Latest / The Christian Reeve Podcast / Aziz Kemal | The Christian Reeve Podcast #231

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Aziz Kemal | The Christian Reeve Podcast #231 · The Christian Reeve Podcast

0:00
Hello and welcome back to the Christian Reef Podcast.
0:02
Today's guest is an actor, content creator.
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His name is Aziz Kamal. Welcome to the show.
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How you doing? Thank you for having me.
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Yeah, I'm doing very well. Thanks.
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And how about yourself? All right, I'll make this real
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quick because this shows about you.
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I had a really bad day yesterday on set.
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I covered it on my twitch. It's the first time I ever had
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to walk off set for something. Yeah.
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Faced a lot of disrespect and unprofessionalism and is a
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complete nightmare. And the whole day is kind of
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funny, actually. You know when you have one of
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those bad days where everything that can go wrong consistently
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throughout the day goes wrong? Yeah.
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Yeah, coming threes, isn't it? It's never just one bad thing.
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It's got what what were you working on it Well, so basically
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I didn't know that it was a student production okay.
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So that's number one that there wasn't transparency there.
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Now, normally nothing against students.
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I've worked with many students over the past, some of whom are
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real professionals and will go somewhere in this industry.
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But in the UK, I don't know, not always great experiences, for
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example. Obviously as actors we need like
1:12
to build up our show reels. That's my main goal right now.
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Like I've got plenty for the for the voice stuff.
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I'm on Spotlight, I'm doing all these different things.
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But the main thing I need to get that next level, you know to get
1:22
an agent to get noticed by the bigger productions is to have
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that real. So I'm building the footage and
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I've I've had some this, this has been my best year so far.
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But that's why I went into it thinking like oh okay, this.
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It was presented as a web series.
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It's presented as you know, exciting opportunity.
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You know, I tried a different way of learning my lines like
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all this cool stuff, right? And get there.
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I had to travel to Birmingham really early in the morning on
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not many hours sleep. I'd turn down work for this, you
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know put the sacrifices in and I turn up and just just
1:58
unprofessional. And you know, I've I've had bad
2:03
experiences. We all have and and we'll
2:05
obviously cover maybe some of yours as well.
2:07
Like it was a difficult decision to make, but I felt like I had
2:12
to. I felt like for my own self
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respect as an actor and as a person, I had to walk away and
2:18
it was difficult to make that decision.
2:20
But ultimately I felt it was the right decision to make.
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But it is what it is. We'll have a bad day but let's
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flip it back to you since we're talking about it.
2:30
Tell me about a time when in your acting career when you
2:33
faced like a difficult challenge or maybe something similar to
2:37
that and like what you learned from it and how you overcame it.
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Do you know what did you find this job through?
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Like Star now or Mandy or one of them?
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No, It was backstage. But again, it was, It wasn't.
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It was misrepresented. So it was presented as one
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thing. You get there, you find out
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something else. It's like that, yeah.
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So when I first started my yeah career, I was told about Star,
3:01
Now Mandy, backstage, all these little websites that obviously
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you're going to get some good work, but you're going to get
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some bad work on their result. And my first ever drop, I think
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this was like literally the first job I ever applied to and
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I didn't really know what to expect.
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It was unpaid, but like you, similar to like you said I was
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like, I just want to build a showreel.
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If I can get some nice footage of me, me speaking that, that's
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all I wanted. Anyway, yeah, they've it was a
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it was a house in Wembley and I live in North London so
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Wembley's not too fast. About 20-30 minute drive.
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Anyway, so I've gone down there. I'm sitting outside this house.
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No one's there. No one's on the phone.
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I was scared. I'm not going to lie.
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I literally, what's up? To my friend?
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I said, this is my location. If you don't hear from me within
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an hour, it's just give me a call or something, you know,
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send the help. But luckily it was OK.
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It was just a it was just a young group of guys.
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They were, they were OK. They were professional, but
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unprofessional. You know, certain things were
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like. They were trying, they were
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trying to make it in the industry.
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They're trying to make their own short films.
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I think they were of Sri Lankan background, I can't really
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remember. So the whole film was in a
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different language, but they just needed me to set like a
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couple of lines in French. Anyway, it was OK.
4:25
It wasn't too much of a bad day. But they told me I was going to
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get paid £50. So I was like, OK, fine, I'm
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happy to like. I didn't even ask for money.
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I was happy to do it for free, but they said they told me they
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were going to do it for £50 anyway.
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Yeah, months and months we're just going by, going by, going
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by. I'm emailing, calling, texting,
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WhatsApp, everything and I'm thinking am I really chasing
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£50? Like is it?
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Is it? It's not that much money but
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like it's it's just a principle isn't it?
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It's like told me I'm getting paid.
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I sent you my invoice. You haven't paid me.
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But yeah, I remember, I think I got paid about six months later
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or something. But for me that was a big
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lesson. It was just like try to find out
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who the people are you're going to be working with beforehand.
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See their work before you work. Like before you work with them.
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Get them to send you their show, rule of their direct, whatever
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they've directed or filmed or whatever it is.
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Yeah, that was, that was one of the early experiences, but it
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kind of just made me straight away think.
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Right. I I can't do this again because
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it just, it was just frustrating, you know?
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And like yeah, it was just a weird experience for me that
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that was probably one of the, I haven't really had a proper bad
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experience just yet. So yeah, yeah, yeah.
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I mean, you've touched on a really good point there, and
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that's kind of a similar lesson. I I suppose I learnt with this
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because while the initial advert that I received for my project
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wasn't given away much as far as, you know, the fact that they
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were students and stuff, there was the ability to look into
6:02
those people, which I didn't do. For example, I found out later
6:05
on that that the director was an act, sorry, a student act.
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And I was like, see, if I'd have looked up his page and would
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have seen that and I would have realized that and that that's on
6:12
me. But with that being said, I mean
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it doesn't matter if you're, you know, starting out or you're
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right at the top of the industry.
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Professionalism I think is a concept, is something you can
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have at any age and something right, something like that.
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Like you've sent an invoice through, you've done it the
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right way, which is I was going to raise up, but you obviously,
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you've already so cleared that up, so you did that basically 20
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actors watching get paid first, get it up front or at the very
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least ask for like 50 now, 50 later.
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So you've got some sort of insurance.
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But yeah, no, I mean I've had instances.
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I still got stuff I'm waiting to be paid for now and it's like 10
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months, three months. And part of that is the industry
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and see actors with selfemployed.
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So for anyone that's in selfemployment, I know people
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deal with this. I dealt with this marketing for
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example. It's just unfortunate.
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And ironically the bigger the company sometimes the, the
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longer you have the way. But yeah, no, I suppose it is
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good to look into people and then get an idea.
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I know that websites like Backstage, for example, which is
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one that I use quite a lot. They tend to have like a message
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at the top that indicates a listing where the website hasn't
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reviewed it. So normally they'll go for a few
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hoops and it'll be like Okay. This person's credited with XML
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projects, they're trustworthy, etcetera.
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But there's a lot of instances where people aren't.
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Maybe it's their first posting, whatever.
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And yeah, and there's there's like little web flags I suppose
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you can look out for. But yeah, no, since we're
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talking about your acting like, let's just jump straight into
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that as well. So how did you first get into
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acting? Like talk us through that
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journey. It's a long story, but I'll try
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to. I'll try to keep it short.
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So as a child, I used to go drama school, you know, I don't
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know if you might have done, you know, singing, acting, dancing
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and all of that, like on the weekends.
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It was good fun. When I was when I was a kid, I
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never really thought of it as something that big.
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It was kind of just for fun. I enjoyed it.
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And then? A part of me was like, okay,
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maybe, maybe I can do something with this.
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Then I did my GCSE drama, had a bit of a nightmare GCSE exam
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where I forgot my lines and I just screamed in front of the
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whole class. Like, yeah, it was just a
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nightmare. And I remember that day, I just
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said to myself, you know what, I'm I'm done with acting.
