Roy Shuler: From Stand-In to Star - #0067

Transcript

[00:00:08.820] Good morning, good evening, good night, good afternoon.
[00:00:13.410] Don't give me copyright flag, though.
[00:00:15.370] No, no, no.
[00:00:15.910] You can cut this out.
[00:00:20.080] I sounded like a zombie.
[00:00:22.020] Oh.
[00:00:22.460] Just.
[00:00:24.840] Yeah, in order to grow, you got to have like some kind of goals.
[00:00:34.260] See.
[00:00:34.980] Wow.
[00:00:35.520] Mic check one, two, one, two.
[00:00:37.040] All right.
[00:00:37.640] And we're live.
[00:00:39.300] What's up?
[00:00:39.860] What's up?
[00:00:40.320] What's happening, man?
[00:00:41.280] Good to be here.
[00:00:41.980] Good to meet you, man.
[00:00:42.700] Good to see you.
[00:00:43.640] Likewise.
[00:00:44.720] Good morning, good evening, good night, good afternoon.
[00:00:46.960] whatever time you're listening in wherever you're listening from shout out to the google listenership
[00:00:51.980] apple and google podcasts and if you're watching in youtube thanks for giving us a reason to get
[00:00:57.480] dressed i would encourage if you're just starting this and you're not driving and you have a chance
[00:01:02.200] to watch the video we have a very esteemed guest on today and we're going to be sharing his recent
[00:01:08.080] acting reel so there will be you know it'll it'll still have audio to be able to hear his voice
[00:01:13.880] But today we have Roy Shuler, actor, model, voiceover artist, had roles in FBI's Most Wanted as Principal Graham, Law & Order SVU as Jasper Neely, and is most recently playing Jackie Henderson in the upcoming American drama series, Godfather of Harlem Season 4.
[00:01:35.010] Principal Hillen?
[00:01:35.890] Call me Graham, please.
[00:01:37.050] Agent Scott and Chase?
[00:01:38.130] Yes, yes.
[00:01:38.870] Did you pull any security camera footage?
[00:01:40.690] Yes, our team is reviewing the past month. They'll let me know if they spot anything out of the ordinary.
[00:01:44.230] We'll need to get a copy.
[00:01:45.230] Of course.
[00:01:46.230] Who knew the route the SUV was taking?
[00:01:48.230] They were on their way to a debate tournament,
[00:01:50.230] and the teacher, Henry, Mr. Kittman,
[00:01:53.230] would have been the only one.
[00:01:58.340] Ladies and gentlemen, these are FBI agents,
[00:02:00.340] and they're here to help us.
[00:02:03.340] So you did have a visitor today.
[00:02:05.340] Yeah, I told you.
[00:02:08.550] Oh, the lady.
[00:02:09.550] What did she want?
[00:02:10.550] She was an alcoholic.
[00:02:13.670] She was looking for a sponsor.
[00:02:15.670] In this room, this is a mail-only facility.
[00:02:18.770] I told her it was pretty odd.
[00:02:21.300] Yeah, you know what else is odd?
[00:02:24.240] This bed.
[00:02:25.480] It's empty.
[00:02:26.740] You have a roommate?
[00:02:29.150] Nowadays, see, there's temptation everywhere.
[00:02:34.780] Y'all young people, see.
[00:02:37.660] Y'all got it different.
[00:02:40.500] No matter where you go, there's always...
[00:02:46.040] You don't even have to leave your house.
[00:02:48.940] All you gotta do is pull up your phone, boom.
[00:02:52.790] Satan's playground.
[00:02:54.680] Wait a minute.
[00:02:55.700] She's been here all night?
[00:02:56.940] I mean, she may have stolen more things than possibly from the guests.
[00:03:02.310] I'm going to have to call the police.
[00:03:03.610] I can handle this.
[00:03:04.330] She can go home.
[00:03:05.530] I'm sure there's an explanation.
[00:03:07.850] You, she's fine.
[00:03:09.050] I mean, how long has she worked here?
[00:03:10.010] Natalie, Natalie.
[00:03:10.770] Julie, come on.
[00:03:11.710] What do you think?
[00:03:12.110] Natalie, I can handle this.
[00:03:14.170] You can go home.
[00:03:14.990] Good night.
[00:03:17.270] So what's with the whole not drinking thing?
[00:03:19.690] It's a personal conviction, religious reason.
[00:03:22.690] What?
[00:03:23.310] You know, the site.
[00:03:24.270] Is it your first time using it?
[00:03:27.070] Yes.
[00:03:28.280] Yes, it is.
[00:03:30.040] A one, a two.
[00:03:33.930] Constantine, what did I tell you about singing on the job?
[00:03:37.180] Get back to work, you dumb shits.
[00:03:38.340] What is this, Woodstock?
[00:03:41.720] Come on, come on, come on.
[00:03:45.140] You, um, what's up with the mutt?
[00:03:47.960] Tumor in his spine.
[00:03:49.360] Can't use his rear legs no more.
[00:03:52.200] Yo, we'll never give up on family.
[00:03:54.990] No doubt.
[00:04:01.950] his resume goes on and on i've read uh stand in for a body double for cuba gooding right yep
[00:04:12.610] almost 10 years ago yeah almost 10 years ago this time man that that was an unbelievable
[00:04:19.050] experience um tony because um you know my mom had just passed away she passed away christmas day
[00:04:26.550] 2014. And a month after, thank you. A month after that, I lost the last long-term corporate job
[00:04:34.890] that I had like, so January 26th. But you know, I always, once I got bit by the acting bug in the
[00:04:42.050] summer of 2001, I just, I just, this is something I had to pursue. Um, Stephen Covey has a quote
[00:04:47.870] where he says, it's easy to say no when there's a deeper yes burning on the inside. So this was
[00:04:54.770] my deeper yes so the whole thing with Cuba man I was a non-union actor at the time and I was still
[00:05:00.790] submitting to to work in New York even as a background actor I was getting set experience
[00:05:05.870] learning set etiquette and the whole nine yeah it's a whole grind and it is and I didn't even
[00:05:10.350] know and I love telling the story because it just gives praise to God and my faith is important to
[00:05:15.470] me right so I didn't even know that Cuba was doing a guest appearance on the show there was a show
[00:05:21.690] call forever on abc i drive into the city i call my agent at the time to let her know what i was
[00:05:27.970] doing and she said i don't want you doing background work i said okay tell me why and
[00:05:32.890] she explained to me why i said okay well i've already committed to this i called her on the
[00:05:36.290] way to the city i get to set and there may be 30 of us there because they asked the men to wear
[00:05:43.050] tuxedos the women to wear gowns we were appearing at some art gallery okay so a pa shout out to ed
[00:05:50.150] ryan what's up ed he comes over to me and he says um have you ever done stand-in work no but i'm
[00:05:57.370] willing to learn was my answer he said okay we're gonna go over to set yeah i go over to a van where
[00:06:06.190] somebody from wardrobe is and all praise to god the dude looked at me and he said that's him i
[00:06:12.920] don't know about these other guys that's him so i got pulled out of holding non-union holding
[00:06:19.180] and I was cast as
[00:06:21.440] Cuba Gooding Jr.'s body
[00:06:23.360] double in stand-in. They said,
[00:06:26.450] can you be here tomorrow? You damn right I'll be here
[00:06:28.450] tomorrow. This is Friday.
