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Meet Akeem Mair

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Akeem Mair.

Akeem was born on Friday, September 16, 1988, in Pasadena, California, at the Huntington Hospital to entrepreneur Erol James Mair and Queen Alice Mair, a public service professional. Akeem was named after Eddie Murphy’s character, Prince Akeem, from the 1988 box office hit Coming to America. He is the oldest of four siblings.

Akeem first became interested in acting as a child at Linda Vista Elementary school in Pasadena, California, performing in many school productions. “I fell in love with the excitement and reactions my on-stage talents affect it had in People. To be in any character I wanted to give me escape from my everyday life.” He then attended John Marshall Fundamental High School in Pasadena, California, receiving his High School Diploma. Having a solid educational background was huge for his parents.

Since graduating high school, Akeem has taken college courses at Pasadena City College in pursuit of a business degree with the focus on finance to become an investment banker. The 1997 movie, The Game, starring Michael Douglas as Nicholas Van Orton inspired him to pursue it. “I loved Micheal’s character and how he conducted himself and I was always great with numbers so it made sense. It was not until one day while working at Ralph’s grocery market a loyal customer made a big impact on his passion to pursue acting. She said, “you have this huge charismatic personality that radiates positive energy in people, are you an actor?” Everything changed since that day and made the decision to pursue acting as his passion and career.

Akeem Mair started at Central Casting in Burbank to get his feet wet into the entertainment business doing background work. He then signed up with Extras Management which was across the street from Central Casting. They were able to help manage and guide him to receiving his three Union vouchers which are needed to join SAG-AFTRA, the Actors Union. They also helped him land background work in some of his favorite shows he loved. Such as the TV series “The Mentalist” where he plays the main thug, NCIS Los Angeles where he was the body double for LL Cool J, Monday Mornings as the chef for Ving Rhames to name a few.

Akeem Mair has taken several classes and has built up an extensive training on his resume. He’s trained with Mike Pointer at Hey I Saw Your Commercial! Where he’s taken several of his classes; The Fundamentals, Improv, Improv Mastery, the Intensive Callback Course, and TV Commercial Mastery. He then study at LA Acting Studios with fellow actor Lamar Toler where he’s taken several classes for TV and commercials. He took Andrew Hall’s Phase 1 On Set/TV Techniques and David Rountree’s Phase 2 On Set/TV Advance Techniques. He then trained in David Banks’s Advance commercial techniques for auditions and onset. Next, he went to Alyson Horn and Ross Lacy’s The Commercial Class where he study under Dave Lowe in his Advance Commercial Techniques Part A. He then signed up for Toby Lawless in his Callback Intensive class back in November.

On September 27, 2019, Akeem signed with Commercial Talent Agency with Sarah Angeli my agent. Sarah is Akeem’s first agent in the entertainment business and it couldn’t have been any sweeter.

Has it been a smooth road?
A smooth Road???? This question made me laugh, and I’ll never say Hollywood is hard for me because I’m black. I thought a $5000 stash was enough in Hollywood for me to last until I quit my job from Ralphs and ran out of that money fast. Thinking I’m gonna make it by student films and background cash, but it was too small of a pay to keep my dreams on track. Acting classes and bills seem to keep my debt crawling back, I’m trying to pay for it all without my dreams falling back. It seems parking tickets and auditions go hand in hand, thinking the role you didn’t land was gonna pay for that ticket instead. I was thinking they were sure to call me tomorrow but casting directors had other plans.

And most of the time they don’t tell you so you find yourself waiting by the phone time again and again. Daydreaming of what it would be like to have screaming fans and then your dreams start sinking into quicksand. I remember waiting in the freezing cold for an agent from Buchwald, or Mazlea Talent didn’t sign me because I mistakenly refuse to cut my beard off. Bank of America gifting overdraft fees for giving my dreams all that I had, I wasn’t hesitating on nothing paying for classes, headshots, resumes, outfits, gas, casting websites, casting director workshops, editors, car repairs, shoes, printing costs, phone bill, and food are all the essential things for an inspiring actor to grasp.

I was so blessed to have my grandmother (Earlene Dye), brother (Wesley Mair), aunt (Tammy Carroll), uncle Nick Dye Jr.), best friend (Rudy Becerra) and mother (Queen Douglas) the ones who supported and given me the cash. I had a blue 2000 Ford Explorer to get me around Hollywood until it crashed, and eventually, after that, I waved my white flag. I was done chasing Hollywood it ain’t easy landing on your back while watching the success of others bloom in front of me without being held from the past. And then my grandfather (Nick Dye) died before I could shine on TV and I was so hurt by that, and when you get to the point to where you got nothing else to lose. Then you’ll find yourself learning to enjoy the bumpy road.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
Akeem has booked several principles and leading roles in various California Universities, Warner Brother productions, various independent filmmaker productions. These include some well-known and popular remake titles produce from the Los Angles Film School such as Hannah and her Sisters as Norman who was portrayed by actor Tony Roberts and Good Will Hunting as Will who was originally played by Matt Damon. He made appearances in Art Institute of Hollywood’s short films in Limbo as the basketball teenager who was killed due to a drug overdose, Silent Love as Felix a hopeless mime romantic, and Life of a Villain as Skrilla, a thug who was a bad influence on his best friend and eventually got them both killed.

