Melvin Gregg talks playing ManBoy on Snowfall, Detrick on The Paper, Vine + Ben Affleck Ep. 101 | The Crew Has It

If I play Marlon Brando in a movie, Melvin's got to play Richard. If he plays Richard in a movie, I got to play Marlon Brando. You might say you heard that rumor that Quincy Jones had floating around between the two. What was it? Let you look it up. [LAUGHTER] No, really? Oh, now I feel like you flicker. Oh, no, no, I didn't know that, bro. I didn't know that. All right, we got to cut this out. [LAUGHTER] [MUSIC PLAYING] All right, we're back with another episode of The Crew Hasen. I am super excited to have Melvin on today. All right, we have a lot of mutual friends. I've been hearing a lot about you. I've been seeing your work. I've been trying to get you on. So we got him. We got him here in the building. We got Melvin Greg. Let's give a little round of applause. Appreciate you all. Wait, so I, like, when a guest pulls up, he was like eating a little bit. And I'm just so personal. I want to talk and ask questions. I'm like, where are you from? And I'm like, no, no, we'll save it for the podcast. And then I'll ask another question. I'm like, where did you grow up? In Virginia. Oh, so you actually don't have a football team? No, I'm like, I must voice these. So who did you grow up rooting for? I like the Titans at first. Just because when I first started watching football, they were in the Super Bowl versus the Rams. My cousin was watching. And I like blue. I was like, all right, cool, I go for them. Yeah. So I wrote it for the Titans for a couple of years. And it was just so bad. I just kind of fell off. Yeah, that's bad years. That's such a cute thing to do. So I'd be like, I love blue. We got to go Titans. Yeah, so all right. This is really what I wanted to get into with you. So you moved here when? When did you move to LA? 2011. 2011. Wow. And what was social media like at that moment? So I moved here before social media. Right. Before social media. There was no like mobile social media at the time. It was a YouTube. YouTube was like a thing. I tried to make a couple videos. And I got here that they didn't really do that. And I was just like doing a whole acting ground for a few years. And to maybe I think 2013, I started doing social media. So what made you want to move out? Were you doing like acting class in high school and all that stuff? Yeah. So not high school in college. Oh, cool. I started taking that acting class in college. And I started taking like off campus classes and trying to do whatever work I could find in Virginia. But it wasn't a lot of work. It was not like, reenactment stuff. So I was like, if I really do want to act, I got to move to LA. Yeah. What made you want to do it? Were you just like, I never knew what I wanted to do. Like I didn't have any goals before I never wanted to be like a pro athlete or a doctor or lawyer. I was just like, I don't know. But I feel like whatever I'm going to do, I'm going to make money. But I'm going to have like an influence on some of the people where I could like make a difference if I want to. And I didn't know what it was. But I took an acting class. And like the first time we had to get up and perform, I really felt like I found something that I enjoyed doing and that I had a potential to be really good at. Because a lot of stuff, I was just me, like sports, whatever, like I was never terrible, but I was never great. I never felt like I had a potential to really like be the best at something. But acting, I felt like it was just really contention on how much work I put in. And just me understanding mentally what goes into it and what goes into people. It was things I was excited to explore. Right. Mike, so did you ever, did you see the Vine Days, like, or were you too young for that? No, I saw it for sure. So like that show was like 40 years ago, the Vine Days, you were probably like 11, 10, 11. Vine Days, I was like probably like 13, I think like 12, 13. Yeah. Cause I guess I was in high school. Cause what? What, like 2000, what year was you going? I was born in 2000. Okay. Yeah. So nah. He was like, he was a teenager, 13, 14, 15, 18. Yeah. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Cause that's kind of around what I was. So this is what I tell people now when they're like, if I want to be an actor, what do I do? And it's weird because like, I don't know, it's changed a lot. And I'm always telling them right now, like, like, make, make content on TikTok, make content on YouTube, put stuff out there because that never was a thing prior to Vine or anything or YouTube. Like, it just never really was a thing. Now, is that what you decided to do when you blew up on Vine, were you like, well, I'm not booking consistently. So this is a way to get me out there. Is this a way to make money? Like, what was in your head when you first did it? Yeah. It's both of those. So I was I was doing like commercials and like indie films and student films and stuff. I couldn't get a real agent. I couldn't get like TV auditions and I kind of looked at it. I looked at people that I was working and was like, what do they have that I don't have? And one of the common things I seen, one of the common denominators were a lot of people had it like a fight like people. I saw a work and were known like it was famous for one thing or another. So they had an audience. So then when Vine started popping off, I was like, I could use this to build an audience because it was so new and I seen people growing so fast. I knew this girl who she saw me do like it was like an indie film and she was like, man, I wish I could do stuff like that. I was like, you could do like Bonds and stuff. I had a trap on, but I didn't know you could flip the camera around. So I was trying to shoot stuff like without being able to see, I was like, yo, I'm terrible like on how they do this and so I just left it alone, but I recommended it to her. And she blew up in a couple months, she had like 700,000 followers and then she got a deal where she had made, she told me she made $7,000 for doing like a Klondike post. And I had like, had like three or four roommates with in a small little apartment and she told me she made $7,000 for a video and she blew up like 700,000 followers in like a couple months. I said, yeah, I need to redirect my focus and if I could build this up, it would help me as an actor. And I was like, what led me to doing it. So when did you start seeing some motion? Was there a certain video? Was there a certain like burst of things? How did it really start to pick up? Out the gate for real. So I looked at it like, how can I really be successful with this? And I was always good at like marketing stuff because when I did go to school, I was going to go to school for business and I just always been an entrepreneur. I was an entrepreneur and I was like, if I got a video that hit, if my first video hit, people are going to go to my page and they ain't going to be no other videos, they're not going to follow me. So I was like, I need to have enough videos. So if the first one hit, well, I don't even want the first one to hit. So I'm going to save the ones that I think are going to hit for like a few down. So I'm going to just pull something that's cool, that could get some traction. And then I got to also have a bank of videos. But if it do hit, I could follow up, follow up, follow up. So I had just story boarded out a whole bunch of videos based off of what I seen working. I would just see the videos that went viral and was like, why is this going viral? And finding things that they had in common. And I kind of discovered that comedy was very formulaic. It wasn't just you do something funny, it's like, it's formulas to it. It's like a shot factors, doing something cool, rules of three, over exaggerated, like relatable moments. So I just was figuring out, okay, these are all of the different concepts. I could come up with story board and shoot them out. So I probably had like a dozen of videos shot before I posted one. And I think my first video kind of hit, but it didn't hit on mine. It was on World Star. Oh, that's hilarious. Yeah, it was on World Star. World Star, dude. Yeah, yeah. World Star. Yeah, that was a different time. And then, yeah, and then like my third video on Vine kind of hit, then from there, I was just rolling. Do you remember specifically what it was? I know the World Star one was, it was like, like skin, like skin dudes versus dark skin dudes. I had a home, he was, he was dark skin with dress. And I had a girl yelling at me, and I was just like in the church and just looking. And then I, she was just casting me out, and then I went super-send all the way up. And then I, it was like jump cut, and then all of a sudden, I turned into the dark skin and do with dress. And he was like, shut up bitch, it's laughing. And World Star, that one ran on World Star, the one on Vine that went, it was a, everything was stereotyping back then with the comedy. So it was like a white head versus a black head and the white kid. It was like me on my knees with a blonde wig on, it was like, here, dad, catch. And then it cut to me as the dad with a jersey on, great, great throw son. And then it cut to the black kids, still me on my knees, I threw the ball, and then it cut to the dad and was no dad there. No body in there. Yeah, I'm in the Star Planet and all of my angel. And yeah, all of the big LA violence they had saw it, and they was like commenting on it. So they knew who I was, so it was on them out of time before, like, I had met them and then started shooting with them every day, and then from there, it was just like, yeah. Did you move into that building? No. You know what I'm talking about though? