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

Mark, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I didn’t always know that I wanted to be an actor. Growing up, my focus was sports (Football, Basketball) and becoming an architect. It wasn’t until the fall of 2004 that I went to support a friend at our high school audition for the play. At the audition, the director came out to the waiting to see who was next and she saw me. She asked me if I was ready to come in to audition. I told her I was just there to support someone. She then said how much she could really use male presence in her show. At that time, there were not too many males in the productions, let alone, black males in their productions. I deflected at first because, I was an athlete and had too much of an ego to do a play. I figured my team mates would make fun at me if I was in the show. But the director kept encouraging me to try out.

So, I decided to go in and do a cold read, knowing they were not going to be impressed. This was my first audition experience ever. The next day, I found out I was cast as a lead role in the production. I wanted to decline the offer, but something inside of me told me to just do it. So I committed to the role.

When the production happened, so many of my team mates came out to the shows, and of course, laughed at me and made jokes for days. However, that following spring, so many athletes decided to come out and audition for the next play. The most powerful moment to me is when I saw how many black males wanted to be a part. When I saw how my act of doing the production influenced several others to be a part as well, I knew then I wanted to pursue acting professionally.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

It is truly a blessing to have the opportunity to be featured on CanvasRebel. I am an Actor and Acting Coach.

As an actor, I am best known for my leading man role as Derik Dubois in BET’s “The Waiting Room”, directed by Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph. I’m also known for my recurring role as Officer Miller in the CBS Primetime series “Blue Bloods”. In the fall of 2022, I filmed a Guest Star role (Davis) on the Netflix Comedy Series “Survival of the Thickest”, created and starring Michelle Buteau, where I play the love interest of actress Tasha Smith. In 2022, I filmed the role of Vince in Harold Jackson’s thriller feature film, “Once Upon a Time in the District”, as well as a role on the Paramount+ series, “Mayor of Kingstown”, starring Jeremy Renner. Another noteworthy credit is a supporting role Mark had in a Feature Film directed by Jamal Hill, “Available Wife”, starring KJ Smith. This film was selected for the 2020 American Black Film Festival. A few other credits include appearances on “Gotham” (FOX), “FBI” (CBS) and “The Blacklist” (NBC). In 2020, I was cast in the ABC Diversity Talent showcase in New York, where I was mentored and coached by ABC Casting Executives.

I started acting in my junior year of High School (Westlake High) in Waldorf, MD. After landing the lead role in my first audition there, I was inspired to study acting on a higher level and enrolled into the Theatre Arts Program at Howard University; where I graduated with a BFA. Immediately after graduating, I started to travel to New York to study on-camera technique and build my career.

In 2012, I founded McKinnon Acting Studio where I have coached and consulted hundreds of actors. This is an on-camera acting studio that teaches film/tv acting techniques and educate actors on the business of acting. Through our program, several actors have secured Talent Agents and Talent Managers. My students have also booked Series Regular, Guest Star, and Co-star roles on several major primetime network television shows in New York and Los Angeles.

I established McKinnon Acting Studio, because I saw so much talent in the DC Metropolitan area that needed direction and training to work in bigger markets like New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. My vision was to build a bridge for talent to meet and network with key industry professionals. To do so, I hired a team of acting coaches who are working actors and we made sure each student had the tools and skills to secure representation and book roles.

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

The mission that’s driving my creative journey is my purpose. Purpose is all about how you are helping someone else. I use my passion of acting and the love for the craft to supplement my purpose of coaching actors. All the time, energy, and money I invest into the acting studio is inspired by the success I crave to see others experience. Whenever my business or my own acting career hits a slow season, I reconnect with my mission, which always leads me to strategize and find creative ways to continue to grow.

I get really excited when I see a client book their first acting job or get their first agent. I love seeing an actor talk about how they felt when they got “that call”. Sometimes I get more excited than the client. That just shows how much I love what I do and how much I love seeing my students win.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

A book that changed how I operated the finances of my business is “Profit First” by Mike Michalowicz. Before reading this book, I saw all the income for the studio as one big pot and the expenses would eat up that entire pot. I barely had any money left and sometimes I ended up not paying myself, because I had to make sure other expenses were taken care of. Reading Profit First showed me a detailed strategy and plan on how to manage the income of the business as it comes in, so that no matter if we are in a slow season or a surplus season, there is always a profit. The strategy it presents is very simple to apply and it immediately changed how I handled payroll, taxes, expenses, and made sure I was able to still pay myself as well as put money back into the business. This book helped my business save more and gave me the push to keep building.

One of the biggest reasons why so many entrepreneurs want to give up is because of the stress of the finances. Having a strategy and a proven plan guide you takes the stress off of finances and gives you the opportunity to grow your business no matter what stage it’s in financially. I highly recommend it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.McKinnonActingStudio.com
• Instagram: @mckinnonactingstudio and @themarkmckinnon
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/McKinnonActingStudio/