Meet David Chattam

We were lucky to catch up with David Chattam recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have David with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

My work ethic is definitely something that was genetically instilled in me. When I was a kid growing up in Calhoun, GA. my grandfather, Roy, and father, David Sr. owned and operated Chattam’s Transfer Co., a moving and storage company that my grandfather started in the early to mid-1900’s, and is still in operation to this day. When I was old enough, I often helped out on moving jobs which meant being up at 5am, sometimes working in very hot or very cold conditions, and often lifting very heavy pieces of furniture. It was hard work, but it was gratifying work. I always felt a sense of pride and accomplishment seeing an empty house after we loaded all of the furniture onto the moving van, or seeing the empty van after we moved the furniture back into a house. Now, I did more than my fair share of complaining about the hard work as a kid, but I soon learned that whining and complaining didn’t get the job done. Sometimes you just have to shut up, buck up, and like the slogan says… Just do it.

I also get a lot of my work ethic from my mom, the recently wed Mrs. Gewndolyn Shropshire. She was one of those types that when she told you to do something, if it wasn’t done correctly then you kept on doing it until it was. As a kid, I quickly learned that the fastest path to going outside to play with my buddies was to do whatever chores it was she told me to do correctly and completely the first time around. Otherwise, my friends could wait.

My mom also instilled in me a “never give up” attitude. When I was in college, I had a basketball scholarship to the University of Alabama in Huntsville. During my junior year, things were not going too well for me on the court. My father had passed the year before, and I just lost the desire to play. I eventually had the scholarship taken away from me at the end of the season. I pretty much gave up the idea of finishing school and literally rented a truck, loaded up all of my stuff, and drove home without telling my mom. When I pulled up at home, and informed my mom I was done with school, she didn’t even let me unload the truck! She made me drive back to Huntsville the very next day, find an apartment, find a job and stay in school. Long story short, I managed to get everything back on track, wound up winning my scholarship back, and eventually graduated college with a degree in Information Systems.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

What I do is act. I have been doing that professionally for the past two decades, and I absolutely love what I do. To me there is nothing more exhilarating, or more challenging than to take some words on a piece of paper and literally breathe life into them, and possibly touch, teach, or influence someone’s life along the way. And with each script comes a new challenge. I love acting so much that at the tender age of 32 I completely changed career paths to pursue a full-time acting career. Until that point, I was Living in Nashville, TN, working in the field of information technology deep in the bowels of corporate America. I had zero acting experience at the time and had never even been near a film set. Then one fateful day, a friend of mine, Chris Elliott, convinced me to be an extra in the DreamWorks film ‘The Last Castle’, and after only one day on set, I knew I had found a new career!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back, I truly believe that one of the biggest factors in why I succeed in what I do now, was growing up as a kid in the 70’s, and all the imagination and creation that came along with it. The countless hours of actually “becoming” my GI-Joe with the Kung Fu grip, or fighting off imaginary villains with my stick sword, or transforming into Evil Knievel while jumping my Schwinn off of (incredibly dangerous) homemade ramps. My imagination ran wild back then, and it still does today. I’ve taken several acting workshops with some extraordinary instructors along my journey, but I have never had any formal training. Every time I have the chance to slip into the skin of another character, I rely 75% on sheer imagination, 20% on real-life experiences, and 5% on training.

I believe that my drive to succeed and my tenacity (which I’m lumping both together as one quality), have had a major impact on my career. As I stated before, I get both traits from my parents, and I am SO thankful for it. The Entertainment Industry as a whole can be a cruel, manipulative, unforgiving, bloodsucking beast that can easily dash a person’s hopes and dreams. Not mine though. I’m simply bult too tough.

The strongest quality that I have that I’ve continually relied upon throughout my journey, is my belief in myself. God saw fit to give me an extra boost of confidence, and that confidence has guided me every step of the way. I know that I am a very good actor. Granted, it has taken a lot of time and hard work to get here, and I still have a long way to go, but I strive with each and every audition and booking to become better. I know, without a doubt in my heart and soul, that I will succeed.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Unfortunately, I believe that the number one obstacle I face is still the lack of diversity and lack of roles for African Americans in Hollywood, specifically men in my case. Yes, we have come a LONG way in the past decade, but on any give day if you go to any casting website and look at the breakdowns of available roles, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. And I have no qualms in saying that I have NO desire to play any type of negative, stereotypical role UNLESS, the character has some sort of redemptive journey, or some sort of valuable lesson can be learned in the end.
Fortunately, with the advances of cameras and film equipment today, it’s much easier to get out and produce films. There are a lot of small, independent filmmakers who think outside the box when it comes to casting, and minority filmmakers who tell what I like to call “Non-Hollywood” versions of minority stories. I have been fortunate as of late to work as a lead on some really nice independent projects, and I’ve even been amassing a small arsenal of my own production equipment in order to start producing my on projects.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://imdb.com/name/nm1063262/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/davidchattam/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/david.chattam
• Other: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/DavidChattam