CJ's Path from Marine Life to Hollywood Lights

Become a Relative & send some love

What happens when a Marine veteran with Midwest roots finds himself on the set of a major TV show? Meet CJ Williams, whose journey from boot camp to the big screen is nothing short of extraordinary. Our conversation is filled with laughter, shared military camaraderie, and touching reflections on the sacrifices made for a brighter future. CJ’s story is an inspiring testament to the life-changing power of the Marine Corps and the unexpected paths that lead to fulfilling dreams.

Ever wondered how a college basketball player’s life could be completely redirected by a Marine Corps commercial and a roommate’s dare? We explore those pivotal moments and the subsequent transformative experiences in the Delayed Entry Program, highlighting the humorous realities of military administrative roles. The journey from uncertainty to finding purpose is a powerful reminder of the importance of perseverance and the often unpredictable nature of life’s course corrections.

From school assemblies to significant TV roles, CJ’s post-military journey is an engaging narrative of creative pursuits and relentless persistence in the entertainment industry. We share heartfelt anecdotes about support systems in challenging careers, the joy of overcoming rejections, and the thrill of landing major roles. Celebrate with us the crucial role of a supportive partner and the motivational power of resilience, underscored by memorable moments and unique life experiences. Tune in for a tapestry of stories that emphasize never giving up on one’s dreams.

Relationships Worth More Than Money by Tweezy Kennedy & Marcus Alland
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, we back Episode 22.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Yeah, okay, 22, yeah 22.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
We just had 21 with JoJo.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
That's right.
That's right, yeah, yeah, yeah,I was here for that.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
I should have known that the crazy part is.
I just want to give a briefsynopsis of how this all
happened.
Cj, we in his crib it's dopegot the backdrop.
We in this crib it's dope Gotthe backdrop.
Everything crazy in here barover there.
But I was talking to JoJo andJoJo, you know, I asked her.
I said hey, I need you on apodcast.

(00:32):
And she said, all right, shegave you the sigh.
Yeah, she gave me the sigh.
Like I don't like being infront of the camera.
So I was like, come on, jojo, Ineed more females on the pod.
She said, you know what?
Just for you, I'll do it.
So I said I bet.
She said, oh, you know what,you should interview CJ too.
You remember CJ, and I was likethe guy that got the Marine

(00:54):
tattoo.
She was like I don't thinkother taking shots doing
something, oh my God.
So she was like, well, I thinkthat's him then.
So I was like bet.
So you know, I'm always goodmeeting people, but the fact
that, like I was like, damn, hea Marine, that's brotherhood

(01:18):
right there already.
Then you know the hospitality weget here.
You're like you want somethingto drink, whatever.
Whatever you want to drink,whatever you want to whatever
Get, whatever the fact that weare both from the Midwest yeah,
man, you know what I mean.
I think that's the dopest part,because you know a lot of

(01:40):
Midwest people.
We assimilate anywhere you knowwhat I mean anywhere in the
country, anywhere in the world,and I think it's dope to even
just bump into a like, alike-minded, uh brother.
But that's not even the mostimportant part.
Most important part is bro, youon tv, you, you on tv and don't

(02:02):
nobody.
That's part of it.
People know.
But the shows that you're on, Iwatch Law Order, bet, her, I
watch all of those shows and I'mlike yo.
I never paid attention until Iwent back and checked your IMDB
that JoJo sent.

(02:23):
So, without further ado.
Man to the left of me, y'allknow who I am, I'm Tweezy.
To the left of me, who we got.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
CJ Williams, or just CJ.
You know, cj yeah man.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
So look man, we just going to start it off like any
other thing, man.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Well, I got to start.
First and foremost, I just wantto say I appreciate you know
you having me on the podcast.
Jojo just forced my name intoit, but it's a great thing.
It's the first time I'm everdoing a podcast, but definitely
I appreciate you being here andme being able to watch it when

(03:01):
JoJo was doing it first and justseeing how everything was
working out.
I mean, it's dope man, yeah man.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Much respect, appreciate it.
I want this to be a forever foreverything.
I don't want this to be justlike a you know, like a segment
or a segue to something else Ireally do, like sitting down and
talking to anybody.
Yeah, I mean, I think I learnedthat from just being in the
Marine Corps because you knowlike you go into boot camp, you,

(03:28):
with 100 plus different people,you don't even know you might
go with a buddy system, youmight not, but at the end of the
day you're going to end upbecoming family, absolutely.
You know what I'm saying.
Especially going through allthat together man, going through
that three months, then a monthof you know MCT, then wherever
your MOS, your job, school is,hey, crazy, do you know, I
didn't know that MCT was a thing.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
When I was done with boot camp I thought I was done.
Yeah, like I thought I wasgoing.
You know just straight to thefleet.
Yeah, yeah, you know, not evento my job.
And then I saw the video and itwas like, hey, you know, I have
to boot camp Marine combattraining.
I was like, huh, what is that,you know?
So that was a bit of a shocker.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah, because you go home and you're like, damn, I
got to come back in 10 days.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
I had, I did the yeah , yeah, yeah.
You said you hated yourrecruiter though.
See, I didn't know you wasgoing to say that on the podcast
, but yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Hey man, you know.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
We're going to call a spade a spade.
He wasn't quite truthful withme about you know Some things,
about some things.
I'll say that, but shout out tomy recruiter Honestly, if I
never would have joined theMarine Corps, I wouldn't be
where I'm at now.
Man, it was the best thing thatever happened.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
That's facts, man.
That's facts because my wifeover there blowing kisses.
Yeah, that's facts, man.
I mean because, if you thinkabout it, man like we coming
from, you know roughenvironments and you know it's
not the only environments that'srough, but we coming from two
of the most known yeah, becauseyou're Detroit, right.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, Detroit.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
Detroit and Chicago.
Man, like everybody know aboutit.
But at the same time we made asacrifice to leave home and
build something better for your,not only ourself, but for our
families.
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
I got a question.
I know you're supposed to beasking me questions.
No, you can ask me questionstoo, like what was?
What was your reason toactually go in?
What was your reason toactually go in, like what?

Speaker 1 (05:24):
sparked it.
So crazy part man.
I had a.
I was supposed to go to NorfolkState play baseball.
Baseball was my favorite sport.
I played football, playedbasketball, but in high school I
was in baseball and justswimming.
I ain't even.
I played football in ninthgrade year and after my grandma

(05:45):
passed I just stopped loving it.
You know what I mean.
So and I was 4'11".
Crazy part.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
So, joe, you said it out there, I was 4'11 to 11th
grade.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
So I didn't think I wasn't going to grow.
So I was like, nah, I'm justgoing to stick with baseball.
I know baseball for sure.
I'm good in that height.
So so, nah, man, senior yearcoming around, staff Sergeant
Robinson still remember his name.
He was a cool recruiter.
He would walk around, you knowthe Marine dressed blue uniform

(06:13):
man.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
He had on a Delta.
That's one of the baddestuniforms out there.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
He had on a Delta man .
He ain't say nothing to me, butI used to always see the Army
guy, army guy bothering me.
Hey man, hey Kennedy man,what's up?
Man, you want to come?
I'm like no man, I'm straight,I'm good.
Just kept hassling me, man.
Then one day, like the teacher,this is when you can knock on
the teacher's door and take akid out of class and they'll

(06:40):
Give them away Like here, goahead, you can go with the
recruiter or whatever.
I'll let them talk to you and Iknow more, Boy I'm going to tell
you I was a recruiter and theywasn't doing none of that.
Wow.
So he pulled me to the side,Staff Sergeant Robinson.
He said look, man, I alreadyknow you're going to Norfolk
State.
I know you're the captain onthe baseball team.
I know you got a bright.