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I can't do it. So that was the beginning.
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And then, in my late 20s, this may be a cool life crisis, if
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you want to call it. You know, I had a girlfriend at
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the time. I had an office job that I was
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just bored of. I I was searching.
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I was searching for something. I was like, I I need, I need to
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do something that I like. I need to do something I'm
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passionate about. And randomly one of my friends
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asked me to be an extra on. Yeah, I think it was for Barber.
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You know the jackets that they met?
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Yeah. So it was, it was a Barber
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jacket commercial. And he was like, oh, they're
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looking for extras. Do you want to come with me?
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I said OK, why not? We went down and randomly out of
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everyone that was there, there was about a hundred of us.
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They they were looking for someone to be a stand in for the
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main actor because he hadn't arrived yet.
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So I'm just standing there and I'm like, oh, for some reason I
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was like, I really hope they picked me.
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Anyway, this guy just picked me out of the crowd.
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And he said, OK, we're going to just use you as a stand in just
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to walk down the stairs and we're just going to follow you
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with the camera just to see what it looks like on on the screen.
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I've done it a few times and for some reason I was just like,
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wow, this this feels really good.
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Like the fact that I was just doing it in front of people when
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I hadn't done anything like that before, it just gave me this
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weird confidence where I was like, I'm really, I really like
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the fact that I'm on camera. It was, yeah, after that.
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The main actors arrived. They've said okay, as is, we're
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done with you now go back into your own extra again, stop you
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in the back, can't be seen. Whatever.
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So I'm like, wow, okay, Fine, very.
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So yeah, you know how it is in the industry decade.
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A tough industry, yeah. But yeah, so I've gone away and
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then one of the directors. Speaking with someone and he's
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like, I overheard him and he said, oh, I like the way he
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looks on camera. And I thought, oh, maybe
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something's happening here. Anyway, they pulled me over.
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They said, look, we want to put you upstairs with the main
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models. I was like, excuse me, like
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what? What's going on right now?
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Like, this is incredible. They've set me upstairs, sent me
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to hair, makeup, put some clothes on me, and they've just
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set me next to all these models. And I'm like.
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Wow. I've literally just come on set
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as an extra and I've ended up by the models and I'm going to be
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in the commercial. So I've started talking to the
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to the models and actors. And I'm like, just trying to
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find out, like, how did you guys get this job?
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Because I was just asked by a friend.
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They've told me they've gone to drama school, they've got
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agents, blah, blah, blah. I've started noting everything
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down. You know, I was kind of like,
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right, this is what everyone's telling me, that they've gone to
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drama school, they've got an agent, This is, this is how
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we're going to get in. So there was a drama school that
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popped up quite a lot. Identity, I don't know if you've
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heard of them. Yeah, so Identity.
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Drama, I was out. Cool.
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I'm signing up. I signed up, started doing part
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time drama and then at the end of my second term, the drama
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school said, oh, we like you, we want to sign you up into our
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agency. So I've got signed up to their
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agency. Build up a little bit of a show
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real slowly through Star now and all that and then.
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Yeah, put me on spotlight, started getting auditions just
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through my agent and then yeah, pretty much that's what it was.
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That was the beginning of how I kind of got straight in and then
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obviously I've changed agents and things like that.
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But that was that's the beginning of the journey.
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Thanks for sharing. Yeah, a couple of questions just
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off the back of that. So walk us through like the
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timeline of that when was that extras shot and then to present
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day like how long were we talking?
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So. I think this was in 2017.
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I think I I, yeah, it was the first extra job and then I got
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into drama school and then I think it was around 2018, two
12:53
1019, my things started to kind of it was like the showreel was
12:58
kind of there and then it was getting more auditions.
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Yeah, that's when it kind of began. 2019, I would say, is
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when it started to. Feel more like, right, I'm
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getting auditions consistently. But yeah, 2017 is was the
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beginning. So I mean it'll sound like an
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obvious question, but obviously I'm still building mine right
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now. Yeah, I'm five years in and this
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has been my best year so far. But still like yourself like
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trying to get those building blocks, like I only just got on
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the spot like this year. Yeah, thanks.
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But like with OK with the show reel, how quickly would you say
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you started getting like more meaningful kind of auditions off
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the back of that? Was it like an instant thing or
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did it take some time like? So I was advised to just put
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some monologues on my show reel to begin with, and I did that.
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I put a bunch of monologues and I also use, obviously, you know,
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I do my content stuff. So I yeah.
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So I made two show reels and I just put monologues and then I
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put comedy. Stuff, basically.
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And it kind of just showed two different sides to me.
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Obviously my comedy is very character related, you know,
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like it's me doing different accents and different voices and
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things like that. So once I had those on there, I
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feel like it helped. And then yeah.
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Then slowly, slowly through little drops OnStar now and
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through yeah. Small little commercials that I
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did that kind of got added onto the showreel and now
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everything's separate now, so I've got my commercial TV, blah,
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blah, blah. So yeah, that's kind of how I
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got into it. Lovely organization.
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It makes me feel happy and. What if I would think so?
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Mate, mate, It pleases me like. I mean, I don't know if you've
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ever seen the stuff I've done online.
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Like with my organization, I'm very like meticulous with that.
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And it's not really, I mean, I don't know, it's sort of going.
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I mean, ever since I signed up on Spotlight, for example, I've
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got an influx of like offers for extra stuff.
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Which, and this is the question I wanted to ask you because, you
15:08
know, breaking out of that is tough.
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You know, for anyone who's worked on a set before done
15:14
extras work or who's kind of stuck in that and trying to
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break through it, it can be pretty hard.
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Like, for example, you posted a video within the last week where
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it was and it was beautiful. It was like you on set on an
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extra sting, kind of just looking a bit fed up, like and
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then Fast forward. It's like years later and you're
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being featured in something and it's like, you know, chase your
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dreams basically. And for me, yeah, I look at that
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and like it's a source of inspiration.
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I'm like, well, damn, like he's he's doing it, man.
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He's, he's really doing it. And it's beautiful to see and
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but it it it's tough as well because like when you're trying
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to make it for yourself it's you get told all this different
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information like and I give an example.
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So with the extra stuff, I've received all sorts of advice.
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I hear stuff like what you just said where people go, oh you can
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get featured or you can get bumped up to this.
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Who knows what can happen. And with what you said there
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about a director looking at how you look and stuff and deciding
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that you you look good on camera, that's a big reason to
16:12
do extras work. I've also spent time telling
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friends based on the information I've been given to like not
16:20
necessarily avoid extras work, but to kind of look at it for
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what it is like, the chances of you being picked up for
16:26
something are slim because you're in the background, you're
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supposed to not be seen. That's kind of the whole point.
16:32
Yeah, exactly. But at the same time, you, the
16:36
opportunities do come up sometimes, You know, yeah, maybe
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someone didn't show up, or maybe the director changes his mind
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or, you know, you suddenly need someone and then boom, you're
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featured, right? I know a lot of people who've
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kind of got stuck into that circuit and they're doing extra
16:52
stuff off the back of, you know, projects, off the project, off
16:55
the project. But I don't know necessarily
16:57
that they're moving forward with their career.
16:59
I don't know specifically what their goals are, to be fair.
17:02
But I mean, if you're happy being an extra as a career
17:04
thing, then fair enough. But if you're looking at
17:07
breakthrough, I guess my question to you is to what point
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do you think it really can be useful?
17:13
Like I look at it as an opportunity to meet other people
17:16
in the industry. You know, I've I've off the back
17:19
of it. I've, I've worked with people,
17:21
directors, cinematographers who are coming up just like the
17:24
self. And we've done stuff together.
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And I see it as a valuable resource for networking, right.
17:29
Of course it's an opportunity to get paid as well.
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Gets you out of the office, you know what I'm saying?
17:36
But can you speak to that a little bit?
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Do you do you think extras work is, is is worth it?
