Blake High student lands starring role on TV show

TAMPA (FOX 13) - A young talent at Blake High School is making a big mark in the acting world.

Shelby Ronea's career is taking off. The 17-year-old is no stranger to the stage at her young age.

The high school senior trains at Tampa's Patel Conservatory once a week. She just landed her first starring role in a TV show on cable channel TV One.

"I have a new role in 'Justice By Any Means.' I play young Melissa." she explained. "It was complete improv. It was fun, but very challenging sometimes, very frustrating, because I didn't know if I was serving the story right."

Her teacher, Eugenie Bondurant was in "The Hunger Games" movie. She believes Shelby has potential to be a great actress.

"She's observed and she connects with her partner which is a lot of what mostly acting is all about," Bondurant explained.

For Ronea, acting is more than a passion.
  
"Acting... is something that I fall in love with over and over again," Shelby said. "It's the end goal for me. I plan on acting until my last breathe because it is something that I could never give up."