[00:06:30.650] Tony, I had gone to the city to do this
[00:06:32.470] one-shot deal, so all I had was
[00:06:34.470] the tux I had on. I called
[00:06:36.470] my sister who still lives in Harlem. I said, look, this
[00:06:38.470] is what happened. I got a crash on your floor tonight.
[00:06:40.800] I go up the next morning.
[00:06:42.440] I go to Target. I buy some toiletries. I go
[00:06:44.460] back to the set. I'm still wearing the same damn
[00:06:46.460] tux because I didn't bring a change of clothes.
[00:06:48.480] It's a one-shot deal.
[00:06:50.260] And I'm showing Cuba where to stand.
[00:06:53.700] He's like, hey, I'm Cube.
[00:06:55.160] Thanks for helping us out.
[00:06:56.480] And that's how I became eligible to join SAG-AFTRA because those jobs normally go to SAG people.
[00:07:02.360] Here's the other part of the story as I wrap this up.
[00:07:04.200] I learned from Ed a little while later.
[00:07:06.160] He said, there was another part of this, man.
[00:07:07.880] He said, we'd already hired somebody to be Cuba's body double and stand in, but the guy didn't want to cut his hair.
[00:07:16.040] And when I was less salt and pepper and when I was clean shaven, the resemblance was, was stronger. And that's why I ended up getting hired. So that, that, that, um, really changed the trajectory of opportunities for me because now I was eligible to join SAG-AFTRA and I'm glad that I waited. I'm glad that I waited. Um, but that was a story, man. It was incredible.
[00:07:38.860] That's amazing.
[00:07:39.640] Yeah.
[00:07:40.060] I think it speaks to, I had a great speech with Andre Reid, Hall of Famer.
[00:07:46.420] Okay.
[00:07:47.140] He chairs an alma mater with me, so he's at my high school.
[00:07:50.520] Okay.
[00:07:50.680] And somebody asked him when they said, go to the NFL.
[00:07:54.880] Right.
[00:07:55.260] Were you ready?
[00:07:56.040] And he said, I had already known the game, the playbooks in college.
[00:07:59.860] I was at the highest level.
[00:08:01.160] So when they asked me, I was already ready for that.
[00:08:03.880] Right.
[00:08:04.060] It speaks to the mentality of, you know, you went for something, but you were asked for something else you were willing to learn and just asking, just saying, okay, I can do this. And then being ready to do it. Like you said, that was the trajectory.
[00:08:18.740] Indeed, indeed. And here's the other part. Thank God for Wikipedia, because as I'm laying on my sister's floor to get some sleep that night, I go on the iPhone that I had at the time. What does a stand in do? I said, yes, I had a general idea, but I really didn't know.
[00:08:34.880] So I jumped on Wikipedia, I looked up stand-in, and I said, okay, they basically fill the spot of the A-list talent.
[00:08:43.580] They allow the crew to get the technical aspects of the shot, right, lighting and all that stuff.
[00:08:50.240] And then the A-list talent comes in.
[00:08:52.200] So since there was a close proximity, if you will, height, weight, all that stuff, I would slide.
[00:08:59.220] And then the other thing was there were three other actors on set who were standing in for three other A-list talents.
[00:09:06.200] I fell in and I did what they did.
[00:09:08.160] And it was one woman, Jill Lord, and she said to me, she was telling me different things that I needed to do.
[00:09:15.040] She said, I assume you don't mind me telling you this because I don't mind at all, Jill.
[00:09:20.060] and and and following those folks around being where i was supposed to be where i was supposed
[00:09:25.980] to be being available you know those things allowed me to become a successful um uh stand-in
[00:09:32.480] and anytime kubu was on set i was living here in the valley so you go out listen man sometimes the
[00:09:39.680] call time tony was 6 a.m yes you have to leave three three oh brooklyn so you have to leave
[00:09:45.200] 2.30. Dude, I'm waking up
[00:09:47.160] 2.30 to make sure I
[00:09:49.260] hit the road at
[00:09:51.180] 3.15 to get ahead of that
[00:09:53.040] Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel traffic. For sure.
[00:09:55.540] You'd be stuck there two hours. They could change
[00:09:57.260] everything. So, you know, this was where
[00:09:59.280] the opportunity was. And
[00:10:01.260] I remember being on a set for doing something
[00:10:03.160] else when I shared with a guy that that's what I
[00:10:05.260] did. I wouldn't do that. Okay.
[00:10:07.640] Thomas Edison has a quote where he
[00:10:09.280] says that, I believe it was Thomas Edison, he said
[00:10:11.120] to get it right, he said
[00:10:14.150] Sometimes people miss, and I'm paraphrasing, sometimes people miss opportunity because it shows up looking like, dressed in overalls and looking like hard work.
[00:10:24.870] That's where the opportunity was, man.
[00:10:27.090] Absolutely.
[00:10:27.530] That's where I went.
[00:10:28.170] And I was out of a corporate job at the time.
[00:10:30.230] And this happened two and a half weeks later after I lost.
[00:10:34.530] All in the same day.
[00:10:34.970] Yeah.
[00:10:36.590] It was amazing.
[00:10:37.730] And it was, again, from a faith standpoint, this was divinely ordained.
[00:10:42.910] I believe in that 100%.
[00:10:44.830] No question. Even our mutual friend, Valerie was talking about how, you know, you, you're only employed until your next job, but in between those times, you have to love acting. I saw that you do theater. Your experience ranges from theater to major production to TV, you know, print models.
[00:11:07.770] Uh, so it's one of those things where you really soak up the whole aspect of the game.
[00:11:13.510] Absolutely.
[00:11:14.150] All the technicalities.
[00:11:15.730] Absolutely.
[00:11:16.270] Well, thank you.
[00:11:16.950] And I have, um, a very good friend, uh, a mentor of mine.
[00:11:21.110] I used to be an underwriter with Allstate insurance company back in the, uh, 90s.
[00:11:26.490] And his name is Danny Schindler.
[00:11:28.270] And Danny was a very successful Allstate agent.
[00:11:32.090] And I've learned so much from him over the past almost 35 years.
[00:11:35.470] Right.
[00:11:35.710] and one of the things i remember him saying to me very simply and sometimes uh you will find
[00:11:41.860] brilliance in simplicity the song every breath you take has a distinction of being the most
[00:11:48.460] played song in the history of radio and if you ask any musician it's a very simple song absolutely
[00:11:54.980] almost anything popular is very very simple you know and sting makes thousands of dollars a day
[00:12:00.060] just from that the simplicity the brilliance in that simple in the simplicity of that song
[00:12:04.140] My friend Danny said to me, he said, it's a poor rat that only has one hole. So I took that to mean, as I embarked upon this journey as a performer, that I had to be sensitive enough and discerning enough to recognize other opportunities to exercise, if you will, the skill or talent, but to also generate revenue.
[00:12:30.280] and it was a lady who used to be an agent at Reinhardt.
[00:12:35.760] I'm still have, I still have,
[00:12:36.740] that's my longest standing relationship.
[00:12:38.280] They're an art street and fairly great agency.
[00:12:40.960] It was Sarah Howell who said to me
[00:12:42.880] when they signed me back in 2016
[00:12:46.200] and I went there and the recommendation
[00:12:48.720] of the lovely Kathy Patterson,
[00:12:50.680] who is an actress here in the Valley.
[00:12:52.720] And Sarah said to me,
[00:12:54.640] you can do print modeling.
[00:12:56.180] Really?
[00:12:57.060] I didn't come here for that.