At Columbia College of Hollywood productions, Akeem was involved in two lead roles of All about the Money as Jim a lowlife who gets killed over never paying back his debts and A Wonderful World as the homeless man Frank Simmons who gets a second chance at life. At University of Southern California, he booked leading roles in Spotted as Todd, the remake of Born Fourth of July where Akeem plays Jerry Levine’s character, Steve Boyer. At the University of California, Los Angeles, he booked leading roles in Initiation as the BKE leader Brad. The old College Try as a robotic inventor named Anthony, and Adagio as a gym instructor named Marcus.

Two New York Film Academy films featuring Akeem. The Kidnap as one of the principle kidnappers in the film and Fine Line as Joe, a washed-up film writer, were screened with Warner Brothers and garnered praise, spurring Akeem’s motivation and resolve to succeed as an actor. The film Fine Line did so well that other members of New York Film Academy were asking the director, “who is this that guy?” Many find his upbeat, positive attitude to be infectious, bringing energy and high spirits to projects.

Akeem Mair has also booked some big independent films such as Red a black young male who sick of police officers killing unarmed black males which will be submitted and released at LA Film Festivals. He also starred in Jolly Boy as Rich Boy, a thug from a biker gang which will be entering the Sundance festival, Happy Birthday as Chris which will be entering many La Film Festivals, Gangster City as Police Officer Cueno, an officer who is taking on the whole corrupted police force and the local city’s biggest gang, and a film written and produce by Andoni Zorbas which will be entering many LA Film Festivals. Another Crazy Christmas as Jimmy, a film produce by CL3 Productions which is being presented to producers such as HBO, Ice Cube, and Tyler Perry productions.

On the web, he was been involved in many web series episodes of Motivate Me, as himself getting help from his psychiatrist in episode 5 and as an excited band member, Ivory, who followed an ad that promise his band that they will get a huge record deal and breakthrough on episode 11. He stars in the Web Series of Blood of the Dead as Allistair, A vampire seeking total extermination against all vampire hunters. He also stars in A huge YouTube channel called Girls going Viral.

Recently Akeem Mair was on Ellen Degeneres’s show on “Speak the Lyrics” where he was approached by one of Ellen’s writers, Lauren Pomerantz, where she randomly walked up to him recited lyrics from Taylor Swift’s song, “Me!”, which generated over five million views on Instagram. He also recently booked an insurance commercial through GMC Casting with casting director Monica Carrasco.

What Sets me Apart? Definitely my energy and personality! I am filled with a lot of passion and people can sense that right away. I tend to fill the room with so much joy and laughter. I am confident in everything I do and I am not afraid to be myself in front of people and casting directors can sense that about me. I tend to go the extra mile in my characters because I want them to be as real as possible without it being boring to the audience. I embrace criticism and guidance. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to accept critique about your performance. Because when you’re performing your exposing all of yourself becoming vulnerable and the last thing you would want to hear is how bad your performance was. But honestly, you always want the truth because It’s the only way to get better. I am easy to work with. So many actors demand so much and sometimes you have to sit back and realize it’s a blessing just to be where you’re at.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Location, Location, Location is everything for any field you want to do! If your an inspiring actor or actress then Los Angeles is definitely one of the top cities you would want to be. It’s Hollywood baby!!!! Plus most of the major production companies, Agents, Casting Directors, Acting Coaches, Studios are all out here. If you’re just starting out then save up and find a way to get your butt here!! And when you do get here, you can’t waste any time and money you have to have a plan. If I could have start over, here’s three things I’ve would immediately done differently.

Number #1 I started to put the Lord first in everything I do. The alarm clock sounds off in the morning, I wake up and immediately fall to my knees to pray and thank God for everything he’s done for me and for me giving another day to live. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.“ Matthews 6:33 My life started to change after that. Then I started to truly believe “I can do all things through Christ you strengthen me.” Philippians 4:13 know that God is the most powerful force in the universe and he’s got your back! Number

#2 Everything changed for me once I bought me a blue notebook and carry it around me every I go. I use it to write down every big and small goal I have every day. Each day you aim to cross out the small goals and write new ones that’ll keep you on your path to conquering the big goals. The blue notebook is my everyday compass. If you don’t own a notebook it’s extremely important to go out and buy one. You can’t just drift through life you have to know where you’re going at all times!! Number

#3 Build a strong dream team around you before trying to do everything yourself. If I started off with that mindset I would have instantly knew where to look. I wasted so much of my time and money trying to do everything myself. And guess what? It cost me a whole lot of painful mistakes! It seemed as if I was going in circles and getting nowhere.

I’ve gotten further than I’ve ever been because I invested in my team my second time around. I was aiming to grab the biggest names in coaching as mentors in Hollywood! Who are they? Mike Pointer, Killian McHugh, David Rountree, Jeremy Jordan, Andrew Hall, Toby Lawless, Alyson Horn, David Banks, Ross Lacy, Mike Dolphy, Danielle Eskinazi, Terry Berland and Dave Lowe to name a few. Then my agent Sarah Angeli from Commercial Talent Agency is also a huge part of my dream team. You need great people around you that you can go to for guidance and always there for you! See mentors are like headlights on a car going down a dark road. Eventually, you will crash into something if you turn them off. They’ve made mistakes in their lives and careers so that you won’t have to, so I use their valuable wisdom and keep them very close to me.

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Image Credit:
Andy Rooney, David Banks, Jeremy Jordan Monica Carrasco, Wesley Mair, Bill Duke, David Rountree, Toby Lawless, Mike Pointer, Edy Ganem, Chauncey Billups, Ross Lacy, Dave Lowe

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