We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful JELANI PERKINS. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with JELANI below.

JELANI, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I’ve been in the performing arts ever since I could remember. I was doing musicals since the age of 5, and I started acting in plays once I entered middle school. Once I started high school, I entered the Visual and Performing Arts Academy at Salem high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia. For all 4 years of high school I attended the Academy, where I learned a lot of the basics and some of the more intricate processes of acting and theater. After I graduated high school I moved to Georgia and attended middle Georgia state University. There I met a good friend of mine Phillip Wheeler, an independent filmmaker, and begin to write, and create our own stories. Since then I have only continued to grow in my craft, gaining an agent, and getting casted in multiple productions. I believe that everything happens in its own Tim in so the only way to have spent up the process was to have met my friend Phillip sooner. The most essential skills I had to building myself up in my career was the ability to be flexible and adapt. Being a performing artist is not the most stable or the most secure of professions so having the ability to be flexible is a must. I can say in all honesty that the biggest obstacle in my journey to bettering myself in my profession was myself. In the world of performing arts, it takes a lot of self discipline and self drive, and I’ve had my fair share of uphill inner battles. Once I was able to free myself from certain stipulations and put myself in a much more productive mindset, plenty of opportunities began to present themselves.

JELANI, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Let anybody tell it, I have been an actor for as l Iong as I can remember. I grew up watching movies and shows, even got them as gifts on birthdays and holidays. I did musicals when I was young, and started theater once i entered middle school, even winning best actor at a one act competition in 7th grade. Going into high school I was accepted into the theater strand of the Visual and Performing Arts Academy at Salem High School, VA. After attending all 4 years there I graduated from school and the Academy in 2015. After graduation I ran into one of my closest friends Phillip Wheeler in college. Once we learned that we each had a passion for film in our own ways, we collaborated on short film, that went to win an award in the Macon Film Festival. Ever since then, Phillip and I have been working on multiple projects together, I have also starred in other Productions and commercials. I have also been able to get represented under an agent, and I have been building my portfolio ever since.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I’ve learned that the only career that can truly make me happy is being an actor. I will never give up on making it as an actor, and my minimum goal I want to reach before I leave this Earth is to make sure I build a foundation of wealth and security for my family through this career.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

This industry comes with a lot of risks. A lot of which involves sacrificing money and time to invest in your craft and work. On top of this fact, sometimes this work doesn’t necessarily have and financial or tangible return to it. However, it may lead to more exposure and opportunities. I’ve learned through this journey that money and other physical valuables may not be the most important goal to growing in your career, especially when starting out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/jelani-perkins_info
• Instagram: jCaliber4125
• Facebook: Jelani Perkins
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@perkscorner4803

Image Credits
Phillip Wheeler Ashanti Harris Celeste Celeste Dee Byers Pat Parlay