17:40
I mean, what do you think? I think it's very similar to
17:44
what you've just said I was when I first started because I hadn't
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been on set right, ever. It was like, it was magical, I'm
17:52
sure you know the feeling. Like I was like on big movie
17:55
sets, like I worked on Mission Impossible, right?
17:59
I worked on The Eternals. I got to see Tom Cruise,
18:01
Angelina Jolie and I was like, this is surreal.
18:05
Yeah, so. But I wasn't really thinking of
18:09
it too much. Like, if I become an extra for
18:12
10 years, I'm going to become an actor.
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Like, I wasn't thinking of it like that.
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I'm not going to lie. I've met some really deluded
18:19
people on set where they say things like, I've been an extra
18:22
for 10 years and I'm like, okay. So have you been to drama
18:25
school? They're like, no, I'm not.
18:26
Have you got an agent? No, I'm like, but they're trying
18:29
to tell me that they're trying to become an actor, and I'm up.
18:31
For me that's like. You can't just be an extra and
18:34
become an actor, right? Yeah.
18:37
But for me, at the beginning, like I said, it was just a fun
18:41
experience. I've got to meet lots of cool
18:43
people, same as you done, lots of fun projects.
18:46
I met directors, cinematographers, other actors,
18:50
singers, everything. And it was, it was amazing.
18:53
And the good thing is as well, extra websites these days are
18:59
putting up a lot of featured roles.
19:01
Yeah. And I did get two or three jobs
19:05
through that, but I never thought of being an extra like
19:11
as the main like target. Like within our industry there's
19:16
like a million different ways of becoming an actor.
19:19
You know, like or maybe someone sees you on stage.
19:21
Maybe someone saw your stand up routine.
19:24
Maybe someone saw you. Online or maybe, I don't know.
19:27
There's so many different ways. So I thought with being an
19:30
extra, it's also a way that could work.
19:33
But you can't. You can't rely on that.
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It was just kind of like, let me do it for a while see where it
19:40
takes me, blah blah blah. Like that's that's kind of how I
19:44
that was my take on it. And then for me, because I've
19:50
worked as an extra for maybe four, wait, how many years?
19:53
Maybe three or four years. I worked as an extra, yeah.
19:59
And then I started to get acting jobs where I was featured, where
20:04
I had lines where I was getting paid a lot more money.
20:09
To see that side and then go back to being an extra.
20:14
If I was honest with you, it was tough.
20:16
It was very tough. I couldn't do it.
20:18
After a while I did it for a few more times.
20:22
And then I remember I said to myself one day, this is the last
20:25
extra job I'm ever going to do because I can't do it.
20:29
It's literally like you said that my self respect was just
20:32
like I I can't. And I'm not saying that being an
20:35
X-ray is bad. I'm not saying that.
20:37
And I'm not saying that it was just for me because my goals are
20:42
different. It was like I want to be an
20:43
actor. I can't be an extra anymore.
20:45
And yeah, it's been about a year and a half since I've stopped
20:48
it, but great experience and I I would advise anyone to do it for
20:52
a little while. Yeah, that, that.
20:54
Then that's the thing as well. Like, I've got other friends in
20:57
the industry who feel the same, like, yeah, I'm not doing this
20:59
anymore. And I've said like, and I've
21:01
tried to kind of say to what, you know, I think if you use it
21:03
as like an admin day, you know, like apply for other shit, you
21:06
know, network, whatever. But yeah, I mean.
21:11
And every time I do it, I think about other projects I've done
21:13
where I've been actually featured.
21:15
Like I did a few short films this year where like one of
21:17
which I was the lead character and another I was a supporting
21:20
character in it. And I love it and I'm acting.
21:23
I'm doing it. And then you go back to an extra
21:25
thing like you said, and it's like, I mean, I will say this
21:29
right? For anyone who's doing extras
21:31
work. Let me be clear it I know that
21:37
feeling. You know, when you're just
21:39
brushed aside, sometimes you're featured a bit more prominently.
21:42
You know, I I was on that Hollyoaks recently and I was
21:45
like, it was quite close knit, like I assumed it would be like,
21:48
oh, 50 people. And I'm not in the background
21:50
chanting something, right. But we, it was very close knit.
21:53
It was just like five of us with the main cast and we were
21:56
talking and I was getting advice and it was, it was beautiful.
21:59
But I was also not under any delusions that all this is going
22:03
to take off. I'm suddenly going to get
22:04
someone with this. I just looked at it for what it
22:07
was. It was payday.
22:08
It was an opportunity to get advice.
22:10
It was, you know, it's it's good, I suppose, on the CV to
22:13
say you've done that. But I don't know necessarily.
22:16
The industry always respects it as much as it should because
22:19
here's the reality with extras work, sure, yeah, anyone can be
22:22
in a crowd, right? I get it.
22:23
I understand. But sometimes you have to do
22:26
stuff that does actually require acting.
22:29
And you know, even though you might feel brushed aside or
22:33
whatever, you're still doing it. You're still doing something.
22:35
And I've had other friends who've said, you know, well,
22:37
you're on set. You know, that's better than not
22:39
being on set. So I guess my point with this is
22:42
it's all about perspective and what you are looking to get out
22:46
of it. But yeah, it's it's hard.
22:50
It's not easy. It can really kind of crush you
22:53
sometimes. And I I, you know like you spoke
22:57
about like how you you sometimes you have that people that seem
23:00
deluded or seem like and and and that's it's a funny aspect to
23:04
it. Like you know you're getting
23:04
conversations with people and most people see it the same way.
23:08
They're like yeah you know it's a bit of money whatever.
23:10
I'm working on this oh great. Let's follow each other.
23:13
Let's work on something right. Brilliant.
23:15
But then you get people and it's like there's that hope there and
23:20
I I think it's beautiful keep on to that.
23:22
But at the same time, the chances are so low like you got
23:25
it. Do put the I'm not saying not do
23:29
extra stuff like keep it on the site, keep doing that.
23:31
But also, yeah, build up your monologues, build up your
23:35
profile, get on spotlight, keep. Emailing agents until they get
23:39
sick of the site of you have to give you something.
23:41
You know do what me and Aziz are doing post online daily all the
23:45
time. Like Aziz posts skits and other
23:49
funny things and and gives and gives clips of him acting as
23:52
well. I do the same.
23:53
I put like auditions online. I do regular live streams where
23:56
I promote myself like it's it's for fun.
23:59
It's also to promote. Oneself.
24:02
And that's really an integral part of being an actor and
24:05
trying to push yourself through. You have to be a salesman.
24:08
You have to like, promote yourself all the time.
24:11
You have to be not afraid to say like, yeah, I do this, I'm an
24:13
actor and and that's another thing as well.
24:15
And there's something that I learned to do, Don't say I'm an
24:18
aspiring actor or I'm hoping to do this.
24:20
If you've acted on something, you are an actor right now.
24:25
Maybe you're not a very good actor and you have to work at
24:27
it, but you're still an actor. You're still doing.
24:29
So don't put yourself down. Like, have that belief in
24:32
yourself and push through and hey, who knows?
24:34
You'd be like Aziz and you start making it.
24:36
So there you go, just the beginning.
24:39
But yeah, and what you're doing, are you still you still doing a
24:43
bit of extra work here and there or?
24:45
Here and there. You know I do like part time at
24:48
the bar as well to make ends meet and and again, you know, I
24:52
see it for what it is, but with extra stuff as well.
24:55
It's it's tricky because. You know how it is like, they're
24:59
like, oh, are you available this date, this date, this day.
25:01
And you say yes. And then you hear last minute
25:04
and it's like, well, I'm already committed to the bar at this
25:05
point. They've given me work.
25:07
I'm going to take the work not maybe like 11:00 PM at night.
25:13
Or are you available to come in tomorrow, 5:00 AM start like,
25:16
come on, be ridic. Like it's ridiculous.