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was on it. Sunset in Vine. 1600 Vine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that came later. How they came about was, Ken Batch was the biggest vineer. And Batch, his family got money. His aunt was like the first female prime minister Jamaica or something. He grew up with breads, so he uh. When I first met him, he was in the apartment. That was like a 7500 a month apartment at 60 on the vine. So he was already there, but he became the biggest dude on vine. So whenever people would come here, they would want to collab with him. So that would be the first place they go. And it had hella amenities, like had a pool, they had a movie theaters, they had gyms. It was right in the middle of Hollywood. So whenever a vine has made some money and moved to LA, they all moved to 60 on the vine. And then it became like a dorm. Because if you move there, you can collab, everybody living in the same building. So everybody's shooting together. And it just really became like a dorm. But now I stayed in the valley. - Yeah, yeah, we're gonna take a break from the episode to talk about our boys from prize picks, which you know we love so much that we be back. - Now prize picks is dropping a promotion every day for the NFL season, including weekly guarantee pick tokens for Monday night football. - Take any player to just get one yard, literally one yard, and you could catch your pick. - Now this is what I'm most excited about the prize picks from football season. You can now combine a player and a team win. So you can pick the chargers to win, which chances are they're not gonna, and you can pick a player performance stat. - Now you can pick up to four teams using at least two players. - Or you can pick up to six teams to stack your lineup. - So now you know I'm Big Blue, but not the Cowboys Blue, the Giants Blue. So I picked Isaiah Lightly, Cam Scoutaboo Giants to win. 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(upbeat music) - All right, so you start seeing some, you know, you're getting follower, did you have, what did you have like three, four, a meal like, what did your vine account look like around that? - Yeah, yeah, I think I had like 4.7 or something. - Did you get some traction as an actor before vine ended or like tell me what happened kind of after that? - Hell no, that's it on trends like, bro. Like I tell people that like if they wanna act, I'm like you could do social media to just kind of hone in your skills but don't think it's gonna, and it's a different time now though. The social media way bigger now than what it was then. But at that point, it won't put you on TV. Like, I got one project off of social media. It was a show called Freakishon, Hulu, and it was all like influencers. It's probably like 2016. I still had our audition for it, but it was mainly influencers. And I think it did like two seasons, but like the real stuff, like the real work. Nah, never rather cast the actor that they could trust and then invite the influencers to the premiere. - That's hilarious. - 'Cause they go, 'cause-- - Make a video. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Just go ahead and promote it here 'cause at the end of the day, they like, nobody from that place is really proven across over in a big way. So it ain't really respected in a way. - So when Vine ended, were you like fuck or like-- - I had dealt before and I had stopped making vines before. Yeah, Vine had like a slow little like sink because like when we were making videos, there was a statistic where only like three or four percent of the people on the app made videos. If you think about TikTok, everybody made TikToks. But only the like divine stars made videos, everybody else just watched. And for app owner, for app, that's not good. You want everybody to be active. So they stopped pushing the big vines and they started promoting like people, playing the acoustic guitar and just random stuff. And then they were, they started like blacklisting, certain, I think blacklist in the right term, but they started blocking videos with like certain words. Like if black was in the title, you know, it'd be blocked. And stuff like that, or they'll pull you off the explore page. It was just like a lot. And by this time, Instagram video started moving. And I could make longer content on Instagram versus seven seconds. I could do like a whole minute. So I was most on Instagram and Facebook by the time I find it. - And you were making money, you're just fully like good. That was your job making money on Instagram and then being able to supplement the acting. - Yeah, you don't make it through Instagram. You just do like brand new works. - Yeah, brand new works. - Yeah sponsorships, yeah, yeah. - All right, so what was your first acting job that lead kind of like a fuck like, I'm certain to do it? - Some that was, I felt like substantial. Like I said, I did like a lot of indie films. - Right. - I was doing Netflix movies before Netflix was cool. Like at one point Netflix was like, it was what a trash movies would. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - It was straight to DVD, like that was like back in the day. Like if you made a movie and it wasn't a theatrical release, it would, they would call it straight to DVD. - It's funny that straight to Netflix was like a bad thing back then. - It went in the Netflix because Netflix wasn't doing originals. When they started making money, doing original content, that's when it, and it just got bigger and bigger and bigger. But at this point, it was just like straight to DVD, like those, those seedless movies. I did some of that stuff, but the first project that I felt like was something substantial. Ironically, it was Netflix, when Netflix had shifted by this point. So I had booked American Vandal. - Oh, dude, I fell in love with that. - I did American Vandal and I booked a Hotline Bird, which was a Steven Soderbergh, which is a renowned director. Oscar-winning director. I had booked both for those at the same time, and I was like, oh man, it's starting to make sense. And I had just quit social media too. - Mike, have you seen American Vandal? - I think I have. - I say it's like top three comedy show. - It's a movie, a TV show. - It's a TV show, and it's basically like a mockumentary about, so what he drew Dix. - So yeah, season one, there was Jimmy Tato, it was like real crime drama documentary. Somebody drew Dix all over the car as in the parking lot. So the whole season is trying to figure out an uncover who drew the Dix. And I did season two, in my season, there was like a poop pranker. - Yeah, I remember that, yeah. - It was like a lot of different poop pranks that was happening, and they were trying to get to the bottom of who was doing it. - Yeah, but what made it so funny, Mike, is that they had the tone of that, someone was murdered violently, but it was just about who drew the Dix and they didn't break character of any like, they were just like, people were crying and being like, I don't know who did it, like dude, it was really perfectly done. - I gotta see that. - Yeah, it was really good. I actually just read for, we follow each other on Instagram, but he's doing that new, the guy that did that show, he's doing that new HBO Max. - Yeah, they doing a Gorilla Garage, yep. - Yeah, I read for that, but my god, like he did another show right after that that was really good too. He's just fucking great. - Yeah, yeah. - So you do both of those projects, I was work with Steven Soderbergh. - It was great, man. It was great, just super cool down the earth. We started on an iPhone, which at first I was like, - Of course, I tried to get away from this, yeah. - Yeah, but then I just shift my perspective, and I was like, oh man, I got plenty of experience in this medium. But he's super cool, bro, we'll shoot for like four hours a day. Y'all know that's like four hours a day. We shot for like 12 days. We're on the last day was catching the train back from Philly, we had a day out there, and he had a cut ready. - Wow. - 'Cause he only shoot the edit. - Yeah. - Yeah, he only shoot the edit. So as we know, most stuff that shoot like a wide and that shoot coverage on everybody, and then they edit it later, he'll be like, I know I'm coming into the scene for the opening dialogue on the wide. I'm not gonna stay in the conversation for the wide. So I think it those first couple of lines cut, he come, get your coverage up to one point, cool, flip around, cool. He go to whatever shot that take us out of it, and is that quick? - Wow. - Like, you don't run through the whole scene by having six signs, yeah, it's super efficient. Like I said, it was doing four hour days, and him only shooting the cut, 'cause he know what he do. - He doesn't know how to shoot now. - Yeah. - What movie was it for? - Amitabhan, Aaron Brockovich. He was nominated for Aaron Brockovich in another movie in the same category the same year for Best Director. I don't know which one he won. - Do you know Mike? Do you know what it was? - I'm following those. - Go on, but Mike, what were you seeing? - We got two mics. - We got two mics in here. Michael, what were you saying? - No one to ask what, 'cause he had named two projects. Which one was it that was shot on the iPhone? Was it the-- - It was a-- - It was a-- Steven Sotoberg film, tried to get him in "Rock of the Chain" time. It was "Hafelonberg" which was on the iPhone. And how did it come out? That's why I got to see that. It came out really good, though, because it was a movie before that he done another one. He had there like a thriller on the iPhone that hadn't come out when it was filming. And then it was Baker. What's his first name? Sean Baker. Oh, it was Sean Baker. You did "Tangerine" on the iPhone. So it wasn't like something that was done a lot. But it was cool because he only did practical lighting. So everything was shot from