call “electronically challenged”, although I learn
a little more every day. My top priority is to communicate with
you, so I’m doing my best to educate myself about computers
and cyberspace.
I
am very excited about the future…full of hopes and dreams...
I hope you will share it with me.
Chanel Ryan
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My life... wow, what a story. Well, I’ve compiled a brief
re-count of my life up to the present. For more information,
please have a look at my 