25:19
And that's the thing about it, isn't it, That sometimes a bit,
25:22
yeah. Well, yeah, and and that's the
25:23
thing, like, I'm a flexible guy, but like, come on, man.
25:26
Like you're just being ridiculous at this point,
25:28
Especially if it's like like I live in Manchester, right?
25:30
And you got a kind of, if I'm trying to get to like Liverpool
25:34
for a certain time, for argument's sake, you know,
25:37
there's a certain kind of, I don't know, timeline where it's
25:42
after which it's not possible anymore and it's the, you know
25:45
what I mean? Like, I mean, I don't know for
25:47
anyone who's tried to get last minute trains.
25:49
And you see like how extortionate the prices are even
25:51
coaches sometimes. You know it's you got to plan
25:54
this stuff ahead but but yeah, I guess I just wanted to kind of
25:57
get your thoughts on that and and those and and like you know
26:01
just just kind of illustrate the point that like people need to
26:03
do in a lot of different things not just putting all their eggs
26:05
in one basket 100%. A few other questions related to
26:09
acting and then we'll get into what you do online.
26:14
What advice could you give to actors who are aiming to get
26:17
signed by an agency or maybe just starting out?
26:22
Well, firstly you got to go to drama school.
26:25
I know people think that they. I mean, I always felt like I
26:33
could act. I felt like I knew how to do it,
26:35
but going to drama school, just kind of being around other
26:40
actors and just it's it's kind of just like practice.
26:42
I mean when I, when I look at footballers, for example, they
26:46
train almost every day, right? They don't stop training like
26:49
they you need to always do it. So for me, it was like if I go
26:55
to drama school and kind of just get into the habit of always
26:58
acting, always being able to kind of get into character
27:01
learning lines like just things like that, that that's what it
27:03
was for me. But then that also had the limit
27:06
for me. It was like I did it for about
27:07
two years and then yeah, so some drama schools, obviously they
27:11
have their own agencies. So that's a really good thing.
27:14
Like you. That's a very easy way to kind
27:17
of get in. It's like you go to drama
27:19
school, you get an agent, bang you on spotlight, you're going
27:22
to start doing blah, blah, blah. But also what we're doing, like
27:27
you have to take advantage of social media.
27:30
I I don't understand how people don't want to do it.
27:33
I know it's for some people. They don't understand how it
27:36
works. I didn't like, you didn't, but
27:40
you just like the opportunities there, man.
27:44
You got. You can post videos on like I've
27:47
got jobs through through my social media.
27:50
Like, really? Yeah.
27:51
So I worked with two big you troopers on these projects and
27:57
they saw my videos online and they they reached out to me.
28:01
I went an audition for them and things like, do you know what I
28:03
mean? Like, anything can happen.
28:05
And I got my first agent, actually through my first acting
28:08
agent, saw me online and was like, have you got an agent?
28:12
I said no. She said let's have a meeting
28:14
just because she saw my videos. So amazing.
28:17
That's what I mean. Like you've got to just, yeah,
28:18
you've got to take opportunities like social media, obviously.
28:21
Everyone says network, network, network, but you don't want to
28:25
be annoying, you know? Like you don't want to just
28:28
speak to everybody and annoy everybody.
28:30
Like, I used to have this friend.
28:32
Like whenever we we used to work as extras for for years and I
28:35
was always on set with this one guy, Every time we went on to
28:37
set, he would be hassling the director.
28:41
And that's a no go right there, fringe man.
28:44
I could. I couldn't deal with it.
28:46
I could get you kicked off. If you do, the director was
28:50
like, can someone just get rid of this guy?
28:52
And they just had to pull him aside.
28:53
And they said if you speak to him one more time, you're off.
28:57
Because imagine the director's trying to work and you're just
28:59
in his ear. Like it was just so awkward.
29:03
But yeah, so like network is great, Yeah.
29:08
But also something that really helped me.
29:10
I I found some local theaters and I signed up when and
29:15
auditioned. I did a play for, which lasted
29:18
for about a week. But the whole aspect of going to
29:23
rehearsals every week and then performing for seven days in a
29:28
row, like for me that was like a crazy experience because it just
29:34
made me firstly, it made me understand can I do this, you
29:38
know, because some people have this dream like I want to be an
29:40
actor, but sometimes you don't know if you're like if you can
29:45
handle it in a way where because it's a confidence thing.
29:50
Yeah. Like with acting you've got to
29:52
be able to do it. When you.
29:54
It's, it's like, yeah, so you're performing.
29:56
You're like a sports star. You're you're an entertainer.
29:58
At the end of the day, if the camera's on and they say go, you
30:01
can't be like, oh wait, let me just go and have like, yeah, you
30:05
might get a trump, but do you want me Like, you've got to be
30:07
ready to go. So for me, the theater thing was
30:10
a good experience to to test myself to say, am I able to do
30:15
this When, when it matters. And it helped me.
30:19
So yeah, things like that. And obviously signing up to star
30:22
now Mandy backstage 100%. You have to do that.
30:25
Like it's it's key because you start at the bottom.
30:30
You start with these student jobs or these low budget jobs,
30:34
but then you never know. You might end up like I found a
30:37
job for Guinness on. Some, yeah.
30:41
Could you imagine like it was actually during lockdown and we
30:44
were in, you know how they had the bubbles?
30:47
Like everyone, whoever was ready to give up.
30:48
And I imagine at the time I was with like 5 or 6 actors.
30:53
And mad luck and bro, honestly, it gets even better.
30:57
We were all so diverse. There was 2 black.
30:59
There were two. There was one black guy, one
31:01
black girl, 1 white girl, 1 white guy, one Mediterranean
31:04
guy, one Mediterranean girl. Like.
31:06
It's not a show with that. It was.
31:09
It was just so diverse and like whenever we applied for roles,
31:12
they were really interested in us.
31:14
And yeah, we got this Guinness job, great money.
31:17
Like honestly, it was so good and just through star now.
31:20
But yeah, so that's kind of what I would advise.
31:23
But also you just, yeah, you have to, you really have to
31:26
believe in yourself, man. I can't, I can't.
31:29
Explain. I have so many down days where
31:32
I'm like, maybe I'm not good enough.
31:34
I have it all the time. But you have to have this really
31:38
strong mentality where you're just like, shut the fuck up,
31:42
You're a star. Do you know what I mean?
31:43
Like you need to always. It's like, yeah, it's like when
31:47
I I know I compare it to sports all the time but like when I see
31:51
sports stars and they walk onto that pitch I'm like is is that
31:56
they're focused. You know they they know that
31:58
they they're the guy or where or the girl.
32:00
But like yeah you've just you've really got to believe in
32:03
yourself and it's it sometimes feels very delusional.
32:06
It does You're like am I living in a fantasy world And even your
32:10
parents or your friends might be like come on man.
32:12
Like you're 30, like you got to get a proper job and all that,
32:17
you know. But listen, I as soon as I start
32:21
to see some sort of momentum, the fact that I was like, why?
32:25
OK, I'm getting jobs, I'm getting auditions, maybe I have
32:29
got something here, you know, And that kind of gave me the
32:33
hope as well. I mean, some people may not have
32:38
got any opportunity for a long time, but I'm not saying quit.
32:41
I'm just saying like you do need to see some sign of, like this
32:46
is for me because it might not be for you, you know.
32:50
But yeah, that's kind of some sort of advice, I guess.
32:55
Did not agree with all of you. Thank you very much for sharing
32:57
that. Yeah, there was something this
33:00
year that just like, I don't know, I guess the switch just
33:03
turned in my head and it was. Part of it was when I stopped
33:07
referring to myself as aspiring. And I was like, no, I am an
33:09
actor. I've been doing this like five
33:11
years now. I've worked in the, like,
33:13
productions all around the world, all sorts of stuff.
33:16
I am an actor. But then there's there is that
33:18
battle. And I think in a way it's good.
33:20
It keeps you grounded. You know, it means that you're
33:22
never going to become like an egotist.
