Today we’d like to introduce you to Graham Weatherspoon II.
Hi Graham, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I suppose I got started in this industry like most, I watched a lot of movie and T.V. as a kid. Luckily, I had a tiny advantage I lived in NYC and my father was an NYPD Det. and had friends on the N.Y.P.D. Film Unit. I got to see the behind-the-scenes of many films and T.V. shows… My sophomore I moved to Wylie, Texas, and got into Theater… I had a great theater teacher who inspired, motivated, and nurtured my abilities.
After high school, I joined the U.S. Navy. I had the opportunity to be the representative for the Dallas/Fort Worth area for Holiday media messages on T.V. and radio forward-deployed aboard the U.S.S. George Washington (CVN-73). I hosted a radio show aboard the G.W. and the U,S,S, Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). Later in my career, I was stationed at NSA Bahrain, where I was the Duty Chief. I was responsible for some of the sailor who protected the base and other assets. I had the opportunity to set up and ensure the safety of VIPs. Some included The Harlem Globetrotters, Darius Rucker, Vince McMahon, The Miz, R-Type, Matthew Lillard, Robert Patrick. The one that I spent the most time with was the Cast of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. I had time to ask Anthony Mackie about acting and how to get into acting. He gave me some general advice. I joked around with co-workers about becoming a politician.
As I was retiring from the Navy, I was at the City of Glenn Heights Family Festival a Navy Veteran and Mayor of Glenn Heights asked what I was going to do after I retire. I replied, “I’m going to take your job.” It was a joke at the time. Once I retired, I get a knock on my door and a neighbor asked about my mayoral campaign. I was like man that was a joke. Ultimately, I did run unfortunately I was stationed in Oklahoma and I missed the deadline of getting on the ballot. So, with some due diligence and upsetting the City Secretary at the time who actually suggested I read information from the Texas Secretary of State. I read everything there was and found out that I could run as a write-in. So that’s what I did. I knew as a writer in that I had very slim chance of winning. I ended up losing the election. One day at AT&T Stadium I met Roberta Black Black who was from the same area of Queens I was from gave me call. She said a friend of hers was making a T.V. show and needed extras. That person was Michael Green he had a corporate office scene. I came dressed as I would in the NYC corporate world. I was overdressed for scene. Michael was kind enough to actually write a part for me. We did a few takes for safety. afterwards he said “You did great, you can do this for a living”. That was my uh-huh moment. I ran again for City Council of Glenn Heights but by then I had worked on a few shows on the Reelz Network, a few episodes of Queen of the South, and did a modeling gig for Comcast/Universal. I ended up losing that election as well. But I didn’t feel so bad because of my opportunities in the entertainment industry so far.
I had the chance to work on two seasons of NICIS New Orleans where I met two actors I watched as a kid Scott Bakula and my only fanboy freak-out moment Levar Burton. He walked into the room and I unconsciously said aloud “Oh my God it’s Levar Burton!!” It was also a great Star Trek moment. I also got to work with other childhood memories like Nintendo. I’ve also have had the opportunity recently to work with directors such as Robert Rodriguez and Terrence Malick in a commercial narrated by Don Cheadle for a Ford.
The project that surprised me the most was a call to be a background actor by a great friend Jeffery Gray. The project he was working on needed SWAT personnel and I had experience in that field. Once we were on set the actor, they had did not fit the bill, unfortunately. Director Tim Sparks asked me to step in and I felt bad and did not want to because I had just befriended the actor whose part I was instructed to take. Furthermore, I was also instructed to take another actor’s role. Tim trusted me to come up with my own lines. I had no clue what I was going to say. We filmed it apparently, he like it so much I made the trailer. The movie was later submitted to various film festivals. The most important and rewarding festival was the New York Latino Film Festival which we won best picture was sponsored HBO and HBO Latino. A year prior on the Comcast /Universal shoot I went to HBO’s offices in Manhattan and looked up and said one day I will be on HBO. They Lost Our Baby was renamed Amaraica and was shown on HBO and HBO/Max the following year. I am eternally grateful to Jeffery Gray and TIm Sparks for making a childhood and adult dream come true.
Who knows what the future has to hold. I will continue to strive to improve and perfect my craft. It’s been a great ride so far and I am blessed.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I have been blessed in this industry. Due to military retirement, I have had the opportunity to focus on my new career without the stress that some have experienced. It has also given me the opportunity to travel at a moment’s notice turn down jobs and focus on quality instead of quantity of the job.
How do you think about luck?
I guess having Military and Law Enforcement experience has given me an advantage in technical know-how and also discipline… There are a lot of veterans in the entertainment industry and we gravitate towards and help each other… The entertaining industry and military are similar in some instances
Contact Info:
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/gs_weatherspoon
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/gsweatherspoon/
- Other: www.imdb.me/grahamseanweatherspoonII
Image Credit
Johnny Rey Dias
