And then you heard about “No”?
I got an email for an untitled Jordan Peele project, my first big audition in a long time. I assumed it would be a one-liner or something because he’s at the point where he can get any actor in the world to be in his movies, but then I saw that was the one of the protagonists. I was like, “Oh my God, is he seeing auditions for a lead role? That’s crazy. I will do my best, but what can I do that is different from others? »
So, what was your take on the character?
The initial audition was just three pages of simple dialogue from this guy working at an electronics store: “Hi, I can help you here. Would you like an account with us? It was very happy, very raised. And I was like, “Hmm, you don’t see that when you walk into an electronics store. Employees don’t want to be there. So, I played it that way, sent the tape out into the universe, and two weeks later I got a callback to meet Jordan on Zoom.
How did you feel?
I was excited, humbled, nervous. I was like, “Man, I’m just happy to meet the guy. If I get the part, great, but also, I’m happy with where I am. But then I had people around me saying, “No, dog. Ask, believe, receive. It’s your job and you’re going to get it. And my roommate at the time introduced me to motivational videos of Steve Harvey and that really helped me because it boosted my confidence.
I went in there with this energy that said to me, “I’m not here to audition, it’s a working session. I will settle. I am not here to beg for work. And I acted like I already knew Jordan, because I’d watched so many of his interviews to prepare — I was like, ‘Yo, what’s good, JP? How is it going ? Just very comfortable and not like “Hello, Mr. Peele, how are you?”