[00:12:58.320] yeah that's what i was open to and it's happened and it's happened wonderfully all praise to god
[00:13:05.780] a number of times so to your point yeah just being open and being discerning and being bold
[00:13:11.060] and and brave and courageous enough to not conform and and to and to close out opportunities
[00:13:18.520] made things like that possible yeah absolutely yeah and it's a team behind you you mentioned
[00:13:24.460] an agent you know there's there's more to it yeah you're kind of the the face like we talked a bit
[00:13:31.840] before off camera he said what got me into podcasting right said i wanted to support a
[00:13:36.580] friend right and for a while it was just me down here dealing with with things i really wanted to
[00:13:42.060] remind myself every week every other week that there is success through failure that failure
[00:13:48.200] part of the journey that there's ups and downs with podcasting, you know? Uh, so I can tie that
[00:13:56.000] in to the experience of sharing and allowing a platform. And it slowly became a whole production,
[00:14:03.060] you know, multi-camera turned into social reels. So we're collaborators in this content now. Yes.
[00:14:10.320] It's no longer people that just want to get on the mic to have me do all that work. It's,
[00:14:15.760] it's kind of become a bit of a purpose so right same as you every aspect of the game knowing how
[00:14:22.810] to use this equipment knowing how to get the best out of the mics everything that's right um it's
[00:14:27.930] i love it yeah you know yes i love it same here man i mean listen um post pandemic
[00:14:36.050] at least at my lower level right at my level the majority if not if not above the majority of
[00:14:43.160] auditions are self-tapes so oh wow for the most part at least for now gone are the days where you
[00:14:51.290] would get an audition and you go in your car on the bus or the train and you go to an office or
[00:14:57.390] studio and audition the majority of them are self-tapes so as an actor you need to be tight
[00:15:05.940] on your self-tape game you need to know lighting you i mean you need to the audio and the simple
[00:15:11.400] thing is listen i just use two lights in my apartment um i don't have like the shadow box
[00:15:17.820] lights or whatever i don't use the ring light from my um i don't use the ring light right yeah i i
[00:15:22.780] because it's they can hear me and they can see me again going back to simplicity right but my point
[00:15:28.920] is you have to be you have to understand the importance of embracing the self-tape game you
[00:15:35.060] can listen you can kick and scream and i don't know listen this is where it is for sure this is
[00:15:40.520] where it is so if you want to play in this arena you need to understand how to self-tape you need
[00:15:45.880] to understand how to edit sometimes i put things in imovie or just um whatever you need to understand
[00:15:51.700] the format in which they want things to be uploaded whether it's re-transfer or a link to
[00:15:57.120] youtube this whatever yeah um that's that's that that is the those are the marching orders you know
[00:16:04.180] so folks can kick and scream and i understand it i'm not minimizing the frustration that people feel
[00:16:09.140] and having to be technical, but this is, you know, like that line in the Godfather. This is
[00:16:14.740] the life we've chosen. Right. Right. This is it. There's a bit of responsibility when you have a
[00:16:20.540] team behind you for you to perform. I mean, like you said, you're responsible for somebody's
[00:16:26.460] salary, somebody's income, you know, right. How much does networking have to play with it? Your
[00:16:31.740] team around you, were they introduced to you or it's everything. Um, you know, no man is an island
[00:16:37.420] a woman, you know, I'm just using men in the generic sense. Um, um, I freelance with a few
[00:16:44.460] agents. Um, I do have a manager, uh, Lorraine Rainey, who's the owner operator of the talent
[00:16:49.860] express in, uh, in New York. I think they've been in business for the past 30 odd years,
[00:16:53.900] I think 1991. So there'll be celebrating a, a milestone anniversary next year, turning 35.
[00:16:58.920] So there is a team absolutely, um, that the talent has behind them. And sometimes
[00:17:04.500] They're doing things that are not quite visible.
[00:17:08.000] But at the same time, I accept my role, Tony, as the quarterback, as the product, if you will.
[00:17:18.160] And I work to make sure that the agents have something that they can embrace and they are proud to promote because it's all about, listen, this is not a benevolence business.
[00:17:29.330] It may be for a little while.
[00:17:30.870] We'll get he or she up and running.
[00:17:32.270] but can you represent us um can you follow directions can you get yourself tapes in early
[00:17:40.730] minimally on time are you training to make sure that you're the best possible actor print model
[00:17:46.330] voiceover artist whatever you are right because it's about can we all make some money this is a
[00:17:54.300] business right so um working with the team is important and i give them i strive to give them
[00:18:01.160] value i strive to give them reasons as to why i am worthy of representation
[00:18:06.600] there can be a lot of vanity in this business man you know i have an agent did you see me okay
[00:18:14.340] that's fine for a little while that's fine for a little while you know are you a bankable
[00:18:21.850] entity i don't want to say product because that sounds so inhuman but are you bankable you know
[00:18:28.950] are we going to hit pay dirt with you you know booking a co-star in theater booking voiceovers
[00:18:35.230] booking um a commercial booking a movie and oftentimes they're making investments in you
[00:18:41.630] that you're not privy to um that you have no lot that you're not privy to it may take time
[00:18:48.850] for some things to manifest so in the meanwhile you as the talent need to make sure
[00:18:55.070] that you're doing the things that you need to do to prepare yourself and back to your point before
[00:19:01.110] about being ready for opportunity right you know i've been at this for a while i study with bgb
[00:19:08.070] studios out of hollywood california we have a class it meets virtually every thursday i learned
[00:19:13.370] about them through their podcast during the pandemic love them and i'm in class every
[00:19:18.470] thursday night on zoom we do scene work regularly um i volunteer to be readers for other people
[00:19:25.650] So there is a team. There's a team of other actors. There's a community. There's an agent. There's a manager. There's building relationships with casting directors because they're the ones that have the ability to sense your talent, your type and bring you in for auditions for which they seem if they think you're a good fit.
[00:19:42.690] so it's definitely a collective effort
[00:19:45.010] but as I close
[00:19:46.470] the talent needs to make sure you're doing their part
[00:19:49.030] I'll close with this, I was sharing with somebody
[00:19:51.050] the other night and I came across a quote that says
[00:19:53.330] if you think someone
[00:19:54.930] that's making 10% of your income
[00:19:56.950] is going to work for you 100%
[00:19:59.090] of the time, you're delusional
[00:20:00.810] it's not to minimize
[00:20:02.990] what they do, but you need
[00:20:05.110] to be the driving force
[00:20:06.310] on this team
[00:20:08.330] that's the way that I see it
[00:20:10.150] Absolutely. And there's a bit of believing in, at least from my own experience, I feel you can move people to motion when they believe in something that you do, when they know that you're reading scripts, when they know that you're staying on book.
