Check Out Ernie Charles’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ernie Charles.

Hi Ernie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m a writer, actor, and producer. I love being creative and enjoy working with a supportive team. Growing up, creativity would pop up in different ways as I proceeded through my educational journey in life.
I grew up in rural Ohio with farming all around us, and our family loved sports, so how would I ever end up doing what I’m doing now?

In 5th grade, my teacher had us write stories to be graded on spelling and grammar. I flunked both, but the story content itself earned an A+. She told my parents that I had a very imaginative mind and that she loved reading my stories.

In 7th grade, my art teacher told my mom, “Ernie’s going to end up somewhere in the arts.” I told my mother he was full of crap because I was going to play baseball. Besides, I liked math, hated reading, and loved sports.
Then in 11th grade, a former teacher asked me to audition for the junior class play. I played a cowboy, and the audience laughed. I didn’t think I was being funny. I was just being true to myself, something I couldn’t do in real life. Afterward, an educator told me, “Wow, you’re really good at this,” and I saw that I had actually moved her. For a shy kid who kept to himself, that was huge. On stage, I had permission to be angry, silly, or vulnerable, and nobody could judge me for it, because it wasn’t real life.

I graduated from high school with honors because I didn’t talk with other students and just focused on my homework. I wanted to go to college, and here is my silly joke with that: I went to college to play football and baseball. I mean, I don’t know why else you would go to college. At the start of my sophomore year, I auditioned for a play because I had loved it so much in high school. As an actor, you want to be seen and heard, but I could not read the lines off the page very well, so I got the part of a Ku Klux Klan member. I got on stage with no lines and a sheet over my head. And that was just the beginning. I got to know the theater people, and they liked me, so they gave me a role in the Christmas play. They saw me perform and soon learned I could not read very well, but when I knew my lines, I was on a mission to deliver them and express myself. From my junior year in college on, I was auditioning for every play. My senior year, I was sitting backstage on a cube listening to a fellow actor sing “I could’ve been this! I could’ve been that!” and I decided right there: I don’t want to be an “I could’ve been.” I’m gonna be.

I was good at math, so that was my starting major in college, but I ended up with a degree in computer science. So I was an athlete with a creative mind who got a degree in a science field. Once again, I didn’t fit in anywhere. My theater professor and mentor, Mr. James Lee Austin, first tried to discourage me from going into acting. Everyone fails, and it’s very difficult. I could not be deterred. I auditioned and got into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. After that, I studied Meisner acting at Carnegie Hall with the Robert X. Modica studio. That made my acting even better, and I’ve worked in theater, commercials, TV, and film. I later moved to Los Angeles, CA.

No one knows who I am, but I’m still doing it. I have written a few screenplays, and we’re trying to get them funded and produced. There’s something about this business that is so discouraging, with a painful reality, and yet I love it so much. I know I have performed in a lot of dramas, but my true love is comedy. As my mother would say, “That’s your bread and butter.” I have written a buddy crime comedy called I Need a Drink, which is loosely based on friends and relatives I grew up with in small-town rural America.

I started out as a shy kid from rural Ohio who didn’t think he’d ever matter to anyone. So my goal is to make something for the people nobody talks about: a laugh, a break from their struggles, and maybe even a spark to change their lives for the better. I don’t want to be an “I could’ve been.” I’m gonna be.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’m from a family of five, so we never had a lot of extra money as children. We weren’t poor, but it felt like it. I remember going to the local gas station with another kid from school. He would buy candy bars and soda, and I would stand there with nothing in my pocket but lint. Even the lint was a hand-me-down.

Sometimes I was made fun of for my clothes because they were worn out or old. My clothes weren’t vintage, they were just old. Vintage is old clothes with a marketing budget.

My biggest struggle as a child was reading. I had a learning disability, and I was made fun of in grade school and high school. Somehow I learned that if I kept to myself and stayed quiet or invisible, I wouldn’t be picked on. Can you remember trying to be invisible as a kid so you wouldn’t be noticed? I got so good at it that I’ve been quiet for the most part ever since. So naturally, I became an actor, because nothing says “invisible kid” like a career built on being looked at.

Looking back, those struggles are a big part of why I want to tell stories for the people who feel unseen. I know what that’s like.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve talked about myself as an actor, but these days I’m doing more writing and producing. I’m often asked to be the assistant director on set or to help with pre-production, and my close friends say I’m great at organization and inspiration. In other words, I’m the guy who shows up with a plan and a pep talk. I love being creative and working with an awesome team.

I’m not sure what my greatest ability is, but it might be my desire to never give up. Some days, that’s the only thing that gets me out of bed.

I’m always looking for people I work best with, people who encourage me, so we can lift each other up and achieve our best results. Not everyone you meet will be the right fit, and that’s okay. It doesn’t make them a bad person. It just means you’re not necessarily a good match to work together, like a buddy comedy where the buddies keep arguing about what color pants to wear. My solution? Do the scene in your boxer shorts.

I don’t say yes to everything that lands on my desk, but when I do say yes, I give it my all.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best way to work with me is to be friends first. Let’s get to know each other, then find a story we both love. I’m especially looking to meet directors who grew up in rural areas, because we already speak the same language (mostly tractors and sports).

The story also has to be one I’m passionate about. My favorite movies are true stories and feel-good films, like Rudy, Erin Brockovich, The Rookie, For Love of the Game, Young Woman and the Sea, Hidden Figures, The Help, and more. Most of these are about people who didn’t give up, and I haven’t either. If a story makes me laugh, cheer, or cry in the good way, I’m in.

And yes, I’ll say it out loud: financing helps. If you’re an investor, a grantor, or you know someone who is, I’d love to hear from you. As my career grows, money may not be the hurdle it is today, but we have to get there first. So if you know someone with a checkbook and a good heart, introduce us. I’ll bring the popcorn.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3171390
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamerniecharles
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ernie.charles.1
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamerniecharles/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@erniecharles
• Other: https://ineedadrinkmovie.com/