Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Orlando Deral Wilson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Orlando Deral , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I first knew that I wanted to pursue a creative (artistic) path professionally when I was around 4 or 5 years old. I needed to be entertained at that young age, I would play with my older sister, but once I first laid eyes on a tv show called Different Strokes, play time was over and it was time to watch my new found tv show. When I first saw this tv show, I can remember, even at that age, that I have never seen anything like it. The show was based on a White, wealthy family (a single dad, of a teenage daughter and a maid) that lived in Park Avenue in New York City who adopted the children (a teenage Black boy and his younger brother) of their late African American housekeeper from Harlem. This little Black kid looked like me, reminded me of me. He was goofy and silly like me and he got into mischief, just like me… Thinking back on this makes me laugh.

I didn’t know anything about fame at that time. However, I somehow knew that wasn’t real, and that they were playing – Like they were playing house. They were playing make-believe, and I liked to play make-believe because it was an escape (that, I didn’t realize that’s what it was at the time). I knew that I wanted to do exactly what I saw this little boy doing on tv that looked like me.

I was a small child then and I grew up in a church that was old school, but creative. They would do what we called church plays, and skits and I started performing around that same time. By the time I was in kindergarten and the first grade if I wasn’t acting at church, I was acting wherever I could get some attention, be at school, home or on the bus. I just loved playing different characters and making some up.

Around the time frame of me transitioning from elementary to middle school is when I started performing on a local television show called Try God’s Love, created by the drama leader at the church we attended, his name is Sidney “The Rock” Ellis. Sidney was my acting coach and mentor.

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?

It wasn’t until I was in my early 20’s when I took my first trip to Los Angeles, CA… Hollywood (from Kalamazoo, MI.). At the time I was already owning and operating my full service hair salon. I accidentally stumbled into becoming a hairstylist during my highs school years. I never imagined I would be doing men and women’s hair, let alone owning hair salons. But this was all in God’s plans, or the Universe. Hair has always been a lucrative business and you can create a nice lifestyle for yourself, being blessed with the gifts and talents of styling hair, and I did just that.

After taking my first trip to Los Angeles in 1998 is when I decided that’s where I needed to be. When I returned home the only thing I had on my mind was selling my hair salon business, packing up and moving to the City Of Dreams. I did just that, although I did not sell my business, I closed it down and moved to Los Angeles.

My grandparents (who we called Granda – Mama Dessa and Granda – Honey) was one of my biggest supporters in all I did growing up as a child and becoming a young man. Although they supported me, it crushed their soul knowing I was moving 3,000 miles away (hear comes the tears as I talk about this). I will never forget the day when I packed up my U-Haul, gave my last hugs and kisses, got in my truck and started driving down Edwards Street (the street where my grandparents lived – I lived with them from the 10th grade until moving). Mama Dessa sat in the enclosed part of the front porch crying and waving goodbye, and Honey stood out side on the steps of the front porch waving and crying good bye. I will never forget this memory. I drove down the street really slow, until I got to the end of the block to turn the corner, and as I cried, I turned the corner and they were no longer in my sight. I was their favorite. It’s true, I know all kids say and think they are their parents or grandparents favorite, but in this case, I was really theirs. They treated me like I was their own child from birth. My grandmother actually saved my life. My mother was young and afraid when she got pregnant with me. She already had a little 2 year old baby and she was scared. so she mentioned to my Grandmother that she was having thoughts of not letting her pregnancy go full term. She was already a single mother of one, so I can understand it. But Mama Dessa stepped in and said, no you don’t, we will help you raise this unborn child. And they did just that, and kept their word, all the way until the day they passed away. My grandfather in 1999 and my grandmother in 2000. That crushed my soul.

A few life altering events happened over the next couple of years. I had gotten into a couple serious relationships that ended in heartbreak on both sides. I made a decision to move back to Michigan twice durning this time. Then, in 2005, as I was sitting in my apartment in Rochester Hills, MI., I realized that my life was back in Los Angeles, CA. So I packed up and made my last move back to California, making it my permanent home.

When returning back to Los Angeles, I hit the ground running. I got back into acting classes, I stumbled upon an agent and a manager. I was serious, more focused than I had ever been. I started booking work. I booked a few commercials, print work for a Dodge RAM truck, and Wolverine Clothing. I later booked a Home Depot commercial. I booked my first co-star role on a tv show called The Forgotten, starring Christian Slater, playing opposite of him. Things were going great, until I made a horrible decision to invest all I had, along with a silent partner into a couple that attend the church I was going to, into their real-estate business – buying and rehabbing properties out of state. I didn’t know anything about this at the time, but I saw how they were prospering and doing good and I wanted in.

I lost everything I had, hit rock bottom and had to start over from scratch. This was after I was able to overcome the depressed state I had fallen into, which took years to recover from – financially, physically, and most importantly, mentally and emotionally.

After years of facing so many battles of being homeless, having people coming after me for the money I lost, and just living a life of lack, I couldn’t take it any more. So I reached out to someone who has been in my life since I was in junior high school, back in Michigan. We use to attend the same church and we use to be a group together where he was the rapper and I was one of the dancers and he would also write raps/lyrics for me to spit (rap). His name is Terry Crews.

I called Terry and I said, “I don’t need any money, I just need place to stay for 2-3 months until I get my head together. That night Terry asked where I was, I told him I was sleeping in the mall (story for another time), he told me to go to this hotel that night and he would meet up with me the next day.