[00:20:26.210] it's like i can get with that team nobody even if especially if they have skills in constantly
[00:20:33.480] getting yes i looked at your resume from 2017 on you've been working there's no huge gaps i mean
[00:20:41.060] even on power book three you know all the the roles right it's very interesting to see and kind
[00:20:50.320] to paint the picture in my head, which I wanted to ask you going back before 2017, you mentioned
[00:20:57.180] that you're always avid public speaker. You're here quoting Stephen Covey, seven laws of highly
[00:21:03.580] effective people. It's like, what got you into that? How much does that play into just, you know,
[00:21:11.340] you blog about personal growth, right? You embody that mentality. Is that been always, or did
[00:21:17.160] something? A couple of things. I was always passionate about having a good command of the
[00:21:23.850] language. Okay. And I got to say this too, particularly when there are people who would
[00:21:29.810] respond as though you're not supposed to, or somehow that's out of your, let me be polite
[00:21:36.100] about this, that's somehow out of your cultural domain. Right. You hear what I'm saying? In other
[00:21:42.200] words to be an articulate black boy young black man black somehow that is a skill set that is
[00:21:49.740] germane to folks outside of your culture and I'm look I roll with everybody you know I'm saying
[00:21:56.020] so when I ever since I was a kid I was passionate about having a good understanding and a good
[00:22:01.960] command over words I was sharing with somebody the other day I was 11 years old when Stevie
[00:22:06.420] wanted to release songs in the key of life 11 and with no hyperbole whatsoever that changed my life
[00:22:14.370] yeah because i was always interested in song lyrics and i remember man listen when i was a
[00:22:19.370] kid getting songs in the key of life was an event yeah music music is is way too accessible in my
[00:22:26.710] opinion nowadays yo i don't know many black households that did not have a copy of songs
[00:22:31.950] in the key of life and my point is i remember playing the album and vitals making a comeback
[00:22:37.090] um and it was one of the first albums i remember that had the lyrics to all the songs
[00:22:42.230] so i wish sir duke knocked me off my feet as um um another star i would sit there because i wanted
[00:22:52.930] what's stevie talking about yeah you know so that gave me a love for the power of words
[00:23:00.470] I also had a love for the power of storytelling. And now that my parents are not with me, and cannot exact retribution, there were some stories I told as a kid that were stories.
[00:23:18.250] You know, Sanford Meisner, a very well-known acting instructor, defines acting as behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.
[00:23:26.490] oh collectively what i had the ability to do was take these imaginary circumstances and make them
[00:23:33.050] truthful so it was like the inverse so the point is there was always this love of storytelling this
[00:23:38.910] love of public speaking that was always resonating with within me fast forward a few years later i
[00:23:44.130] was working with a company and they came at me foul man real foul and it still it still keeps a
[00:23:52.600] flame burning on the inside that's almost 24 years old. And through that process, where they
[00:23:59.200] tried to basically get rid of me in a very unfair way, I sat down in the summer of 2001
[00:24:05.860] and I borrowed from an episode of The Honeymooners, where there was a guy who lived in Ralph
[00:24:12.280] Cramden's apartment. He was a very successful dude. Ralph was like, Ralph, you used to live
[00:24:17.520] in this dump? And how did you become? He said, I sat down and took stock of myself. I listed my
[00:24:22.000] good points. So I sat down that summer, Tony, and I said, okay, how can I figure out a way to hire
[00:24:27.680] myself? What has God called and gifted me to do so much so that it doesn't feel like work? And I
[00:24:33.700] wrote some things down and I was always interested in voiceover because someone told me when I was
[00:24:39.420] a teenager that I had a nice voice. It's amazing how that little suggestion is when someone tells
[00:24:45.340] you you're good. Same with the inverse. Somebody tells you, you don't sound good on mic. You may
[00:24:50.480] never try to get that's right that's right Eleanor Roosevelt said no one can make you feel inferior
[00:24:56.940] without your consent oh that's fair enough Martin Luther King said something along the lines that
[00:25:02.490] a man cannot I'm going to paraphrase a man cannot ride your back unless you bend down and then let
[00:25:10.410] him on and again I'm paraphrasing you see once you decide to stand up straight he has no alternative
[00:25:15.310] but to stand alongside you and be your brother so to your point there are things that are said
[00:25:20.710] to us good and bad that we can internalize that can either propel us forward or leave us stagnant
[00:25:28.190] or God forbid, turn us back. My point in sharing that was, um, that summer I was living in Rockland
[00:25:34.400] County and I called up a talent agency on main street in Nyack and I explained what I wanted to
[00:25:39.980] do. They said, well, if you want to get into voiceover, you should take acting lessons because
[00:25:44.460] it's acting with your voice. Why don't you come in and learn about class? I went to the class one
[00:25:48.980] night and they gave me either some sides or some copy and they charged me with the responsibility
[00:25:54.740] of bringing these words to life. I was hooked. This is what I'm meant to do. And I never let
[00:26:08.590] that go. And this is 24 years ago this summer, man. So, uh, life changes. Father passed away
[00:26:16.180] a few years later, went through a challenging divorce a year after that. And I was turning 40
[00:26:21.200] in 2005 and all this thing was still burning on the inside of me. So I decided to pursue it
[00:26:26.000] and I hemmed and hawed for a bit. And then I called up a guy, uh, his name was Randy Donatelli,
[00:26:32.980] the late Randy Donatelli. I think his brother, Mickey's still in business in Redding,
[00:26:36.740] Donatelli agency. And, um, got some pictures, went to see him and he said,
[00:26:42.620] decent looking guy. I need African-Americans. He said, I think I can get you some work.
[00:26:46.880] And he said to me in closing, he said, never give up. He said, things changed on a dime in this business. That was 2005. I started working for Dun & Bradstreet. One day, September 19th, 2007, my phone rings. I see it's Randy calling. I think I have a spot for you in a commercial. What are you doing on Friday? Not doing anything.
[00:27:11.310] Tit title, call you back.
[00:27:12.930] Friday, I'm filming a commercial for Coordinated Health.
[00:27:17.310] September 21st, 2007, I was cast as a patient who was undergoing some therapy.
[00:27:23.290] 30-second spot.
[00:27:24.830] You see me at the 14-second mark, laying down on a table, getting stretched out by a therapist.
[00:27:31.640] You see me at the 21-second mark with my back running to the camera on a treadmill.
[00:27:39.760] That was my first commercial.
[00:27:41.340] And everything happened as a result of that small seed in which you barely saw me.
[00:27:49.820] Is that the one that they extended you for?
[00:27:52.400] No, that was another spot that came.
[00:27:55.680] I was a non-union actor back then.
[00:27:57.640] And I don't begrudge non-union.
[00:27:59.520] That's how I started.
[00:28:00.780] But the one you're talking about is one that's still on the air for Colonial Pen.
[00:28:05.040] Colonial Pen, okay.
[00:28:06.240] And that happened.
[00:28:07.880] Let me see.
[00:28:08.300] I filmed Coordinated Health 2007.
[00:28:10.500] when Colonial Pen came 14 years later, man, almost 14 years later.
[00:28:17.160] So, you know, this thing, from my perspective, man, it's a journey, not a sprint.
[00:28:25.860] And again, I'll be 60 in May, so I don't bite my tongue much anymore.
[00:28:32.170] I speak to folks respectfully, but I don't, you know, I flow.
[00:28:37.250] So this thing, this thing is a, this thing is a journey, man.
[00:28:40.710] And there's another quote that says, again, I'm going to paraphrase.
[00:28:45.130] I can't recall who said it, but it basically says that what you're becoming in your journey is as important, if not more important than like the ultimate thing.
[00:28:58.750] You know, it's like the habits that you build on the way to becoming a bodybuilder.
[00:29:06.910] There's something about the character, the metal, M-E-T-T-L-E, that you build that is with you.
[00:29:14.570] And it certainly gave birth to you standing on that forum, whatever, and collecting awards.
