Today we’d like to introduce you to Kamar Elliott.
Hi Kamar, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I didn’t do so well in my freshman year of college. I was looking to take a couple of classes to help bring up my GPA when I came across an Intro to Acting class. I enrolled and had a blast so I decided to take another class. I soon chose to make theater my minor. In college I was a student-athlete on a double sport scholarship as well as an art major, so I didn’t have much time for acting. After I graduated I had more free time and began booking plays, voiceovers, and local gigs in upstate NY. I was able to shift my work ethic I honed while training for sports to parlay that same intensity into my acting. The more jobs I worked, the stronger the desire to pursue acting as a career.
After I made the decision to go all in on an acting career I had to choose where to build: New York or Los Angeles. Because I grew up in upstate NY and visited New York City quite frequently in college, I was eager to see and experience new places. I also wanted to learn and work more in TV/film at the time, so I booked a one way ticket to LA.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not really! Some of the struggles along the way were finding a place of peace to recharge and building community. Fortunately, I was able to find various communities to be a part of in LA. More recently, I joined the IAMA theater, where I was part of their inaugural Actors Summer Intensive program. That experience gave me a community of smart, talented, and likeminded creatives to build with—one of those people being Jonah Weiland. Jonah and I worked on a play he produced and we both performed in alongside Sam Ciavarella called Stuck. It premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and went on to win the Hollywood Fringe Italia Award.
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’m a working actor who also enjoys creating fine art through charcoal, watercolor and some oil paints. Acting has been my foundation for years, but I try to balance it with drawing and painting—It’s another way I get to explore storytelling, just in a different medium. During the pandemic, I found my way back into voice acting, and since then, I’ve worked on a variety of projects with Amazon and Netflix. Recently, I’ve started developing a new play with my good friend and director, Kate Jopson. That process has been challenging yet exciting.
What I’m most proud of, though, isn’t necessarily the work on stage or screen. It’s my family. My son is a freshman in college, and watching him step into his own as a second-generation student athlete has been incredible. I not only get to share my experiences with him, but I also get to learn from the way he is carving his own path. My pops, who’s retired, has been busier than ever giving back to the community he grew up in. He started a chess club for kids, encouraging them to learn, grow, and challenge themselves in positive ways. Even though we’re spread across different parts of the country, we stay close through calls and texts, and each conversation deepens our bonds. That connection brings me great joy.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I was a high school Art teacher at two schools. At the same time.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @KamarElliott
Image Credits
Frame76photography
Cara Epstein
Jess Essa
Kamar Elliott
