Film courage: Choice, did you grow up in New York? Choice Skinner, Actor, Instructor, Filmmaker: Yeah I was born and raised Brooklyn New York
and I went to high school there, went to elementary school there, went to junior
high school. Mm-hmm yeah and I always say that I'm a "project kid," I don't have any
problem saying that, you know? That's something that uh sometimes people have
trouble with but I don't because I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't have
those experiences. I grew up not too far away from Mike Tyson you know in New
York we have what's called blocks and a block is maybe a couple of yards
depending on where you stay I was in East New York Brooklyn
I grew up across the street from Jefferson High School so Mike Tyson
stayed in the opposite direction and it's a funny story about that might I
say has some cousins and one day I had some sneakers that was given to me some
converse allstar we used to call them leather black on white upper ankle tops
and so high tops they called me and my brother he he was always the guy around
the neighborhood that everybody knew who was like you don't mess with this family
because of him well anyway I got these high tops in
school and by being on the honor roll and they were like eight these guys are
gonna take your sneakers I don't like what I just got him it's like who's
gonna take my sneakers and apparently they were like kind of played cousins of
Mike Tyson and so I was terrified throughout the whole class people were
telling me they're gonna take your sneakers what are you gonna do I gotta
figure out something so end of class the bell rings and I'm saying oh my god I
got to go out here and we get beat up in front of everybody and these guys are
gonna take my shoes my sneakers off of my feet so me being the smart person
that I was at that age I said okay I don't want to do that I'm gonna go to
the other direction so there was a teacher who she was leaving and I said
listen can I can I leave with you you mind if I walk out this way we went out
the back way as I walk out the back way I can look down the street on the corner
and I could see that these guys were waiting so I did the right thing and I
home as I get to the stoop my brothers standing and he said why you sweating
what's going on and I'm like these guys are gonna take my sneakers and he goes
who show me and so I go and I point to them and he goes all right you go home
he beats these guys up yeah my brother my brother he was an amazing being back
then in those days so anyway my point is the reason why I'm saying that is
growing up in Brooklyn it was tough it wasn't easy I got mugged it was it
was tough it was tough back in the 80s it wasn't easy but it helped me to get
into the martial arts which is something that's helped me in my life tremendously
and it helped me to know a lot about myself so you know I'm a smart guy I
mean you can't pull the wool over my eyes and you can't sell me the Brooklyn
Bridge it's not gonna happen anytime soon so yeah growing up no but that was
fun things in New York as well I mean it was great growing up in the 80s I mean
come on you had the best music you know and he had some of the best experiences
ever but uh I learned a lot about who I was and what I was going to become by
growing up in New York one of my favorite sort of sayings is owning your
own story and I heard that one time I was looking at some comments on an
article and someone talked about that and I was like wow and it's about
accepting where you're from and who you are and being okay with that I think a
lot of people do want to put on airs when they come to LA because their shame
or whatever I can say I felt that so when did you decide you know I'm gonna
own my own story and I'm okay with me mm-hmm I'll tell you this you know when
I when I first came out to LA was for music I was a music producer for an army
artist double platinum artists on RCA Records and one of the things that I've
learned you know I was fortunate to have a mom who even though she was raising
five young boys she was strong she went back to college she went got a GED then
went to college at a later age and she always took care of us and she always
made sure we have we needed when I moved to LA it was a thing of okay wait a
minute I've survived New York Brooklyn and why
would I have any shame and being from where I was at in
the projects to knowing that there's things that I can use that I learned as
a child here in LA so that whole thing in New York they call it the rat race
being able to pound the pavement being able to be a go-getter and being real
that fit in well for me when I moved to LA so I didn't have a problem you know
letting people know that I was from the project's I tell you this it's a funny
story when I went into a noir dition once I got into acting I got out of
music and I got into acting and I went in for an audition and it was for the
part of a thug and so I go in it's it's the audition room and I'm sitting in the
lobby and all these guys are sitting up there with tattoos and stuffing it mean
mugging and everything and I don't look anything like a thug and I couldn't
begin to do anything to make myself look like a thug no earrings or anything like
that no piercings no tattoos so I'm saying oh man how am I gonna go
in here and get this audition like this is like you know the one thing that I
learned growing up was watching other people I didn't know I was an actor
until I became an actor and so I had a lot in my data bank and so I go into the
room and I go into the room in character so the casting directors like oh so um
hi choice and she goes to shake my hand and I'll shake hands I'm playing the
thug persona I booked the role I knew I got it when I left out of here because
they were so scared then I go hey I'm just that was me in character hi how you
doing I'm sorry shake your hand before but that was me in character I was just
being like the guys from the neighborhood when I grew up so that
helped me tremendously any piece of wisdom for someone that isn't okay with
where they're from they could be from a cult OSAC in in a neighborhood that i
would have loved to have grown up in but didn't they could have been from
wherever but sometimes people aren't okay with where they're from for
whatever reason any advice to them on that your circumstances and what you've
been through sometimes have yet to revealed why they are important in your
life so in essence what I'm saying is this
the circumstance doesn't make you the circumstance prepares you for the
situation that you're gonna go through so in essence everything that I went
through all the muggings and stuff like that once I got into martial arts and
then once I became an actor I was able to use so many other things and so
there's no shame in what you've been through the only shame is not telling
anyone about it because your circumstance in your situation is there
so that way you can probably help someone else in the future you would be
surprised like just me talking about being a project kid sometimes I go and I
speak at high schools or I'm on a panel and I'll tell people this and they're
like really I would have never thought I thought you might have been to college
and you grew up in a suburb and I'm like no I chose to speak well because that's
what I wanted to be perceived as a person who could speak well and so for
me it's a thing of the shame of hiding something comes from not realizing that
there's power in that there's power in being different there's power and then
coming from a place of of adversity who wouldn't who wouldn't be able to say hey
I've been through this and I'm still here we're strong from that and so
embrace it embrace it because there's so many people whose lives you're gonna
touch and I've learned that by being Who I am and by being honest about the stuff
that I've been through I enjoy it and I think that anybody that doesn't want to
explain a you know explain where they've come from or what they've been through
is there they're not ready to receive the true blessing which is touching
others he talked about earlier being observant and this is just a side note
but I read that soldiers that had grown up in high stress environments actually
survived had more of a higher rate of survival because they were so on alert
because it was it was natural for them to always be surveying their environment
and how that ended up helping them yeah so that's interesting from you observing
people how do you think that's also helped you not even in a high-stress
situation just in life just just meeting a casting director and knowing okay
maybe this casting director doesn't have a sense of humor let me try something
different they do yeah listen the entertainment industry period
whether it's an acting or a film or in music dance it's really all based on
personalities I mean when you're when you're working in an industry where
people have worked really really hard to use their talent or their resources to
get to a specific place in life you're going to deal with personalities you're
gonna deal with the different things on why they don't like this and why they
don't like that you're gonna deal with idios you're gonna deal with what people
