Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dario Lee. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dario, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I actually didn’t. I grew up wanting to play in the NBA. Acting wasn’t something I grew up wanting to do at all. Basketball wasn’t as well until I seen Michael Jordan’s ”come fly with me” documentary. I was picked out of the middle school hallways by a teacher/coach by the name of Eddie level. Eddie had one gold tooth, always wore leather and had a Jerry curl like Jerome off “Martin” tv show. He called my mother and convinced her to make me play basketball. I wasn’t good at all and was even bullied because I wasn’t. I was eventually picked up by another coach that needed some height to his USA vs. Canada team. I still never like basketball but when I seen Michael Jordan’s “Come fly with me” documentary and he mentioned how he was cut from his high school team and that resonated to me. Especially the part when he was playing for the USA team. That was extremely inspiring to me. When I heard the music in the background that reminded me of one shining moment from the NCAA followed by clips of him achieving his goals with team USA inspired me. Also noticing him being cut from his H.S. team, I related to that by being laughed at and bullied for being tall and couldn’t play. Jordan playing on the USA team also reciprocated myself from me being picked up onto the USA team versus Canada. I began to take basketball extremely serious by practicing and ultimately becoming ranked in the nation as a top basketball player and winning top awards in camps and leagues. All that came to a stoppage with family issues and being picked out of a photo array and misidentified as a person having to do with a robbery. I had 5 basketball scholarships offers and lost them all to being wrongfully accused of a crime. I was at work at the time of the crime and verified by my ex-employer who spoke at my trial. I was facing 86 years for a crime I didn’t commit but thankful to God I was found not guilty. I thought it was over and I could go back to basketball but I lost my scholarships because the trial lasted for a year and a half and I had gained a criminal record. Even though I was found not guilty it was placed on my criminal record for public record recording purposes. Anybody knows that a robbery whether guilty or innocent on a criminal record is a red flag to employers and you will be prejudged by that no matter what the outcome is. i believe some of that prejudice comes from me being black, tall and too much TV watching. I struggled gaining employment for nearly 15 years and it was difficult to pick up from where I was derailed by the state. I exhausted my pursuits of gaining employment in Indiana so I decided to pack my bags and move to LA or NY. I had $5 in my pocket and Los Angeles happened to fall into my lap by way of the ride share category off Craigslist. I always wanted to go to the NBA but Once I arrived to Los Angeles I happened to get a two day job for the NBA and TNT working stand in for introductions. I wasn’t paid for that but it lead me to an audition for a NCAA Buick human highlight commercial as a basketball dunker. I was chosen as the principal actor and was eligible to join the screen actors guild. Once I got a taste of working in film and television I instantly knew that this was where God was directing my path towards; Acting in film! A new life and to think all of this started from a basketball. I studied acting and what it was like to be on set. I’ve shot more than 100 filming productions and is currently working on growing myself into different characters. Time is God!

Dario, 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?

I grew up in Indianapolis Indiana by way of Akron Ohio. My mother lived in Indy and my father lived in Akron. Every summer I would go to Akron but I mainly grew up in Indianapolis Indiana. I grew up from a jazz & blues home. I grew up mostly in the hood. I wasn’t poor but I wasn’t rich either. I grew up going to public schools and witnessed the rhetoric by the suburbia systems. The notion was that public schools have bad test scores and were bad people when in fact public schools had excellent staff, out-dated books, underfunded and goal focused students. My neighborhood had gangs but gangs were not as prevalent as a Los Angeles, Chicago or New York. Our neighborhoods were about claiming your hood. My mother kept me away from all of it. I grew up playing basketball and hanging with my friend Keith. I was an only child so I didn’t understand fighting as most done with their brothers and sisters. I only knew peace and love but the world will show you different. I had black teachers, mentors but I looked up to no one but God. I got introduced to God by chasing a girl I liked all the way to her church and she had me singing in the choir. I eventually let her go and focused on God and basketball. I began to pick up music producing from my uncle Buster. My uncle would come down from Los Angeles and he taught me how to play the piano by ear. That’s a very hard thing to teach but I listened and learned how through my uncle. I picked up music producing and never stopped. A lot of my hard work came from my love of God, community and will.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Understand that life is all about creativity. Your very existence is because the creator created you for a purpose. This world was meant to be free and the more we grow and advance in our creativity we forget to look up. No one breathing created the stars and sun which should indicate to you that we are not superior. Creators create new interesting things that help society. Allowing the freedom for these creators helps shape the world for more helpful things. Whether for better understanding or for helpful inventions, creators ignites ingenuity for the world.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I was big on family and the importance of family. In my mind, family was all about love and trust. As an athlete I seen family as my teammates so I had no guards up when it came to mine and the level of trust I given was extremely too much. That was a lesson I learned to be detrimental and I was sadly mistaken. Family can be a web of misunderstandings, problems and toxicity. That’s all I can say. Expressing my back story to what I’m saying can only be taken the wrong way so I will never go into details to it. Again I grew up with no brothers and sisters so I never knew or thought of fighting my teammates even though individuals look to fight with me. I am only being myself, a man of peace, love and understanding! I had to learn that everyone isn’t looking for that and it’s nothing I can do about it. Only thing I can do is create a new family that values my same goals, trust, love and is truly teammates.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm4884952/
• Instagram: @leedario