[00:29:22.010] but there's something about that process yeah that is is to me is so instrumental in the journey man
[00:29:31.110] so you have to embrace that for me you have to embrace that part of it too sure not just to
[00:29:35.270] destination personally i don't even look at the end when i'm starting something or when i do it
[00:29:40.810] yeah when i started this i sat right here and i said i don't know who i am to be an orator right
[00:29:46.630] but if I explore success, learn from failure, I can do this for 10 years. Yes. Wow. And there's
[00:29:53.180] been times where I said, I, it's a lot of work and you say, but I am in service. This next one,
[00:30:00.200] I show up like you, I'm finding a lot of similarities, but like you said, I show up
[00:30:05.140] when I interviewed Valerie, we had talked about that a year prior. I showed up that day. There's
[00:30:12.100] been times where i've been somewhat sick and you know you say well i gotta get on the mic i have
[00:30:17.460] to do this we've had this on the book there's you know a season of godfather of harlem come on
[00:30:22.820] anything that could have changed this happening throws a lot of stuff off yeah but not only that
[00:30:28.400] you reached out to me after seeing that interview so you never know who's gonna see that's right
[00:30:33.620] what that's right what is this platform oh wow that's right that's right there's a lot of cool
[00:30:39.000] people that have yeah see my goal has been always to show that that journey that struggle yes
[00:30:46.060] everybody goes through it yes it's not just you know you and valerie happen to be actors but this
[00:30:51.660] ties to people who overcome addiction this ties to people who you know uh we had wesley morris on
[00:30:59.220] public speaker okay 10 years ago he was a homeless heroin addict wow and so like you said you were
[00:31:07.140] interested in public speaking because of being able to articulate you understand the power of
[00:31:12.140] words and then you studied the game and realize okay let me think about filler words let me
[00:31:17.780] do things to get better anybody that looks at anything that people do professionally
[00:31:22.380] right and thinks that you can just they think voiceover is just talking into a mic right they
[00:31:27.640] think podcasting is just talking into a mic it's uh it's interesting to see who falls in love with
[00:31:35.340] it yes is you can't do something for 10 15 years you don't love right like even at 10 15 years
[00:31:42.060] maybe five years at corporate if you know you can make a quarter a million annual salary yeah
[00:31:47.700] you'll put up with some crap but ultimately uh it'll it'll reveal itself man yeah it will reveal
[00:31:54.660] itself um you know as you were speaking man uh i thought about uh one of my favorite actors and
[00:32:02.240] And the first time, humbly, the first time that I worked on SNL, I got a chance to stand in for him and be his body double.
[00:32:10.080] And that's Don Cheadle.
[00:32:11.760] I remember seeing him.
[00:32:13.540] I think it was a movie, Devil with a Blue Dress, with Denzel Washington in 1985.
[00:32:19.400] And he got these rave reviews as this character, Mousy.
[00:32:23.200] And he was brilliant.
[00:32:24.580] And the movie talked to me.
[00:32:26.780] I have to admit, I didn't see the one for which he was nominated for an Oscar about Rwanda.
[00:32:32.100] I believe I need to put that on my calendar to watch.
[00:32:34.040] But my point is, there's a video that I've shared with people where he says, people come up to me and said, I want to do what you do.
[00:32:44.000] I want to be what you do.
[00:32:45.240] And he said, you want to be an actor or you want to be a celebrity?
[00:32:49.100] And he says, you'll ask them, ask them.
[00:32:51.480] He said, are you acting now?
[00:32:54.100] Are you reading plays now?
[00:32:55.520] Are you in class now?
[00:32:56.420] because all those things are part of acting.
[00:33:00.840] And he said, you know, while you may need to be on a show
[00:33:04.740] or in a play for the application of it,
[00:33:06.760] all of those things are part of acting that happen behind the scenes.
[00:33:11.780] He said, if you're not doing those things,
[00:33:14.380] when your opportunity comes, he said,
[00:33:16.820] folks are going to see that you're this small
[00:33:18.500] and that you bring nothing to the game.
[00:33:20.860] And it's freaking brilliant because,
[00:33:25.480] not only because he said it but it's so on point because again as i said before man this is a
[00:33:31.260] business where the relative allure and you can speak to this as well with people just the same
[00:33:37.020] poopy just assume oh it's easy you know you just do it you can you can be seen and you do
[00:33:41.620] yeah there's more to it and i think the reasons why you get into it it was a you know i'm a man
[00:33:49.200] of faith before this interview i prayed yes i said i'm doing your work allow the conversation
[00:33:56.260] to flow reach the people it needs to reach and just allow me to be a vessel for it amen and
[00:34:02.480] same here you know you you go and you think about being ready and about showing up do you ever watch
[00:34:09.500] uh no entourage on hbo it was a series in the early 2000s i'm familiar with it but i didn't
[00:34:16.100] watch it i'm gonna i'd have to research the name of the actor but he plays vincent chase who's a
[00:34:22.720] kid from queens and goes on to get a movie deal okay they pick him up from being an extra and
[00:34:30.400] he's it was like an indie film that went i don't remember the exact story but the point was
[00:34:35.280] later in the season his manager says look i didn't hire you because you can act i hired you because
[00:34:40.960] you're a star and we have this allure of getting you into things right but once he had enough hit
[00:34:48.280] movies they put him in an actual film okay where he's playing a firefighter right and they keep
[00:34:53.460] yelling cut and they're telling him turn your head like this what are you doing you're dropping
[00:34:57.480] and right he had no idea he had never taken acting class and it was just interesting that
[00:35:03.400] that you brought up. What do you want to be in this for? When I, when I prayed to say,
[00:35:10.220] lead me in the right way for this, you know, I don't do this for the likes, the fame. I mean,
[00:35:19.040] I check numbers. It's cool to stay on your path and say, what am I going to do? But I don't get
[00:35:26.480] excited when people see me out and say, Hey, I saw the podcast that I did this. I get excited
[00:35:31.780] when people reach out and say you know what i saw that roy didn't grow up acting but he's made an
[00:35:38.980] entire career over it for the past 15 years like it's not too late to start doing something right
[00:35:45.940] right but they also see the work that went into you how much does your background of harlem help
[00:35:54.020] with these acts with these roles do you think someone could play in godfather of harlem not
[00:35:59.940] Coming from Harlem.
[00:36:02.060] Absolutely.
[00:36:03.490] Absolutely.
[00:36:04.010] But, you know, there's something for me about being where I'm from, being where I came to be.
[00:36:14.390] Yeah.
[00:36:15.270] That is particularly special, man.
[00:36:19.000] You just you just feed off of it in conjunction with being a performer, just in a general sense.
[00:36:26.720] I also serve as a substitute teacher in Harlem.
[00:36:30.130] Okay. And man, the ability to pour into kids where I'm from, and I purposely work with third grade and below. Sorry, middle school kids. Sorry, high school kids. It's a different day. Not my speed.