like actual light. They weren't setting up lights and shots. It was practical light. He don't have a video village, but he shoot, he direct, and he edit. He wrote three different languages. And they got like pseudo names, like names that's not his. And that's where he go by as an editor and as a cinematographer. It was cool, it was a great experience. He say why he was shooting on an iPhone for these projects? Yeah, he was like because he could. He was like, this is like, he told me, this is like selling drugs, the way I can make money hand over fish with this, because I'm shooting this for so low, but because of my name, I can sell it to Netflix for whatever price he asked for. Because yeah, Netflix is a distributor before it even went. So he just, he making money, shoot it for super cheap on the phone. Oh, no lighting for our days, 12. Yeah, Sean Baker did Tangerine and then he just won the Oscar for a Nora. Did he? I don't know if he won Best Director, but I think that won Best Picture. You won Best Picture? Yeah. It was really too. Yeah, that's insane. So to go back real quick, did you get, where was your representation from? Did it come from Vine and like that type of visibility? Oh, you did. So you found it? Yeah, I did get reps from social media because when I say, see money coming in, that's when the reps going, but the thing is, they were never telling that. They won't, they won't, they won't, they won't, they won't, they won't, they won't, they're 10 around a board. They'll be hitting for 360. Yeah. You saw the T-shirt, you need that, whatever you try to do. I did get reps from that. But the thing is, two of the people they put you with early on, don't be the real players. They don't be the ones that's really making moves. It's like a social media department and not taking nothing from none of them, but the original team I was with, I only seen it do one time. And he was at like, it was some comic con, convention of Vine con, or Digi con, and some, he was just being like a creep. I was like, oh yeah. I get away from this dude. Yeah. He was creepy. And then after that, I had, and up doing that show, I told you, they had influences on, and I met an agent there who was, she was a social media agent, but she was like ambitious. And I met with her and then I ended up going with them, and I was there for like six years, but it was the same thing. I was like, y'all, I want to do film and TV, y'all still got me with a social media team. I love the people I'm working with, but just add some people that got some pool in these different worlds onto the team, and they wanted to. So I had it in a dip. I had it in a, even the like, get the team that I wanted. What up y'all. We're going to take a quick break from the episode, and we're going to talk to you about our new friends at Nick's pouches. So Nick's pouches were started by a guy named Mason, who was a long time pouch user, but he got tired of not recognizing half of the ingredients on the back of the can. 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But I tell a lot of people sometimes, especially now, it's like, I mean, even have like a lot of comedian friends and stuff like that, it's like the cheat code is to get like, get a social media team, get, or if you're a stand up, get like a personal appearance agent at a C-A-A-U-T-A-W-M-E, because they'll rep, like it's so much easier to get an agent from there. And then once they kind of see your motion, you go, okay, I want like a theatrical rep now. And then you almost jump, like, you know how many agents I had to go through, just as an actor, boom, boom, boom, just to like slide up to finally get to like, oh, or really good agency. As opposed to like, if you do have a falling on social media or you do, um, do stand up and make money on the road touring, it's pretty easy, like once they see your motion and your numbers to go, well, now I want a theatrical agent. It's like a cheat code in my opinion. That's what I tell people now. Yeah. As opposed to like, it's, especially the industry now, because it was so big and now it's, you know, shrunken a little bit, they're making less stuff. It's so much more competitive to where like, there's trickle down where like, C.A.'s getting rid of people and then people go to other agencies. So that's kind of the cheat code that I tell the, the, the listeners sometimes. Get out of your kid. Yeah. Get, get it in. So, um, you, you do those two movies and then what comes next after that is, did snowfall come right after that? No, I did. Uh, I didn't been after that food all the way back with the way back. I fucking love him. I was working with him. It was good. I was on a road. This was all like the same year. It was great, uh, great, great director, great guy, uh, Ben Affleck, Roa, nothing but great things to say about being a man. You can't tell me nothing bad about that dude, Roa, like he really a solid individual. He, he really a real person who like, just care about people, you know what I mean? He, uh, he did a lot for the guys on the team, like, he put together a trip for not only the core, because it was a basketball team, not only the core, like, group of actors, but the guys who sat on the bench with us because you know, they, they background, but they got to be there every game. We can't have different people, so like, he took all, he took all as the Vegas on a, on a PJ, put us up because he understand it, like, that's an experience they might not have to have again. You know what I mean? And just, yeah, great dude. Wow. That's great. So what was he like on set? What, what was that movie like? Was this the biggest budget thing you've ever done? At this time, it was my first studio film. And how did that be? I'm like, what was the difference? Yeah, so it was, so how he was on set at first, he was very quiet. He has coffee every day and he just kind of to himself, but then once you start talking to him, you know what I mean? You break the ice, talk to him, he, he there, whatever, super. Any questions? The set, definitely biggest set, way more takes. I remember my first scene was like with a, was with being and bro, it's like I go towards I was knock on the door and I beg to get back on the team and I'm excited for it bro. I got my, I do a couple takes and I'm like, okay, this is my coverage. I see the camera through the screen and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna give my tears on this one. I think I do my thing. It's like, all right cool. We gonna open the screen door. They couldn't even see me bro. Like, it was the behind it being cool camera. And then they shot again on a porch and then they wouldn't cross the street with a crane and shot again. Bro, they shot so many, you know, you know, because 11 hour days on that pole, it was so, yeah, for sure. It won't almost four hour days with that. You shooting and we had to, we had to really play basketball because they wanted to be real and it was like there's gonna run these scenes continuous like no cuts. So we had to learn and play so for so long, we would go to basketball practice and we had a book of plays. We had to learn. I never really played organized basketball. I played for like, hood teams, but we ain't really got practice. We just show up and play like the coach. He just come there and somebody's like, get in, get out, wrecked team, tight stuff. I never really played organized to understand like, triangle offenses and deep in his homes and how to move through it. Bro, that was, it was a lot. It was exhausting too because we had to really win these plays. Now I stopped. That's why I met, I met DaVinci. Yeah, he was in that, he was all, he was on one of the opposing teams. Oh, he was. Oh, that's right. Yeah. How many times would you have to redo, redo a scene because somebody missed the shot? They missed the play. We got to start our little road, right? If somebody missed the, missed the shot or missed the pass. We practiced so much. Everybody was kind of down the end, but yeah, you had it. You had to keep doing it. Wait, because you did a basketball, he did amateur, so that was an Netflix basketball movie. I never even thought of that if the ball don't go in the hoop, you got to redo it all. But it was a scene where I got to shoot, like, I got to shoot a three from the corner and then turn around and look at the bench, like before it goes in on some stuff. Curried shit. But we did that shit like 13 times. I missed like the first three and I'm like damn. And then the pressure get on? Yeah, then I'm just like then we got to get this shot and that's the only thing I'm like then we got to get this shot. Like we got to move on. And I just kept them. I'm like. Yeah. That happened to me in Vandal. So in high font me, I played a basketball, playing all three of these, I was still typecast. High font. I was the number one NBA prospect. That's hilarious. [BLANK_AUDIO] then I was a star high school player, but I had a lot of those moments while shooting the three and I turn around and the crowd and I'm celebrating and I remember one day for show, like I had to do a crossover step back and I just kept missing and I was like, man. And the audience like, they're excitement dying down. - Yeah. - Yeah, every time, every time. (laughing) - And then you find like a real crowd there too. - Yeah. - It's a real crowd. - But then the way back, my character was terrible. He couldn't shoot. So he was like, "I'm good." - Yeah, yeah, right off the back of the room. - But Ben didn't direct that, did he? - Nah, Gavin, Gavin, I reacted to this. - Oh, all right, all right, yeah. He, I mean, he's like top five for me, Ben Affleck. Have you seen the town? - Yeah. - It's like one of my favorite movies of all time. - I love to do a movie like that. - Yeah, is that the bank, the bank? - Yeah, I watch that movie for the first time. The first time I watch it on a plane. Dude, he directed Annie lead actor now. I'm like, I couldn't imagine doing that. - Bro, people know him for acting, but he got a Oscar as a director and a Oscar as a writer. - Yeah, he is Oscar for Argo, is it? - Argo, yeah, and then Goodwill Honey as a writer. