We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alphonso A’Qen-Aten Jackson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alphonso A’Qen-Aten below.
Alphonso A’Qen-Aten, appreciate you joining us today. Have you signed with an agent or manager? Why or why not?
Yes, I absolutely have representation. It’s almost a must nowadays.
The way that I met my agent, is after booking my 1st appearance on Black Lightning I reached back out to the casting director who booked me & sent him my reel.
He asked who represented me & I told him that I represented myself. He informed me that he knew some agents who may be interested in what I brought to the table & sure enough, he reached back out to me with their email address & told me that Privilege Talent Agency wanted to schedule a meeting.
I liked the fact that Privilege was an agency that didn’t have a ton of clients to represent.
Their interest in me was that they felt I presented a unique look that no other talent on their roster at the time had.
It’s a few years later & I’m still happy with my decision!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
This journey for me is not about fame, this is a mission. So much so, that there are certain roles/auditions that I HAD to turn down due to the conflict they would create with the goals of my brand.
As a youth, the male role models I had around me growing up were either athletes, rappers or men on the opposite side of the law, doing what they had to do to survive.
That all changed one day in high school when Michael Jai White was a substitute teacher at our alma-mater, Bridgeport Central HS. Here was a brother from a similar upbringing who was telling us that there was a way we could use the world around us in a creative way. It didn’t click for me right away, but as time passed I never forgot what he said.
For the men of my culture, I feel WE have a steep mountain to climb in terms of truly understanding who we are. If there is to be any form of social equality, there needs to be a transformation of our consciousness. This CAN be done, but it starts with intention, one brother at a time. We have sons & daughters who are in need of more positive examples of our men in our community.
So each set that I’m on, I pay attention to as much as I can because my goal is to use my platform to eventually educate & change the narrative on who we were & who are as a people. That’s where the writer, director & producer part of my journey will take precedent.
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?
For the individuals outside of the acting scene….& my actors/actresses can attest to this, this journey is not for the faint of heart!
For starters, as someone who still works a full-time job you have to manage your time accordingly. Sometimes you go weeks, months & even years auditioning & the only way you’ll know if they liked your audition is IF you get booked. You’ll never know how many times you may have been one of the auditions that was sent from the casting directors, to the director & producers.
Some things to consider that come with auditioning are: You have to take the time to memorize your script for auditions. You need to make sure the technical aspect (lighting, audio, backdrop, framing) meets the casting directors requirements & you also have to secure readers for your auditions. Also keep in mind that you don’t get paid to audition, you only get paid to book.
This journey demands a level of commitment, patience & resiliency. Even though all of this can be very challenging, the reward of getting booked makes it all worth the sacrifice!
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
The truth of it all in my opinion, is that there is an artist & creative inside of us all. The way that I feel society can support the creative ecosystem is by removing the obstacles that prevent us from artistically expressing ourselves.
Discrimination comes in so many different forms. Even with the presence of a union like SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) there are still layers of discrimination that go unchecked. Bills like the “CROWN Act” are definitely steps in the right direction.
In one of the most diverse countries on mother Earth, our artistry should present more of that diversity on screen. There’s a multitude of stories to tell that can incorporate individuals from all walks of life!
Contact Info:
- Website: imdb.me/AQenAten
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/aqenaten
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AQenAten
- Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/aqenaten
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/AQenAten
Image Credits
Darlene Jackson Keith Saunders Dwayne Boyd Avery Scott
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