(07:00):
Give me a call.
So that right there just offthe break he took his time to
research what I did.
You know what I mean, versusthe army dude just hassling me
all the time just telling me tocome take a test.
You know what I mean.
So yeah, man.
So I took some thought into it.
My grandfather was in the army,both grandfathers.
My grandfather on my dad's sidewas in the army.
Grandfather on my mom's sidewas in the Air Force and the

(07:22):
Navy.
Oh, wow.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
A military family, yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
And my uncle was in the Army as well, on my dad's
side, so I had a bunch of familyin the military and I was like
man, the Marines they befighting them dragons.
Remember that commercial bro?
Yes.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
I'm like yo that commercial was crazy.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
So I told him.
I said man, y'all be fightingdragons, man.
I don't know if I want to dothat, but that uniform, tight
though.
And he was like no man, that'sjust a commercial man, we don't
fight no dragons.
So I wanted to be different andI was just like you know what I
don't want to blame my mom butlike I wasn't prepared to go to

(08:05):
college, like I was a 3.5student, yeah, but I never took
the SATs until like lastsemester of 12th grade.
Okay, I'm already behind.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
So she would just wake me upand just drop me off every
Saturday to go take the ACTs.
I'm like I ain't even studying,I ain't took no prep work,

(08:27):
nothing.
So after that I was just likeyou know what?
I'm just going to take theASVAB.
You know what I mean?
Because I didn't want to forone, I didn't want to waste my
parents' money, because I justwanted to party.
I was tired of school.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
Like the crazy part is, I never told this story For
those who don't know.
Asvab is one of the tests youhave to take before you.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
It's the military aptitude test.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, oh yeah, you're a recruiter, you know that.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah, I give you the whole rundown, but yeah, so I
never told this part of it.
But I pretty much was like fuck, like fuck, fuck school, and I
almost got kicked off thebaseball team and all the teams
because my last shit, my lastsemester, I had like a 1.5.

(09:14):
I see, yeah, fuck it.
I had senioritis.
I ain't even gonna lie, I hadsenioritis.
But I was done with school.
Yeah, I had a 1 to 4.
I would go to school at eight,get out at twelve every day.
So it was like I was tired ofschool and I wasn't doing the
work because I knew like I'mdone mentally, you was checked
out.
I was checked out, so I wasn'teven trying to go and take the

(09:35):
ACT's, but I just go and bubblein what I thought, what's the
answers, and send it in.
I kept scoring 15s, justabacadabra all the way.
Yeah, literally, a, c, c, c, c,a, a, c, and literally, man, I
kept getting 15s.
I'm like, damn, I'm getting 15sand I ain't even trying, yeah.

(09:57):
So I was like you know what,let me go take the ASRAB.
I took the ASRAB, I took theASRAB, I scored like a 40.
I scored like a 46.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
I can't even remember .

Speaker 1 (10:07):
As a recruiter.
You know, once you hit 50, youconsider the alpha.
That means you're a go to anymilitary branch.
If you score a 50, you prettymuch qualify for every job.
But with my 46, I stillqualified for like 100 and
something jobs.
Yeah, so qualified for like ahundred and something jobs, yeah

(10:28):
.
So I was supposed to be calmand uh, when I, when I was about
to leave in january, likedecember, my recruiter was like
hey, we're gonna have to pushyour, your date back.
I'm like, nah, bro, I'm alreadymentally prepared to leave.
Yeah, january 5th, I'm ready togo.
You know, I mean 2004, I'mready to roll.
So he's like man, the only wayyou can do that is you go open
contract.
So I'm like what's opencontract?
He's like man.
The only way you can do that isyou go open contract.
So I'm like what's opencontract?

(10:48):
He was like man, it's prettymuch like you're a free agent.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
So I was like all right Go for it.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
No Right, and I swear to God.
I thought I was going to be agrunt man, I promise you.
But I think if I did, I waswith grunts, infantry, for those
that don't know.
So yeah, man, that's how Ijoined.
And the reason why I joined isbecause it was like I just
wanted to get away from home.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Because I knew yeah, it wasn't nothing for you back
then, it wasn't nothing for me,bro.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
It wasn't nothing for me and I knew like if I stayed
I'd be just some ignorant kidNot understanding, being dumb,
belligerent, fighting, stealing.
You know what I mean, shooting.
So I said you know what, Let meget up out of here, because I
already had like anger in mealready.
You know what I'm saying.
So, yeah, I left and that wasthe best thing.

(11:36):
Like you, man, the best thingthat ever happened to me.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
What about you?
So I went to Elmhurst College,a private college in, uh, in
Illinois, um, affluentneighborhood, uh, um, it was I
don't know the percentage of.
It was a high percentage oflike Caucasian and then, you
know, maybe it was like 10, 20%was like an amalgam of of

(12:01):
different ethnicities and, uh,basically, I mean, I went to
play basketball there.
Michael Jordan held hischildren's camp there, so
literally got to meet Mike onthe same court as Mike.
That's dope, it was wild man.
Yeah, that dude, he talks themost trash ever I've heard.

(12:21):
It's horrible, I heard, but Idigress.
Uh, basically, my, uh, mysophomore year I ended up
quitting the basketball teambecause we won the conference
championship.
My freshman year, the first onein the school's history like,
our gym is just full of bannersof our.
What school?
Elmhurst college.
Okay, yeah, banners.
Every banner in the gym waslike our body.

(12:42):
Our girls volleyball team wasjust ridiculous.
Yeah, those are all the banners.
We banner in the gym was likeour.
Our girls volleyball team wasjust ridiculous.
Yeah, those are all the banners.
We finally got one up forbasketball.
But the next year is just um,something changed with how our
practices were.
I guess they were just so ampedabout what we did a year prior
that, um, like the practice justbecame, I don't know.
It was just a little bit toomuch, yeah, you know, and I
wasn't having fun anymore, right, right.

(13:04):
So I told my roommate I waslike man, I'm about to walk over
to the coach's office.
Let him know that.
You know what I'm saying.
I'm done and little did I know.
Forgive me, wolf, for tellingthis story, but my roommate,
dave Wolf, said his wholegovernment name While I'm
walking over there.
He called over there and quiton the phone.