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Wow. - I did it. - He pulled me in on a commercial he did, so I was able to get directed by him in the car. - Oh, that's it, how was that? - It was cool, bro. He'd be so chill, like we got a script like, "Yeah, say whatever, whatever." And it was like, we just kicking it in a car 'cause it took place in the car, but yeah. - So then after way back, do you start to see, like because it's a studio movie, obviously like there's bigger press tours. There's bigger budgets behind everything. Did that do any type of run, unlike Festival or any in that way? - It was no festival, it was one of brothers, yeah, it was in the PJ, like every stop, like we did a whole tour. Like that's going on in a country where it's crazy, bro, but the horrible timing of it all, so the movie came out like a Thursday, right? Of Friday or whatever. That next Tuesday, the world shut down 'cause of COVID. So it only had like three days in the theater, bro. And even those three days, people was like COVID out. So it was probably the first movie that they sent straight to like VOD like a week later, 'cause the theaters was down. That trailer, not the trailer, the poster stayed up in the marquee at the theater for like a year, it was dusty. It was like post-apocalyptic, 'cause it was no new movies coming. Yeah, so that timing was crazy. And it was probably one of the best performances, man. I feel like he would have been nominated. But yeah, it was tricky. But did it do? It probably did well 'cause everyone was home. Did it get a lot of eyeballs? Oh no, man. Oh no, I don't know, I didn't access to those VOD numbers, but I don't think it helped the whole Oscar run up there. So you shot Snowfall post-COVID? No, no, no, no, so I shot Snowfall. So once we did that, I don't know when we wrapped. It was like October 18th, so I mean, it took a while for it to come out. I think it was October 18th, we shot that. And then I started Snowfall 2019, in like February, shortly afterwards. So by the time that movie came out in 2020, it took a while for that movie to come out. I had already did the first season of Snowfall. Oh, interesting. So yeah, I did Snowfall, right? You were from the jump season one, Snowfall? No, no, no, no, season three. And you did what, three and three to five? No, just three and four, three and four. How was that? It was great, man. It was great. It was like my favorite show at the time. It wasn't that big. It got big during COVID, because everybody was stuck at home, and then they moved it to Hulu. Matter of fact, they moved to Hulu a little later, because you have to watch it on FX, FXX or something. Yup, they did that, dude. And when they moved to Hulu, it kind of blew up. But it wasn't that big when I got on it, but it was my favorite show at the time. I grew up watching movies, you know, like "Boys in the Hood" and "Manage to Society" Friday. So just to kind of be in that world, "Manage to Society" is my favorite of the three, so to be on like some gangster stuff in around that time period. And LA, I was excited to do it. And it was my opportunity to not be a basketball player. Yeah. And also do something different than what people have seen me on Vine, because I still got a big audience on social media. And I was like, "No, I wanted so I could do something else." And I was like, "I got to do drama in order for them to start laughing. And if I'm a killer, that's going to snap in it even more." So how do you, did you go in for that, or was it a self-tape? No, I went in for it. You went in for it. You want no self-tape, so that's how I'm crazy. There was a little, but like it was really for like-- If you were out of state, if you were out of state, yeah. But if you end, you in our audition rooms, I met some of my friends. I still, you know, some of my best friends in our audition rooms. Now you ain't really-- bro, it took me forever to get comfortable going in our audition room. Yeah. Me too. Oh, at first, I should be so nervous I forget lines. Me fuck you too. I leave. Got all the lines of my head, but when I was in the room, they just blanked. Oh, blank. It took me so long to get comfortable. And then it's like we get comfortable going. So soon, bro, at one point, I was smoking cigarettes. Bro, trying to like call my nerves and fly. Just on my phone. Now I'm in the audition with a drive-out. And then I finally get comfortable on booking stuff. And then COVID happened. It didn't, so taste happened. I don't really love so taste. Yeah, I like the room better, but I'm trying to train my brain to be like, I love self-tapping. You could be charismatic in the room. You could get energy versus like, self-tape. You're going to begin somebody that spent 12 hours doing this. Yeah. A hundred times. Like, then it could be a different environment. You ain't really the person who don't feel your energy in a way. And I honestly feel that a lot of these cast and directors, I mean, it only makes sense to be efficient from the jump. Nah, nah. Right. Unless they know you, they probably just skipping over. Not saying they are, I don't know if it's full, but it would only make sense. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, you know? I agree. I agree. And, and, and, you know, how do you feel about? Oh, why not? I feel about like reading with someone on a Zoom compared to a self-tape. Would you rather do that? That's my least favorite. That's, that's, because at one point, I was like, I rather read with somebody in Zoom because it's like live. But yeah, bro, they don't really be engaged like that. I, I think, so take better. Because I could, I could have my own time, man. And I could do a couple of takes if I wanted to. If I got an option, at one point, I was like, if I got an option, I'm doing a Zoom. But nah, ain't no more Zoom. I was on the same shit. I'm like, I don't want to do a Zoom. I rather just having like, live and direct within. I did a few of them. And like, you said, they don't really be engaged. They just like, they just ready to just, you know, to do the next, the next call. I'm like, yeah, I'll send to my team. I don't even think it's mostly the engagement for me personally. I think it's, I'm acting to a fucking computer screen. Yeah. Yeah. How do you handle this right here? How do you have a real moment with someone on a Zoom screen? And then sometimes the connection will be asked. So like, they'd be receiving like, you're, you're a side of everything a little bit delayed. And they answer in this shit like two, three seconds late. I'm like, you got a way for them to answer. I'm like, yeah, no, I'm good off this ride. Yeah. I read it. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm getting tricked up right now. So how do you prep like for that Snowfall edition? Obviously, it's your favorite show. When I get shit that I love, I prep like a little differently. Like, how do you prep for that when you go into the room? Are you super like, are you going, are you wearing the fits? Are you, or like, how do you approach an audition? Yeah, it's, it's always different. And it's different now than what it was like before. So Snowfall only had one audition, but everybody was there. Like the director, John Singleton, producers. Everybody there. And, bro, I think I had, at this point, I got my confidence up though, 'cause I did a high-flying bird, American Vandal, the way back all in like a year of Spanish, two Oscar winners, you know what I mean? And that, and that bunch. And, and I was just confident going in. And I knew the space, bro, like, my caretone man, boy, was, it's closer to what, like, I grew up around, like, I grew up around that type stuff, not LA, but like, you know what I mean? Versus doing the silly stuff on a vine where my target demo was 12-year-old white kids in the suburbs. That's more of a reach to try to be in that world. So I was like, this is gonna be, Angles says, lay up, I was just fearful that they wouldn't cast me. And the hindsight had probably worked in my favor. I was like, they're not gonna cast me 'cause I'm light-skinned. I was like, they gonna say a little light-skinned curly hair. Ain't nobody afraid of him. Yeah. But, I think-- I'd have that same bottle. And hindsight, it probably helped me 'cause I contrast the damson. Yeah. Smart. But also, too, my approach going in there is like, I can't try to look scary 'cause I'm a lose. I don't look scary. But I'm also from a place where I understand the scary people, the people that look scary, you know what I mean? Like, who you are, it don't matter what you look like. It's just like, what you willing to do. What you wanna do, what you enjoy doing. And I was like, if this dude who they say is, he not hurt, that's like, those warning shots. You're trying to back people away 'cause you don't wanna do something. Versus like, if I wanna do it, I enjoy it. I'm invited in. Yeah. And if I'm unpredictable, like, what a smile? 