We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Javier Villamil a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Javier, thanks for joining us today. Is there a historical figure you look up to? Who are they and what lessons or values have you learned from them?

“Have no fear of perfection. You’ll never reach it.” -Salvador Dali

Though he wasn’t considered a thespian, I look up to Salvador Dali because he was incredibly eccentric, had an incredible artistry, and sported a pretty sick mustache. (Everything ends up in the cauliflower)

Looking at Dali, I’d gather he never really concerned himself with the opinions of others or his own thoughts of the perceived value of his work. He created what he liked and chose to not chase perfection, but to be perfectly imperfect.

Aside from Dali, my favorite actor of all time has to be Pacino. Watching him made me want to emote and take up space like how he did in that monologue in The Devil’s Advocate.

Javier, 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’m an actor who has cut his teeth in production as a producer, video editor, director and videographer. Pursuing those endeavors lead me to my passion and I found representation. Ultimately, I was cast in projects like Jumanji:The next Level, PowerBook IV: Force, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, and coming this fall of 2022 from ALLBLK, a series entitled “HUSH” where I play a character by the name of Julio Rodriguez.

Thinking on how far I’ve come I can’t help but think of my late grandfather, a tailor at one point in his long life, used to make our Halloween costumes every year when we were kids. He was the creative and introduced the young ones in the family to acting. He would set up his straight-to-vhs camcorder and we’d act a fool.

Filmmaking professionally happened byways of videography and video editing. I bought a camcorder and started making music videos for my old band https://youtu.be/PwPB_u-UGcY
and writing and directing other musician-friend’s videos in Chicago. https://youtu.be/ti3j2a9Y5cg

My career in acting had been deferred for so long because I loved music and the creative outlet I found early on in video shooting and editing. After I picked up shooting and editing I studied Moving Image Art, Moving Image Production, and Genre Studies in Horror and Grind House at Columbia College Chicago. I took one acting class in my last semester but still, my focus at the time was creative writing and producing/directing. It wasn’t until I left Chicago for SoCal where I decided on acting professionally. My gut tells me the combination of my technical experience behind the camera, my love for cinema studies, and years of stage work in music played very big roles in my development as an actor.

Being able to accomplish things in a tough industry as a Latino and setting examples for my nephews and niece about chasing the things you want in life in real time have made me the most proud. Them seeing where we come from and getting glimpses of where it’s going has been a highlight of my life. I can only hope to inspire them and children just like them all over the world someday.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Pivoting has been such a recurring thing in my life. When I was 17 I was dead-set on joining the military. So much so, I was meeting with a recruiter weekly. By the time I had turned 18 though I had been introduced to music and joined a band. I gave up the idea of being a soldier and decided on exploring my passions in music. 15 years, 2 studio albums, and numerous music videos and sold-out headliner shows later, the band was crumbling and I decided to bet on myself and leave Chicago for California to finally pursue an acting career. The risk taking hasn’t really stopped. Since then, I have followed the work back and forth between my “three homes” Chicago, LA, and Atlanta and I’ve decided it’s alright to be a nomad during this season of my life.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The movie I remember having a strangle hold on me early on was “Hook”. Robin Williams encapsulated and harnessed this energy I found to just pull me in. The wonder and magic of the whole film permeates but Robin was a force. I became a life long fan of his. Another actor that had my attention early on is another light Jim Carrey. His endless energy, rubber face, and his timing always left me in awe. A movie I always think about I already mentioned, The Devils Advocate. Al Pacino’s portrayal of Lucifer was hot like fire. His passionate monologue later in the film across Keanu Reeves burned a hole in my memory.

Contact Info:

• Website: javiervillamil.com
• Instagram: @therealjaviervillamil
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javiervillamil?trk=people-guest_people_search-card
• Twitter: @J_Villamil
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4676698/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1

Image Credits
Blue Suit: Photgraphy by Jason McCoy Stills from Powerbook IV: Force, BTS of Powerbook IV: Force, Vanished: Searching for my Sister w/ Tatyana Ali, and Jumanji: The Next Level