(13:26):
And I'm going to talk to themlike face to face and stuff like
this.
So I walk in.
They're just hanging up thephone, you know, and I'm just
like, hey, you know, this iswhat's going on.
I just my heart ain't in it, nomore.
I'm not having fun, so I justthink it's best that I step away
.
It's like, wow, it'severybody's doing that now.
And I'm like, hmm, it was likeyour roommate just called and
quit and I'm like wow, you know,you gave him the heads up to

(13:49):
beat your team.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But so the crazy thing aboutthat when I quit the basketball
team I didn't realize that whatwas keeping me in class?
I went to Elmhurst.
I thought that's what mydestiny was, because I mean I
loved computers, I would buildcomputers and all this other
type of stuff, man.
But once I quit the team, likeI stopped going to class, like

(14:13):
that was the only thing keepingme like in class, because I knew
if I didn't go to class, if Ididn't pass, then I wouldn't be
able to play basketball.
But once I was no longerplaying basketball, I just
wasn't mature enough just to bea regular college student.
And I just wasn't mature enoughjust to be a regular college
student, right, and I juststayed on campus and I was just
getting Fs Dang Fs Living the Flife yeah.

(14:34):
And I remember my roommate Dave.
He was like man, what are yougoing to do with your life?
And I kid you not.
It's like a movie.
The Marine Corps commercialcame on.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
I didn't really know nothing about the Marines, this
dude was climbing a mountain,took out a sword and it was like
a fire-breathing dragon.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
I was like I'm going to fucking fight a dragon.
You know what I'm?

Speaker 1 (14:55):
saying I'm going to do that Right, I'm hyped.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
Let's do it.
And he just came out of nowhere, you know, he just spawned like
it was Halo, you know what I'msaying.
He was just like, hmm, nevermake it.
I'm like, whoa, hold on, likeany type of challenge.
I'm like, nah, all right, stop.
So I was in a recruiter'soffice the next day and I'm like
, hey, you know, I want to joinand stuff like that, you know.

(15:21):
And it was like, all right,great, we're out in like a
couple of weeks, something likethat.
Slow down, that's too fast,let's talk a little bit more.
But ended up, you know, takingan ASVAB.
I can't remember what I scored,but I found out about the DEP
program, the Delayed EntryProgram, and basically it can
delay you leaving for boot camp,I think up to a year.

(15:43):
Up to a year, yeah.
And I think I took like sevenor eight months and yeah, and
then I left.
I just it was once I quit theteam, I started falling back
into a lot of bad habits and Ijust and him saying, what are
you going to do with your life?
It just struck something insideof me and I knew I didn't want

(16:03):
to go back and you know, andkind of be, I felt like I would
have been a burden on my parents.
You know, I have four oldersisters.
I'm the youngest child, onlyboy, you know, and I remember
one of my sisters telling me,you know, saying my middle name
is Jason.
So it was like Jason, you ain'tgot no job and all Like it's
just, I'm like man, I can't, Ican't be this person and yeah,

(16:30):
so and yeah so I ended upjoining the Marine Corps and,
honestly, uh, best decision thatthat I ever made.
You know I'm saying my, my kneesdon't feel that way.
You know what I'm saying.
But uh, I went in as a 0151, soI went in as an administrator.
Yeah, and um, I gotta tell youwhy you gotta have.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, baby, I didn't knowyou yet.
I didn't know you yet, but therecruiter was.
He was like you know, that'swhere all the women are, and
stuff like that.
I'm like, bet you know, send methe admin, yeah not one girl in

(16:54):
my shop.
Nope, you probably what uni,you going to?
I was at.
I was at 3rd Mar Div and I waswith G1.
You know what?
I'm now one girl in my shop andmy gunny wanted it that way
because he wanted to dispel thewhole thing that if you're an
admin that you're just like lazyand all this other type of
stuff.

(17:14):
This dude was a 300 pft, youknow our shop average was like
285.
So he would sign us up for likerelay races on Friday so we can
be tired and not do anythingthat night stay out of trouble
like this dude was, you know, amenace in a good way, yeah, um
so, yeah, no, but it was, it wasstill.

(17:35):
It was great, but playbasketball in the marines as
well.
Um, so my basketball journeywasn't over, uh, quite yet.
However, um, that's when, afterdoing the whole admin thing for
a couple of years, and I'm justlike you know- I found out about
Marine Security Guard duty andI volunteered for that and I was

(17:56):
able to get in and stuff likethat, did my training at
Quantico and then had a greatthree years as a Marine Security
Guard.
Where did you go?
Did you go somewhere every year?
Well, I was in, I was in.
I was in, I was supposed to.
I was in Tashkent, uzbekistan,for longer than I was supposed
to be.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
Ain't that where the fairy odd parents live at?

Speaker 2 (18:18):
I don't know who that is.
You say who the fairy odd?

Speaker 1 (18:20):
parent.
You don't know about thatcartoon man.
Nah CJ will tell you about it.
He'll tell you about it.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
But, but Tide Skin was my first, oh, that was my
first post.
We opened up that embassy,actually, and and it was
basically it was Tokyo.
After that it should have beenone, one and one, you know,
three different places, but awhole bunch of stuff, politics,
stuff was going on, yeah, and weweren't able to.

(18:49):
I wasn't able to leave when Iwas supposed to yeah, you know
how that goes, yeah, but, butnot again.
Everything happened for areason and I had a great time
there and met a lot of people.
And then I ended up in Tokyowhen I was supposed to, and
there were people there that Inetworked with and because of,
you know, saying thatrelationship, you know, it

(19:11):
helped me.
You know what I'm saying getwork outside once I was done
with the Marines.
So, yeah, man, it was a greatexperience you know.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
So how did you jump into acting out of all of the,
from the MSG to admin, tobasketball, how did acting jump
in?

Speaker 2 (19:29):
I mean, it just kind of came out of nowhere, man, but
let my mother tell it this wasalways something that I was
probably destined to do, justbecause she, like, there's
videotapes, vhs tapes, vhs kids,you know, not even DVDs.
Yeah, Because I used to performat the assemblies in school

(19:51):
when I was like in, like fifth,oh, you're doing a talent show.
Fifth, sixth grade, weak, I'mweak.
My wife's supposed to beworking making sure the
screensaver don't come on.
Yeah, just press over, there wego and I go down.
Thank you, thank you, baby.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
You were so caught up in the story that you yeah, she
forgot.
But yeah, so I used to you wasdoing talent shows or just doing
yeah, yeah, performing at yeah,performing at the school.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
It was like, all right, we got an assembly coming
up.
This is Black History Month.
You know we want you to dothese speeches and stuff like
that, and I was good at it, youknow.
But you know, as a kid you'refearless, right.
So I'm getting up there infront of all these people and
I'm memorizing these speechesand I'm saying them with you
know what I'm saying, like suchpassion and and it was crazy,
but I didn't remember that stuffuntil she showed me tapes of it

(20:49):
.
I think I still got one man.
I ain't got a VHS, but you gotto convert it.
Now I know, man, I know you gotto find a converter, but how I
got into it was basically wewere staying in Haymarket,
virginia, and one of myneighbors who was like an
up-and-coming photographerJosiah Mendoza is his name.
He's a great, greatphotographer he wanted to Shout
out to Josiah.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
I know exactly who that is Okay.