say oh this person they just have you know their eccentric behavior
personalities is the number one driving force of the industry it's the reason
why it's specific people work together I mean you look at leo and you look at
Scorsese and why they continue to work together it's a formula that works and
what I've learned is that your past experiences okay depending on all right
let me look at it this way and put it to you this way I was raised by a single
mom I didn't have a dad I don't know what it is to not have a dad because my
dad died right before I was born okay in that sense a lot of the
attributes with me growing up was for my mom I didn't really have a father but I
had men who were like mentors or men who I looked at and learned from but I
didn't know what it was to be my own man when I got into the entertainment
industry a lot of the ways I responded was the way my mom respond that's not
always a good thing because as being a young man if I'm going in and I'm asking
for some some budget say for instance the budget is half a million dollars I
have to prove to this person that I'm balanced in the sense to where that
money comes to me I can handle it I'm not gonna get into a space where
personality-wise I'm gonna be indifferent or personality-wise because
I feel a certain way I'm gonna be indifferent and I learned that that
that's important because people judge you based on how you are with your
personality you know this whole industry is based on that
you know casting directors they a lot of times I tell actors it's all about the
adjustment it's not about going into the audition and being brilliant that's
great but a lot of times the casting director or the director will throw
something at you to see how well you make adjustments and people don't
realize that so a lot of times people go and their work on an audition and
they'll nearly know they'll got all my lines right and you know I know exactly
what I'm gonna wear and I know what movement is gonna be and then the
casting director goes that's great can you do it this way or they get the
callback and the director goes that's great and you know you did great
but can you do this and people fail at it because they're not able to make
adjustments to me that's the number one thing when it comes to dealing with
personalities when you meet someone you say okay this is a IDEO that they have
this is something that maybe even goes as far as their their uh their ego can I
make the adjustment am i flexible am i able to be okay with that who wants to
work with someone that is inflexible or intolerant you see and I've learned
that this thing's really all about personalities it's all about showing up
it's about integrity it's about being there for people's about being able to
communicate it's about taking you know direction and that's the number one
thing that I think people feel that any stories tell us about your first time on
set oh yeah I had got booked to be on a TV show it was a well known TV shows and
national TV shows like my first national TV show and I was learning the process
of what it is to be on set and it's before my shot is up and so I got all
this time and I've been waiting and in the honey wagon for a minute and they
told me okay it's time to go to set so I get to set and they said we don't need
them yet we're gonna wait and for him to like the scene and we're gonna bring
them in I said okay it works so I said go get you something from craft service
and I'm like I'm hungry but I'm not really hungry but at Saint I'll go so
I'll go to craft service and I'm looking oh man all these delectable stuff you
know and I'm saying to myself man this you know I'm looking for someone to pay
I'm looking for there's got to be somebody I have to pay there so I got my
wallet out and I'm waiting for someone in this guy comes I think he was uh he
was probably a gaffer or you know one of the guys is a crew and he comes over
he's got his belt on and he grabs something and he just thoughts you know
fix it up and he starts eating it and walks off I'm like oh my god he didn't
pay for it you know this other guy comes up and I'm like man that God just didn't
pay for that and he goes oh you don't have to pay and I'm like you don't he
was like no this is crap started and he grabs something he walked off and it
there was that thing of me being so appreciative that I'm on set I'm like
this is the whole experience getting makeup you know people catering to you
people looking out for you and saying hey you know this is this and that's
that and here it is all the food you want you can eat it when you have the
time to eat it and you don't ever have to worry about it why would I be
indifferent in regards to being on the set why would I be a difficult actor
that experience helped me to love helped me to love acting more because I was
just like man you know back in the day when I was a kid in the projects I'd had
the paper this stuff here it is pretty funny stuff so taking that mindset where
you felt so good you felt appreciated and then all the time it takes to get on
that set and keeping your mind right in the meantime because I think sometimes
for me I've had experiences to where you're treated so well in one place and
then another place you're not and it really can do a number on someone yeah
because it's hard to compartmentalize so how do you keep yourself we talked
earlier about balance off-camera how do you keep is that through the martial
arts or oh yeah I could you know listen I coach a lot of actors I work with a
lot of actors my self I'm an actor my my acting coach you stoie say you're so
focused because of your martial arts I've been studying martial arts pretty
much all my life and one of the things that you learn is
focus focus is a very strong attribute that's needed for acting like you have
to be able to focus you know you can't bring what you've been going through in
life build problems family issues you know relationship issues on a set with
you if you're on if you're the lead actor or if you're in a top ten of the
other above the line you can't bring your problems to the set you can't bring
your your mental imbalances on set and so for me that always has to be
something that keeps you you know I've been using this word a lot lately in
alignment you have to learn to be in alignment at all times and for me the
focus yeah martial arts helps it but really it's because I love it and love
overwhelms everything in my opinion love you know you can you can fall out of
love obviously you can have a love-hate relationship but if that love is pure
and you know I've never really wanted to do anything but being an entertainment
industry since I was a kid my first play was at six and I played Eric the red and
in the play here's this little black project kid playing Eric the red in the
elementary school play I had pictures that reminds me of that and I'm laughing
doing this all my life why why would I not be mentally in
alignment with that what would make me not have that love I think it's like any
relationship I always tell people you know you got to be married to the word
yeah you know you can be married to someone and commit it to someone but you
have to be married to the word I always say God first then your career then you
then your family friends and loved ones because there's a hierarchy in regards
to how you can work with everything some people would disagree but that's fine I
mean I mean I believe it's whatever keeps you in alignment and martial arts
helped me to understand that there was nothing impossible because I was able to
do things that when I was a kid being lanky and clumsy and being what I would
consider a victim I was able to do things as I got deeper into the martial
arts that some people would consider impossible or not possible and I was
able to do that stuff so for me to be able to
to shoot a feature or to be a director and say man we don't have any money or
we don't have these resources like nothing's impossible we can get it done
we'll find a way we just just keep going that's the answer just just no matter
what just keep going if you wake up keep going
you see that's my that's my motto and so um for me mentally I'm one set it's love
it's what I've been wanting to do is what I always want to do even when I'm
exhausted I'm editing in an editing Bay or I'm going on auditions and nothing's
happening just keep going that's my mental state keep going and by
the way I had a girl that was I had heard she was gonna beat me up too so I
knew and it was she never actually did it but I know what that was like but
you're not the one that meant see listen this is the thing I always tell people
the person you think you can beat up is the person that will ruin your life and
you're not a pushover you're very strong and I think sometimes when I teach
self-defense in martial arts I always tell people the reason why you don't
want to fight is because you know how hard you can fight oh that's really good
yeah it's true and I see it in you oh thank you well I was bullied a lot as I
know so you believed in righteousness and justice and fairness and yeah and
that's the problem people feel like they can just do whatever they want