'Cause I really like this and I know who I am. That's just the energy that I would bring to it. So, I took that approach and they liked it. Do you remember your audition scene for it? Yeah. It was my first scene on the show. When I come into the house, and basically just like, I'm laying down an opportunity for y'all. And, you know, they all looking to kill me. And they had me do it a couple of ways. just like stakes are high to kill you at this point. I'm thinking I didn't already came yeah, I'm not afraid of them killing me I walked in the house if I was afraid I would have came with a Squaw full of people and I came at all so it's like I'm here. I'm here So I did a couple different ways and then at the table read it was like yeah, we like that that one version you did Oh, but yeah, it was that it was a first scene. Yeah, that's what I love about Being in the room or being with the human being is like you know you're in the pocket when they're like, okay Let's do this and you're like yeah, I think like for me like I'm so Directable like sometimes I'll come in and I'm like I'll do it and I'll make a couple choices But then like once they tell me like what they're looking for. I'll murder that cuz I'm like I'm such a directable actor That's the that's the best part and you didn't already like Silk off whatever cobwebs you got you comfortable. They give you direct notes It's like let me focus. That's the one thing about the self-tape that's tricky. You ain't got no notes So it's like I'm just shooting it to the to the to the dark hopefully hoping I'm you know Somehow a lot of what they looking for, but I have no idea outside or whatever they put on a breakdown Versus like in that room you could show in some day and even think about and then they're like, oh, let's try this Yeah, let's try that and a lot of times there's just want to see if you're directable so there's just give you a lot of different things So art is kind of lost at this point. Yeah, I agree. Do you have a favorite scene from Snellfall? On me. Yeah Yeah, I got too. I think It was a scene outside the club when I was trying to get them to turn in Leon. Uh-huh. Yeah, that was a that was a cool scene They cut out a lot of I was having a lot of fun with that scene just cuz it was big it It was no longer because at one point my character was trying to He was trying to stand frankly good gracious cuz he the plug so you like let's just do this by the book I'm gonna come to you. We're gonna be very diplomatic about it, but at this point he was like Fuck the politics nigga. This is what it is. So that was my moment. It really just kind of be Have a provato and then my deft scene. I like my deft scene the whole sequence. It was a it was a long scene like Breaking a house get into the fight with the girls a lot, but it was cool How did they do because on power with like the when you get called and told that you're dying? It's like this whole thing. How does that work on Snowfall, bro? They told me like so Mind you COVID happened. Uh-huh COVID happened in the middle of the season the season took a break And I went to go I went in Australia to another show and I have found out I was dying. I think from the script Like I read I read the script and I was like, I don't give you the call bro. He I got the call and Show money he be last time I said somebody's no fault. He called me so he might see this with two He called me I was already I was already in Australia when he called me. He's like, yeah, man You know we loved having you around and you know, but you know somebody got an instant nature to show That's what they used to say Bro I was dead three four months ago. That's one more show. Yeah, I said oh, yeah, they bought the Navi all you go find another job But he gave me the call I respect it. But yeah, I had new months prior. Oh, yeah, yeah, some of those shows I break like do it for the how long was your like a It was like it might have been it might have been like eight months. Yeah, and it was because we we were filming when it happened But yeah, right after was a good thing about it at this point At when it was happening I was looking at it like a curse and I Felt somewhere about it because they didn't at the season I think my first season. They didn't bump me up to a regular I was still a guest star This whole show his doing like me starting his game where I'm like bro, how are you going through that to me? I just bought a crib. I had a baby on the way, but it was a blessing in the skies because When you were guest star you control your own schedule. Yes, so when that other show came about I was like Yeah, I'm out of your mouth. They had a way for me to come back. So when I came back I think I shot like five or six episodes on like two weeks Because they had to save all my scenes they had because they started filming. I was still in Australia Yeah, so all of my stuff. We had a truncated it, and you know when I got back I was able to just knock it all out. Yeah, I'd be even to the season where we are like when they when they took the Kobe break Kobe break I would say maybe two or three Maybe two or three episodes in because I know I died in six and we left it for that for sure When I came back I might might have been three might have been three And that's not bad because we was damn we was damn they're done with the season once we had to go once we had to set down for We was like episode what eight. Yeah, I was episode eight. Yeah. I was like damn. We was right there Did you look different at all? I was I was bigger. So that's what happened with us too. I was bigger before though. I was bigger before so I had uh I had a loot I did a movie called the US versus Billy holiday Uh-huh, and I played like a drug at it. So I had lost I lost weight. I think I probably Got down like 170 and I was like I got a bulk I got a buck. I got a bulk up for the Snowfall two because I was like this next season. I want to look like a monster like I want to be big So I can't like 30 pounds. I was like 200 for those first couple episodes and then doing that hiatus I went over to Australia like just life is different when I came back. I probably was maybe one eighty five So it don't sound like that much difference, but on camera it is a different difference between like your shoulders and a lot So that was probably the main difference. We there was a scene where that we shut down the day that me and micro filming is seen in in the dorm room And then I was I think I don't know like 160 at the time COVID hit I was it we were a Jamaica for like a month like we were I was tan my hair was lighter I was lifted and eating Jamaican food like I was just like big so we come back So I leave the dorm room and then the next scene when we came back eight months later. I come back in the dorm room They made it actually like work because you can't really tell but like I was like how the fuck is this gonna work? It's just because we stopped in the middle of the season, but what was the show that you shot in Australia? It was called Now Perfect Strangers. Oh, oh, oh, Nicole. Nicole Kittman. So, Melissa McCarthy, Regina Hall, Mark O'Shanney. It was a crazy cast. Do you do you think that changed a lot for you or I thought it would because in my mind at this point It was a crossover show for me because no father's good within the community, but I was like The white side of the industry don't know who I am. So we can have we can talk about this for four hours. I was like this is gonna be great. I got Nicole Kittman, Melissa McCarthy like So so many a list movie star actors in this show That and I was the token black guy in it. It was a Tiffany Boons in it. She's a black woman as well, but like How long is what she's a you get it? And I was like man, this is gonna be you know, a crossover for me, but it ain't it ain't do that Why do you think it didn't or did you think the show is that I think it ain't as simple as that I think a lot of times we the show didn't pop like I thought it was going pop It was around the same time as white loaders and white loaders was like a similar idea But not at the cast wasn't as big as ours. Yeah, I was like oh, it's like a B version of it white loaders took off And I was just like it ain't really it ain't do what we Thought it was gonna it did well they did another season, but I thought it was gonna be way bigger But I think a lot of it is you know, it's internal a lot of times we try to figure out what we missing They get to that next level and a lot of times we got to paint a picture of something to keep motivated and you know I mean keep moving forward so in my mind it was like a crossover project Gonna be what I need the the blow and it ain't that the project under perform It's just it takes more everybody turning is different. Right. You can't just inspect the okay once I hide this bro It's projects is dropped every day with a Majority white cast like why is this one gonna be right? It's it's not just that. That's not like an affinity stone That's gonna make you a star right and yeah, I learn that did so you what you said earlier, which we I mean We talked about this one was every episode, but like snowfall being big within the culture and the community I and tell me if I'm wrong. I feel like snowfall Did better like obviously like damson's a fucking movie star now like I I felt like snowfall did better in in the Industry than power gets perceived. Mm-hmm. Did you feel like you guys got perceived? Well by white Hollywood or do you feel like you guys still got pushed as a black show because like I straight up Say this all the time like power is like you're a black show. We don't care. Yeah, yeah Hollywood like like we'll fucking walk down the street anywhere People are going fucking nuts and then we'll go to a casting directors office on Monday And she's like did you just move to here? Are you and we're just like yeah, we just had like 8,000 people like We remember name at a club in Atlanta, but for sure, you know me. Yeah, do you feel like you deal with that? Like there's snowfall a little different It's all relative, man. It's like who you as I didn't found people online. I never seen before they got a hundred million followers Yeah, like it's so many different pockets of like celebrity in a sense and Yes, no falling power within the community. We're known. Mm-hmm, but I think and I could be mistaken I think people in traditional Hollywood that's not a part of the culture They don't see