Speaker 2 (21:11):
Yeah, Shout out, Josiah man.
He sent me a weird text messageand this is just how he and I
talked.
He was like hey, I need yourface.
Oh yeah, this was before.
I was born but off and yeah,that's this was before it was
bought, but he was like hey, Ineed you, he sent, he sent.
Hey, I need your face, you knowhe sent that.

(21:32):
That's the Apple, that's theApple send, that's the Apple
send for you Androiders, and Iwas just like all right you know
, you know, and basically we heput the pictures out there on
social media and I remember himshowing me the first picture and
I couldn't even believe it wasme.
One of my neighbors, she didthe makeup and stuff like that.
Karen Rodriguez, shout out,girl, great job.

(21:54):
And yeah, it was amazing.
And I'm like, okay, this wasdope, you know.
And then, oh, yeah, here's whathappened.
I ended up, I think I was 29 or30 years old and I went to the
doctor.
I had a physical and they waslet.
Basically, the physical was badnews.
Yeah, my cholesterol was superhigh, my triglycerides were off

(22:16):
the charts, I was in line formetabolic syndrome, which leads
to heart disease and heartattacks and stuff like that.
And first thing that hit me wasseeing my father in a hospital
and I think, you know, I wasvery young, you know, and so was
he Right, and I'm just like man, you know, this type of stuff

(22:37):
is.
I got to watch out for thistype of stuff because it's in my
genes, hereditary, yeah, so itscared me, definitely scared.
You know what I'm saying.
My wife Literally went home, gotrid of, like, all of our junk
food, all this type of stuff.
I got on a workout plan andended up getting in a little bit
of shape, you know, I gothealthier and the byproduct of

(22:58):
that, you know, I was fit, youknow.
So I ended up doing a fitnessphoto shoot with Josiah Shout
out Josiah.
And he put the pictures outthere.
And his photo shoot with JosiahShout out Josiah, and he put
the pictures out there.
And if he was like yo, youshould model, you should model.
I'm like you know, like I don'tknow, but you hear it enough.
You just like maybe I shouldgive it a shot.
Put my pictures on his websitecalled Model Mayhem.
And, oddly enough, the firstperson that wanted to work with

(23:21):
me didn't photography, he wasdoing a web series.
He was like you look exactlylike the character I'm writing.
Why don't you come and do thisaudition?
I knew nothing about doing anaudition.
I was just like alright, hegave me the lines, I did the
audition.
He was like, alright, you knowwhat I'm saying, you get to go.

(23:41):
I was a part of the project, youknow, and that was literally my
first gig was.
It was a web series and,luckily, luckily enough, um,
like for me, I'm a sponge.
Whoever I'm around, you know,especially if they, if they know
more than me.
They've been in this industrylonger than me.
I'm going to listen to whatthey have to say.
Yeah, and these guys, they weregiving me all these gems and,

(24:05):
um, talking about differentcasting agencies that were in
the area.
Because, again, I knew nothingabout this stuff so I just went
all in because it was so muchfun.
It was a hobby in the beginning, but it was so much fun and I
was finding success with it andit got to the point and I'm
talking to my wife, jessica,about it and I'm just like you

(24:25):
know, maybe I might try to takethis seriously.
Yeah, and I did, and I rememberI think I'm trying to think
what was like the turning point.
I ended up meeting Derek Gray.

(24:46):
He's a writer and a producerand it's like he was writing for
my voice.
He put me in some web seriesand they really highlighted the
type of actor and acting thatbecause it was dramatic and it
really highlighted me.
And once he started puttingthis stuff out there, like he
was really pushing his projects,so I was getting seen and

(25:09):
people wanted to work with me.
So people would reach out like,hey, I want you, I want you to
be a part of this project andthat's one of the biggest things
networking in this industry andI know, you know, man, like,
networking is such a big thingin this industry and, honestly,
it can be 90 percent of it ifyou're doing it right, right, so
people were talking about meand I wasn't even in that room,
you know, but there was like hey, you should check CJ out.
I'm getting calls from peoplethat I don't know.

(25:30):
Like, hey, so-and-so mentionedyou, you know, like, so I got
this project going on and Iwould love for you to be on it,
and it was a lot of times Iwasn't even auditioning anymore,
you know so.
And then it got to a point whereI ended up booking a job where,
uh, it was a SAG.
It was a SAG commercial, aunion commercial, and it was

(25:51):
with Olivia Munn, and I didn'thave a big part in it, you know,
but I was still.
My likeness was being used,they considered me like
principal and I became eligibleto join the union and, um, that
eligibility, once you startputting it on your resume, you
know that that that means alittle bit and it was just.

(26:12):
I want to say it was a lot ofpreparation and a lot of luck
mixed, mixed in both and likeopportunities will come around
where it would just be like aco-star role on like a TV show.
A co-star with a TV show meansyou'll probably have five lines
or less, but you'll probably bein the scene with one of the

(26:34):
main characters and so you'llget seen.
And I'm trying to remember whatmy first one was.
Was it Dope Sick?
Yeah, I ended up getting anaudition for a TV show called
Dope Sick on Hulu, starringRosario Dawson, michael Keaton
wow, the original Batman yeah,yeah, and being directed by

(26:57):
Barry Levison, who did Rain man,and I'm on a Zoom call with
these people wow, you know so,and get it so as far as to, you
know, saying become a dominoeffect.
So you get on one, and a lot ofit helps when you market
yourself as well.
So being able to get theseclips and then create a reel and
put it out there so people cansee it's like oh, this person

(27:18):
does this, this and this.
Okay, all right, you know,let's, maybe we'll give them a
shot.
And other casting agencieswanted to work with me and sign
me.
So that happened.