Terry and I talked. He asked me if I wanted to work for and with him while getting back on my feet. I said “YES.” So Terry put me in an extended stay hotel for a few months while working with him and later gave me what I needed to move into my first apartment from the homeless streak. Being around this energy, traveling the world and working with my good friend who I always looked at like a big brother to me helped me to regain my strength and confidence, that I had lost, back.

I worked with Terry for about a year. He and the family were a major blessing to me. I was assisting him, shooting videos, traveling abroad shooting videos and doing photography for him and his company/brand. Terry told me “you are not an assistant.” What he meant by this was, he knew I am a creative, an actor. He didn’t want me bound down and get to comfortable doing what I was doing. It was good. But I also knew it was temporary. Being able to stand up on my own two feet, I started investigating the fitness industry. I become a certified personal trainer, cycling, and group fitness coach. That brought me to working with one of the best fitness companies to date, Equinox. From there…. I’ve been able to coach and train humans while working on my artist/creative brand.

When I take on characters, or acting roles, I have so much on the inside of my soul to dig deep and grab from. So I don’t have to act… I’m able to live in the truth of each moment – having experienced so much heart ache and break, pain, suffering, love, joy, loss, excitement, disappointment, etc. I never need to act out anything, it’s all real when I’m embodying each character.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a creative artist is the impact you leave with your audience. Your character could leave the audience in wanting to find love, or dig deeper within. Depending on the character, the audience might walk away wanting to forgive someone, call someone they haven’t spoken to in years, or leave them questioning the good, bad or ugly. A character could give the audience a new outlook on life or a situation… we can leave them sad, or happy, filled with joy, some times confused.

One of the most rewarding projects I did was a theater play where we traveled around Southern California playing at various venues. I played the main character, which in this case he committed murder in the opening scene, and from there on he was sentenced to death. While awaiting death row, he tried over an over to appeal his case so he could live out the rest of his life behind bars. He left home at an early age because of his abusive father. His mother had been searching for him for years and finally found him when he was locked up behind bars, sitting on death row. His brother and his attorney tried to have him use his fathers abuse as to what caused him to go down the path he chose. He would not allow this, because he did not want his father to be the reason he got off.

All the while one of the inmates continually tried to get my character to go to God for forgiveness so he could seek redemption. He cursed God, until his after he lost his last appeal. The victims widowed wife came to the prison and forgave him for what he had done to her late husband, and this really touched his heart because he has never experienced this type of love and forgiveness. Before being executed, my character asked God/the Universe to forgive him, while full of tears. At this point, there is not a dry eye in the audience. At the end of this play you have the audience forgiving people in their lives that may have done them wrong, or if they have done any wrong, they are asking those they have wronged to forgive them and make it right.

This is one of the most rewarding aspects of my artistry. Being able to impact people for positive change.

One question asks, Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey? I would like to answer this by saying, I’ve had this burning desire to create since far back as I can remember. I’ve had my ups and downs as well as my distractions is this life. Recently something hit me that helped me to regain my focus. When I left my home town, both my grandparents were alive. Since then, I have booked a few great acting jobs, all the while having so many life challenges that would set me back.

One of the things driving my creative journey at this very moment is to make sure my moving to California to pursue my acting career was for the greater good. I am determined to make my grandparents proud and I will honor them in all my creativeness from this day forward!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Being a creative is not considered a “normal job,” or “normal life,” for that matter. Non-creatives, people more so who work a, what’s called, 9 to 5, sometimes may not understand that being a creative/actor, is a real job in itself. It’s just a challenging job, or challenging career to get into. While pursuing a career as a creative, unless you already come from money or you are just well to do financially, you just might have some hard struggles in front of you while pursuing this career.

So people that want security, that want to be safe, and have a family, the house, dog and white fence, may not understand the challenges – sometimes we will hear “why don’t you get a real job.” Ouch!

When you have a actor that you watch on commercials, tv shows, or go pay your money to watch a movie at the cinema… you are watching people that have “real jobs,” as an actor. Most actors or creatives will have to do other work, or many different things while pursuing this creative career. Some give up, because they rather take the safe route, or this career is not really in their hearts. But the creatives that stick it out, when it’s meant to be, it will be – but you also have to make it “meant to be.”

We as creatives might have to create our own projects or content to be seen, or get noticed. We have to be ready to hear no, after no, or you didn’t book this job, or we went another direction, etc. So it’s already a tough fight to be in. So a little grace from non-creatives could go a long way.

If someone is pursing this career and they just don’t have what it takes, then that’s a different story. The truth is, no matter how much talent you have, everyone will not make it. But it’s those who will continue to get back up after each fall down, I believe in my heart of hearts will eventually be standing tall and walking in their creative purpose. At least this is what I see for myself.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theorlandoderal/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlandoderal/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqVdcPbY3xw

Image Credits
Top left: Terry Crews and I in Milan, Italy. – Top Right Me Second Left: Terry Crews, Mo Swift and me. – Second Right: Cleo King and I, on stage performing. Third Left: BTS and film crew. – Forth Left: Playing the character San Sahan – Forth Right: Christian Slater and me (Co-Starring) The Forgotten tv show. Fifth Left: Me in a theater play – Fifth Right: Playing the character San Sahan in the Elder Scrolls video game