it. They don't watch our shows because they don't have to, you know what I mean? It's like it's not on a radar. It exists but I don't have to watch it so you don't get an opportunity for, we don't get an opportunity for our characters to resonate with these people and there's always outliers and this is not the end of all be all but for the most part in my opinion, they don't watch our shows so they don't know and the only time I think they pay attention and if our shows get awards or you know what I mean, it gets some type of accolades now they still might not even watch it they just know the metrics like I'm sure for the most part why people don't they can't name you three or four lines from a Tyler Perry movie but they know Tyler Perry movies get number one watch whenever it drops that's why he can continue to make shows because the metrics are when he drops he's going to be number one that's all they know they don't know the kind the subject matter and how it's being perceived you know what I mean they'll see something like oh he was no more training on Twitter they don't know if people clown and or what they just see metrics and that's all they really care about in his in his streaming world so to answer your question again I'm sorry I don't think they really watch our stuff for it to resonate with them in a way what they'll really know who we are because they're seeing a show yeah like if they're doing if they're watching White Lotus like oh I love that character yeah let's put them in this let's put them in this because I love this character now if you're the face of the show for for instance damson damson if you look at the posters of snowfall for the last four last five seasons he's the only face on it so if you hear any noise of the show his his face is painted on the side of his buildings yeah and you know he's the lead of the show right and not to take nothing from his brilliant but he was snubbed for so many years I feel like damson I think Franklin St. had the greatest arc of top five Tim arcs of television all time in my opinion from the beginning of Franklin you see this naive young boy to being his drug kingpin to to being innocent to being a mass murderer to being like this alcoholic drunk guy like his arc is crazy and his pace so perfectly but he he got snubbed bro he'd never been nominated for Emmy not one nah he got he got a I think a BT or NAACP like nomination towards the end but he had already become such a big star in the community at this point where everybody like within the community is damson interest down he at pop so you couldn't ignore ignore him at that point but the performances he put in snowfall I feel like his ascension to where he's going should have happened earlier yeah yeah I I mean I said this last episode um uh I think that um they they need to be a little bit more tapped in because like say for example you put I mean anyone from power anyone from snowfall like they have millions and millions of eyeballs on them people in the culture love them but then sometimes they'll just pluck some random actor that doesn't have any emotion and and not not not a knock on them but like if you if you want your movie to do well you get six big actors and and you put them all in this movie right and I feel like people in the culture I a like even maybe beauty and black people who like that show is popping and those people have numbers in social media like they're casting random people instead of actually watching who has the motion in the culture and I beg wouldn't your movie be way better off if you put someone from snowfall if you put someone from power in those roles but I just don't don't think they're tapped in enough to realize it I think part of it in to to counter just backtrack to another factor that played into the judges I think between start between power when snowfall is effects and stars yeah you know I mean I think that's that's a big thing effects has a lot of cachet in a sense versus you guys lifted stars from wherever it was yeah yeah like created what star is literally uh but to your point too I would like to say that yes they should really be tapped in but they don't have to you're right they could do without right you know I mean they don't have to and if it if it comes down to them going watching these shows they really have no interest in watching to potentially find you know a dominant a rough or you know a cultural star that might be in this show or watch the shows I want to watch and cast who may resonate to me or or just do a traditional audition process it's like I don't have to go over there I don't necessarily need that audience for whatever it is I'm doing if it doesn't have a similar um demo yeah you know what I mean so it's just like we can say it all day but I don't think it mattered to them yeah and so like with films I would say there's a lot and it's kind of how I'm moving now when it comes to to casting a film is all going down in metrics bro like I need 30 million dollars for this movie I want to make sure I can get a return on my investment and I only want to say 30 because that's a big number let's just say I need 24 movie I needed to make 40 in the theater because half of the money in the box office go to the theater so it's like and then when you think of another 24 marketing I need this movie make 60 million dollars I don't care how talented how talented you are how many people father you want Instagram I need an actor who has been in a film that grossed this amount of money so I'm comparing with that actor who's been in a film that grossed that amount of money and I could put these metrics together and now I feel secure that I'll get a return on my investment but but to go against that I would almost say that it then they should be more tapped in because like just because an actor was in a movie that grossed a lot of money like it could it's we know it's 7000 things it's not one thing it's not a performance it's not this it's so many other things it's like wouldn't you want to be tapped in to to maximize that profit like if you pulled someone from snowfall that isn't damn sin or you pulled like Michael Rainey from power like like people don't realize like how much motion like Michael has in the community like why would you not put him in this giant film to to push that extra you know what I mean it's like because I mean now you're asking a business man to be an artist like the people that's financing it they they not watching none of it they looking at metrics role like yeah you're like somebody who is somebody who retains who trading stocks they not going in seeing what's the new coolest Tesla they looking at metrics bro like what news is coming this day and that's what our deadlines are news what news what what how did it perform before prior the you know I mean the pattern cool let me look at this actor that he performed well here did this that pair with this person cool let's put that's why I was a listen that's why a lot of times they go to the same list and it's all the same it's all the same list because it's like sick of fucking seeing these people as it is the as the metrics they got so we got to figure out a back door to get to it where we could create some type of metrics because we got great streaming metrics but the difference is streaming doesn't really equate to people that's buying tickets in a sense and then also too if the name of the show is bigger than the actual show then it's like what is what who do we credit the success to because for instance like power right there's a power verse you know I mean so if somebody's not familiar with it they don't know the differences between you know ghost and and any other other ones because it's all part of the power verse and they might accredit that to to 50 so now 50's getting these big deals because the world he created is doing numbers not necessarily to act as does you know I mean there's there's moving it along this trick and this is me playing devil's advocate no of course that's why I love this conversation because I want it to talk to someone like obviously we had gale on but I wanted to talk to someone who kind of was in a similar position as us of like being on on a show like that and or black Hollywood or in the culture that white Hollywood don't necessarily it's interesting that you say have to watch more or even want to watch because maybe yeah they don't see they don't resonate with it they're like well I don't have to watch this or I don't want to watch this so why would I cast someone that in something that I don't even watch bro if I wanted to let's just say I wanted to do a film and I needed a Indian actor right I had never watched Bollywood but I know it was huge I'm not going to go watch a bank of Bollywood shows to find an actor I like I'm like who's the list of the one to perform who's performed well you know what I mean it's just like it's an efficient way to kind of do business but it's all it's all tricky bro because right now I'm on a show that's nobody on this show has seen snowfall I get into you and nobody on snowfall has seen this show it's a completely different audience but it's like I don't know bro like I think I think all of us read that one project the way we just don't know what the project is a hundred million like MBJ was running around working for so long but Fruitville was that project because Fruitville now gave him metrics as a lead on a film that cost a million hours that make 20 millions so they're like oh man it's so funny when he probably went to go do that movie he wasn't like oh this is the one because it was a smaller indie movie you know like he's been in big shit yeah he had done Chronicle in 2012 13 it was a big film but you know it was it was three leads and then I don't know it probably helped them get to um but he did find final uh he did the