[00:36:47.970] so to be able to work with 3k pre-k kindergarten first grade second grade up to about third grade
[00:36:55.770] and to contribute in some way to their critical years learning how to add learning how to subtract
[00:37:06.690] learning division learning um just math learning how to read i put up a video yesterday man i said
[00:37:13.930] guys I said listen all of you
[00:37:16.090] had a secondary class I was covering
[00:37:17.450] all of you are smart enough to be able to tie your sneakers
[00:37:20.130] how many of you guys play Roblox
[00:37:22.630] how many of you guys go on YouTube
[00:37:24.430] I said the same way you
[00:37:26.540] play Roblox and you get to second levels
[00:37:28.780] the same way you go on YouTube and pull up
[00:37:30.540] those videos you can pull up a YouTube
[00:37:32.640] video at seven years old
[00:37:34.020] and tie your sneakers
[00:37:35.760] so at the end of the day fun Friday
[00:37:38.320] we went to YouTube
[00:37:39.300] there's a kid who records a video
[00:37:42.600] showing other kids how to tie their sneakers
[00:37:44.280] two of the guys did it
[00:37:46.400] yeah incredible
[00:37:52.020] so being from Harlem man
[00:37:54.080] like there's a certain grit
[00:37:55.720] there's a certain swag
[00:37:58.480] yeah
[00:37:59.300] there's a certain attitude there's a
[00:38:03.000] certain
[00:38:03.440] there's a certain awareness
[00:38:06.700] that folks from Harlem have
[00:38:08.940] and even
[00:38:11.140] for the almost 16 years I lived in the
[00:38:13.160] Valley Harlem was always home
[00:38:14.940] and during the spring and
[00:38:17.230] summer, I would get back to Harlem at least once a month, man, just to go hang, just to go roll
[00:38:21.470] with folks. So, you know, being able to tap into that energy to feed what it is I'm blessed to do
[00:38:28.380] now is almost beyond words. It's, it's special, man. It really is special. I I'm very thankful
[00:38:35.790] for it. And I'm thankful for my time in the Valley. Cause this is where I started acting at 42.
[00:38:41.350] Absolutely. At 42 years old, man. Besides acting, blogging, substitute teaching,
[00:38:46.730] which i just found out now yes that wasn't anywhere in your imdb i need to update that
[00:38:52.730] but um entrepreneur yes what got you into cheesecakes your company cheesecakes by chester
[00:39:01.970] where i actually met you in 10 15 years ago we uh we crossed paths i don't know that we ever sat
[00:39:09.770] down but we were definitely in the same room and you were selling cheese wow wow um when that whole
[00:39:15.910] experience happened uh with that company who since they ended up going out of business they
[00:39:20.970] ended up selling to somebody else after spiraling downward i'm not i'm just reporting i'm not you
[00:39:24.790] know gloating right um one of the things i asked god was i want to be able to hire myself and i
[00:39:32.440] want to be able to take those abilities and skill sets that he blessed me with and actually exist
[00:39:39.260] in that divine i like to call it my divine essence right um how can i operate in that space as often
[00:39:45.520] as I can and make a living there.
[00:39:47.480] So my older daughter, Adrienne, and I,
[00:39:50.180] we baked our first cheesecake together
[00:39:52.140] like back in 98.
[00:39:53.920] You know, she was 13.
[00:39:55.440] She was with me that weekend.
[00:39:57.320] We saw this magazine.
[00:39:58.660] So I baked the cheesecake
[00:39:59.440] because it looked good
[00:40:00.420] and we were doing it together.
[00:40:01.480] Came out okay.
[00:40:02.240] But I just kept doing it,
[00:40:03.380] kept doing it, kept doing it.
[00:40:05.110] And when I moved down here to the Valley,
[00:40:06.650] I would share them with people
[00:40:07.590] and people would say I'd like to buy one.
[00:40:10.490] I'm like, come on, man.
[00:40:11.730] Just enjoy your cheesecake.
[00:40:13.070] I'm not selling this cheesecake.
[00:40:14.210] The lady gave me her number, and I'm like, I'm not doing that.
[00:40:18.850] January 2012.
[00:40:23.160] It might have been today.
[00:40:24.040] It might have been January 24th.
[00:40:25.820] I think it was January 24th, 2012.
[00:40:28.600] I heard the voice of God say to me, why don't you try test marketing those cheesecakes?
[00:40:33.650] And the fact of the matter, Tony, is that folks have been saying it for years.
[00:40:37.410] This was different.
[00:40:39.480] And this time, I obeyed.
[00:40:41.540] I put it on Facebook the next day.
[00:40:44.690] Regina Redogna became my first customer.
[00:40:46.650] she'll take one
[00:40:49.320] for a Super Bowl party
[00:40:50.280] somebody else
[00:40:54.660] stepped up
[00:40:55.140] Mike Leonard
[00:40:56.610] this person
[00:40:58.040] they gave birth
[00:40:58.680] to a business
[00:40:59.300] started thinking
[00:41:00.400] about a name
[00:41:00.920] my middle name
[00:41:01.500] is Chester
[00:41:01.940] okay
[00:41:02.800] I hated it as a kid
[00:41:04.360] because you know
[00:41:04.720] kids are Chester
[00:41:05.540] but I like
[00:41:07.460] the alliteration
[00:41:08.240] yeah that's a great
[00:41:09.020] alliteration
[00:41:09.780] by Chester
[00:41:10.340] so I gave birth
[00:41:11.840] to a business
[00:41:12.340] but it was born
[00:41:13.140] out of
[00:41:14.100] that experience
[00:41:15.460] and that petition
[00:41:16.620] that I made to God
[00:41:17.760] in 2001
[00:41:18.800] that I wanted
[00:41:20.160] to be able
[00:41:20.800] to operate at my divine essence um i didn't want the drudgery follow me i didn't want the drudgery
[00:41:28.360] of a job i don't mind working i just didn't want the drudgery of a job and if i could if i could
[00:41:34.580] just be and have that serve as a means of being able to support myself okay to me that's the
[00:41:41.870] that's that's the ultimate thing absolutely just to be and and have that generate so
[00:41:47.190] it gave birth to a business and i operated it we operated it plural for five years first out of my
[00:41:54.010] apartment in bethlehem then it continued in allentown and then in 2017 we moved into an
[00:42:02.570] incubator that used to be located in downtown easton i can't think of the name right now it
[00:42:06.810] doesn't exist anymore but that incubator had housed a number of businesses that had access
[00:42:12.090] to their commercial kitchen i can't think of the name oh wow they had a kitchen in like a
[00:42:17.150] co-working space yeah exactly i learned about it i think reading an article in um either the
[00:42:23.170] express times or the morning call i can't recall and i cannot think of the place but i ended up
[00:42:28.890] going i baked a cheesecake i took it to the proprietors and they invited us in so we had
[00:42:36.250] to get licensed and all that stuff and i think from the city of eastern got through that process
[00:42:40.330] and operated there for a little while until my car broke down
[00:42:44.490] and I couldn't get back and forth.
[00:42:45.770] But there was a time, humbly, where I was told that we were the leading sellers
[00:42:51.370] because I was able to cut that cheesecake now into slices.
[00:42:56.950] Right. Oh, okay.
[00:42:57.910] You know, the same cheesecake that would sell a whole for $40 would sell for $60
[00:43:02.670] because it was $5 a slice when it cut it into 12 slices.
[00:43:06.170] So people that didn't want a whole cheesecake for Thanksgiving or Mother's Day
[00:43:10.210] or Christmas or whatever, Easter, could just come in and order a slice.
[00:43:14.750] So it was fun while it lasted.
[00:43:17.030] But that entrepreneurial spirit, and sometimes there's a term called
[00:43:21.880] actapreneur.
[00:43:23.580] Actapreneur, yeah.
[00:43:24.520] That entrepreneurial experience feeds what I do today.
[00:43:29.920] For sure.
[00:43:31.610] Absolutely, man.
[00:43:32.550] So they're definitely related, you know.
[00:43:34.730] Yeah, definitely related.
[00:43:36.250] You hear me always keep saying it because of how much it stuck with me
[00:43:40.610] when Valerie told me you're only employed until your next job.
[00:43:43.750] Yeah.
[00:43:44.230] And it constantly goes through my head.
[00:43:45.910] You know, did I mess up not going the corporate route?
[00:43:49.930] You know, is this the work I'm supposed to do?
[00:43:51.690] And if I continue, not just the podcast,
[00:43:54.030] but branding companies and giving people that.