have you noticed well we'll talk about that later on but that's that's
excellent I like that that's excellent how old were you when you arrived in Los
Angeles ooh that's a good one what hit song was out I remember Leah's are you
that somebody okay I remember that being on listen moving to LA was like a
serious culture shot okay cuz you know I came from Atlanta Augusta Ga and I had
lived there for years and then you know I had this R&B artist who flew me out it
was around Thanksgiving time and we're working on his second album which never
saw the light of day unfortunately but I remember going down on the 101
because the 101 always freaked me out it was just like this is you know I'm not
used to these type of freeways and I remember are you that somebody by
Aaliyah being on because I thought it was so odd to hear a baby in it and in a
song I was like Tim man is crazy he's got this little baby going in but this
is a dope song so yeah whatever year that that was I guess that was 98 I'm I
had been what is this that was that was 20 years ago
I probably was I was 28 28 28 27 28 okay what were your expectations when you
think back to driving down that one oh and by the way the 101 scares me too so
I can see why but it's also invigorating at night it's so beautiful yeah there's
a right there's a sense of possibility like wow this is Los Angeles and I'm
here but still it is scary but what were your expectations at that time I thought
in a year's time I was gonna have probably five hit records on a radio I
was gonna win a not a not an Oscar a Grammy and I would be able to buy my mom
a house and yeah that's that was a rough time because for how many years that I
have been working on doing music and having the success that I did have
living in Georgia and having my songs on the radio and stuff when I moved to LA
that didn't happen and it was just a rough time I mean I was living with the
artists family I didn't have my own place and it was hard finding my space
in that production company and seeing I was seeing where things were gonna be at
that time so what you're asking on one hand I had expectations on where I
wanted it to go but I was also seeing where it wasn't gonna go and that's
tough especially when you're working with someone so talented because you're
saying I see where you're headed and it's not good and if that's where you're
headed what's gonna happen to me everything happens for a reason you know
I look back at my music career and I say man you know as much I still love music
I mean if I had an opportunity I probably would work with somebody and
come out with an amazing record but I didn't get the love that I get in the
film I didn't get that love in music and so you have to go with where the love is
reciprocated as much as I love music it wasn't loving me as much as I love film
it loves me and that to me is you know it's like any relationship you had I
mean it can't be one-sided so my expectations were I I you know I I
assumed I'd I would have at least five songs on the radio I was that good of a
music producer and songwriter but it wasn't meant to be and I had to accept
that and I had to accept that and in making that transition help me to move
into film easier we talked about earlier flexibility and it goes back to sort of
Darwinism to talks about you know the species that survives are the ones that
can adapt so you're talking about you saw even though you loved music it was
everything you wanted to be what was that moment like when you realized I
mean how did you even see that how did you see as much as I love this this is
me it's not gonna happen I'm probably speaking the tale of many people who got
to that point and quit the industry rather than making the adjustment I
think that's what happens I think there's a point where everyone gets to
in their life where they go okay listen you know I'm not receiving it because
it's really all about love it really is all we're looking for is human beings is
for love we're all looking for it some of us we find it and entertainment some
of us we find it from our children we find it from the spouse that we wit we
find it from our family we find it from God we find it from our religion we find
it the way that we need to find it and when it's not reciprocated it's a very
powerful and painful thing it was a cathartic moment for me it was tough
I remember being on my knees and just crying
and saying God why did you bring me out here if this is not gonna happen like
you know what do i do do I go back to you know to Augusta do I you know go to
New York what do I do it's not happening I've been struggling you know I was a
personal trainer working at a gym I did so many different jobs but I think when
you listen to that inner voice you know Oprah calls it the aha moment
I just believe it's just an epiphany when you wake up and you go you know
what maybe that's just not the way it's supposed to happen and if you let go cuz
sometimes God is say be still and know that I am God and I said okay what does
that mean what is that level of faith of
understanding that if you wake up in the morning that you're breathing that
you're eating that you have your capacity of your limbs and you're still
moving forward you have a roof over your head you have food to eat you have
clothes on your back he's giving you everything that you need so you just
have to make that adjustment and the adjustment for me was okay listen music
is not the way but getting into film years later needing to work on the music
which moves any film I had all of that experience and I said wait a minute
that's what that was for so I snatched that big pearl not took it
and put it into my collection of jewels and now I realized okay all of those
years of doing that no different than me being mugged or going through the
violence that I went through in Brooklyn as a kid which got me into the martial
arts all of those years of music and stuff helps me as a film director it
helps me to teach my actors because they don't know 80s music or 70s music or 60s
and 50s and 40s and 30s and 20s I know all of that stuff because I spent so
many years in music so now when I'm teaching them something about acting I
got a little extra resource that I can give them through lyrics that they've
never heard because all they listened to his current music man how powerful was
that when I'm telling them hey listen to Bruce Springsteen and he was saying this
in this song how close is that or listen to Richard mark when he's talking about
it don't mean nothing and this is attributing to your acting career your
singing career your dance career and they're going wow this is
amazing stuff they've never heard these songs I have you talked about being a
teacher and we are in Sherman Oaks at the young actor space beautiful studio
here I've seen a lot of actors in the hallway I know you've crossed paths with
I'm sure so many young actors they're new to LA so in your first class with
those actors what are some of the things that you're going over with them is it
about crafts or is it just about balance it's really never about the craft
because sometimes I get actors that studied in college and they come to me
with a degree and I'm like okay well I have to watch them you know I always say
the the they always ask me do you have an audit and I say I have a working
audit I want to see you onstage I want to throw you to the Wolves I want you to
have that focus and that discipline that's necessary to see if you can fit
in what I got going on the craft listen we are all good liars
everybody is and that to me is the ultimate form of acting acting is lying
and I've said it before no one likes that term because no one wants to be
coined a liar but that's what acting is and you're taking a scene that was
written by somebody that made it up it doesn't exist okay not in a galaxy long
long far far away it doesn't exist okay but you're taking the elements of that
script and you're saying okay we're gonna make this real life now we're
gonna make this the truth and the actors have to read those lines and they have
to believe in what they're saying and they have to get a response and they got
to get us to relate it's all a lie it's not real
none of it is real yeah they created robotic r2d2 and c3po that people dress
up like Princess Leia stuff but that wasn't real it came from George Lucas's
mind it's not real and so if I focused with an actor on technique or or or
craft they're they're never going to get to the essence of what acting is which
is knowing self getting to know self getting to be okay with self getting to
be okay with exposing self revealing the layers
peeling the onion layers away getting to understand how brave it takes a person
to be to be able to cry or laugh or be sexual or or to be uncomfortable in a
comfortable environment or comfortable in an uncomfortable environment that has
nothing to do with crap that has everything to do itself the duration of
doing the work yes that makes anybody comfortable can anybody act I mean
there's a debate on that I believe that the best actors are the most brave I
believe that those who study to understand human behavior are the most