(27:39):
I talked to a friend and theyhooked me up with a casting
agency, a talent agency thatthey were with, you know, and
honestly, maltzby Talent Agency.
I got to give them a shout outbecause if it wasn't for them, I
wouldn't have.
They got me auditions forGodfather, harlem, nice, and

(28:00):
that same year, a couple ofmonths later, they sent me an
audition for Law Order and lateron that year I got auditioned
from the same talent agency forAll the Queensmen and I booked
all of them.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
And Father of Queens is the one All the Queensmen.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
Yeah with Tyler.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Perry yeah, with Tyler Perry, and that's the one
you got like a lot of episodes.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
Nine episodes, nine episodes, that was crazy man.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
Yeah, you was telling me.
So yeah, let's talk about that,Because you was telling me how
the other shows, the way theyprep, is not the same as Tyler
Perry.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
Now, Tyler shoots fast, man Tyler, mr Perry Sorry,
sir, he shoots fast.
And I remember I think it wasmaybe like the third or fourth
day.
But I remember telling my wifelike man, I kind of feel like a
fish out of water because Iwasn't used to that speed,

(29:00):
quickly got used to it and Ifound that if you were going to
pick a moment with yourcharacter or some type of option
that you wanted to do, make ita strong one and a bold one,
because it might be the only onethat you get in that take,

(29:22):
because they might move on rightafter that.
Unless there's somethingdrastically wrong.
They're probably going to moveon right after that.
Unless there's somethingdrastically wrong, you know
they're probably, you know,going to move on.
So I learned that because I gotcomfortable.
But the crazy part of it is Iwas booked on a Thursday,

(29:43):
saturday.
They sent me like eightepisodes and I was on set Monday
.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
And you had to learn all of that.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
Yeah, I mean.
So you, you get a warm andfuzzy of everything that you
know what I'm saying Of, of ofthe scenes and, um, they'll let
you know, like you'll get thecall sheet of what they're going
to shoot, um the day before,and then you kind of hone in and
focus on those because you knowyou're going to shoot those
like the next day.
So, luckily for me, I memorizelines like very easily.

(30:14):
But it's one thing to memorize.
It is another thing to make itbelievable, you know, since it's
a delivery.
So I felt like I was able to dothat, especially seeing all of
the chats and stuff chat roomson Facebook and even some people
who was hosting podcasts after,like, they'll talk about the
show.
It really hated my character,like they hated me.

(30:36):
You know what I'm saying.
Yeah, just talking about me wassuch vitriol and I loved it
because I'm like all right, I'mdoing my job.
Yeah, I'm doing my job.
So, no, it was great, though,and I saw him like half a second
Like came seeing this tall guy.
You know what I'm saying.
He dapped me up and stuff likethat.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
Actually, Just like that.

Speaker 2 (30:59):
And we getting into it.
You know, because that man'sbusy, he's cranking out all
these shows, but he still popsover, you know, directs some
scenes, maybe you know, maybe awhole episode, but yeah, he
shows up for the work.
That's dope man.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
What do you think is your favorite episode or
favorite show that you've doneso far?

Speaker 2 (31:24):
Man, that's tough Because, honestly like so, law
Order and working with TylerPerry both were on my bucket
list and they happened in thesame year.
I had no idea that I was goingto when I did Law Order, that I
was going to meet you know whatI'm saying.
Like Mariska, I had no idea andI find myself in the meet.

(31:46):
You know what I'm saying, likeMariska, I had no idea and I
find myself in the scene.
You know what I'm saying withher and she's giving me pointers
and stuff like that.
It was just the most amazingthing ever.
So that's very high on the list, you know, because you know Law
Order had been on since the daybefore forever.
I think I was maybe like I canonly think you was in somebody's

(32:07):
belly when it was still.
That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
I think that joint might have been before me
because I remember the 90s.
It was New York undercover andLaw and Order.

Speaker 2 (32:15):
Oh, New York, kind of yeah, Because you know I ain't
had cable dog.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, we had it too, but it waslike our you know what I mean,
that's all.
I had you know what.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
I mean you picking the nook?
No, but yeah, man, so okay.
So those two, let's talk aboutthis person, this partner that's
been there with you through allof this.

Speaker 2 (32:40):
My mother's great.
She just my wife.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
I'm trying to bring her into it.
She he playing, she taking theearrings off she taking the
earrings off.
But yeah man, my time in Asiayes, jess, jess is a super dope,
um absolutely yeah, no, man,how y'all meet.

Speaker 2 (33:03):
Oh wow, do I get to tell the story?
I don't know, I don't like what.
What's the rating on yourpodcast?

Speaker 1 (33:10):
It's whatever.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
It's whatever.
So basically this is whathappened.
Oh, the voice changed, thevoice changed.
No, so I was, I was, I think Iwas in Uzbekistan, I can't
remember, but I was overseas, Iknow that much.
And she worked with one of mysisters, one of four, overseas,
I know that much.
And she worked with one of mysisters, one of four, and my
sister has this picture of meand my nephew on her desk and he

(33:32):
has my Marine Corps barrackscover and stuff like that on and
I'm sitting there smiling byhim and stuff.
And she walked by andapparently, from what I heard,
she fainted, you know, passedout.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
Is that true or false ?

Speaker 2 (33:48):
oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that's not true, but she
saw the picture, she was justlike oh, your brother's fine,
alright, there we go.
So I mean, I heard about this,you know, like later.
So you know, I didn't know whatwas up.
But I ended up coming home andI went to my sister's job and
stuff like that to see her andjust pop up and say what's up,

(34:10):
and I think Jessica might'vebeen like in a meeting or
something like that.
And this is the crazy thing,you know, like after I left I
guess everybody was like youjust missed him.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
You know like I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
you know what I'm saying.
Like I mean, that's kind ofcool to hear now, but I weighed
like 175 pounds.
I have confidence now.
I didn't have that much backthen.
I'll be honest about that.
He was a twit, he was fine toyou, that's all that matters.

(34:45):
But basically my sister was like, what you want to do?
I'm like, well, you know, let'sgo to dinner.
We can go to dinner and stufflike that after work or early
dinner, and she wanted to knowwhere I wanted to go.
I'm like, well, you know whodoes this, you know what I'm
saying?
Or was my favorite wrestler.
They got great wings, guys.
They do Calm down, they do.

Speaker 1 (35:05):
Calm down.
They do no buns, but greatwings.
That's Great wings, great wings.
You hear me?
I'm trying to tell you, tryingto learn.

Speaker 2 (35:18):
you know, I like their chicken.

Speaker 1 (35:20):
I mean, but this is before Buffalo Wild Wings.
Yeah, I didn't know anythingabout B-dubs or anything like
that.
Wings, stop, yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:27):
I mean I didn't know anything about B-dubs, or
anything like that, wingstop,yeah, I mean, I didn't know that
stuff.
But so, like a bunch of us wentover there and she told me
later that she didn't even feellike you know, saying like going
or anything like that, but sheended up showing up and I
remember we pulled up and Ilooked over and she was like on
her phone and as soon as shelooked over to me, whoever she

(35:51):
was talking to, she was like Igot to go.
You know you know saying andthen she hung.
I'm not going to tell the storyright now.

Speaker 1 (36:00):
All right.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
You know, usually I say she threw the phone out of
her car, but no, she hung up thephone and stuff like that and
like canceled her service,canceled her service she was
like.
I don't want nobody calling me.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
You had Singular.
Remember it was Singular beforeAT&T.
I used to work for Singular.
That's crazy.
You used to work for Singular,because I had Singular before
they switched to AT&T I used towork for Singular man.