33:24
But at the same time, you do have to have a certain degree
33:28
of, like, belief in yourself. You have to be like, yeah, you
33:30
know what? I am.
33:32
I'm brilliant. I'm good enough.
33:33
I can do this. You have to keep working there,
33:35
you know. Always.
33:37
Even if you are killing it, you still got it.
33:39
You know, for example, when I was on Hollyoaks, there was a
33:42
girl on set who's one of the league cast and he says like
33:45
even to this day, despite having done acting for like 20 plus
33:48
years, he still gets lessons to this day and he has his own fit
33:54
group and everything and he does all these things, but he's still
33:56
honing his craft always and I think anyone who.
34:01
Is working on any kind of thing, like, particularly like
34:03
creative? You know, you've got to always
34:05
be practicing, always working on it, always pushing yourself and
34:09
belief in yourself is like probably maybe the biggest part
34:14
of it. Like when you're on set and
34:16
you've got something, you're like, oh wow, I can't believe
34:18
they pick me. You know what?
34:20
Of course they'll pick you because you're brilliant.
34:22
You deserve to be there. There's a reason that you're in
34:24
that spot. So go and nail it, kill it.
34:26
Prove why you deserve to be in that spot 100 percent 100%.
34:31
Right. Let's do some weird shit.
34:32
What's the craziest thing you've ever seen happen on set?
34:40
Craziest. Or just like, weird?
34:42
Or, I don't know, just because I think the acting industry is a
34:47
lot like the circus Sometimes. It's a bit, I mean, I've seen
34:52
funny things happen or I've seen like shocking things happen,
34:55
but. Right.
34:56
Let's go there. Shocking.
34:57
Yeah. I mean, so I've seen people get
34:59
thrown off set, something something like that.
35:02
Like there was we were working on Mission Impossible.
35:07
We were all extras. And we, I met this guy, I won't
35:12
say his name because he's kind of well known in a he's actually
35:17
a sports *, which is really weird.
35:19
He's a sports star. He he's got like a lot of
35:23
followers on Instagram. And anyway he wanted to become
35:27
an actor. OK, so he was on set with us and
35:32
I was just being, you know how it is when you're an extra you
35:34
they they said to you, you sit here, you sit here, you end up
35:36
talking like it's just you start talking to the person.
35:39
So it was me, him and the and the girl on the table.
35:42
And I was trying to talk to him, but what's your name?
35:45
What'd you do? Blah, blah.
35:46
And he was like, yeah, I'm a boxer.
35:48
Yeah, I've got blue tick on Instagram.
35:50
I was like, that's a weird thing to say that I leave.
35:52
Yeah, to your name like. I'm a blue tick player, the
35:55
brother like one. And even the girl next to me was
35:59
like, who's this idiot kind of thing?
36:01
Especially now because I just interject real quick, like
36:03
because you have to pay for the tick, so the tick doesn't mean
36:05
anything anymore anyway. It's so true the value has
36:10
completely gone. But like, yeah, so anyway it
36:13
was, it was just a bit weird. And I remember I was trying to
36:16
speak to him and all he kept doing was just talking about
36:18
himself. And he never asked me one
36:20
question. And I thought, all right, cool.
36:22
That's just the kind of guy he is.
36:23
He's bit of an arrogant guy or whatever.
36:24
I'll just avoid him. And then I kept seeing him
36:27
speaking to lots and lots of girls and I was like okay, he's
36:31
a bit, he's just trying to shut up every girl.
36:33
And then one of the girls came over to me and and so this was
36:37
filmed out of London and we were all staying in a hotel which was
36:41
a sick. Wow.
36:42
That's cool. Imagine we were all staying in a
36:45
hotel. Like 100 extras.
36:47
And like every time we were on set, we'll come back to the
36:49
hotel, go for dinner together. I have a bunch of drinks.
36:53
So fun. It was honestly one of the best
36:55
experiences. Like such a sick, such a sick
36:57
time. But then like we're going to bed
37:00
at like 2, getting up at 4, like getting on set.
37:03
It was mad anyway, so this guy has turned around and he's asked
37:09
two to three different girls, Do you want to come back to my room
37:12
tonight? At least you just cry straight
37:15
up. And I was like, what?
37:17
And they were telling me at the time, they were literally coming
37:19
over to them. They were like, have you spoke
37:20
to these guys? People creep.
37:22
Anyway, obviously, you know, on set we're not always allowed to
37:26
bring our phones. They take the phone away from
37:28
you when you. Yeah.
37:29
So they put it in a little box. It's locked away with extras.
37:32
You know how strict they are. Anyway, we didn't have our
37:35
phones that day. He snuck his phone in.
37:37
This guy, He's sitting on the corner.
37:40
Yeah, he. And he's like, he's sitting
37:42
somewhere private. I don't know, he kind of like
37:45
went behind a curtain or something and he's filming
37:47
himself and he's like, yo, like I'm on set, blah blah blah.
37:51
And one of the girls he approached saw him and was like,
37:56
you know what, this guy's a creep.
37:57
I'm going to get him trucked off.
37:59
She went over to the one of the AD's was like, this guy's on his
38:03
phone, he's filming himself, blah, blah.
38:05
They've literally approached him.
38:06
They said come here, give us your phone, open that up, show
38:09
us your videos right now. And there was all the proof was
38:12
there. And he got trucked off
38:13
immediately. And that was just a bit of a mad
38:16
one like I. Because I've never seen someone
38:19
actually get thrown off set and he was just done, like and you
38:23
know how it is that you can get blacklisted and.
38:25
Right. Yeah.
38:26
Don't know they'll never use you again.
38:29
But yeah, that was, that was a bit mad.
38:30
I remember. I was quite shocked because,
38:33
yeah, it just happened like that.
38:35
Gone. You got you got to be so
38:36
careful. Like, I remember one time I was
38:38
doing a feature and we were all extras, we were just mucking
38:41
around in the background and this guy, if he ever watches,
38:45
he'll know. And I'm such an idiot for this,
38:47
right? Because we did have our phones
38:49
on us, but we won't obviously like record it because just as a
38:52
side rule guys, when you're on set don't film anything, but
38:55
definitely don't post anything on social media.
38:59
But like he goes like oh take a picture now of him and not any
39:04
of anything that just zoomed in of him.
39:06
And then fucking one of the A D's comes over and they're like,
39:10
show us what's on your phone. My of course.
39:13
And then I see him in the corner of my eye just going bye because
39:18
I'm taking the bait because I'm an idiot.
39:20
And then I'm like, that's fine, I'm just taking pictures of my
39:23
mate and he's like, yeah, just delete those and I'm like, yeah,
39:25
that's fine. And luckily it wasn't a problem,
39:28
you know, obviously that's what I understood that the issue.
39:32
But you got to take it really seriously, I mean, and that's
39:35
the thing, it's like what I said earlier about professionalism,
39:40
you know, that's part of it. You know, there are the rules
39:43
are in place for a reason. And when you don't follow the
39:45
rules, you know, yeah, you're going to get in shit.
39:47
And it's weird when you get someone who thinks they're above
39:50
the rules and it's like, it's just not cool, it's not
39:53
professional and it yeah, you're not going to get work in the
39:56
future, so. Not for you expect the rules.
39:59
That's it. It's very simple that you're
40:01
there to work. At the end of the day, people
40:02
forget, like, of course, being on set is amazing.
40:06
It's fun. Everyone's a bit weird because
40:09
we're all creatives, you know? Like, we're not.
40:11
We're not your normal people. But yeah, I I try.
40:14
I try to be professional. As much as I want to have fun,
40:18
you gotta be professional, man. You mentioned earlier about
40:21
people being delusional, and I've had some interesting
40:24
interactions with people on set. What would you say is like the
40:27
weirdest or most delusional interaction you've had with
40:31
someone on set? Do you know what?
40:33
I'll never forget this guy. I just can't get over it.