brave so for me right off the bat when I get to see someone on stage I got a feel
of who they are and I know where to help them or to not even help them sometimes
I say this class is not right for you because it's not about the money it's
about bringing powerful a list actors to the front I always say why a list actors
because working actors don't always work ælis actors work when they want to work
julie rob has had kids took time off came back do anything she wants it's a
big difference to me so it's never about the craft it's always to me about people
getting to know who they are and then once you get to know who you are the
next level is disciplining yourself to where you're amazing on set and
everybody likes you and everybody loves you because it's all love we're all
getting to do something we love why would you want to be difficult why would
you want to bring in you know all your your idios or your your little eccentric
behavior nobody wants that we want to make great films one of work and so my
work process or my approach with actors is getting them to know that they are
brilliant and that they're great and I always say my term is greatness
recognizes greatness I am great because you agree so if you're great I'm great I
love that and I just thought of something in the moment and that is you
talk about knowing oneself have you seen people that aren't classically trained
or have very little formal education come in and just know the
selves and then also the opposite absolutely I have a several actors like
that right now in my class one in particular scenes of just the Phenom and
so my thing is like sometimes when actors come I figure out okay what do
they need do they need more internal work do they need more external work you
know because everyone works differently some people work from the inside out and
some from the outside in so sometimes it's just the thing of the
material because they're brave they just don't have any focus so they don't have
any discipline and so you give them the material and that material will help to
mold them and to shape them and to put them in the direction that they're in
then you have on the other end the actor who comes in who is just a difficult
actor and maybe they studied and they they went to a prestigious school and
they don't understand why their career is not taking off and so then it's like
okay well listen they always tell me they said well I need you if you can
challenge me you can challenge me beat me up if I have no enjoyment in doing
that you know for me I have a no pressure policy because how else are you
gonna be ready to work on a feature film and you have it's a 92 page feature film
and you have 90 pages of dialogue if you're getting your head about having to
be able to do all of that there's a pressure that comes with it that's where
most people start to veer off into drugs and alcohol or become belligerent angry
and because the pressure for me it's the thing - of understanding that the work
is not about pressure the work is love and so guiding them into that scenario
sometimes it's tough because they've already had this type of background
where they've been structured you know they've been taught diligently like it's
learning your lines you know there is a difference between film acting and stage
acting and television actor there's a differences but they're all acting and
so not one is better than the other they're all important in my opinion but
sometimes you get someone who will say you know I'm a great actor because I'm a
theatre actor I'm a great actor because I do TV it's like no you're an actor you
know you must respect all of the media it's the same so I get a little bit of
both but I tend to like those who are empaths because empath actor are easier
to mold because they're already in touch with their emotions you just got to get
past what stops them from being open and being raw but once you're able to mold
them Marlon Brando you know Meryl Streep Denzel Washington their impasse they
feel everything you blow on them they feel it it's the best actor to me not
taking anything from the discipline actor they're just a little more heady
and it takes takes a little bit more work to get them away from that I got
actors in my class like that too and you know it's like okay how long is it gonna
take before you let go you know stop thinking because they think you know I
always say we talk about the roller-coaster ride
acting it's like a roller coaster ride right you have you have the roller
coaster rides or the rise at and uh you know the different amusement parks where
you may have something like the Superman right we're just drops but you light up
you're going 100 miles an hour you just drop you can't control yourself right
and then you have some that twist and turn and go and that's the real process
of acting we don't want to know what's gonna happen we just want to be
surprised it's got to be random but at the same
time you got to be able to relate so the heady actor is like okay I want you to
relate I'm going to do these things to make you relate you imagined Valentine's
Day you plan out everything you're gonna do with the other person no you know
it's like you want to surprise people you want to say hey look at this look at
that look at this you do your best to figure out what they like but at the
same time it's got to be spontaneous mmm how can you spot that impact you know
they say we all have intuition but some have higher levels maybe Waman empath
okay so but I I I always say that we all block who we really are there are three
sides to we are who we think we are who others think we are who we really are
those three masks that we wear the empath depending on what their
background is some people you know have been through a lot of things in life and
they encase themselves for me and acting once a person gets onstage they can't
hide I've yet to find one person that could hide from that moment because
something happens in an uncomfortable environment if you can make someone
comfortable in an uncomfortable environment they tend to show who they
are they tend to be more who they are and those signs appear and you see them
they're much more prevalent and they're easier to spot and so for impacts
usually it's a thing of feeling they are the feel from the outside in or the
inside out something emotional you will strike them and we have an exercise
where when I get all the actors on stage and I make them close their eyes and I
say okay and I want them to see things and I say see this or see that see this
the empath will always fall apart they I haven't had it happen where one
wasn't in that space they always fall apart even if they're holding on and
they're trying not to cry or they're trying to feel something they
always fall apart every time when did you know you were
empathic oh that's a good question I
would say in study in under my acting coach I knew then I mean listen I I've
always been the type of kid where even when I would see two people fighting I'd
want to jump in between and and stop them from fighting or when my mom was
having it hard or one of my family members or friend was going through it I
was always there was that the sign of whether I was an impact or not I I don't
I don't I don't think so but when I knew like okay I'm different
I feel like I feel was an acting class and I never forget I had a very close
friend of mine she passed away and at this point maybe five months into the
acting class I hadn't fallen apart and cried and I did everything in my power
not to cry I'm just like I don't cry I don't do
this and I don't do that and I don't cry on show my emotions I don't show my my
feelings because I'm a martial artist and I'm strong and I'm a man and you
know I don't men don't cry you know you buy that you believe that myth and that
lie and uh she gave me an exercise and she it was a
it was an emotional exercise it was for me to cry and I'm not gonna cry I'm
gonna cry and she told me to think about somebody who I loved that wasn't there
and it just so happens that my friend passed away just like maybe that week
and I'm holding it and i'm holding it and all of a sudden it came and it
wouldn't stop and it wouldn't stop and I cried for maybe two hours and then after
that I said to myself okay this is something new here well that wasn't the
determining factor what was was time went by and I realized that every time I
watch an acting scene I'd feel it and it was never like that before and as time
went on I would feel everything I'd feel the wind I'd see a you know a sad dog or
something like the henna start around like okay and I had to look it up in my
own empath okay well I guess that's what my mom always says that I'm an indigo
kid I don't know I guess but empaths tend to be indigo kids so maybe that's
what it is how did you spend your first few years as an actor and then how do
you spend them now good question my first few years as an actor was hard
worked it was some you know I told my actors the story about eating eggs water
and donuts but making sure I had money for my acting class I didn't have a car
but I would take the bus to get there didn't know how I would get home but God