[00:43:58.430] To me, when I brand a business,
[00:44:00.870] I'm starting a story like you did,
[00:44:03.070] where somebody has something that's special to them,
[00:44:05.450] whether it be baking a cheesecake for whatever reason.
[00:44:08.010] And now they have the suit to go on and go to their audition.
[00:44:13.410] You know, that's an important part.
[00:44:14.530] Your tailor is an important part of if you're in the business of image.
[00:44:21.490] Has it ever like have you ever been out somewhere and somebody comes to you and pitches you like I don't want to compare it to like when they came up to us in the mall and said you could be a print model.
[00:44:31.950] Right. Right.
[00:44:32.630] But has anyone ever, like, have you ever gotten a job out of somebody just seeing or recognizing you from something?
[00:44:41.330] Yes.
[00:44:43.590] Go on that for a second.
[00:44:44.990] I learned, I was doing commercials from 2007 up until about 2011.
[00:44:50.570] For whatever reason, opportunities were just drying up in 2011.
[00:44:53.630] There's a point to this story.
[00:44:55.030] And listen, I've been bitten by the bug.
[00:44:57.010] I got to act.
[00:44:57.950] I got to find a way.
[00:44:58.650] So, I was in my car one day and I heard a commercial where Touchstone Theater in Bethlehem was holding auditions.
[00:45:10.660] They were doing this big production to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
[00:45:16.280] And the name of the play was called A Resting Place.
[00:45:19.060] And they had auditions a few blocks down from where they're located.
[00:45:23.200] I had to act.
[00:45:25.460] I got to get this thing out.
[00:45:26.660] I went to the audition was clearly the oldest one there because it was mostly kids
[00:45:31.200] and Christopher Shore was the director I believe he teaches theater at Moravian I believe okay and
[00:45:37.740] I met some other folks WT George who was a good friend of mine the former Emma Chong and now
[00:45:45.940] Emma Ackerman was the stage manager and a few other folks you know JP and those guys our audition
[00:45:50.520] I was blessed to get cast as one of the principal actors in this play this this became a part-time
[00:45:57.280] job i was going to rehearsal six weeks out i was going to rehearsal like 20 hours a week yeah but
[00:46:04.410] being rather destitute at the time not that i'm much better off right now but i'm good
[00:46:08.930] i saw pursuing theater as an opportunity to become a better actor it was like my default
[00:46:16.290] acting school so as a result of doing theater and doing more productions and ultimately
[00:46:22.230] being directed by
[00:46:24.050] the late great George
[00:46:26.170] Miller for a local production of
[00:46:28.170] To Kill a Mockingbird I met
[00:46:30.210] Zeke Zelker
[00:46:31.970] and Elaine Zelker. Elaine is
[00:46:34.700] a talented
[00:46:35.360] branding individual
[00:46:38.040] author
[00:46:39.640] photographer. Awesome.
[00:46:42.840] And she has been my
[00:46:44.640] sole head shot
[00:46:46.500] photographer since 2014
[00:46:48.180] and we're going to do another session
[00:46:50.540] this year because the shots I have while they're
[00:46:52.620] good according to my manager at four years old we had a session on election day 2020 but i met her
[00:46:57.320] husband zeke zelker when i was in to kill a mockingbird he cast me as the mayor in his
[00:47:03.520] billboard movie so a long way to show but you know a long story but that that was one instance where
[00:47:10.710] someone saw me on stage and um put me in their film and then i became uh i became a subject
[00:47:19.350] uh, for, uh, for Elaine Zelker. And we're all, you know, good friends and I can't wait to have
[00:47:24.830] the next, uh, next photo session with her. So yeah, it does happen. And, and, and there are
[00:47:29.250] times Tony where because it doesn't happen on a, on a direct immediate one-to-one basis that
[00:47:36.840] that'll cause folks to lose hope sometime. Absolutely. Patience is a virtue, you know,
[00:47:43.510] I know it sounds cliche, but you just never know, um, when something will, will, will turn into
[00:47:49.750] an opportunity could have been as a result of a seed planted years ago years years ago you know
[00:47:55.390] and you know what i think people don't appreciate enough is you could get your big break and it
[00:48:01.710] doesn't have to be your last break you get a big break and the mentality of okay it's not just if
[00:48:09.710] i show up here 40 hours a week i have a check coming every two weeks the idea that there might
[00:48:15.190] be a slow period. You know, I'm, I'm blessed to be in a heavy, you know, at least for the last
[00:48:21.070] six months to a year, I've been very busy, but I don't think I'm the greatest. So that's going to
[00:48:27.590] last forever. I think what opportunities can I look at? What can I build through the podcast?
[00:48:33.190] Who can I meet? And if the calling comes where they say, okay, you know, you have to drop twice
[00:48:40.840] a week because there's that many stories you need to get out, then hopefully I'm prepared to
[00:48:45.500] take that step right right right now i mean it's just the journey it is like you said it is
[00:48:51.420] you know um so we have a few minutes well we got some time left but i wanted to go on
[00:48:57.800] godfather of harlem coming up what is your experience with that you're all taped and
[00:49:03.900] done right i'm all taped and done and it was an awesome experience man i um i auditioned for this
[00:49:11.490] role sometime last summer and I was blessed to find out that I got the role and went to set that
[00:49:20.810] day and we just had a marvelous time. There are two actors who are part of the cast and I was
[00:49:30.230] in a scene with them. One plays Pettigrew and forgive me for not knowing the other character's
[00:49:38.670] name doggone it i forget pedigree and the other one i forget i'm sorry uh and then it was directed
[00:49:44.800] by a guy named rob greenlee and we had so much fun in the scene and there was one he said okay
[00:49:54.080] let's do this one for blanks and giggles you know just take any handcuffs off just go and there were
[00:50:00.860] some things that i improvised in the scene that i think are going to be i don't i haven't seen the
[00:50:08.380] final cut yet but i know they liked it even even even the cast members were dapping me up oh praise
[00:50:13.440] god that's amazing as a result of being loose and being invited and just being in the moment
[00:50:18.540] and being confident in your readiness so it was a great time man i learned just last week that
[00:50:23.940] season four may not drop until april all 10 episodes are done i'm in i'm in episode five
[00:50:29.820] it's called concrete jungle and i'm looking forward to uh to seeing just what i'm in two
[00:50:35.260] scenes i'm looking forward to seeing what those scenes look like but it was an awesome experience
[00:50:39.260] man just uh i'm very very thankful man very thankful yeah that's a that must be and if we
[00:50:47.320] have more time i'd explore that for a little bit but let me just ask you do work you're not sure
[00:50:53.380] valerie it ended up talking about ending up on the cutting room floor three mark walberg movies
[00:51:00.040] Yes. So you just go do your work. Right. You probably get paid before it even comes out. Right. And you get to see it for the first time with everybody else. That's insane. It is, man. I mean, imagine that's how it happens. And, you know, Tony, you can only control what you can control.
[00:51:18.610] you talked about you mentioned before about to paraphrase not not even being concerned about
[00:51:25.250] the end right and there's a quote from an actress her name is Constance Wu and she said when it
[00:51:32.730] comes to auditioning you have to detach yourself from the result and use all that energy just to
[00:51:38.820] emerge yourself and being in the moment and the actor Bryan Cranston says something similar you
[00:51:44.100] You don't audition to get the job.
[00:51:45.840] Michael Keaton says the same thing.
[00:51:47.140] Go to work.
[00:51:48.790] Just go to work.