40:36
It was. I don't want to sound like a
40:39
prick. Yeah, no, I mean, I I will add
40:41
to this as well. Like, everyone's got a story I
40:44
forgot plenty of, where you you meet someone and maybe they
40:47
start listing off their CV or whatever and it's just awkward
40:51
and you sit there. You try to be polite, but you're
40:53
like, okay, Alright, I'm going to go get some more.
40:58
Literally. And then because there are so
41:01
many strange people on set, like there was, there was, I'll tell
41:05
you two stories. I'll keep.
41:06
I'll keep one of them short. There was this one guy that he
41:11
was older than us and he was, I think he was in his 60s.
41:14
And there was a bunch of us that were like in our 30s and it was
41:17
all like three or four young guys.
41:18
We were just like sitting around having bands and this six year
41:21
old guy just kept trying to interact with us.
41:24
Obviously there's I'm not being ageist or anything, but like it
41:27
was, it felt a bit awkward because he felt like he kept
41:31
trying to get involved with us anyway.
41:33
And every time we spoke to him, all he did was say to me, oh,
41:36
you know, like I've got my own driver, oh, you know, our driver
41:39
Bentley. And I'm like, why are you
41:40
telling me this? Like.
41:42
And then in the end, we we were just like trying to avoid him
41:46
the whole time because all he ever did was if I said
41:49
something, Oh yeah, I got your and I'm like, it would do you
41:54
know what I mean? Like, you know those kind of
41:56
people. I've got Mercedes.
41:57
Is that why I got Bentley? Well, probably it's not a
42:00
competition. I'm just trying to talk.
42:02
Anyway, that was one guy. He was really annoying, but it
42:05
was kind of funny. Like, whenever I think about it,
42:06
I just laugh. I always think as well, like in
42:08
the context of that, like, I would just think, well, why the
42:11
fuck are you here then? Apparently, just for fun.
42:14
I mean, okay, all right. Very fair.
42:17
Like, I'm not judging. I'm not like, but like, it's
42:20
just weird to talk about, like, showing off in that sort of way
42:25
to a bunch of young guys. Like, why do you think we care?
42:28
Like, I don't know what you were trying to achieve, you know, It
42:32
was one of the moments. Anyway, The second one, I
42:35
remember, I sat down on a tape. Did you work through COVID by
42:40
the way? No, I only had like 1 project
42:43
that whole year. It was horrendous.
42:46
It was so bad the way that they used to do social distancing and
42:50
the masks and the COVID tests. Like I got so sick of it.
42:54
Every time you went in, you would have about 3 COVID tests a
42:57
day. They would make, they would put,
42:59
they would make everyone sit like on a long table and you had
43:01
to sit like 2 meters apart, you had masks on and blah blah blah.
43:06
People would cut. There was COVID Police.
43:07
Literally, If you if you removed your mask for one second,
43:10
they'll be screaming at you like, wow, there was one.
43:13
There was one day, I remember Mission Impossible where someone
43:17
literally screamed at me and I I went over to them afterwards and
43:21
I was like, listen, you don't understand.
43:24
Like you're pissing me off. Like I can't breathe.
43:26
All I did was pull my mask down for like a second.
43:29
And anyway, that's another story.
43:31
But yeah, so I sat, I remember I sat in front of this guy.
43:34
He was probably in his 40s. And he looked a bit like he was
43:41
wearing, like, really old clothes.
43:45
Bit he looked a bit scruffy, you know, like his hair was was a
43:48
bit messy, his teeth were a bit dodgy.
43:51
Like there was just I would I I just.
43:54
I didn't really know what to think.
43:55
But you know what? Instant judgment.
43:58
Yeah, I could have been completely wrong.
44:00
Anyway, we sat down. I'm not.
44:02
Also, what's your name? What'd you do?
44:03
Blah blah. He's like, you're, I'm an actor.
44:06
I said, oh, OK, So what you been in?
44:09
And he started naming all these Hollywood films.
44:12
He was like, yeah, I was in, I don't know, Mission Impossible.
44:17
But literally all the big films like Fast and Furious, Tom and
44:20
Jerry, because they were, I know they were working on them in
44:22
London. And I was like, what was your
44:24
role? He was like, oh, yeah, I was in
44:25
the crowd. I was like, yeah, oh, so was it
44:28
an acting drop or was it an extra drop?
44:30
And he was like, oh, it was an extra drop.
44:31
I said OK. I said, So what acting jobs have
44:34
you done? It was like, no, my jobs have
44:35
all been extra work. And I said, okay, so have you
44:40
done any acting work? And he was like, no, I said, But
44:43
in my head I'm like, I just asked you and you told me you
44:46
were an actor. And I'm not trying to say that.
44:48
No, no, don't. Be But But yeah, so then I
44:51
started saying to him, so, so have you have you been to drama
44:55
school? He said no.
44:57
I said okay. Have you got an agent?
44:59
No. Have you been on spotlight?
45:01
No. Have you got a show reel?
45:02
No. And in my head I'm like, why
45:06
does this guy think he's an actor?
45:08
Like what? I'm confused.
45:10
So I said to him, listen, mate, I don't mean to be rude, but do
45:15
you mind if I give you a bit of advice?
45:17
I said. And then I was like, you know,
45:19
I'll do a bit of acting myself. And I was kind of like halfway
45:21
through my thing. But I was on spot.
45:25
Like I had an agent and I had a bit of a showreel.
45:28
I was still early days, but I said maybe you should consider
45:31
this kind of thing. And he was like, no, no, no, no.
45:34
I'm. I'm quite happy being an extra.
45:35
Like, I know one day there's someone just going to, someone's
45:38
just going to pick me to be a star.
45:41
And I was like, fucking hell, this is delusion.
45:44
I was like, this is, this is delusion because you're not
45:48
trying to do anything apart from coming to sit as an extra in the
45:53
hope that you get picked. And I felt sorry for him.
45:56
I genuinely felt so. I was like, mate, imagine
45:59
walking around. With this mindset, I don't know.
46:03
I just I was. I was confused, but it was
46:06
tragic. It's because The thing is, and
46:08
I'll add to this as well, like you made an important
46:10
distinction there between like extras work and acting work.
46:13
And again, we're not taking away from extras work here.
46:15
But as far as, like, how the industry sees it and like,
46:18
casting directors, like, I got some advice given to me by an
46:20
industry professional recently. And they were like, listen, that
46:23
extra stuff that you're featuring on your spotlight and
46:26
your website that makes it look like you're just a career extra.
46:30
And I I took it into account. I was like, all right.
46:32
And I sort of buried it, like, so it's still there, but it's
46:34
not featured anymore. It's like, you know, like, yeah,
46:37
I've done extras work, but it's not like, here's what I've done
46:39
in acting. And that's the way you got to
46:42
look at it. Like, nothing wrong with doing
46:43
extras work, but make sure you're doing the other stuff in
46:46
your building, like the building blocks now moving on.
46:51
I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you this.
46:53
And I know everyone would be screaming at me.
46:55
This is how I discovered you. And I think this is how a lot of
46:58
people have probably discovered you.
47:01
In your own words, please explain your love for kebabs.
47:10
I just have them for lunch, by the way.
47:13
Of course you did. It's consistent.
47:15
It's by the brand. It's.
47:18
It's part of the package, I will say, just like I'm waiting for
47:22
the day that you do, like a kebab commercial or something.
47:24
I'm just, I want to see it. It's Please, universe, make it
47:28
happen. I think I, I don't think I've
47:33
ever had an audition for one, but anything food related I get
47:38
excited over. Yeah, but listen, I mean I'm,
47:41
I'm of Turkish, super background.
47:44
Kebabs are in our culture firstly, but for me.
47:49
Yeah, I mean, my family, we, we, I love it.
47:51
Like, I think it's like, funny enough here, my my viewers will
47:55
hate this, but my favorite food is actually pizza.
