Incorporated: On The Set

Hey, Hey, Hey!
So as you know I LOVE my job – you know being an actor and all. I know that one day I will be able to do this full-full time.

Anyway, I am currently working on the newest project here in Philadelphia called Incorporated. It is directed by up and coming director Michael Johnson. Who I must admit knows how to get a great performance out of actors and he did his undergrad work at Hampton University. You can’t hate a man from an HBCU!

I was the first one on set since this day my make up was pretty extensive since I was to be beaten to a pulp and my head was to be sawed off. Let me back up. The movie is about the Philadelphia Black Mafia. This was a ruthless group of African-American men who ruled the black underworld in the northeast during the mid-to-late 1960’s. These guys were the premier numbers runners, drug pushers and all around enforcers of the criminal activities in the area. This is their story.

I play James Foxx, one of the members of the collective.

Anyway during the filming the weather was very cooperative. Since this was my day for getting beat down, all I had on was a tank top tee shirt. That was both the good and bad part. Good because, I was able to stay cool but bad because I couldn’t wear any protective gear. The other part is that since we were doing close-ups, I had no stunt double. RIGHT! I got the crap kicked out of me! All the falls, I took em! I even have the bruises to show for it!

Although, I was “there” in the scene – as most actors do I had to rely on my performance since the opportunity didn’t exist to check playback. The crew was very complementary and I was truly working with a “band of brothers”. The enforcers, played by Atif Lanier and Nakia Dillard and the boss Franklin Ojeda Smith, were pros that gave me what I needed to work with. Mr. Smith was probably one of the most dynamic men I had ever met.

When he arrived the joke started out about his hands. The script called for him to “pimp slap” me in the face. Well of course I took a look at his hands and my first words were, “Man you got some big hands – Oh hell naw”! We had a good laugh and connected nevertheless. In our conversation, I discovered that he was also a cancer survivor, a former educator and that one of his sons was my frat brother. To sum it up even further – he was also boule’! For lack of a better term he was in the very least distinguished and supremely talented.

We were able to get some great shots and have a few more days of shooting ahead. I love quickly developing a family on set. It already feels right. It’s just a matter of time before I am doing this every day. That’s something that I can’t wait to do.