blessed me with someone who would give me a ride it was all about just being
the best that I could possibly be I wanted to be in the ranks of the leading
men of my caliber Denzel Wesley Snipes Cooper Gooding those were the scenes I
worked on and I knew who I was as an actor and I worked towards playing those
authoritative roles I didn't have a problem playing thugs or you know
gangbangers just I loved those characters those the guys I grew up with
so I understand it but I've never been jaded in a sense
like not having the opportunity place or rules look listen in my beginning of an
act as being an actor I worked on as many roles as I possibly could if the
roles didn't exist I wrote him and I would bring him into class and so for me
it was just being the best that I possibly could be to understand the
process of acting and to be great at it and to be a joy to be around because I
understood that's how people continued to work with you where I'm at now as an
actor I really don't care for the audition process I don't care for it I
do it my managers always on me about it so I do it I go in one of the things
that make made me not care for it is knowing the politics behind it because
I'm a producer and a director now I know what I didn't know back then when I was
just acting and that is sometimes even if you're auditioning for a role you're
already not gonna get it because they they maybe you wanna foam talking to the
person that they just offered the role to so that's kind of tough and where I'm
at now I create my own content I direct I write and I have people who call me up
and put me in projects because they remember me as an actor and they
remember my work so it can be a little funny sometimes for me because it's like
I listen do I really want to waste the time in audition for something that I
may not get or you know do I just continue to do the process because
that's what that is is audition it's part of your acting process
yeah I don't know where I'm at now I just love having something that I write
or something right for me and say hey this come do this it's easier it's no
pressures no stress about it and I enjoy that a little bit more than yeah I've
never been a competitive person even in the martial arts you know the fight in
tournaments wasn't for me so with acting I don't look at his competition I look
at it like I said it's love they can't be competition in love so I if if the
role is right for me give it to me I'll show up for you and I'll do a great job
you think that odd grind is what sends a lot of people home
or somewhere else somewhat I think what sends people home
mostly is lack of money people get into the entertainment industry thinking that
they're gonna make a lot of money and I always tell actors if you got into the
entertainment industry to make money you can do anything else I mean you can do
porn and make a lot of money
relationship for some people because you know they may have got out of college or
they left a corporate job or they left pharmaceuticals I knew an actor who was
a rocket scientist but he wasn't happy unless he was doing acting and they get
into the acting world and they want to make a lot of money in two three years
go by four years maybe five and they're not making any money they're working a
dead-end job and they start to battle with that and so I think typically
that's usually what sends people home the auditioning process has a different
experience when you hear these stories of like Angelina Jolie or Mark Ruffalo
they said he went out fifty times and so he got his first role I I believe that
everybody's resilience is a different level I didn't have to go out fifty
times I think I went out three times and I booked my third audition I think yeah
I was that type of actor um but I could see how the the rejection because like I
said everybody's looking for love and even if you were going out for somebody
that you you like or you're attracted to and you get that rejection is it there's
a thing you go through there's a catharsis this it's a hurtful period you
go through and I think if you're going out for auditions and you may be right
for them and you're being told no no and no you start to question yourself is
this right for me is this really what I should be doing listen if we're all
climbing up a mountain we don't know what's at the top of the mountain till
we get there the climb is just part of the journey
auditions are just part of the journey and I believe that I do believe that
there's a point where actors need to know if they are auditioning actors or
not which basically means this if you go in and you cannot defeat the
nervousness maybe audition is not for you unless it
helps you to book the audition maybe being nervous
books that audition maybe you go in you feel like you did a horrible job and
then you get the callback and you book it like I was horrible that happens but
I do believe that there's a sense that actors need to know if they are
auditioning actors is the auditioning process for you and if it isn't what
adjustment are you willing to make in order to be great at it so that way
you're not missing out on opportunities or you're not wasting your time on one
of our videos choice an actor or left a comment and this actor put I don't know
how to find work and an agent won't work with me
because I don't have experience what would you tell this actor pursue a
manager because it seems like nowadays they're easier to gain but you know it's
not like how it used to be it used to be you get a manager you get an agent then
you go out your audition and stuff know you can do a lot of it yourself you can
build your body of work by submitting and creating content you know actors
have this tendency of just waiting around and you know why or if they get
an agent a manager oh okay everything's okay no it's not
you know agents and managers are like gosh the last person they see is the
last person they remember so if they met you five people ago or five persons ago
now they're not even thinking about you and you have to stay in their mind you
can do so much more nowadays especially being non-union because there's a lot of
projects that are non-union actors tend to get caught up in this thing up my
career is not going anywhere unless I'm doing it but you know it goes back to
that money thing again they get into it to make money and the money is not the
key you know you can make money doing a lot of other things if you're if you're
in the entertainment industry specifically acting you're in it in
order to live your dream you're in it in order to create great content it's gonna
change life that's just my opinion but I would I would top it off a capital off
by saying eh own content because you can even
become sag that way or sag eligible that way or submit submit submit submit
yourself for anything and everything find out who the casting directors on
projects let them know hey listen I'm here I'm available to do standing work
I'm available to do extra work because I started out as an extractor and it
opened up doors for me the first extra gig that I got I got camera time I
didn't get any voice work but the camera was on me over and over again so there
were little signs that told me to keep going
and that's what I would say to anybody who's an actor it's like don't just
depend on getting the agent or manager you got your own resources the internet
now is a hive of different types of resources to submit yourself there's so
many casting type of opportunities you know yeah listen you may not become the
leader of a film but at least you get in next to the person next to the person
what's wrong with that and talking about observation it's a
great great way to observe how the set works the feel of it you know that the
protocol you can see a lot extra work background actors whatever you want to
call it my first job on the set as an extra was free Jack and I got to meet
Emilio Estevez and Rene Russo it doesn't get any better in Atlanta we
were we were there for the we were there it was the best weekend ever we were
there for the Prince concert and after that we riding by and we saw this area
we like what's all this happening here and so we went over to the area where
the video village was I don't even know how we got over there we just parked and
walked over there and I'm asking this guy my what's going on a film in a movie
with Anthony Hopkins and Rene Russo and Emilio I suppose I'm like really it was
like yeah and I'm like what's that lady doing he says she's looking for extras
and I'm like what's an extra or you get to be in a movie
so I didn't know the the particular is for it but I just knew all this is
something cool and so I go over and he said just
and look good cuz she'll pick you so she comes and picks me and my friends and
we're in this movie and this is before I come out to LA and do what I consider my
first first extra work which I knew what exactly I was doing but where I'm at
this is car that keeps going back and forth and they put us right there out
pops out Rene Russo eye pops out Emilio Estevez we're standing there we're
talking we're having a good time we take pictures Emilio and I are singing hair
song songs from here it's crazy and I'm like this is cool this is great I get to
