We recently connected with Kelton Holman and have shared our conversation below.

Kelton , appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I recently just finished up working on a new film. The film is called, “Jones Plantation”, The film is based on slaves who are growing restless and rebellious, and attempts to crush the resistance by brute force have only made things worse. The owner, Mr. Jones, fears not only for losing his plantation, but also his life.

Help comes to Mr. Jones in the form of an unusual consultant, Mr. Smith—an eccentric genius, and former slave himself—who implements some rather unorthodox methods to tame the slaves. What had been an obvious physical enslavement by the whip before, has now evolved into a more insidious and powerful bondage through cunning psychological exploitation and indoctrination.

Will the Jones Plantation slaves ultimately escape their chains, both mental and physical, and achieve freedom, or will the designs of Mr. Smith keep them forever trapped and subjugated? The key to their liberation is in their own hands, if they have the strength and wisdom to recognize it.

I play a character in the movie called, “Tete”. Tete is a mute teenager who is innocent and sweet. He would give you the clothes off your back if it meant, making you happy. It brought me so much joy to bring Tete to life. The world deserves to see him. Playing Tete was very hard and was even more hard trying to escape out of the character once we were no longer filming. In fact, shortly after flying back home from shooting the film, I spent about five days inside of my apartment decompressing and trying to feel like Kelton again. It was hard. I mean, all of my scenes were shot on an actual slave plantation, which is were I spent six days filming at. By day three, we all had checked in mentally and emotionally as a slave. I took on this role because, I always want to create projects and tell the story of ancestors and people who look like me. I always want to take on roles that challenge us as a Black community and the entire African diaspora. It won’t be easy to always take on those type of roles and most won’t understand the importance, but I pray it reaches them at some point throughout their journey of living and learning.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Hello, everyone, I’m Kelton Holman and I am an Actor and Singer. I am trained in various forms of acting such as stage, television and film. I got into acting by doing church plays, talent shows, and other performing arts. I’ve been acting for over six years now. I got my first lead role as an onstage actor in 2016 in there award winning production, “The Boys Next Door” were I played Lucien P. Smith- an intellectually disabled middle-aged man. That role opened many doors for me from there on out. I went on to graduate from Clark Atlanta University with my Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts. I am honored to say I have worked on Tv Shows such as, BMF on Starz, and the upcoming most anticipated film, Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever. I am most proud of being able to say, I am living in my divine purpose while also following a dream that felt so wild and unobtainable when I was young.

I want my fans and followers to alway expect authenticity, vulnerableness, and honesty in every film, show, production, etc., that I commit to. Know that I am always growing and learning. I won’t always get it right, but I definitely will not get it wrong always. If I can’t bring my best self to my work, I won’t bring nothing at all. My brand and name will always represent and stand up for love, equality, equity, and justice in all elements.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

There is two lessons I had to unlearn 1. People’s Expectation Of You Is Your Responsibility. WRONG! Listen, do your best to be kind, loving and understanding. That’s it. What other people do after that is not your concern. It is out of your control so don’t bother trying to impress people. If you try to fit in with a group of people, you will not feel confident and comfortable.
Open up and be yourself. You will find the right people to spend time with.
2. Take Every Advice You’re Given. Wrong again! As you start experiencing life on your own, you will receive advice from your parents, extended family, friends, the Church, etc, but truthfully, no one has it all figured it out. Everyone’s situations and experiences are different. It’s not that people give wrong advice. It could just be not suitable for you. Every person has different priorities, values, beliefs and desires in life. Success is not the same for everyone. Nobody is wrong. But not everyone is right for you.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think, because of my upbringings, some will struggle with the process I use to commit to my projects, they might even judge me for taking on roles in the future that does not necessarily line up with the version of me that they have created and held on to. My journey as a creative requires separation and isolation for uncertain amounts of time. But, It will sometime require more love from family and friends in times when I feel like I can’t do it alone. I think non creatives will struggle with the concept of me using my experiences and traumas to create and heal, There is no rubric to a creatives process. We create from scratch with whatever ingredients we have or need. It is our job and calling to create. We owe no one an explanation as to how we create.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: TheBookofKK
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keltonHolman