[00:51:49.410] Do your job.
[00:51:50.650] And to some degree, just let the chips fall where they may.
[00:51:52.890] You have no control over how things are going to be edited.
[00:51:55.750] But your responsibility, your contribution is to serve the story.
[00:51:59.790] Absolutely.
[00:52:00.150] And hopefully in serving the story and serving the director and serving the other actors,
[00:52:04.430] hopefully there is value in what it is you've provided so that it does make the final cut.
[00:52:11.050] Just because it doesn't make the final cut doesn't mean it wasn't good.
[00:52:14.010] Absolutely.
[00:52:14.730] But you control what you can't control.
[00:52:17.110] So, yeah, I remember, quick story.
[00:52:20.580] I was blessed to be represented by an agency on Broad Street for a little while.
[00:52:24.080] They were called Pro Model, then they were called Look Model.
[00:52:28.020] And they used to do a lot of casting for forensic files.
[00:52:32.500] So I appeared on forensic files like five times.
[00:52:34.700] And the last time was as this character, Wilson St. Teal, who had murdered somebody, right?
[00:52:39.020] The point of this story quickly is that I could not afford cable TV at the time.
[00:52:44.050] I had pretty significant child support obligations and I was watching the episode of the friend's house and man, we're watching, we're watching.
[00:52:53.600] I'm not coming up. We got all these folks there to watch, you know, and finally, most of the work that I did was shown at the end when they did the recreation part.
[00:53:02.900] So, yeah, it's fun to watch sometimes. And you just hope that, you know, the work that you did is that it makes the final cut.
[00:53:09.900] But I've been blessed, man, whether it was Law and Order, SVU, FBI Most Wanted and some other stuff that I've been blessed to book.
[00:53:17.350] You know, it's made the cut, man.
[00:53:19.070] So I'm absolutely thankful.
[00:53:20.690] And I'm sure your range plays to that as well, too.
[00:53:23.650] You don't play the same character.
[00:53:25.430] I don't know the acting term for it.
[00:53:27.350] Typecast?
[00:53:28.210] Yeah, you don't get typecast.
[00:53:29.930] So that's pretty interesting.
[00:53:33.330] I'm going to get I mean, obviously, we can't get scenes of Godfather of Harlem to put out with this episode.
[00:53:39.250] but you're you're real yes stuff you can i'll definitely open the episode with that okay sure
[00:53:45.550] is there anything else you want to shout out any messages you want to leave i mean you you were
[00:53:49.830] great well thank you man all praise to god first and foremost um my uh faith is very important to
[00:53:56.540] me shout out to the greatest shallow church community and to my fcbc first corinthians
[00:54:01.540] baptist church community up in harlem where i'm a member um listen uh the bible says that
[00:54:09.710] without faith hebrews 11 6 without faith it is impossible to please god doesn't sound likely
[00:54:18.050] doesn't say you might not doesn't say i don't think you're going to it's impossible and that
[00:54:23.210] he who um it's possible to please god and he who comes to god must believe that he is and
[00:54:30.620] conjunction. He is a rewarder of those who diligently, some versions say, earnestly seek
[00:54:36.000] him. So to me, faith is important. Book of James talks about faith and works working in concert
[00:54:42.140] with each other. So if there's something that you believe, there should be works behind it.
[00:54:47.580] There should be effort. You know, it says, you know, you show me your faith, but what you do,
[00:54:52.380] you show me your faith, what you believe, you show me your faith by what you believe. I'll
[00:54:55.540] show you my faith by what I do. So, you know, you have to, you have to embrace the doing that you
[00:55:02.240] got to, you got to move and you can't just allow the restrictions or the fear that some people
[00:55:09.960] will try to project onto you to cause you not to move. You know, ambition sometimes is a lonely
[00:55:18.050] thing, man. You know, um, I'll close with this. Two of my favorite affirmations have become
[00:55:25.640] uh work in silence let success make the noise three the second one is don't announce moves
[00:55:34.900] confirm arrivals yes love it and the last one is the time you put in while no one is around
[00:55:48.230] will be what sets you apart when everyone is watching yeah oh yeah so those three affirmations
[00:55:56.760] are dear to my heart
[00:55:58.520] I'm glad that I was able to remember them
[00:56:00.840] for this podcast
[00:56:01.540] but you know you just have to
[00:56:04.860] believe man and you have to
[00:56:06.300] sometimes go it alone
[00:56:07.700] for sure
[00:56:09.740] I've heard very similar messages
[00:56:13.650] in different wording
[00:56:14.850] and that's what I love about public speaking
[00:56:17.430] in general
[00:56:18.050] technically I'm a public speaker
[00:56:21.390] I've done the craft and done training
[00:56:23.510] through like Toastmasters and things like that
[00:56:25.830] CTM 2005
[00:56:27.290] okay then i was at the sunrise group over there on walbert for a bit okay okay but you know you
[00:56:33.250] do pay homage to the game but it's it's one of those things where i believe that speakers have
[00:56:42.150] to have a different style like the fact that everything was stephen covey jim brown tony
[00:56:48.610] robbins nothing against these people but they speak in a very specific way yes sometimes you
[00:56:53.550] have to have somebody you know when i go to my local schools to speak about being an entrepreneur
[00:56:59.750] yes i have to speak to those kids yeah and i i say to someone like you said i roll with everybody
[00:57:06.550] but it makes a difference that i look like them yes very very hard to convince a child that they
[00:57:12.730] can be what you be if they don't look like you look yes and that's something that people don't
[00:57:18.130] want to talk about as much so i think it's great that you're in teaching teaching in harlem yeah
[00:57:23.210] I'm glad that God brought you as a conduit of all your experiences,
[00:57:28.790] everything you've done and allowed you to add it to this podcast.
[00:57:33.330] So Roy, thank you.
[00:57:34.610] Thank you, man.
[00:57:35.170] And listen, thank you.
[00:57:35.890] And thank you, Valerie Bittner.
[00:57:37.030] Listen, I just watched her podcast to support her because we're like that.
[00:57:42.150] I had no idea that she mentioned me until I watched.
[00:57:46.470] I'm like, oh, damn, bro.
[00:57:48.050] Isn't that amazing?
[00:57:48.810] You going to make your brother tear up?
[00:57:51.860] I had no idea.
[00:57:53.260] So I thanked her and then I shared with her that I reached out to you and I'm going to be a guest.
[00:57:58.040] And here we are, man.
[00:57:59.000] So thank you, man.
[00:58:00.180] Appreciate it.
[00:58:00.960] Well, good luck on the upcoming.
[00:58:02.320] I'll be watching.
[00:58:03.080] And I'll tell you, I don't as an editor, I don't watch a ton of TV because I can't get lost in the story.
[00:58:09.620] I'm thinking about the lighting.
[00:58:10.960] I'm listening to the audio production.
[00:58:12.780] And you can't turn it off when you get to a certain level.
[00:58:15.520] But I have a few people that whether I went to college with them or grew up, you know, they're in productions.
[00:58:22.360] Netflix, Hulu. So I'll watch, like you said, to support. Yeah. Just cause then I can tell them
[00:58:27.900] just like, I want people to listen to my episode, whether they watch podcasts or not, whether they
[00:58:33.100] tuned in to see us. Right. But this is good, man. Good stuff to come. Thank you, man. I will not
[00:58:38.680] lose podcast. Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening to another episode of I will not
[00:58:45.720] lose podcast to support the show. Visit. I will not lose podcast.com. You can subscribe to your
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