LA I do my first big extra job as I said before and it gets to a point where I
need to become sag and I'm like man how am I gonna do it I need now is I go look
at my box to guess what that voucher that I had got from FreeJack was a SAG
eligible felcher so I had been tap hardly not even know it oh my gosh and
that's just from driving by not calling driving by a casting didn't know
anything about it talk about random fortune stroke you know got out ran over
applied yourself and that's what I think people should do I think you should
apply yourself don't be afraid to do extra work sometimes if it's meant to be
for you you may even get a line you know managers and ages can't do that for you
at what point did you want to start directing after the first big strike
during during my career as an actor we had a strike in ooh 2002 or think of
three or something like that there was there wasn't a lot of work for black
American actors there wasn't hardly anything like we were like not getting
any work and at that time I had already been writing scripts and wanting to
learn the production process which helped me understand my acting career a
little bit better but it was it was a necessity to the point where I was like
listen I'm not getting any work I'm auditioning nothing's happening
and I want to have a reason on why I'm doing this thing called acting and why
I'm in this entertainment career and it just got to a point where you
know I had been on set enough and I had understood how to work with actors
because I had been coaching people on the side we're friends of mine and they
were booking that I understood the directing process now there were things
that I didn't know I didn't know a days and days out scheduled I didn't know how
to do a shot list you know there were things I didn't know but like I've
always believed if you don't know something apply yourself learn it and
then make it yours and make it to where you know it better than anybody and so I
got to a point where I'm like okay listen I need to to know what it is to
be able to direct it even if it doesn't work I'll just do it and if I like it
you know we'll see what happens I fell in love with it and I realized that it
was a natural thing for me and so I just started directing I directed my first
short at one Awards I directed web series and won awards everything that
I've directed had won awards it's just it just kept going so I realized okay I
like this and that kept me in the process of directing I think that an
actor has to change how they own who they are from I don't even know if I'm
saying this right but changing that mindset from the director to actor and
back and forth is there something where you have to
become comfortable with who you are in instructing people how to do something
probably the same for teaching as well
with actors because there are different levels of battles that they face the
first battle that actors face is finding their way in the industry not so much in
the talent area because you can get an idea or sensibility or whether you're
talented or not you know if you're in a class it doesn't matter what the class
is doesn't matter who the coach is you can get a sensibility of who you are as
an artist if you need to work more on specific things or if you need to focus
more on certain things the first level to me mostly for them is the the
business like they don't understand the business so you have to help them to
relate with light listen this is a biz it's like it's not just you wanting to
be on a red carpet or you being on a set there's a business behind it is a
responsibility the second level is once they get to a point of knowing that
they're good there's a bitterness because you can be an amazing actor and
if you don't get the work that you feel you deserve you become bitter or if
you're not working at all say for instance this say for instance you
booked maybe four jobs in a year and then there's five years of nothing that
to make you bitter it's especially if you know you're great
the third and final level to me is liberation of knowing who you are and
I think that's kind of what you're asking about because then you say okay
listen there have been people who've been successful in their acting career
and still got out the business like I mean if you go back and you look at a
lot of the actors from the 80s they ain't get update I'm like what
happened to this person they got out the business they got into real estate they
got into sports or being a coach or being a team it's like what happened or
they just um you know just took care of their family they just stopped robbed
robbed Moranis I think his name is uh he just got out he was one of the
highest-paid actors and he just took care of his family that was most most
important as a coach your job and I listened
most people come in my life or I come into their life and they want me to be
their big uncle they want me to be their mentor they want me to be the shaman
whatever the Guru I said look I'm your acting coach and what I really care more
about than anything is your career because if you focus on your career all
the things that would give you most of the problems would be taken care of
you'll be able to focus on things that will watch out for you if you want the
desires of your heart that shifts I always give a good analogy
I say listen we go to an ice cream shop right what's your favorite ice cream let
me ask you that what's your favorite ice cream Oh
Reese's peanut butter cups okay how many times have you gone to an ice cream shop
had that in mind that's that's one of my favorites too as they what you're gonna
get yeah I'm gonna get that Reese's and then you go there maybe the cold
stone or something he said what's that I mean you get that right
because that's who we are as human beings we move and we go according to
how we feel and so in your career can you really trust that you can't
especially if you don't understand the business so when that pumpkin-spice
appears you gotta go with them and you have to understand why you're going with
that and it's not that you don't love the the peanut butter cup it's just that
you know what I want to try this and being ok with yourself as a human being
is saying listen when you get to a certain level as an actor and you say ok
I don't want to do this anymore because people do it that doesn't mean that the
desire dies you just better make sure you got a back-up plan because it's
going to hit you again it happens all the time I bump it to people who I was
acting with back when I was just in class as an actor and they've gotten
married and had kids and it got great jobs and they're going oh how you been
are you still acting yes I am oh I got out a while ago but I'm thinking about
getting headshots I'm thinking about maybe getting out on don't you have kids
yeah but they're older now the desire doesn't leave which is why people have
midlife crisis they're not doing what they really want to do do you feel it's
a director's job to be on set before everyone else twice oh absolutely I
believe that if you set the precedent everyone will follow the director you
know people always think that producers fix problems directors prevent problems
and fixes them as well especially if you're director producer or director
producer writer I got to be there first I have to be the one to get the energy
up I got to make sure sometimes I'll I'll drink a monster on the way to set
if it's been a long shoot I'm pumped up I find a way to make everything feel
good for everybody you know everyone's there to create something they're all
there to to share their gifts as Patrick to my other friend says they're there to
share their gifts and your job is to make sure that they have a fertile
ground in which to plant great seeds and so yeah I'm there I'm usually there
first and sometimes the last to leave unless it's a project where they got to
take everything down I got an early call time
you know I got to leave and get some sleep or watch the aliens and then get
up and start the process all over again what are five skills you think a
director should have every director should if they don't have them work on
them the skill communicating with actors is number one which is why you know some
of the best actors some of the best directors were actors right so the skill
of the skill of directing actors the skill of talking to actors is one making
a tremendous shot list and being flexible with being able to leave that
shot list is to the shot is never more important than the actors or the crew
never and I've been on sets where people feel like oh well I got to get my shot I
hear you might know you have to take care of your people because you're a
leader that was to number three I would say is a work environment that is fun
uplifting inspiring even if it's a drama even if it's a drama I mean it's easy
for a comedy or it's easy for an action film for everybody to get pumped up and
to feel you know a certain way but it's important and imperative that you make
it feel where people want to come to the set and with a drama that's even more of
a reason why you want to have an uplifted experience number four the
