Today we’d like to introduce you to Markell Leo.
Hi Markell, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. The eighth child out of nine from my mother Lucille Grant. We lived in low-income neighborhoods and project housing, which was an interesting experience for me.
We didn’t have much as far as money but my mother did what she could to take care and feed us and raise us the best way she knew how. On the other hand, there was always love. She taught us how to respect people and help when people needed it. Plus, there was always laughter in our house from telling jokes. Lol, I have a lot of natural comedians in my family especially my brothers. I have an Identical twin brother by the way, named Martrell Leonard. He is my other half and my best friend.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My family didn’t have much as far as money. We were on the poor end of the financial spectrum. There were times were me and my siblings had to share some food when times were tough and just didn’t have enough for a full meal sometimes. But most times, we had food enough to feed us decently. We didn’t have the name brand clothing to wear mostly either but my mother kept us clean and kept decent shoes on our feet. I remember when we didn’t have a car for many years, we would have to walk or catch a ride to school from a family member. My mom wasn’t able to take us on trips or things like that which kind of sucked but is was ok. Also growing up in the neighborhood I grew up in there was always things like robberies, shootings, and drugs because people felt they had to survive. I remember a ten years old kid pulled a gun on me and my brother and sister when we were kids. Imagine how much violence was going on. It was just a miracle to make it out alive as a young black man. Going to college and being educated was rare for people in the projects back in the 1990s. But I kept a positive mindset going forward.
Going to grade school was fun and a challenge because me and my twin brother Martrell was always trying to get into school activities in elementary school. Whether it was the school Choir, the drill team, safety patrol, Basketball you name it, lol. My mother encouraged us to try different things and that gave me a lot of confidence. But I had a major problem with stage fright. I would have panic attacks for some reason and get nervous when performing in front of crowds although I loved to perform, I still did it. Most of the time, I would cover up the panic attacks half the time but some people knew I wasn’t doing something right when performing.
I remember doing a talent show back in grade school where I was supposed to be beatboxing and dancing while another kid was singing a Michael Jackson song. When we went on stage, I just froze and was paralyzed from the sight of that big crowd that day. I just stood there doing nothing and people were like “what is Markell up there for he is not doing anything”. I felt bad during that time but now I look back and joke on it. I knew I needed to change as a person. Coming up and growing up, my older brothers looked out for me and my twin brother Martrell especially my older cousin Kevin Wren. He took us to play basketball throughout Junior high and high school to help keep us out of trouble and to help us see better opportunities that the world had to offer us. Very inspiring guy Kevin is. He is definitely like a big brother to me.
Fast forward to college, I was intrigued by acting by looking at the classic movie from the 1950s “Twelve Angry Men” Starring Henry Fonda while in a college communications class. I was like “whoa this is cool.” All the actors were good in it. And I caught the acting bug. So me and my twin brother had a dream and a vision to do movies and plays. We were like “man, let’s start doing plays and stuff”. We didn’t have money but we had a vision to do movies together. He went on to study at the University of Memphis while I just did home study and reading acting books. We started doing independent films and plays. Few years later, I kept it going by working and driving to Nashville for auditions 200 miles away on a drop of a hat because I had a talent agent in Nashville. They couldn’t believe I would drive that far just for an audition but I always had that determination to do what I wanted to do. But I also had to improve my mental toughness.
During that time before moving to Los Angeles, I wanted to do more serious acting work. But I was afraid of not having enough money if I just took the leap of faith and move out to California. So sometimes I would challenge myself physically by walking or jogging far to prepare to move to LA. I walked 20 miles one time to test myself to prep for the hard times coming. I felt like I was gonna die, lol. I had to work at a warehouse that was filled with felons and criminals because I couldn’t find work. I would come home from work and make coffee while studying acting and I would be tired from the warehouse job and frustrated a lot because I didn’t want my life to be in that same position. But I used the money from working to save up $1900 and I caught the greyhound bus from Memphis to Los Angeles in 2015. I saved up two months worth of rent when I came here. Exactly two months after I came to LA, I ran out of money but my family pitched in and sent me money and I got a job just in time to survive while I booked my first supporting role in a feature film. Wow, talk about God looking out for me.
I’ve experienced a short stint of being homeless sleeping in my friend Adam Mckeith’s car in 2017. He looked out for me. He is a true friend indeed. Same for my friend Deldric Bratcher known as” Poetic Moor”. We always keep each other motivated. Recently I have lost both my parents early in the past two to three years. That was rough on me mentally but I had to gather myself and stay focused on my purpose. I think about my mother every day, May they Rest in peace. Especially my mother. I have to be all I can be and make her proud. Things have gotten a lot better since being here. I am becoming familiar a little more by the Hollywood community. Very good people I have befriend so far.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an Actor, Dancer and Producer. I am more of a creator period. I guess you can say something like a “Childish Gambino” also known as Donald Glover. There is a lot of my work that people have yet to see because some of it is in development. And boy is it taking some time. I love dramatic acting and a little action but action thriller-type movies is down the line for me as an artist. I also started producing my own short films and working on a couple of features which will be a couple of years from now because of the process of making film. I’ve produced short films and scenes while playing detectives and professional characters so far. And I love it!! But there is more things to come from me. Showing people that anything is possible” will be my main message while working in Film tv and entertainment as a whole. I also do a lot of collaborating with other actors, producers, photographers and writers. But my dancing projects should be coming soon. I like to surprise people with my art and creations. I want to give them a fresh experience. Dancing is something I can do all the time because I feel like I am in heaven when I move my feet to music.
What does success mean to you?
I define success as achieving anything you set your mind to as long as that goal is worthy and it helps others in the process.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @markellleo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markell.grant.9
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClgRFS5hROUiSIKjQ4XQdBg
- Other: https://www.imdb.me/markellleo
Image Credits:
Luke Fontana Hernan Ancerra
