Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Hamm.
Hi Marcus, 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 was born in Washington, DC, and raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland, known as The Black Mecca, with one of the highest concentrations of affluent African Americans in the nation. My parents were both born in 1950 and entered young adulthood at the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Although they were from DC, they met in Wisconsin, having both received special scholarships to attend Park College and later The University of Wisconsin, where they both graduated with honors.
Myself and my sister were the first of our family lineage to be born with the entirety of our Civil Rights and the first to have any semblance of generational wealth. By no means does that mean that we are wealthy, but we were the first to have full access to opportunity since birth.
I graduated Largo Senior High School at 16 years old as an honor student and went on to attend 3 colleges: Hampton University, Columbia College Chicago, and University of Maryland College Park, where I received my BA in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
But my calling had always been in the Arts and Athletics, and following a serious car accident after my first year of college, I ended up missing out on collegiate sports. This steered me into joining the professional wrestling world, enrolling in Bonebreakers Academy, home of Maryland Championship Wrestling, where I started my journey officially in entertainment.
After one year of training, I signed my first TV contract and made my national television debut on the UPN syndicated Hip Hop wrestling series Urban Wrestling Alliance, which was the first predominantly Black wrestling show to air in 2000-2001.
This opportunity opened many doors to me, and along with our wrestling training, which was led by Soulman Rocky Johnson and Mike Modest, we also received Acting coaching from David Dunard. This would serve as the start of my transition from professional wrestling to Acting, and in 2007, I made my debut as an Actor, appearing in season 5 of HBO’s The Wire as Officer Marcus.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road of an Actor/Filmmaker is never smooth. It’s a constant hustle filled with uncertainty and full of risks but an abundance of rewards as well. Over my 24-year journey, I’ve experienced major hardships, both physical and financial, but I’ve learned so much along the way, which serves me well at this stage of my career.
After being on The Wire and the series ending, I decided to move to LA to seek out more opportunities. I doubled as a producer, having filmed a pilot episode of Urban Empire Wrestling to revitalize the concept in 2003. I learned then that the bigger companies would not allow anyone to step on their toes without heavy pockets and inside connections, which cost me dearly.
Following that first attempt, I joined a team of Producers to develop a reality series that would follow the lives of a WWE Hall of Famer, Afa, the Wild Samoan, and his family. The timing of the concept fell through as reality had moved on from The Osborne’s to The Kardashian’s. This is when I learned a valuable lesson about the industry: it’s all about timing, so hold onto your best ideas.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I wear many hats in the entertainment industry. A professional wrestler turned Actor, Producer, Stunt Fighter, Screenwriter and Filmmaker. Outside of the entertainment world, I also have a 12-plus-year career in Property Management.
As a filmmaker I specialize in films and projects that allow for my unique skills to be utilized. I write mostly Sci-Fi, Action, and Drama with Comedic tones. I’m a big fan of the Superhero movie genre and have filmed 3 cinema-quality Fan Films, all of which allowed me to live out my dream role as Blade. 2 of the 3 Short films have won a combined 60 Film Festival Awards with the 3rd currently in post-production, Triggered 2.0. A first look of this film can be found here:
https://youtu.be/BWPb8dbNUuU?si=dYaBHkaw3qDM-cId
I also have co-written, co-produced, and starred in the award-winning feature film, Heaven’s Revenge, I Love You to Death as Jackson Davis, a professional wrestler and player who meets his match when he plays with the damaged heart of Heaven Bailey who in turn makes him pay dearly.
And with my love of Fan Films, it coincides with my work to advocate for disability and diversity inclusion in films. My work as a producer has always aligned with the disability community, and my second award-winning short, Triggered, a Cinematic Superhero Fan Film, was co-produced with the late, great Steven James Tingus, whose story you must know as a lifetime advocate and incredible Actor.
I also have recently been attached as an Actor and Producer of Batgirl’s Last Laugh, a Fan Film written and directed by Barry Bogovich, along with having a role in Designing Empires, a Star Wars Parody fan film Directed by Otto Penzato.
And currently in development, I have a leading role in a Spaghetti Western series called The S.I.N.S, Seminole Indian Negro Scouts, which is Directed and Written by Lovie Ray Johnson Jr. I play real-life war hero and cowboy Adam Payne who was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor in the late 1800s.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Finding a mentor is something one should do when they are serious about their desire to be an entertainer. One thing many don’t realize is that acting and entertainment, in general, aren’t very different from anything else except the jobs you get are much shorter in duration and fluctuate greatly in pay. Our greatest commodity is time so don’t waste anyone’s by reaching out when you aren’t serious.
But if you are serious and have talent, know that there are countless people in the industry who are waiting to help develop a new talent, especially those who work behind the camera as well. I recommend that whenever you have the opportunity to pick the brain of someone who has gotten farther than yourself, to do so. You can even learn a lot from those who you feel are on the same level as you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.urbanrenaissanceentertainment.com
- Instagram: @marcushammactor
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/marcusneljamalhamm
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/BWPb8dbNUuU?si=dYaBHkaw3qDM-cId
- Other: www.imdb.me/marcusneljamalhamm
Image Credits
Matt Ishizuka