fantastic four or two like he was doing projects that he probably was like I should be the guy but he still had to go do an indie right and that indie meeting uh Ryan Kugler ended up being you know I mean what what made him who he is today or what led him to be you know I mean the start of here is a but we never know where that project is and I'm sure if you ask him he was in bigger projects than I would I mean it's up to you I would say bigger than us three of course you know me at the time He had crazy credits and he still had to go do a indie so to be who he is today. So it's just like Is it is a tricky tricky? Is a tricky game bro. It ain't like hoot where you you get somebody 30 40. They can't deny you know I know I said he should they can't deny you is like with this is different. Yeah, just keep dropping 30 But yeah, 30 gonna be in the in the paper you know, the thing is too though. It's hard. It's hard to get on the floor It's hard to get on the team like we can really be Jordan on the bench Yeah, you know me having a you know It's hard to even get on the bus to make it to the game like this people don't know like People don't realize how you know this shit is not a game, bro like is it's so hard like this wide It is recent like this self-safe mix tape type thing because it's hard to get reps, bro Like it's hard that we really need permission to go perform like a rapper could count a go And it he could be in his basement making music a hope it could be in a gym wherever doing whatever they do But like what a actor we need so many people tell us yes just wants to get reps. It's crazy. I mean unless you Yeah, that's pretty much it you need your team to submit you you need the casting director to say okay We'll see his self tape just to even get a chance to maybe be in scene by the director Get a call back get the director even if that I was just in a situation where the director like me But the studio had different thoughts I've had a man you got out of studio approved and then you I get to say and You got to perform or the summary catch it and then once you perform you got to hope the editors Like it cuz you can get cut out of it and then all of that to release to the people and then they might be like won't care Yeah, it's crazy. It's tricky, bro. I think you really got to love it Yeah, I agree with that if you're doing it for any other reason it's so many other ways to get it Yeah, like you go be a streamer, bro, and make bread and be more famous than most of these most of most actors So it's like what you're doing it for Yeah, so now to go into the paper which I'm excited to talk to you about how did that come about? It's such a different thing than than everything you've done and Like how is it? It's cool, bro. I really enjoy it is a is way different, which is what I wanted to do. I wanted to Be a safe character Because I felt like that will help me as far as my market ability to because all my people are like see because I thought was Well played for a while. I was a tough guy for a while too, and I was like, I want people to see me and think that's just who I am But that's just you know, I mean be like oh, no, that's just him or that's all they could kind of do So from being like you know a dangerous guy on screen and being like the safest type of guy that you want to bring home to meet your parents I was I was excited to take on that that challenge. Yeah, it's so funny the one clip of him that's been going so viral Obviously, it's the one with you with the gun. I was that I was the cast like where do you guys shoot that and it was at a tape like We shoot a universal, which is great. It's really like an office job. Well, like you go in that yeah I was pretty much fixed because we on the stage and We're shooting in the same office so now we not last year we saw a little bit We shot more locations, but a lot of stuff is right there Yeah, and I'm able to drive home and be with my you know my family every day, which is great But yeah, the cast is great. We got the same So we got the same showrunner a lot of their same writers. Well, no A few of the same writers a lot of the same directors from the original office So it's just a great team overall that they kind of put the show together. We got a great cast The funny show is it's lighthearted. It's cool. The process was it was different in a lot of processes too for For the reasons of once we got the audition There was no character breakdown Have you ever had audition like that before and it's like improv? No, it's not improv rose a five-minute scene five minute like monologue and it wasn't a monologue It was like somebody throwing a lie here in air, but it's like a five-page Maybe six seven-page scene with chunks and there's no character breakdown One scene hot. Yeah, bro one scene. I was gonna airplane just like in a scene as a whole And the other person scenes were just like no, I'm okay All right, I'm good and my character would just be rambling. Yeah, yeah, I like Riding airplanes look out window. I see houses down. I wonder how many people in those houses are actually watching TV right now And who's making dinner and it's just kind of like this rambling like guy who's just talking talking talking talking But there's no character breakdown. So I'm like, I don't know who the character is But I kind of like that because then you have the freedom to build it yourself You had you got the freedom then you got an opportunity to kind of Separate yourself from the people that don't know how to break down scenes and break down characters I was like, that's cool. So I was able to like pull from each little excerpt of dialogue and like this type of person would say this Yeah, I made like a little I can't think of what it's called but like the bubbles are like, okay This is insecurity. This is kind of being oblivious to stuff and alright, who is this guy to try to come up with a character? But I am I I think my Self-tape I came into a chemistry read it called me a folk chemistry, which was great because we got the producer And the two soul runners right there and the cast and I right to two and I've read with a few different actresses And I noticed they were sending actresses home But they won't like bringing in new guys. So I was like, oh, yeah, this might be in the bag I see one dude I see one dude leave him when I first got there But it was introducing new female to new new actresses that he had read with and then it was dismissing actresses That I had only read with I was oh, yeah, I might be in there So yeah, you know shortly after a couple weeks, I think I got a call that I booked that and I was you know, I was excited and Did they let you play the character the way that you did the audition fully or did they give you more clues later? Nah, I was like so you got any like notes of who the character is just like no, I'd be like what you did Know what I was doing, bro. I got an idea but yeah, I thought y'all's gonna give me some more clarity But the thing is to like the genius about like who these you know Michael Coleman and Greg Daniels are they They're very collaborative with creating these characters. So it's like who do you think he is? Okay, how did this work with our idea of who this character was and it was just kind of like whoever you bring? If these people meshed together, I think this could be a show and I had drew like a venn diagram. I drew so many diagrams trying to figure out who this character is and I Presented to them. They was like cool and then they gave me what they had already and it was just kind of like a work in progress Like the character on screen was way less cool than what I did in the audition Yeah, cuz in our dish. I'm like if I try to play nerdy it could come off as false Yeah, and if that's what they want as a guy that's really a nerd that's gonna be way more believable so it was Less of that and then when I had time to kind of work on a character more I was able to kind of shift a little more in that direction and The character didn't end up being nerdy, but he was very like a kind of socially awkward Well, people please are unsure of himself. Yeah, in a way, so I had time to kind of develop that How do you when you do create it? Do you do that for every character that been diagrammed you? It's the biggest typically they give you a brain battle what they want. They didn't had nothing for me there So I was like I got to try to pull from Anything they're giving me sort of kept sending different versions of the pilot and switching scene So each scene I'm like, okay, what type of character would do this, but what I built most of my character one was my love interest Like seeing her I was like my characters in love with her what type of guy would be like, you know what I mean? So that kind of helped me mo my character based off of her. Yeah I want to get into this before we do rapid fire quick. You've been doing these self-tape Auditions, but you've been posting them to your Instagram and YouTube and all that stuff I love it. It looks fucking sick. Thank you. What was your reasoning doing it? Yeah, I just want to hear like what yeah, it was a Kind of similar to my approach to social media Early on I was like what's the back door why I get myself in a position where I have metrics right and then I broke it down I was like in order to get in a position I need a I really need an indie film because then I don't have to whereabouts compete with These actors that's on the list because we know that the big movie star roles. They don't they don't get audition They're offered. Yeah, you know, I mean so we get the audition for the little side characters So we odd we audition and then we We audition for stuff that there's a short list of 50 people and if those 50 people say no, then they go Okay, let's send out the audition and then you even might do the audition