We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Omari Washington a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Omari, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on would have to be “Lethal Weapon”. Working on the tv show as a co-star in episode 10 in season 1 was a pivitol moment in my career. This project is meaningful to me because it’s the first time I received a trailer for my role and also the first time in my career when I made a few thousand plus residuals. It was also the first time I had a speaking role on a show that aired on national television.
Omari, 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?
When I was about 8 years old I loved watching movies and reciting lines from the movies. A few years after that when I was in 7th grade I auditioned for the play “Wizard of Oz” and booked the role of Tin Man. Ever since then my curiosity of becoming a professional actor grew. Shortly therafter I was apart of plays in high school. After high school I focused on having a back up plan for my acting career since I commited to the dream of acting at this point in my life. I enrolled in culinary art school ” Le Cordon Bleu” due to me loving to eat and wanting to learn the art of cooking.
After I graduated culinary art school in 2009, my girlfriend and I took a trip to Hollywood, Ca to checkout the scenary and to see if it was worth us making the move to elevate my acting career. After the trip we decided Los Angeles is where I need to be so we prepared to make the move a few years later in 2012. When I made the move to the west coast a friend let me live with his family for about a month in the bay area. After that month my girlfriend flew out to the bay to drive us to Los Angeles so we can find a place to live. At this point I only had about $1,900 in my pocket. When we made it to L.A. I started looking for rooms to rent and couldn’t find one. We stayed at a hotel for a few days. If we didn’t find a place to live I was going to move back to Chicago. Ironically enough, the second to last day we were supposed to be in L. A. I received a call from a landlord letting me know that the room I applied for was available. I was jumping for joy after that call because I knew my acting journey in L. A. could officially begin.
After I settled in the room for rent the next day, my girl went back to Chicago for a bit so we can have some funds coming in. To be honest, I was terrified of being alone in a city where I didn’t know anyone and also thrown off by having 5 roommates. It was pretty insane to me because I never experienced this before. When I moved in I paid 3 months of rent which was $1,500, pretty much all my money at the time so I started looking for work. I was able to get a few interviews in the can but still no job. A few months went past and now I’m down to my last week of my rent being paid with barely any money in my pocket and then I recieve a call from a manager at HardRock Cafe on Hollywood Boulevard letting me know I got the job as a dishwasher. At the point I knew this journey was blessed by God. Especially looking back at how everything fell into place.
When I started at HardRock Cafe it wasn’t that bad but to be honest it was disappointing because I applied to be a line cook since I have a culinary degree but it didn’t work out that way. I would work about 40 plus hours a week busting my butt off so I could move to the line but the chefs weren’t giving the chance to be in the line so frustration was slowly building within me. I felt so lost at the time because I didn’t make the move 1,500 miles away to wash dishes full time. Everyday I went to work I would daydream about going to auditions and being on set. That lasted about 8 months until the chefs let me go for something that one of the other dishwashers did. I was devastated and happy at the time because realistically this gave me the chance to somewhat focus on acting even though I was worried about how I was gonna pay my rent. I didn’t let this obstacle defeat me.
I started applying for line cook jobs again and finally got hired at Ugo Cafe in Culver City. Once again the job paid good but I was working 50 plus hours a week daydreaming about acting. Ironically enough though, after about 7 months of working there the restaurant had to closed down for renovation. To me this was a sign from God to focus my time on acting and that’s what I did. I started going on auditions left and right, it felt SO good. I was finally doing what I love but I was booking any jobs which I didn’t mind. After a few weeks of going on auditions I received an email to audition for a movie co-starring Vivica Fox, Tom Sizemore and Bai Ling. Right away I thought it was a scam because I submitted for the project on craigslist. When I got there the casting director audtioned me for a role that had one line. I felt good about it. Weeks go by after that audition so I figured that the director made his choice. One morning out the blue I receive a phone call from the director of the movie with Vivica A. Fox offering me one of the lead roles in the movie. I thought it was some type of joke but the director assured me it wasn’t so we setup a metting to discuss the contract and next thing you know I was on set shooting a lead role in a movie with a few stars attached. It was for sure one of the most memorable moments in my career.
Shortly after the movie premiered I started getting more auditions. With my success I was able to get an agent to represent me so I can get bigger and better roles and that’s what I did. With an agent I was able to book several jobs like a national commercial for Michelin and a few other projects. Fast forward to 2018, I was on fire. I booked 5 co-star roles on major network shows like “All American”, “Lethal Weapon” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” amd a few others. In 2018 I was able to join the SAG-AFTRA union which offically made me a professional actor. To me this moment defined my acting career because now I’m viewed as someone who is a hardworker and someone who doesn’t take no for an answer. That’s the message I’d like to send to everyone who reads this. Never give up on your dreams no matter how dark times get and always lean on God for guidance, understanding and wisdom.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I was producing the first feature film for my production company that I co-wrote, directed and starredin, the director of photography ended up stealing the footage of the first 4 days of shooting. At that point I wanted to give up on the movie and resign but I didn’t want the cast and crew that was attached to feel like their work was in vain so I stayed attached to the film and ended up finishing the film.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
What society can do to support creatives like me is share and like the posts we share on social media and also buy tickets to movies that I premiere in or show up to the premiere to support the actors and the project.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @omariwashington
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=706151049&name=xhp_nt__fblite__profile__view_as__banner
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omari-washington-b4b61945?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@OmariWashington1?si=ssQAFszQnVlM0wvy
- Other: My IMDB page is https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5750399/?ref_=ext_shr.
Image Credits
Jamaal Harris