For Jasmine Sargent, a Newport News native, stepping into a film role felt like more than another credit.

Playing Lisa in Doing Life gave the actress room to recognize how far she has come and how much further she wants to go.

The film follows a single mother and a former convict searching for hope, redemption and a fresh start.

Sargent’s character is a fiercely protective older sister, a role that required some imagination from the youngest sibling in her own family.

She drew on the compassion and loyalty she knows at home to find Lisa’s strength.

That shift from observing a big sister to portraying one helped her make the character her own.

The production moved quickly, with filming completed in four days, but its effect on Sargent lasted well beyond the schedule.

She did not expect the cast to grow so close, and their continuing connection became one of the experience’s surprises.

Her first visit to Tyler Perry Studios offered another moment to take in.

For someone who grew up in Newport News watching Perry’s work, being part of one of his productions carried personal weight.

The studio also made ambition feel tangible: someone had imagined that place, built it and opened doors for others.

That lesson matters to an actress who took a leap to Atlanta to pursue opportunities she could not yet see clearly.

Sargent has also appeared in Beauty in Black and House of Payne, building experience across different kinds of roles.

Still, she is looking beyond the next audition.

She hopes to work across entertainment and eventually create a family-centered sitcom of her own.

It is an expansive goal, but her time on Doing Life seems to have strengthened a simple belief: opportunity can arrive in unexpected forms.

For Sargent, finding her light means staying open to those moments and trusting that she belongs when they come.