Daily Inspiration: Meet Qalil Ismail

Today we’d like to introduce you to Qalil Ismail.

Hi Qalil, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Going into my Senior year of High School, I pulled sort of a Troy Bolton and quit playing sports to be in the school play. It was the greatest choice I’ve ever made for myself. In the summer of 2013, I moved from my hometown of Kingston, Pennsylvania to Los Angeles to attend Santa Monica College and start the pursuit of the dream. The Theatre Dept there gave me so much in the way of performing experience and a technique growth. It also gave me my first friends in LA, and most namely to my career Andrew Jones. I took workshops that he organized with industry titans of Voice Over in the 20-teens until I transferred to the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. UH felt like blur of incredible developments and chances to expand on my craft in the theatre and my new fascination with Stand Up Comedy emerged. Graduating and returning to LA, I hit the ground running hitting open mics and networking. Amidst my hustle to become the next headliner, I got a call in 2021 from my good friend Andrew Jones, asking “Do you still want to do Voice Over?”. He was able to connect me with CESD Talent Agency for an audition and I was signed by my agent to this day the incredibly Melissa Berger Brennan. Shortly after being signed I booked my first few roles in pilots for Audible and then quickly advanced into the world of dubbing. As my career grows I constantly continue to take classes to evolve those skills and build further connections. My time as an athlete taught me that cross-training with other sports enriches your main game. As of January of 2025, I’ve been heavily involved in the exemplary community at Outside In Theatre. I’ve developed my skills as a narrative improviser in their classes and shows with genres ranging from Cyber Noir to Jane Austen. OI has given me the space to produce my own show and frankly, it’s the absolute best! It’s a completely improvised Heist genre’s show called The Heisty Boiz! and you can check it out August 1st.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Learning early on that acting or almost any creative pursuit is a road built of at least ninety-nine nos before maybe getting a yes was difficult. Accepting that part of the journey was difficult but once I found community and started to create my opportunities it became way easier.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My most frequent bookings are for dubs of live action movies, and I almost always voice the cool attractive brown dude in the movie. If I got a nickel for every time I voiced one, I’d still give my agent +10%. I love to chase the unscripted breaths, lip smacks, and other unscripted sounds and breath as much life as possible into my characters to honor the original actors brilliance. A good pal in college always said to make sure my unusual skills are listed high on the resume, my specialities are belching, vomiting, and death rattles!

Comedically, I blend chaotic stories and high energy! I perform at a ton of conventions delivering weebish or comic book nerd material and it’s gratifying getting to bring my fellow nerds stand up tailored to them!

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
The Power of Film with Howards Stuber (HBO MAX), The Lonely Island and Seth Myers Podcast, Applied Improvisation by Theresa Dudeck

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr_funnyq/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qalil-ismail-6b0405ab/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Qalylus
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/qalil-ismail

Image Credits
Liz Lanier, Marianna Ismail, Garrett Brand, Nick Querci