Today we’d like to introduce you to Lance Jordan.
Hi Lance, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
How I got started is a funny question because I can blame several people for influencing me to become an actor. And when I say blame, I really mean I’m thanking you. My first introduction to movies alone comes from what I’d watch with my father and older brother, Joe. While most kids grew up watching children and teen movies, I was introduced to Westerns and action movies instantly. I had choices like the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with my father or going to my shared room with my brother at the time and watching Eraser with Arnold Schwarzenegger. My mom tried to keep my fragile eggshell mind with my age group watching favorites like Toy Story, James and The Giant Peach, and Aladdin, but Terminator 2 and the Matrix were already more my speed at an early age. I could also say that my elementary school, Merrick Academy, is to blame for me being driven in the field of arts. I was fortunate enough to have a young black artist as my teacher growing up and that fueled my imagination enough to find the field of art and theater interesting enough to pick up on at any time it is offered to me. Some even kept in touch with me and still assist me to this day with any industry advice I may need, shout out to you Troy Blackwell!
In Cardozo, My high school, I officially returned to the arts during my junior and senior years. A wonderful teacher named Bonnie Messina saw something in me and brought me into her acting class where I found my wings. I can’t thank her enough! My senior year I wasn’t even enrolled in the acting class, I just went cause I liked being on the stage. I found myself majoring in film and theatre in college with a concentration in acting after thinking I was going to be a business major. After college, I hopped on the train to Manhattan and became an extra for TV shows, slowly but surely, I started booking actual roles for myself and the rest is history. Here I am now, still growing but now known for what I do.
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?
The road has not been smooth at all. It’s been a rocky road. At first, you think “Okay, it’ll take hard work but I can handle it!” But it’s so much more harder than you think. I mean, you are at the will of someone else’s idea and if you fit it or not, all the time! The biggest struggle I face in this game is the patience aspect of it. You hear of all the stories of how someone gets found and their road to stardom just paves itself but you never hear about how long it took them or how many projects they were in before they were discovered. What made me smile once is knowing that Brad Pitt was an extra in the movie “Less Than Zero” with Robert Downey Jr. How could have someone overlooked him ever, he’s one of the best!
Also, knowing that Denzel Washington got rejected from roles early on and that he worked in sanitation, picking up garbage while waiting for his moment. It makes me laugh honestly, how can someone pass on such great people? How could you not see it? I struggle with this but it’s also my funny bone, I’ve been passed on for roles almost over 3000 times and denied at auditions over 100 times and yes I’ve been counting. Being told no is a part of the game. But being an extra on sets over the years and seeing these actors mess up their lines and not take it seriously hurt my feelings the most. Some people would literally kill to be in their position. Make a great example of why you were chosen for the role and show us how it’s done, don’t come in ill-prepared. I just know how passionate I am about the craft of acting, I hope all those in Hollywood are too.
Another struggle is finding what to do with the time as you wait, some of us work, some of us sit around until the next gig, and some of us just quit! I know during Covid, it was such a bummer being an artist because our world was paused for an unprecedented amount of time. It’s always a struggle when you’re up and coming but I guess that’s the beauty of becoming great. You have to chisel away at something for it to become a sculpture right?
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an actor, I play make believe for a living. It’s awesome saying it out loud that way. But what I really do, is make characters tangible through using my body, which is my instrument, to portray emotions and display movements of a character that can come from all sorts of walks of life. I am also a lifestyle model which is just a fancy term for someone who is used to helping advertisements influence others through using relatable people. I’m not entirely sure if I’m relatable as a person but if my looks are, I’ll take it! Before any of this stuff, I was really known for my athletics. I played several sports and excelled at all of them; basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, and fencing.
Unfortunately, I tore both my ACL’s and that’s when I found another stage to present my talents on, which was where acting came in. I tried to do modeling in high school in the fashion show but my volleyball coach came into the auditions and dragged me back to practice. He’d probably laugh finding out that now I am one today. I’m extremely proud of myself for all the gigs I’ve landed and the lengthy checks I’ve seen along the way, don’t get me wrong. But I’m mostly proud of myself for taking this leap of faith, I mean almost everyone I know was against it except for a few friends and family. But something inside of me told me I was doing what I was destined to do, it’s almost like I shut the door on anything else when I did it too. I reinvented myself to fit this lifestyle and although I faced several consequences in the beginning, I’ve found my rhythm and peace with it all now. It feels like it’s do or die with this path I’ve chosen now, no other thought crosses my mind in the morning other than “I’m an actor, I have to get up and work on myself and observe the world around me.”. That’s what makes me special in this field, I understand acting comes from all that we’ve seen and heard up until now. I’ve experienced thousands of moments, some bad, some good, some I know damn well I shouldn’t have been there. But it’s that desire to see the world for what it is that makes someone a great actor. You can always have the idea of what a character is but in reality, we see these characters that are written around us every day. I took the initiative to mix my studies with the thousands of personalities I’ve run into in my teens into now mid-twenties.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
What surprises people about me the most is always my extensive amount of knowledge I have in classic films and television. I didn’t have many people around my age growing up in my family, so I was stuck watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island, three stooges, and other oldies. I got hooked on twilight zone, it was the first show to ever move me as a child. I remember the first episode I ever saw and where I was and everything to this day. The writing back then was special because the special effects was in the writing, not the CGI that can be provided later. I spent a lot of time watching that instead of some favorites like My Wife and Kids and Friends, I still haven’t seen Friends.
As for movies, like I mentioned before, I can blame my father for getting me into old films. Today I still sit around in my spare time watching movies from the 50s and 60s just to enjoy a good fresh story. Maybe it’s more about money these days but the writing isn’t the same. A well-written script excites an actor into their role! I also do film reviews; check out my website! Another thing I can add that is surprising is that I can sing! I’ve never been given the chance to actually sing in front of a crowd but anytime others are around me, they hear me and then give me that “I didn’t know you had that in you” look. It’s me, I can do anything I put my mind to!
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.Lancereviews.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gramless_lance/?hl=en
Image Credits
@ShotsbyShako