Speaker 2 (36:24):
We not going to talk about.

Speaker 1 (36:26):
No, scratch that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
Scratch that.
And then you know she waswalking up and stuff like that
and I'm asking my sister I waslike yo, what's the deal with
Jessica, what's up, she's single.
And she was like I don't know.
She was like Jessica, you single, and the most thirstiest stuff
came out of her mouth.
She looked at me.
She was like all day, every day, All day, every day, I was like

(36:53):
God, dang, yeah.
But I'm like, okay, you knowwhat I'm saying.
So we go inside, we're sittingat this big you know what I'm
saying long table and stuff likethat, and my sister was sitting
to the right of me.
There's an empty seat to theleft and then, but there are
other people beyond that emptyspot and then you got other
people on the other side and I'mlooking.
I'm like why is there this hugegap right here?
I'm like what?
Are y'all afraid to sit by thebig bad Marine?
What's going on?

(37:14):
And I look across the table.
Jessica is smiling like she gota hanger in her mouth.
You know what I'm saying.
Like it's just like the Joker,you know.
And she's like you wantsomebody to sit by.
You know what I'm saying?
To get over there.
Okay, she didn't slide.
Oh, I was about to say dang,Jess, she didn't slide, but she

(37:35):
did move with haste.
You know what I'm saying.
Expeditiously, yeah, yeah, sheexpedited expeditiously, you
know what.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
I'm saying so get over there very quick.

Speaker 2 (37:42):
Your lateral movement was fantastic back then.
You know enough credit for thatand I want to give it to you
right now.

Speaker 1 (37:47):
Yeah, you got a lot of movement flowers.

Speaker 2 (37:49):
Yeah, but no, she got over there pretty quick and she
sat down and stuff like thatand I just like you know what
I'm saying put my hand down byher hand and stuff, you know.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
Playing handsies, not flissies, and look.

Speaker 2 (38:07):
I'm trying the lady brings the plates down and stuff
like that, I'm like no, we'lljust have one plate.
Where we putting these bones at.
You know what I'm saying.
I didn't even think about that.
I didn't even think about thatman.
But you know, we shared theplate and stuff like that, and
afterwards I walked into a car,I think I kissed you on the
forehead and I told you I wantedto take you on a proper date,

(38:29):
Not Hooters, no, not Hooters.
So we set a date and stuff likethat, and I think two days
later we were supposed to go ona date.
It was the next day.
I'm sorry, All right, so I'mlegit and this is like real.
I know it sounds fake, but so Iwas in Bible class.
I was in Bible study and itwent long, Because you know you
can't put a time limit on theHoly Spirit.

(38:49):
No, you can't, you don't dothat.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Especially if it's an older person holding their
Bible study.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
Yeah, man, it was a bunch of black people, and
that's all you need you knowwhat I'm saying In the basement
so it wasn't.
You know, yeah, so it wascomfortable.
God at the time.
I'm like God.
You know what I'm saying, Godyou know, come on, and so I
ended up getting out of there.
I called I'm like yo, you knowI'm late and stuff like that, so

(39:15):
I apologized.
I stopped, bought a bottle ofwine to you know what I'm saying
as an apology to give to her.
How old was you at this timewhen you buying a?
See, I was on the MarineSecurity Guard program and we
have dinner with ambassadors andeverything like that.
So it changed my whole, Becausea nigga like me I wouldn't have
thought about no wine.
I don't need no wine now.

(39:35):
I'm like I'll get a nice PinotNoir.
I would have got a MD 2020.

Speaker 1 (39:40):
Oh my God, hey, not the Mad Dog, the MD 2020.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
I think it cost like $2.99 or something like that
$2.99 bananas whatever you want,oh not the Come on man.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
You're taking me back .
Yo Come on, man Jeez.
Or the squeeze bottle pop-off.
Wait, what was that?
The squeeze bottle $10,military liquor we should get
from the PX.
You didn't ever get the squeezebottle.
No, I was drinking.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
It was like $5, $10.
Hate now, by the way, yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
I can't stand beer.
It's only because I drink toomuch you know too much of it.

Speaker 2 (40:11):
That was in the Marines guys.
No, he got a whole bar overthere, yeah, but I do, I do, and
it stays full though.
Full Anything you want,anything you want, anything you
want.
I don't be getting down likethat.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
And he got the seltzers.

Speaker 2 (40:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:29):
I'll be running through those tonight.
Man man, they had to go getanother pack, two packs.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
That's like the third time somebody made a run, right
, yeah.
But yeah, so I show up and likeshe looking real comfortable,
like we ain't going out no more.
You know she was like ain'tnothing open, come back to my
house, my apartment.
I'm like, I'm like all right,you know.

(40:54):
So we, we, we, we drive, we goback, I follow her back to her
apartment and stuff like that.
I'm sitting down and we havinga conversation and you know, she
, she, she she got on Love andBasketball on Literally
literally hit play.

Speaker 1 (41:11):
It was just like Quincy McCall, not the Maxwell,
oh you had to set up, you had toset up.

Speaker 2 (41:17):
I was just nah, it was not from the beginning, man,
it was the part when they wasabout to do some stuff, and you
know what I'm saying.
She looked down.
You know what I'm saying.
He looked down, he was justlike you background.
I was like, okay, I see what'shappening here.
You know what I'm saying Dangman.
I shan't be molested on thisdate, wow.
So I'm like, all right, she gotthat going on.

(41:40):
We started talking and stufflike that.
And in the middle of myconversation, in the middle of
talking to her what's that, okay, anyway.
In the middle of talking to her, what's that, Okay, anyway.
In the middle of talking to her, she may have had a glass of
wine, but in the middle oftalking to her she decides you
know what?
I'm just going to kiss this guywhile he's speaking.
So she just kisses me.

(42:06):
I'm like oh wait, woman calmdown.
You know what I'm saying I'mtrying to you not kiss me.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
Yeah, okay, all right all right, all right, she said
you lied, but she just admitted.

Speaker 2 (42:17):
Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
Like I kissed her, you know, Ikissed her back, but it did
catch me off guard Because, youknow, I forgot what I was
talking about.
I'm pretty sure I was talkingabout scripture or something
like that, you know.
And I was like Ephesians, youknow.
Like she's like I ain't tryingto, you know what I'm saying,
for most applies what you was,but anyway.
So it was very hot up in herapartment At this time.

(42:43):
Jessica used to keep her heaton like 97 for some reason, you
know.
So I was like, and I noticedhow this is going to sound, but
this is the truth.
I said, hey, can I take myshirt off?
Oh, you did the tank.
You know what I'm saying.
I had a t-shirt on under it, Ihad a whole t-shirt on under it.
You know what I'm saying.
But it was still like in thebackground, the skimmy shirt.