and then you're in the mix And then they like you for it and then actually number 36 was like oh, yeah, that thing didn't work out. I'll hop in and do this That's not happening. That's not happening to me Specifically, but one of the projects I did with Malcolm X, but Yeah, I was like I need to for when I want to create some stuff online because they did it in a long time I missed a creative freedom of creating. Yeah, I want to do something that's kind of elevated that That aligns with who I am now as an actor. I don't really want to do comedy one line And then also I want an opportunity to perform In a way that I haven't been given permission to as these lead characters and And also show the audience that I can do it show who I was watching that I could do it because let's just say for instance somebody want to say Melvin Gregg's my favorite actor and somebody else says I don't John Doe who's a movie stars my favorite I can't compete like my not my credits but my performances not gonna hold up against anybody that's elite because you just got these small scenes here and there jump in and out you don't have any like solid pieces of work where you could be like now he transformed here he did that so it's an opportunity for that it's an opportunity for me to perform is the opportunity that potentially somebody could see me in these spaces is an opportunity to potentially showcase myself to a indie filmmaker that's making a film that don't need metrics because he making a movie for 750 and he's talented and hopefully we can get together and make some that we both have metrics for because I've showcased what I could do in this way so it was a lot it went into it but I will say like after doing it bro it was like the most fulfilling project I've done because I did everything top the bottom I'm making wigs like I'm doing hair makeup like I'm set dressing in a house like making my living room look like the 70s I did color grading I did editing I scored it like I downloaded stems to try to do different arrangements for the score I did so much so once you finish and you put it out it's like it's like finishing a marathon yeah and it's like it was tough bro it was it was tough throughout but it's like cool I met the finish line and at this point I would love for people to watch it but if they don't like I'm done bro like I'm glad I'm putting out it exists in the world if anybody ever care to find it like is there yeah so yeah that was it was yeah go to Melbourne's Instagram and check out it's beautiful work it's amazing I love it it's great it really is fucking awesome we'll we'll do some rapid fire questions and we'll get you I gotta I got a good quick question for course you speak is it French will tell you telling bro why have you I've seen the the project when you was a kid I didn't see the film but I see the clip why haven't you would cooperate with that and like something that you've done since that's a good ask question now I gotta tag now I got to do now I got to do some shit because to be honest with you bro like it's been such a long time since I you know since I've spoken in language like I still remember like a good amount of it like I could have a conversation and all that but I really don't know bro when I first see that like when I first saw I feel like it's separation from anybody they'll put you in a category and it could all just be perception where like the same thing when they say like British actors in America actors is perception based off of like things that you can relate this to he sounds like him he looks like him this accent is more synonymous with traditional theater act theater acting versus this dialect sounds like a rapper from the you know what I mean like we all relate things to certain things based off our experiences and my idea of you once I see you speak in Italian was completely different of what I thought before I was like young black actor trying to figure out but I was like wait he speaks Italian there's a lot more to him than I thought before I don't know if he grew up in Italy I don't know if his parents in the military but there's a lot more and is more interesting and before and I just feel like that's like a infinity stone you got that own own on nobody else ever really got it and if you pop out even if in power if it was some way you speak in Italian's like oh like they did do that they did it might what didn't what they did that season six and then they did it when we went to Italy to Milan season two of course they have me say like like two or three lines in Italian it wasn't like crazy crazy yeah cuz we don't memorize that but like if you really getting down and it's like oh yeah yeah they did do a storyline where we were in Milan a.k.a. upstate New York but thank they want to bring us Italy but that was that was when it was I've seen it it was some I was like on a mission or something yeah yeah we we took the jet and the big house yeah with the British woman right yeah yeah yeah it was all upstate New York I would never guess yeah okay man let me what you saw the clip when he was a kid in that and that thing it's unbelievable it's one of the greatest yeah I'm like bro this is tight yeah okay I gotta get I gotta get on my Italian shit oh that's so I wish I always I was I was but the time most underrated actor most underrated of like this generation is like just maybe yes someone who's working today who was Cole and you can even say yourself I ain't gonna say myself let other people say that that's how they feel he get in shine now he get in shine he he having a moment but I say Jay Jay Alfonz Nicholson y'all know who that is bro he Cole he he was ingest mercy he was in an opening scene with Michael B. Jordan when he was he was a prisoner it was just one scene that was my first time seeing him right now he plays the dad and the Green Lantern he just had an indeed that came out it's called if I go would I miss me and he he in P. Valley play a little murder nice yeah but bro his his I was just talking to another dead body because I just saw his recent ending his ability to show like in a turmoil and just it's just owner if you do it with his eyes it's just like you feel like bro this is it's heavy like he make he makes scenes look heavy without doing anything he he a beast I like that um a viner TikTok bye oh gee baby yeah man we was creative we will make stuff TikTok everybody does do the same thing yeah that's fair who's an actor that had you nervous when you're around them because you're working with some big big my fucking people yeah we'll Smith yeah yeah I did it it was like Jimmy Kimmel sketch she's before I did anything even before social media and it catches me it's a basketball player my go to and and we're always doing the sketch where he was a blind referee and I was the only I was the only like basketball player who had any type of acting work so they gave me the line and then it was like let's read some other people with this line and I lost my line bro I was sick like this is my one chance to get to see who will Smith I was so nervous bro I was so nervous that's hilarious um your dream role hmm at one point um it shifted at one point I wanted to play I wanted to play Rick James but now I want to play Richard prior I was sick yeah I ain't think I could do it bro I ain't see it ain't see it being in like my will house and then the workout was able to do in like three four weeks to be able to do it like myself tape joint I was like bro I had a year with this like I have a long they would give me the prep where I could really live in it yeah that would be it ought to be so nice and just to explore life man it was very interesting yeah I want to mine's Marlon Brando they were friends right yeah yeah I play Marlon Brando in a movie Melvin's got to play Richard if he plays Richard in a movie I got to play Marlon Brando you might say you heard that rumor that Quincy Jones had floating around between the two what was it let you look it up no really now now I feel like you flick oh no I know that bro I didn't know that all right we got to cut this that's hilarious we all set bro we've been looking forward to there's a D-rope I'm like Melvin we booked a movie together bro we should make our own scene so people can see that we can play these roles all right last last last last question best city to film in yes yes I'm biased though this my home like he say New York yeah I mean we do this area he loves he loves New York I love living in New York filming I really don't go for where I film to be honest but like like he said I am biased so I'm gonna go New York are you from New York yeah yeah of course that's that's why I say LA really like my family and I've been here for so long yeah LA baby I'm all right make sure you guys stream season two of the paper it's out now it's on peacock yep everything's on peacock you can watch the first two seasons to spin off of the office it's fucking awesome it's amazing what else you got to plug you got your Instagram yeah go to my Instagram helping Greg me LV I N G R E G G or YouTube to check out the the self-tape series actors mixtape yeah that's really the only thing I want to plug outside of this other paper for show like you just did well yeah go check out those videos for me did you guys get picked up for season three yet or are you still waiting no not yet they got they got the writers room moving but when you got like an official green light yeah oh yeah It will be up there, see there, open down green. like gang and a couple weeks Michael rainy junior Gianni B. P. O. L.o. Instagram tiktok you know Mike give us one the crew has it you have it Melvin Greg put up on the boys. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you for pulling up bro. We appreciate it. This was cool. We have you. Last one to the airport by breakfast. Day one day one.