48:01
I'm a fraud. Yeah, me too, man.
48:07
Me too. You know, you know, like,
48:11
listen, yo, pizza kebab. There, you know.
48:15
Do you know who Harland is? I don't, I'm afraid.
48:18
Oh, OK, he's a footballer that plays for Man City.
48:20
Oh, oh, sorry. Yeah, yeah, of course.
48:22
Yeah, yeah. So he done an interview recently
48:25
and they were, they were asking him like, what's your favorite
48:27
food? And he was like, I love kebab
48:28
pizza and they were like, hell, yeah, like this is a footballer,
48:32
you know, a professional athlete.
48:34
Anyway, but yeah, no, listen, my love for kebab.
48:38
I mean the thing about kebabs, which I thought the reason that
48:43
they went into my video so much is.
48:47
Because everyone who goes on a night out can can relate to the
48:52
late night kebab. It's the very like, it's the
48:55
thing that people do. It's like go out, have a few
48:59
drinks, 2:00 AM kebab shops open, let's go get a kebab.
49:02
You know, it was one of those things.
49:04
And when I first started kind of doing video because my my first
49:09
videos ever were just ethnic. It was like ethnic dad and son
49:13
all the time. That was kind of like my theme.
49:17
And then I started to think, what can I do?
49:19
Things that are more related to the British public.
49:23
So it was like, right, I could use my ethnicity with the
49:26
kebabs, but something that an everyday British person can
49:32
relate to and everyone loves a drink.
49:33
Obviously in Britain, like it's such a big thing.
49:36
It's like what you do, what we call Britain.
49:38
Yeah, literally. Like, let's go have a drink.
49:40
But. That's kind of where I that's
49:43
how I kind of integrated into my my videos.
49:45
I was like, right, This is very relatable.
49:49
I think a lot of people can understand this.
49:51
So yeah, that's kind of how it all became a thing.
49:54
Why do you think kebabs are so popular in the UK?
49:56
Because, I mean, obviously it comes from from other countries,
49:59
but like, it's become such a part of British culture.
50:02
Like you mentioned like 2:00 AM kebab.
50:03
We've all been there, we've all done that.
50:06
Why do you think that is? I guess these Turkish kebab guys
50:12
are the only ones that are willing to be open at this
50:14
bloody time. Like, honestly, like, I mean,
50:18
maybe if you're in, do you ever come to London, like, once in a
50:22
Blue Man? No, definitely not.
50:24
So there's there's an area called Shoreditch, and it's like
50:30
a trendy place to go out in Shoreditch.
50:33
If you were to go out at 2:00 AM, loads of restaurants are
50:37
open. Pizza Curry, Chinese Turkey,
50:40
that everything's open. So it's like it's crazy.
50:44
But yeah, the kebab shops was like the original 1 where it was
50:49
always open at night but now everywhere kind of thing.
50:53
But I think that's kind of what made it a thing like just the
50:56
fact that they were open so late I get I think.
51:00
Thanks for that. I appreciate it.
51:02
Couple of final questions for you that I ask all my guests.
51:06
What's the biggest mistake that you've made in life that you
51:09
learned a valuable life lesson from?
51:12
The biggest mistake I've made in life?
51:17
That is a deep question. Keeping it Deep on the Christian
51:21
Reve Podcast. I know I love it.
51:23
I love it. These these are nice questions.
51:28
I've I always do think I wish I started earlier.
51:36
But then again it's I had such a great childhood.
51:41
I had such a fun, like Yolo type attitude when I was growing up.
51:47
Like my my late teens and my early 20s was just absolute fun.
51:53
Like I used to go out eat in lovely restaurants.
51:58
You know when you first start earning money and you're like so
52:01
much money, like let me go eat here, let me go out and spend
52:04
£500 like in a club? Like it was just so much fun and
52:09
I I don't regret it. But there is a part of me that
52:12
says if I had started, if I had the mentality to kind of be able
52:18
to be focused at a young age, it would have been great.
52:22
I'm I'm not sure maybe if you can relate but the way I'm I'm
52:26
34 now. My mentality and the ability to
52:30
kind of be like, right, this is my goal is what I need to do to
52:35
get it. I have to work on it every day.
52:38
If I don't like the idea of discipline, you know, like that
52:41
was that kind of came to me at a very late age.
52:45
I wish it would come sooner, but then at the same time I don't
52:48
really regret that it didn't. I kind of, I've kind of accepted
52:52
like this is my journey. It might happen when I'm 50, you
52:57
know, like, who knows? But yeah, I would say that's
53:02
sort of a regret, but sort of a miss.
53:04
I wouldn't call it a mistake, but yeah, maybe something like
53:09
that. But then, yeah, I can't think of
53:11
a specific, you know, something that I did wrong where it's like
53:15
I've been. What was the exact question?
53:16
Again, sorry, so that the biggest mistake that you made
53:19
that you learned a valuable life lesson from.
53:22
There probably is something. I'm sure there is.
53:25
Maybe I I don't know if if it if it comes back to me, it'll come
53:31
back to me, but I can't think of anything specific.
53:33
Man, sorry, what's the best advice you've ever received?
53:40
In acting or in, it can be either whatever comes.
53:47
Best advice? I mean, there's a quote that I
53:53
quite like that I hear quite often.
53:57
The quote itself was basically to appreciate what you have, but
54:04
keep pushing basically. And in this industry, it can, it
54:11
can eat you alive, because for example, when I first started.
54:19
I was like, all I want to do is get one acting job that that's
54:23
my dream. I just want to get one acting
54:25
job and I'll be satisfied. You know, it's kind of, yeah.
54:31
And it's it's similar to like even when I make content, I'm
54:35
like if I get 5000 views, if I get 10,000 views, I'll be happy
54:39
you get there. And then you're like, I want
54:42
50,000 views, I want a million views.
54:44
And then you're like it's the same with the acting site.
54:47
Oh, I earn this much money on this job.
54:49
I my next job has to be bigger and it has to be better.
54:54
So you need to kind of have the balance of I really appreciate
55:01
where I am and you need to be grateful for it, but keep
55:04
pushing. Just Just don't.
55:06
Just don't be like I want to be here.
55:09
I'm really upset that I'm still here.
55:11
He needs to be. I'm happy I'm here, but I want
55:14
to get to hear that. That's kind of.
55:16
Something that I really try to think of a lot because if you
55:20
don't appreciate where you are, you're going to be unhappy you
55:23
you will be because. And another thing is like, there
55:29
are people who would die to be in your position, you know what
55:33
I mean? Like, I remember when I first,
55:37
yeah, when I did one job, people were asking me how the hell did
55:42
you do that? Like how?
55:43
How? I just want that one job and I'm
55:45
like. Yeah.
55:47
But I I want another drop like it's not it's yeah that you know
55:50
what I mean that kind of thing. So yeah, I would say that's a
55:54
very important, I'll add to this as well and I wonder if you can
55:58
relate to this. The reality of our industry is
56:00
that you're always kind of looking forward.
56:02
So for example, if you see an actor on the red carpet and
56:05
they're promoting something, they film that shit like a year
56:08
before and they're working on like several projects at once.
56:11
I can say the same in my life. And again, I'm not a successor
56:15
or anything, but like, I'm always working on several things
56:18
at once. And you know, once one project's
56:20
done, you're like onto the next one.
56:22
And it's, it's kind of crazy. You're always looking for the
56:25
next thing. And that's not to say that you
56:27
don't appreciate what you have, but it's easy to get caught up
56:30
in not kind of just taking a minute to that be like, hey,
56:33
yeah, this is an amazing experience.
56:35
Or I'm grateful to be here, just soaking it up like.
56:38
Yeah, man. More and more in my life, I just
56:40
learned to kind of just be in the moment, you know, exactly.
56:43
Absorb it and then move on. That's it, man.
56:46
Yeah. You gotta be present.
56:47
You have to be present. And Speaking of moving on,
56:49
what's the biggest life lesson you've learned so far?
