Today we’d like to introduce you to Alfonso Caballero.
Hi Alfonso, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. Growing up in this area wasn’t the hardest thing in the world, but it was very far from easy. For myself and my family times were always tough. We grew up rather poor and never had much of anything. Moving from home to home my entire life, I must have lived in seven different houses growing up. Sometimes food was scarce and I couldn’t count on both hands the number of nights we went without heat in the winter, water or electricity in the house.
In addition to that Cincinnati had a reputation for being fairly intense with its racial issues and divides, so I was sort of always searching for an escape. For myself that escape was theater… and comic books. I forgot to mention I’m a huge nerd, and because of that I was often picked on growing up. But my passion and love for those two things never faltered. My first play ever was in 6th grade, Cinderella, in which my little sister played opposite of me and I was forced to kiss her on the cheek. WORST THING EVER. From there, I continued in theater through high school, never quit thinking of it as a future but more as fun reprieve, one which also made me the center of attention (something I desperately wanted always, to feel cool and liked). I don’t want to make it sound as if I had no friends growing up, making friends is something I’ve always been good at and my core group of friends is one I’ve had since 8th grade.
However, making friends and being liked aren’t one and the same. Being overweight during this nerdy geeky period just added fuel to the fire of those who would come to call me names and push me in hallways, steal my books and attempt to beat me up after school. But, this never changed who I was. If anything I figured “well if they hate it that much, I must be doing something right”. So, I persisted. It wasn’t until college that I would decide to be an actor. I was working as a cashier at a “Sam’s Club” (the Walmart version of Costco) when a woman walked through my line and told me I had “the look”. She gave me her card and told me to call her, she wanted to be my rep for commercials and tv. I remember thinking to myself “me?? This is definitely a scam” and so I let the number sit on my dresser for MONTHS (also an example of how bad I am at remembering things). It wasn’t until I was sitting in my bedroom, my parents had been in need of financial help and I was feeling down that I saw the number and decided “what the heck do I have to lose”. From there, I went to book almost every commercial I went out for, always considering it a lucrative “side gig”. I saw success, I felt liked, it was so cool. Friends would see me on tv, people who made fun of me in high school would reach out in awe. It was awesome.
After a few years of doing that, my older brother, who had been living in LA stationed in the airforce, had reached out. He would come to find out that he would be getting deployed overseas to the Middle East and would need someone to stay in his bedroom while he was gone. I’ll never forget his words when he called me quote, you’re already doing this in Cincinnati why don’t you come to LA and see what you can really make if yourself“. After a few days of deliberating, I decided to pack up my life and move to Los Angeles, leaving behind friends, family, long-standing relationships all on the whim of trying to see what I could accomplish. Several years later, I’ve been here ever since, through all the highs and lows, ups and downs, I love LA ad my pursuit of a career here. It’s everything.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road, although I don’t want to say it’s been the hardest thing in the world. I do believe it’s all about how you choose to view your life and the struggles as you go through them. For me, a lot of the struggles were all money oriented finding a way to make ends meet but I’m keeping a flexible enough schedule to pursue what it is I moved here to do, I’m not special on this I’m sure this is something everyone customer. The other struggle which I think might be even bigger was trying not to lose the sense of who I was and staying positive enough through all of the rejection and to never lose sight of my end goal.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m an actor, a comedian and a model. As far as what I’m known for? I like to say I’m known for being the guy that your mom would be proud of you bringing home, haha. Aside from that, I’ve recently done a Christmas movie for the OWN- called One Fine Christmas. Watch it and catch all the feels. I was especially proud of this because I felt as though it was something everyone can enjoy. What sets me apart from others? This is kind of a tough question for me to answer because I’ve never considered myself to be quite that unique. It’s part of a long list of issues I have with self-confidence but if I had to guess, I would say my personality. I try hard every day to be kind every single person I mean and I think that shows I also think that will help me along my way.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I think there are a few things but the biggest of which might be that I am always nervous and afraid of pretty much everything. I do a great job of hiding this but it’s always there eating away at the back of my head. I think this fear keeps me back at times, it’s not for me from following through on certain things and it could even stop me from taking certain risks. I know it’s there and I know what I have to do it over, but at times it’s really really difficult.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @Alfonso.t.caballero
- Facebook: Alfonsotcaballero
- Youtube: Alfonso Caballero
Image Credits
Nick Cruz Dan Batista