skill of listening I learned that that it's important to listen to people
because sometimes sometimes you may have an idea and what you want and the DP or
your producers or the actors may have a different way and it's important to
listen to them because they may be telling you something that you won't
find out until post and then you go oh that's the giri's and that was a good
reason and number five the skill of letting go if it's not meant to be it's
not meant to be now that's contrary to knowing that it doesn't matter what it
takes to get it done okay without people being compromised but at the same time
it's the thing of saying okay there's a reason why it's not happening let it go
it's different than saying it you know it's not impossible anything's possible
I can get it done don't say no because no has never done anything for anybody
but when it comes to saying okay this is it you know let it go instead of wasting
you know 20 minutes talking about a shot with an actor just say okay listen no
words why don't you go ahead and give me that and then give me this so now I have
two choices cuz then that goes back to the listening thing when I go onto post
then I got alright okay I'll use that one instead letting go versus what you
always hear about is these great creative geniuses entrepreneurs they're
so driven they're obsessed can you still be all of that and at some point let go
passive-aggressive energy is part of that personality thing that I mentioned
about this industry no one has to be overtly authoritative you never have to
force somebody to do something if if it's something that needs to be done we
all know we all show up we're all there we say okay this needs to be done we all
understand that you hire people according to that you would hope that
everybody shows up that everybody does their part
you can't Bank on someone's life being upside down and they're not in it and
they do a shoddy job but guess what it falls on you to fix it to make it
right I never had that issue because I'm always I'm always in the mindset of I'm
good at so many things I don't know everything but everything I know I know
well and I make that happen because of the fact that you never know
what will be the wink weak link and what you're doing so all you can do is hope
that everybody shows up and and everybody pulls through and and just
understand that you can't make anybody to it you can't you yeah I don't care
how I throw the tail of a person you are the more you argue with someone the less
they're likely they're gonna want to it I mean it's just the way it is this
who we are as human beings you talked about seeds fertile soil something it's
interesting because last night driving home I heard that on the radio and the
guy was talking about what he thought was going to be this great thing turned
out that it was bad and what he didn't realize is the analogy or maybe it's a
parable about trying to plant seeds and soil that's not been sowed that's not
fertile that's almost like it's a bunch of rocks yep unmet expectations breeds
depression unmet expectations breeds depression which basically means this I
may have thought that planting the seed was gonna bring forth a lot a great
harvest but it may have not been for that seed to go there and the
expectation that I had on it is gonna be very very very unmet it's gonna be sad
for me because I'm expecting I'm putting a lot you know people always say don't
cast all your irons in the fire or you know it's the same thing you have to be
mindful and knowing that sometimes things don't go that way and you have to
be adjustable you have to be flexible and you have to know in the end it's
gonna work out I mean that's to me that's a faith thing that's the thing to
understand the faith that's the thing understanding purpose understanding
Providence understanding that it's already worked out before you even
embarked on it it's gonna be okay but can you accept that it didn't work out
can you accept that because it didn't work out that there's a lesson in that
for you down the road that's gonna teach you something even more like I go back
to my music career it didn't work out right I was great I was amazing I was
talented you know there was opportunity but it didn't work out
if I wasn't able to say for instance it got to the point where I was so upset
about that I did something erratic because it didn't work out I would have
never gotten this far to know that there were other glorious things that were
gonna open up for me and I look back at that of course we have regrets who
doesn't have regrets right that's part of life you should have regrets because
regrets help you to understand not to make the same mistakes
but at least an understanding that you know okay
I sold the seed I plant the seed but it didn't happen well let me just take that
seed dig it up it's still you still got the seed then put it over here and maybe
it'll grow I don't know we'll see what happens just got to keep going anybody
under 30 feels that pressure to make it before 30 mm and I think I feel like now
even more so can you talk about that and how you are now in that opinion and what
you tell some of your students yeah you know it's I've learned the difference
between men and women when it comes to birthdays it's really funny every guy at
a certain age has this mental meltdown when their birthday approaches because
they haven't accomplished what they've wanted to accomplish in life we're in a
different you guys would go out you deal with it in a different way
they'll go shopping there buy some shoes they'll work it out they figure it out
guys have a mental meltdown we we just we can't handle it because you know a
man is typically in him his own thinking judged by his achievements by his
accomplishments and we all unfortunately do that to ourselves we plan out our
life and you've heard people say I didn't think I'd be here I thought I'd
be so much further and for me when I had that epiphany when I had that meltdown I
think I went into this place of saying to myself okay well if that's not what's
happening now what am I supposed to do and like I said you keep going you know
the hardest part is to keep going but I think with most people having that
understanding of okay you know life is what it is it's not it's not what I want
it to be it's what it's going to be and I'm all okay with that am i okay with
you know being this age and not having this but I did start the entertainment
industry a little later I have actors in my class they started
in their teens and they're doing great now you know actors and people that I've
worked with when I met them at 19 and they're doing phenomenal now
big agents and two or three TV shows and stuff but I firmly believe that if it
wasn't supposed to happen until 50 it's not gonna happen into a 50 so there's
nothing you can do about it and to me the growth is accepting that really
really really accepting that and that's what my epiphany was was like okay it's
not supposed to happen this way are you okay with that and moving from there and
I think once people do that it's that's the true level of faith of knowing that
this is what you're supposed to be doing there there is no falsehood in it it's
just the thing of a matter of time okay what if you're okay with it
and you've worked on yourself enough where you're okay but you're getting all
these little voices from here and there and and it's your 30th birthday I mean
I'm past 30 but I remember that pressure and for me 30 was actually wonderfully
freeing I was in a rare situation where I was getting out of a bad situation so
I felt good but I know a lot of people feel this weird pressure mm-hmm you talk
about this pressure from outside yourself if you're worked on yourself
but outside I honestly I never really had that pressure was once like and if I
if if it was going to be it was gonna be for my mom
because you know my mom is one of my driving forces but she's my number one
fan she's my biggest fan so it never it never came to that point now there were
always people around me accomplishing that's a different pressure that I put
on myself seeing other people get there and wondering why I'm not that's always
like if anyone says it that doesn't bother them they're lying
that's the narcissism that's who you are as actors and entertainers like you know
you want to be doing just as great as somebody else it's not competition it's
just a thing of I'm talent this person is talented I should be there as well
life is a fair and in any circus either you know I think once I realized that
that quote once I realized that I things got easier for me so there was never
really any outside pressure for that in regards to me there was always the fear
of am I ever gonna make it am I ever gonna get there am I
gonna be able to do this and I have that's always a fear because you know
you're battling life you're battling time times the most precious gift that's
given to you and you know you're hoping that man by the time I'm this age I want
to be able to do this and you know but listen if you're not doing what you love
get out and find out what that is and if you are doing what you love but you're
hearing or even no one's saying it - but you just turn on Twitter and the top 30