56:55
Life lesson. I mean, apart from what I just
56:59
kind of explained, that's a tough one.
57:02
Something different. Let's let's switch it a little
57:06
bit as well with that question. Whenever I ask these questions,
57:10
it's always my focus is always for that person specifically.
57:15
So in your life, throughout the years for everything you've been
57:18
through, what would you say is the biggest life lesson that
57:21
you've learned? In all honesty, I think similar
57:29
similar to what I've said just previously, but my biggest life
57:33
lesson is like, we've got one life, man, we've got one life.
57:40
Yes, I understand. Like everyone's circumstances
57:43
are completely different. Like, I remember speaking to one
57:47
of my friends recently who when I was young, we used to do drama
57:52
together and he was the best actor.
57:57
I remember I used to look up to him.
57:58
Black man. I want to, I want to act like
58:01
him. He's so confident.
58:03
Anyway, he tries a completely different path.
58:05
He he's got a nine to five. He.
58:07
I don't, I'm not even too sure what job he does.
58:10
Yeah, but he's got a family. He's got a wife.
58:12
He's got a kid. And I saw him about a year or
58:18
two ago and he was like, oh, man, you're doing acting now.
58:21
That's amazing. And I'm not, brother.
58:23
I thought you were going to be doing, acting like, how am I
58:26
doing? And you're not doing when I
58:27
thought you were, like, the greatest actor ever anyway.
58:31
And I said to him, why aren't you doing it?
58:34
And he just looked at me. He was like.
58:37
Don't, don't even remind me, man.
58:38
I I it's deep inside him. I could see it.
58:41
He was like, it's like he wanted to do it, but he was like, I've
58:44
got family. I can't just get up and become
58:47
an actor, you know? You know what?
58:51
I think that's where it's wrong. What do you mean even even with
58:55
your friend? That he's got responsibilities?
58:57
I get it. But hey, if he's ever listening
58:59
to this, bro, it's never too late.
59:02
Get out there. So many people have started so
59:05
much later in life and have become successors.
59:08
I can name a ton right now, and I'm sure you could too, like,
59:11
and that the reality is, it's inside you.
59:13
It's it When you're something that you're born to do and you
59:16
know you need to do it, you need to get that stuff out there
59:18
because you're going to be happier for it.
59:20
And everyone else around you is going to be more than happy for
59:23
it too, you know? 100%, man.
59:25
I mean, if you don't release it, I mean, that's why you get so
59:28
many people that end up getting bitter later in life, you know?
59:31
100% like, yeah, so there's, I see so many miserable people
59:36
around me because all their life consists of is go to work, come
59:41
home, deal with the kids, blah, blah, blah.
59:43
And I'm not saying that's bad. Like I said earlier, everyone's
59:46
circumstances are different. And sometimes in that moment in
59:51
time, your sole goal is to put food on the table.
59:56
Yeah, I get. I get that.
59:58
And for example like my parents. They they're immigrants.
1:00:02
They they came to this country they for them it was get any job
1:00:09
just raise my kids, you know and that made them happy.
1:00:12
And I'm I'm, I'm purely grateful for that.
1:00:15
But someone like me, I've got I had the opportunity where I was
1:00:18
like you know what maybe I can do something I like.
1:00:20
But yeah, going back to the original question, we've got one
1:00:24
life if you have, like you said, that burning desire inside you,
1:00:31
you. If you don't release it somehow.
1:00:33
I don't care what you're going to do.
1:00:35
Go to a look. Go do local theater.
1:00:37
Go do stand up. Even if you don't become like
1:00:40
the next best thing, you'll enjoy that so much that you're
1:00:45
still releasing what's inside of you.
1:00:47
You know, like, I'm sure you know the feeling.
1:00:49
I'm such a creative that like, I'm writing shit.
1:00:53
I'm writing shit down every day. I see something happen in front
1:00:56
of me and I'm like, Oh my God, that's such a funny video.
1:00:58
I did. Boom, boom.
1:00:59
I'll write it down. Do you know what I mean?
1:01:00
Like we can't help but be this way.
1:01:03
It's just, it's it's just the way we are.
1:01:06
And if you like, yeah, that's basically it, man.
1:01:08
Like I I don't want to live with regret.
1:01:11
I don't want to ever get old and think I didn't try because I
1:01:15
think I personally think. But I said this to my agent the
1:01:18
other day. I said the day I did Gangs of
1:01:21
London, yeah, I was so happy that I was kind of like, if I
1:01:26
died tomorrow, I wouldn't care. I know, I know that sounds
1:01:29
insane, but do you know what I mean?
1:01:30
It was kind of like I've experienced something that I've
1:01:33
always wanted to experience. And it was just, it was just,
1:01:36
yeah, it was just beautiful, man.
1:01:37
And people should do that. And like I said, even if it
1:01:40
means, I don't know, performing at a restaurant, man, like,
1:01:44
whatever. Like why not?
1:01:46
Chasing dreams? Yeah man, why not?
1:01:48
Final question for you. Do you have any upcoming
1:01:50
projects or some final thoughts that you'd like to share with
1:01:52
our listeners? Yes, actually, I do.
1:01:58
So I was involved in a short film called If Only and it's
1:02:06
written and directed by oh wait, hold on.
1:02:10
I'm going to get the full name. He don't remember the name.
1:02:13
Oh, his full name. His first name is Isla.
1:02:16
I think it's hold on, he's going.
1:02:20
To be pissed when he sees us, he's going to be like, how dare
1:02:24
you. So Isla Abdul Rahman, this is,
1:02:29
this is him. I don't.
1:02:31
Know if you guys shut up. Yeah.
1:02:33
So he's got he used to do a YouTube series called the Corner
1:02:37
Shop Network and it was actually quite a big YouTube series.
1:02:42
It was just about people working in a corner shop and like some
1:02:46
bands and stuff that would happen in there anyway.
1:02:48
So yes, I've got a small role on there.
1:02:51
It's it's like a gang related story bit top boy like that kind
1:03:00
of style, but it's got a very powerful message and it's
1:03:03
actually based on a true story to kind of help with gang
1:03:09
violence and things like that. You know, we don't obviously
1:03:11
know what's that to go on. But yeah, so the story is, I
1:03:15
don't want to reveal too much, but yeah, it's gang related,
1:03:19
manipulation, grooming, things like that.
1:03:22
It's just a it's a 20 minute short film or yeah, 20 to 30
1:03:27
minute. So yeah, I was one of the, I was
1:03:29
one of the gang members in that. Yeah, it's called, If only.
1:03:34
It's actually premiering in two weeks, but it won't be out
1:03:40
online for a while because we're going to be submitting it to
1:03:43
festivals and things like that. So yeah, that's something
1:03:48
that's. I'm honestly, I'm really excited
1:03:49
for that. It's it was such a cool project
1:03:51
to work on. But yeah, that's that's what
1:03:55
I've got coming up at the moment.
1:03:56
The rest has been a bit of a dry period to be honest with you.
1:03:59
I haven't had any auditions in a while.
1:04:02
Sometimes, isn't it? Yeah, exactly.
1:04:04
Like I've been on my agent's case and they're like, no, no,
1:04:06
don't worry. It's just it's just a quiet
1:04:09
period at the moment. But yeah, final thoughts.
1:04:13
Thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it.
1:04:17
And yeah, chase your dreams. There you go.
1:04:20
Thank you so much for appearing on the show, man.
1:04:22
Absolute pleasure. Very proud of you and we'll be
1:04:25
always rooting for you. And yeah, to all the listeners
1:04:28
of the Christian Reef podcast, as always, thank you for
1:04:30
listening. Make sure that you go and join
1:04:32
the Discord, Check out the podcast Wherever you listen to
1:04:35
the podcast, check out the Patreon content as well.
1:04:38
patreon.com/christian Reef. But most importantly, be safe,
1:04:43
be well, and I'll see you in the next one.