(43:06):
You know that was still going on.
No, it was a regular t-shirt,Regular joint.
Yeah, and then we still talkingstuff like that.
And I'm like man, it really ishot in here.
Can I take my pants off?
Dang you hit her with that.
Okay, she said go ahead, but atthis time I was still a hooper,
yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
I had on basketball shorts.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
Yeah, I had on basketball shorts.
Yeah, I always got onbasketball.

Speaker 1 (43:30):
I always had on basketball shorts?

Speaker 2 (43:31):
I wasn't.
No, nothing, man, you know whatI'm saying.
Do I continue this story?
Okay, yeah, let's go ahead andcontinue it.
Yeah, so, and that's how we met, alright cool, cool, cool, cool
cool.
Oh no, okay, alright, we'regoing to keep going.
Then.
So basically I asked her my ohno, okay, all right, we're going
to keep going.
Then?
So basically I asked her my sonjust walked in.
We're going to end the storyright here.

(43:51):
Guys, you know what I'm saying,won't you?

Speaker 1 (43:56):
be my neighbor, but no how important it is to have a
partner when you're goingthrough.
You know military and actingcareer and your career now.

Speaker 2 (44:06):
No, I would not have.
I wouldn't have accomplishedthe stuff that I have thus far
if it wasn't for her.
You know, and honestly, it'sjust, there were plenty times,
you know, if I'm being honest,there were multiple times where
I wanted to quit.
Yeah, you know, I mean, thisindustry isn't for the weak.

(44:27):
And it was tough hearing allthe no's Like you have to build
like tough, like thick skin, andshe would send me clips and
like text messages and stufflike that, you know, and it was
just like memes from Instagramabout like how long it took Sam

(44:48):
Jack to make it.
You know what I'm saying, buthe made it, you know, like just
all these different things ofnot quitting, staying the course
, you know, and, uh, and, if youlike, continue to believe in
yourself.
Like stuff will pan out.
Man, like she was literallypushing me when I was telling
myself, like man, this is kindof tough and I just not that
it's just being tough, it's justlike those no's.

(45:08):
It really takes a lot to getover Right and having her, you
know, encourage me and thenrealizing that it's just that's
part of the industry.
It helped a lot, man, and Imean, even even now we still you
know what I'm saying.
I go through it because, youknow, things are still tough.

(45:29):
I mean, obviously I want toblow up and just be there, man,
but she's always like, hey, youknow what I'm saying, it'll
happen when it happens.
I get these crazy auditions allthe time and she's the one
that's reading them off screen.
You know reading the otherlines off screen for me.
So, yeah, man, she's been therefor it all.

(45:52):
I was happy when I was able totake her to like a red carpet
and stuff, man, and I don't knowlike we've sat down and had
discussions about that.
It's just like I dream aboutbeing able to, you know, have
her at an award show, you know,and receiving an award and just
giving her you know what I'msaying all her flowers, for you
know what I'm saying, how she'shelped me.
But no, it's definitelyimportant, man.

(46:15):
I mean, I know people can likego through it without like
someone, man, but I don't seehow I would have been able to do
it without her.

Speaker 1 (46:26):
Yeah, that's super dope man, and I think too, man,
like you, definitely got to havea partner that's going to
motivate you, because sometimes,man, when you're going through
it especially Marines too youfeel like you can do everything,
but you know like theydefinitely give us that mindset,
which I appreciate and I never,never neglect it to keep trying

(46:46):
, yeah, but it's like you justkeep hitting that wall.
You're trying to hit the walland it's like man, like keep
hitting that, that, that no wall, like they're telling you, no,
you know what I mean and you, aslong as you got somebody there,
you know what I mean that'sgoing to encourage you to push
you.
Keep, hey, keep going, keepgoing.

(47:13):
I know, because I seen I thinkit was.
It was like a meme or somethingI seen where a guy was digging
for gold.
Right, he dug so far and didn'tstop digging and he left and
the other guy came and just hitit one time and he struck gold.
Yeah, you know what I mean andthat's how it is with us.
You, as you know what I mean,your acting, career, me, music
and everything else, Like wethere, we just got to keep

(47:35):
digging.
You know what I'm saying.
We got to keep going and havingyour partner just you know what
I'm saying that's super, superdope man, because I mean,
everybody don't get that.
You know what.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
I'm saying yeah, you're absolutely right, man.
It's like I remember I wasdoing a lot of.
I had auditioned for House ofCards like I don't know how many
times, and I did House of Cardsfire.

Speaker 1 (47:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
I was an extra in the third season and stuff like
that.
But I ended up getting superclose on the last season and
then, you know, saying the wholeKevin Spacey stuff happened and
you know, they kind of releaseda lot of people.
So I was at my tipping point atthat point, uh, and I really
wanted to quit.
Um, because before that I hadauditioned for, uh, something

(48:21):
for Netflix that Pharrell wassupposed to be doing and um, uh,
it didn't pan out, you know.
So all this stuff I thought wasgoing to be you know what I'm
saying career changing, it justkept slipping away and I know,
like, I know now this is how,like the industry is and it is

(48:41):
and it's tough man, but like,literally, she was telling me
just keep going.
You know, she's like I know, Iknow, I know, you know what I'm
saying you upset, just you know,let's just keep trying.

Speaker 1 (48:53):
It's coming.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
She's like don't, don't, don't.
I forgot what you?
You kept telling me not to makea rushed decision, because I
was like, if I don't get it likeI was giving myself, if I don't
get it in this year, you'regiving emotional deadlines,
deadlines.
Yeah, I was giving myself adeadline.
She kept telling me not to dothat.
Had I done that the deadline Iwas going for I wouldn't have

(49:15):
been on any of the shows or anyof the stuff that I've done.
Man, I'm just glad.
I thank you for that baby.
I appreciate it.
I know you appreciate theresiduals.

Speaker 1 (49:28):
Yes, sir, the residuals always look nice.
Hey, man, before we get out ofhere, would you think about
would you do a role on Game ofThrones?

Speaker 2 (49:40):
I would love it.
I would love it, especiallyHouse of Dragon.
You know they got black peopleon that man.
They got black people with theValerians man, with the blonde
dreads.

Speaker 1 (49:50):
Yo, that's my show man they said, it's gonna take
like a whole another year forthe next season to come out see,
I haven't even watched thesecond one.

Speaker 2 (49:58):
It's crazy.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
I heard I just finished it.
I gotta get on it.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
I mean, I'm the only person in the house to really
get down on this type of stufffor real.
Really, je, really she's oh,cap, cap, jess, cap, jess, ain't
nothing but a whole baseballcap, a whole cap.

Speaker 1 (50:15):
How you gonna do that .

Speaker 2 (50:18):
No, no, no, that's not true, that is not true.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
What about Vikings?
You ever seen Vikings?
I haven't watched Vikings.
Man, you know Vikings is fire,yeah, yeah, it's like.
So you remember how like Houseof Dragons they were, what they
were in England, where were theyat?
So the Vikings, they're fromNorway and they're invading
England, but they're learninghow to like navigate in the sea

(50:45):
Ragnar Lothbrok and stuff.
And so, bro, you got to watchit.
It's super dope.
It looked good, man.
The amount of like the wholecinematic, everything looks.
So I'll watch that any day overlike a certain movie.
It's done very well, man, andit's like it's just kind of the
same thing.
Like they got differentfamilies, yeah, um, and they got
one king, but the way they dothings, they don't.

