Meet Bishop (Ali) Stevens

 

We were lucky to catch up with Bishop (Ali) Stevens recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bishop (Ali), so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

Focus , you have to learn to be focused. Even if you’re not the only one in the room they may not like you so you’re still by yourself. There has been many times I’ve been the only AA in the room, there’s been many times I’ve been the only jacked up guy in the room. But I stay focused on the reason I’m in the room and how I got there, instead of who else is there.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a former WCW – WWE prowrestler , I was trained by the legendary Harley Race , Jim Cornett , Paul Orndorf, and Jerry Lawler. My wrestling career came to an end the weekend before I was supposed to appear on raw in my hometown of St. Louis Missouri I was sent to Nashville Tennessee to wrestle on a card and the wrestler. I was working decided that I didn’t deserve my big break, he felt I was only getting that opportunity because I was African-American and took it upon his self to injure me.
Oh my wrestling career was ended. I had no clue my entertainment career was really just about to takeoff. I got a call to go to Chicago and meet Lee Daniels for a new television show at the time called Empire. They were looking for big guys to be the head of security on the show And right away. Mr. Daniels gave me one of the main slots I got to work closely with Taraji P Henson Terrence Howard, I got to work with numerous guest stars on the show. I actually got my SAG card from saying a little things on the show, and that led to appearances on shows like Chicago PD, The Walking Dead, Scrubs and others..
I love Empire and wanted to build my brand and become a name actor, but I knew the only way to make that happen. Was to do movies next to name actors so I got signed with a couple of agencies not one I actually have 4 Talent agents and we opened some doors and I’ve worked with superstars like Nicolas Cage, Salma Blair, Victor Gerber, Bia Ling, Michael Paré, Chance the Rapper and so many others.
And now I’m moving into the heavy supporting roles over the last 2-3 yrs I’ve had at least 2 films come out each year. But this year the movies that are coming out I’m one of the lead cast members. Brute 1976 i play Brutus one of the main characters is on a limited theater run now and Trick and Treats I star with legendary actors, Malcolm McDowell and Gary Busey set to Release for Halloween. In 2025 we have the release of Brute 1986 and the first ever film about a real AA serial killer Derrick Todd Lee out of Baton Rouge Louisiana, I star as DTL. Both films are in the post production stages.

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

Patience, focus, and determination. The best advice I’ve ever received from someone that I tend to pass on, but the problem is it tends to go literally go in one ear and out the other is to listen so many people in this business want to set themselves up a stars, but they don’t wanna listen to stars. I can’t tell you in my wrestling career how many times I sit in the locker room, listening to the name wrestler is the big guys try to tell younger guys what they needed to do but everybody thinks they know everything and it’s the same thing with the entertainment business. OK you got some talent but you don’t know Jack shit About the business .
And everybody thinks oh if I get an agent or if I join the union it’s gonna come to me. No, it’s not gonna come to you. Neither one of those will make anything come to you. You have to put in the work. You have to be focused and determined, and it will be easier with an agent or to be a member of the union (maybe) But you still have to do the work.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I had to pick this question because in this business, it’s amazing to me how many actors like I said before they think they know everything. They have a problem if they get typecast, but they forget some of our most successful actors in this business are typecast actors. They play the same role pretty much all the time but they’re also the richest you can say what you want about Dwayne Johnson but he makes $20 million a movie you can say what you want about Will Smith you can say what you want about Kevin Hart you can say what you want about Samuel Jackson But look how much money and how famous these guys are , not everybody can be a Denzel . Focus on your strengths build your brand make it strong and then you pick and choose rolls. Don’t get offended if you are a attractive very well built woman, and you get type cast in the same type of roles one of those roles is gonna kick you to the top and at that point in time, you can start choosing what you want. I choose what I want now, but I was typecast as the musclebound villain or the villains bodyguard or back up and or even if I was a good guy, I was the you know typecast jacked up good guy. But now I’m doing comedy. I’m doing action horror now I’d pick and choose. And it also comes in handy for getting roles without having to audition because they already know what you can do and what you bring to the table.

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