of 30 25 under 25 so then the media is telling you that you're not okay yeah
but you know times are different I mean back then when I when I was just acting
it was a different time than it is now I mean there's people in their 60s and 70s
becoming stars overnight sensations and stuff it I listen I tell my actors all
the time like if your family or people are not only your crew then why should
they be then when you finally get blessed because it's going to happen and
I do tell people the only reason why I won't happen is if you quit
it won't happen there's a there's a definitive thing that happens if you
quit you don't make it that's just that's the it's night and day it's black
and white you quit you don't make it you stay in the game it's a numbers game you
will get there now the level of what you get to is primarily on your
understanding of the business and how much you want to give over of who you
are your commitment but you know unless your mom or your dad is doing sound and
you know holding a boom mic and you know picking up sandbags and stuff if they're
they don't have a right to say anything about your career if they're not doing
that if they're really really behind you and supporting you I can understand
hearing their voices but if they're not even doing that if they're not
supporting you by stealing money or you know playing tickets where they want you
to come home and all that stuff why would you even listen it up honestly
when you do sit down and write your own material
how important is the protagonist and their journey in your storytelling oh
that's a good question because I think what helped me in
writing was being an actor and not judging the protagonist or the
antagonist because you can do that you know actors tend to play roles sometimes
that they're not right for because they're judging it and if you're judging
a character you're not being honest or truthful to the character and so what
happens is as a writer when you write are you writing the protagonist because
it's just from A to B or A to C it's what you need to use in order to get
there and then your antagonist or the the other roles or the other characters
become the most interesting it happens a lot you've seen in film and you go oh we
don't really care about the lead we don't really care about the hero we like
that villain because we write according as write as we write according to who we
really are so if there's things as an actor that I want to be able to play I
want to play bad guys like I like playing thugs I like playing the guy
that got the gun or this or that I tend to cater more to those types of roles
because playing the teach or playing the authoritative figure it's easy that's a
piece of cake for me but when I write I say okay listen my my antagonist is only
as strong as my protagonist so I have to make a protagonist that first of
everyone can like and relate to I knew I knew about that before save the cat and
when people would give me save the camera were you giving it to me for I
already know this you got to get something to make people relate and like
this character so the antagonist is to me the most important if you have a
strong protagonist you'll have a great antagonist even better antagonist and I
tend to write ensemble pieces so everyone has to shine because I write
for actors you see and that's where my mind goes to okay so you have your hero
how are you showing that they're not perfect so that we can all relate to
that character that's understanding life that's that's going back to what I said
about knowing self I'm not perfect I'm far from it I'm actually not a nice
person like people would think we all would think Oh everyone's a nice purse
I'm a decent man I think we're all decent I think we all have our ups and
downs I'll good and bad whatever that is a relative term but I believe that if
you could create a character who you show is the hero then you must show what
his fears are you see because the fears will let you know the downside of the
character because everyone that makes mistakes or does horrible things they do
it out of fear prejudice is out of fear right racism out of fear you know death
is out of fear everything is out of fear you see so if you say okay why is this
character who he is well he has a fear maybe it's a character who you know he
goes around beating up he's a bully well why is he a bully because he fears being
bullied you see he was bullied right so he doesn't want to be bullied again so
his in his desire I'm a bully everybody before they bullied me so we could sit
there and judge him so he's a horrible person but you humanize him by showing
why he's this way and so by showing he was bullied therefore he became a bully
he wasn't able to break the chain some people can break the chain
something I'm one of those people I was believed but I broke the chain I was
able not to does that make me a good person no I'm probably a bully in other
areas so there is no perfection ever in any character but you do have what
sometimes I tell my actors in writing we have the tragic character now this is
the character did nothing wrong said nothing wrong didn't do anything to
offend anybody but everything fell on them a scapegoat the scapegoat Darth
Vader is the perfect tragic character perfect and even though George Connor
suffered a little on the three other films he brought at full circle for you
to understand why he was a tragic character he was born didn't have a dad
Immaculate Conception had stuff happened to him bullied through the Jedi Order
was destined to become this man no matter what and died and never really
understood anything that he went through tragic character one of the greatest
villains that ever graced the screen everyone knows him around the world was
a tragic character that to me is great writing what's the biggest problem you
were faced repeatedly in your career okay I'm gonna keep it real the fact
that I am a Renaissance man I'm capable of doing a lot of different things and
I'm underestimated it's tough when you go into an office and you say I want to
do this I want to do that and I want to do that and you can do it it makes it
hard for people to figure out how they fit in the scheme of things so it's
almost like just give me the money step aside and let me do it you know I
can direct that I can do it let me let me make it do let me make it happen you
know we would like to think that there is no racism in Hollywood it's like we
would hope that the world is getting better but Hollywood has its issues and
it's been prevalent we see it more we see the feminism we see the indifference
we see all of that and as a young black man I still consider myself a young
black man with a lot of energy and a lot of ideas and I know that there are
stories that I could tell that would not only make money for those who would
invest in it but that would change things and you know make people think
cuz I love making people think I love making them the late and feel it's tough
it's tough when you go okay here's some of my great just worked alright was
somebody work with me and they won't and the phone doesn't happen and doesn't
call and you can't get the pitch meetings and you know other people who
are getting the jobs it's tough it's a it's a tough thing because it's like
okay I'm I'm working on this on my own I'm doing these things you know I'm
taking projects and I'm making these films that people go you did this you
know I I did an award-winning film that won Octavia Spencer's you know
competition with an iphone this is before shooting a
film with an iPhone was popular and it's like and you just keep going and it's
tough it's hurtful it's painful I'm not one of those people to take stuff like
that and and feel like I gotta you know come back it I just keep going I just
keep going because I know it's just always a matter of time before people
all of a sudden everybody knew you you know and that's what happens you know
how do you think the martial arts has helped you with that you don't quit
I've learned like I said you know in martial arts I would do a competition
and I stopped that because I didn't believe that someone could tagged me
three times and a one that's like you know I don't believe in competition but
I don't believe you weren't just could you tag me three times I got to be down
and out I got to be knocked out I got to be out of my wits Oh out of my mind all
my consciousness and what the martial arts has done for me it showed me that
anything is possible you know what I used to tell my students let your life
revolve around the martial arts and the martial arts will volve around your life
and there is nothing you can't accomplish there's nothing you can't
accomplish so it helps me to know that I can do the unthinkable I can do the
impossible and that's my driving force that's a reminder you know when I have a
long shoot day or a schedule that seems like it's not gonna be met I go and I
look at what I'm able to do in the martial arts which is incredulous it's
like this is awesome stuff and I'm able to go and do that and not get tired
mentally or spiritually
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