(51:09):
They worship the God instead ofyou know, jesus.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
So they go to England and theypretty much raid England and the
first place they get to iswhere all the priests at Right.
Yeah, so it's crazy, man.
Okay.
Yeah, you got to watch it, manhe leave, he take one with him
back that can speak theirlanguage and they become the

(51:32):
best of friends and like it'sdope man, but it's like they
still going back though.
So they like going back andforth and he's just a fisherman.
He was just a fisherman, butthat knew how to.
You know what I mean.
He had a best friend that was aboatsman, that know how to make
boats, and they had to figureout how to like explore land.
They never could find land andthen they finally had like this

(51:52):
little compass and it helpedthem find that land in England.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
I knew I should have checked.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
Yeah, it's dope.
There's so many things.
I love history.
That's why I like you, knowwhat I mean.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
There's so many good shows out there that I need to
watch and finish man, finishedman, because I still haven't
finished Suits.

Speaker 1 (52:08):
Yeah, I haven't even started.
Suits is dope.

Speaker 2 (52:10):
Is it?

Speaker 1 (52:14):
Why are you laughing?
I'm being honest, I ain't neverbeen like, yeah, I've seen it.
Suits is dope and the writing.

Speaker 2 (52:20):
The writing is amazing on that man, and if you
have Apple TV+, I ain't tryingto plug any type, but you know
what I'm saying PresumedInnocent yeah, log in, I'll get
your login.
Presumed yeah, presumedPresumed Innocent with, uh uh,
jay Gyllenhaal uh huh, probablyone of the best crime thrillers
I've seen in a long time.

(52:41):
Presumed.
Innocent, yeah, yeah, it's,it's it's dope, like we usually
like the binge watch stuff, butwe was waiting, like each week
it was killing us Killing us towait that long.

Speaker 1 (52:52):
That's why I hate the House of Dragons, because I
actually waited.
Normally I wait and binge watch.
I watched them every week andI'm like you can't do this to me
.

Speaker 2 (52:58):
So my Game of Thrones journey like I was three
seasons late I started.
I think I watched the firstepisode and I was like I don't
think I'm going to go to sleeptonight because I'm about to
watch the rest of these.
I just, I just binged it, yeah,yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
See those type of shows.
You have to.
Yeah, because it's like youwatch it for a week and then you
be like man, I need to go backand watch it.
What happened at this part?

Speaker 2 (53:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:21):
I mean.
So if you binge it, it goes allthe way dope.
What's next?

Speaker 2 (53:27):
Thank you.
So I just got booked for afeature film, an indie feature
film that's filming in WestVirginia actually, and I star
shooting on the 16th.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
Nice, so I'm excited about that.

Speaker 2 (53:44):
I'll be back on set and I'm excited to be back on
set.
I've done excited.
Yeah, I'm excited to be back onset.
I've done a couple other thingsthis year, but it's been mainly
, like you know, modeling andsome hand modeling.
Out of all things, I just neversaw that for myself.
No, but it's dope man.
I mean, I got to meet, that'swhat you got to do when you do

(54:06):
stuff like that.
Like I did, a Jared jewelrycommercial and I was putting, I
was putting a necklace aroundthis girl's neck.
You know what I'm saying, youknow and, and it was just your
hands.

Speaker 1 (54:16):
Just my hands, man.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
Dang.

Speaker 1 (54:18):
That's crazy.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
And then I did a Grey Goose one with Francis Tiafoe,
the tennis player from Maryland.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
Yeah, yeah, he just lost too, man Shout out to TI
Fox, shout out Francis man.

Speaker 2 (54:31):
Really, really, really cool cat man.
I got to meet him on that shoot.
Nah, man, he's cool, confident,humble, but confident.
So, man, it's been dope, butI'm always itching to get back
on set, have a screenplay toread and stuff like that.
All right, and that's coming up, man.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
So make sure y'all check out CJ man, but before we
get out of here we got gym classman, g-e-m the gyms that you
can spread throughout the worldand give to anybody to take and
put in their toolbox.
What's a gym you can give tothe people out here?

Speaker 2 (55:09):
I guess this one's kind of a personal one, because
don't compromise on your moralsfor believability of success,
and what I mean by that is thefact that there were certain of

(55:30):
success, and what I mean by thatis the fact that there were,
there were certain, there waslike certain roles that like
would come my way and Istruggled on whether or not I
should do them because morallyit didn't, it didn't feel right.
Yeah, and I'm just like man,passing on this, I could be

(55:54):
shooting myself in the foot, youknow what I'm saying.
As far as, like, furthering mycareer, yeah, but I mean, that's
just, honestly, you have to beable to sit with yourself, yeah.
So if I were to say anything,it would be that, yeah, just
make sure, you know, you don'tcompromise your morals in the

(56:15):
process.
Man, if you can stay true toyourself and still be able to do
your passion and you know, andtrace and chase your dream, I
think that's the best thing ever, you know.
Don't compromise, yeah, don'tcompromise your morals, I think
that's the best thing ever, youknow.
Don't compromise, yeah, don'tcompromise your morals and
definitely don't quit because,honestly, man, the many times

(56:35):
that I wanted to stop actingjust because of all of the no's
and I tell people all the timebecause they have questions
about acting.
I'm like, if I tell you howmany times I've heard no, it'll
discourage you.
It'll discourage you fromtrying, but it's part of the
process.
You have to learn that it'sgoing to be a part of the
process.
Develop that tough skin andjust keep trying because you get

(56:56):
that one yes.
I mean it makes all of thedifference.
I've been hearing a lot of no'sthis year because the industry
has been slow.
It's been crazy and I just gota yes and I've never felt, you
know, seen more alive.
So yeah, just yeah, don't quitLike that we out Wu-Tang,

(57:19):
wu-tang.

Speaker 1 (57:21):
Hey, make sure y'all like.
Subscribe.

Speaker 2 (57:23):
Comment For sure I appreciate y'all man.

Speaker 1 (57:26):
This is amazing, cj I appreciate you for letting me
come to your house, man, and eatsome good food.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
Yeah, hey man, that banana pudding you brought was
slapping.
Though Appreciate it Slapping,yo Appreciate it.
Who made that?

Speaker 1 (57:40):
Huh, he made it, your father made it.
Yeah, yeah, man, you ain't knowthat, bro, I didn't brought
that drink.
Huh, tonight's drinks, I did itfor.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
JoJo, you did it for JoJo man.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
No, our run time is already long, man.

Speaker 2 (58:04):
Hey, simplify bro.
Appreciate you, man.
Appreciate you man, peace.