We’re looking forward to introducing you to David Anthony Hinton. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning David Anthony , we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
I am being called to step into a leadership position in more than one of the communities that I am apart of to elevate, inspire and continue the growth of everyone involved. I used to be afraid of leading because I was unsure of whether or not I was ready to have anyone follow me and I used to have trouble with being in charge and having the “Power”. I am now the leader of my improv troupe, I am a veteran in the Murder Mystery Company that I’m apart of and we’re about to welcome in rookies who I’ll have to lead by example and I am starting an acting coaching/self tape business where I will be coaching actors. In these callings, I have realized the impact that my work and creativity has on the people around me and how it inspires them. I’ve been stepping into my calling with confidence rather than doubt and I’m so excited to see the great things that come from the fruits of my labor.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello! My name is David Anthony Hinton and I am an actor, coach and improv performer! I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and I’ve been studying the art of acting and performance since the 6th grade! I was a theater major at the Cleveland School of the Arts and I participated in an after school program called the All- City Arts program. I learned a lot of what I know today from an early age in Cleveland. I now live in LA and I am proud to say that I have been in an improv troupe for over 10+ years and we are still performing to this day! I am blessed to say that in my time in Hollywood I have worked beside and shared the screen with a handful of my favorite actors including Kevin Hart, Cedric the Entertainer, Tichina Arnold, Halle Berry, Danny Devito, Norm MacDonald and many more!
I am always learning and desperately attempting to give back to the acting community. That has led me to begin teaching and coaching. I have an amazing obsession with working with actors and coaching them through this difficult industry. I love to see the cog wheels turning in an actors mind when coaching them through a scene or giving them notes. I want everyone to find their voice and succeed in bigger ways than I have. I am teaching improv classes in Hollywood every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month and I am available to coach actors through an audition or self tape through my business. New and veteran actors/performers are welcome. I want to help everyone I can.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My mom saw me clearly before I could see myself. She has always been my biggest cheerleader even when I didn’t believe in myself. She could see how far I was going to go from the moment I told her I wanted to be on TV. As a child, I had no idea of the hardships and growth that I was going to undertake in life with a dream like that, but she could see my starpower, influence and wisedom from an early age. She has always pushed me to look at what isn’t right in front of me and to find different ways to achieve the goals I want. She never had the road map to my life but she always provided me the tools and the inspiration to figure it out. She would brag about me in ways that made me question if she was even talking about me and I’m her only son haha! I love my mother and even now, she can see her son doing something even bigger than what I am working towards now.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me how to delegate my time and energy and how to find my balance in life. Success is something that can really overtake you depending on the impact it has. In the past, success would always last more than it should because I was over indulgent in it. People would remind me of successes that they saw and that would give me a feeling that I was doing the right thing. However, while on the high of success, I neglected the very things that got me there to begin with and like all things, it came to an end.
Suffering is different. While I am suffering, I am constantly finding balance. Your suffering will not last forever if you have the right mindset to work out of it. While suffering, I found work arounds for things that felt impossible. I tend to go into “fix it” mode when suffering because life shouldn’t be spent that way. I learned that the energy that I surround myself with will become the energy that heals me and helps me out of whatever hole I’m in. So if that time is spent being negative or complaining, that is all that I will get back. While suffering, I find that I am most honest with myself and how to prevent situations from ever happening again. I remember that I am human and it’s okay to feel down, but it is not okay to stay down. Success will never teach you how to get up when you’re down.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I believe that manifestation is real. It’s not something that can be proved by the books but I wholeheartedly believe it because it has happened to me and so many others in ways that seem fake. I can only give examples of my manifestations:
I work for a murder mystery company. We get hired for all kinds of events whether it’s a corporate mixer or birthday party at someone’s house. Maybe even at a restaurant. I was placed on a show that was for a big named actress. We were only informed of the actress that we were doing the show for. No one else was accounted for so we had no idea who else would be there. I knew about this show for a month and a half and I started to think to myself “I wonder if this person will be there”? I don’t know if they are even friends but it’d be cool if he were. That’d be crazy right? Fast forward to the day of the show and the actress is there with her other actor friends and personal friends and we are all just about to get started and in comes the exact actor that I thought about a month a half prior. I manifested that he’d be there and there he was.
Another example:
I attend a script reading community and when we are introducing ourselves to the newcomers we always have a prompt that we answer in our introduction. The question was “what is your dream vacation at this moment?” My answer was sweet. As a kid my family would always take a week long trip to Disney World so my dream vacation is to do that with my immediate family again. Cute and sweet answer. A couple of days later, my father calls me and tells me that for his and my step-mothers anniversary next year they are planning a trip like we always used to do when I was younger to Disney World with the immediate family. I manifested that idea and it came back to me as a plan now.
Manifestation goes way deeper than both of my examples but it’s something that we have the power to do. So I’m always advising people to think the best things for themselves and others.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I believe I am doing what I was born to do. Everything that I have done so far has been a result of what I started based off of what I wanted to do. I believe that performance is my calling and instructing and coaching is my destined role. I have helped so many actors find their light and voice in this industry. Whether it be through a quick pop up class or from watching me onstage and gaining inspiration all the way to instructing a full class and dissecting a scene, I am born to help those in my community and those that want to join it. I don’t think I will ever be able to turn that off in myself.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @dahint92 -personal/actor page
Acting coach page – @dah_actingcoach
- Facebook: David Anthony Hinton
Image Credits
DDO Productions- @theddoproductionllc
Dwight James III- @dwightjjamesiii
Mav3rick Studios- @th3.msw
Romello Nelson- @rtsmedia.co
