Meet Joshua Perry

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joshua Perry. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joshua below.

Joshua , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

Geez, this question is by far my favorite. Okay, let me paint this picture as much as I can. Trigger warning, this might be heavy for some. It was my first semester, senior year of high school. I was 17 years old (I also was the youngest student in the class due to my birthday being in the summer), and I just found out that I was adopted by my own family (do not ask me about that because I do not understand it myself haha). At the time, my girlfriend had just dumped me. I thought I wanted to be a mechanical engineer, but I was taking pre-calculus and realized that I was not as good at math as I thought. I was really at a low point in my life at that time. I suffered from severe depression as well, so if I am honest, I was even struggling with wanting to still be on this Earth anymore. There was this one friend I had name Deshawn, he was more than a friend, he was a brother. A TRUE brother till the end. I was crying on his shoulder on the front stairs of the entrance of the school (the funny part of this whole connection, I was like 5′ 9″ and he was 5′ 3″-4″, so yeah it was funny to see). School just ended for the day. While crying on his shoulder, he looks at me and asks, “Do you trust me?” I was so confused about where this was going. I’m not going to lie, I thought he was going to try to kiss me or something. He just brought me to the schools auditorium. The theatre kids along with their director, Mr. Zachary Roberts, were all there. They all knew Deshawn. It threw me completely off guard for two reasons. First, because he was known as the serious, short, tough guy ever since I met him in 6th grade. But with them, in the auditorium, he let his guard down completely. He could sing, I never knew he could. He was being goofy the same way that I would be. This was his safe space. No one judged him. Instead, they all encouraged him to be himself and to be happy. Second, just being honest here, I was taught from societal impression that if you enjoyed the arts, you were homosexual. So I thought that Deshawn was. That day helped me realize that in the SAFE SPACE of the thespian’s, they do not care about how you identify. As long as you feel safe being YOU. That is all that mattered. In that one moment, that one chance of me trusting Deshawn, helped me find a place I called home till this day. The stage, the thespians, and just the place to be myself. To be proud of who I am. I lost Deshawn Miles, due to his passing. Deshawn, you will forever be apart of my life and my reason for my passion for the arts. My why for striving to be successful for not only my own story, but to also live out yours as well, brother. Thank you for just being you and for being the guardian angel I needed in my life.

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?

To explain more about me, I am an actor whole heartedly. I have been doing stage theatre since August of 2015. I was blessed to start my film journey last February, and was able obtain many opportunities and still continue have more every day. I love being able to do what I was put on this Earth to do; to entertain and act my butt off. Not only that, I love helping my fellow thespians getting work as well. I am all about helping the next person get their shine as well. That is what so many people did for me. I want to push that and continue to help my fellow actors. Let us keep growing the community of like-minded individuals, who loves to work but also help the next person get there big break too.

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

Man, the three important skills and qualities to have when it comes to the acting field are:
1. Be genuinely you. Being you is the best way to always keep getting more work and opportunities. I’ve realized being in both the stage and film mediums, being the person who is a part of a project because they are excited for the opportunity compared to someone who is only here for the fame and money are TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. They are very, VERY easy to spot between the two. On top of that, from the decent amount of directors that I am proud to say that I got close with, they have all said a similar thing: ‘I would rather take someone who has no skill, but they have a genuine passion and happiness for the opportunity, over someone who has all the skill I need, but has the arrogance of someone that thinks they are above everyone else. Be kind. Not only to your fellow actors but also to your crew cause you never know who is watching.
2. Communicate. You can never go wrong with communication or even over-communicating when it comes to letting people know what’s going on. Directors, producers, and even the crew will appreciate all the communication you give them, even if you think that it’s not needed. They will enjoy it so much and you may never know. I have gotten many opportunities just because the crew and the director appreciated how much I communicated with them. By letting them know what is going on and when I would be free. They worked with me to make the project that they had me in and worked around my schedule just because of how well my communication was. I cannot express this enough, talk with your crew!!!! You will be so surprised how much of the crew on the gigs are also scriptwriters and directors themselves who are starting small and trying to become bigger. Work and talk with every crew member you can because you will open so many more doors just from being kind to people and expressing how happy you are for all their hard work to make you look good.
3. BE ON TIME. I cannot express this one enough, out of all the three THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE!!! To break it down, being on time does not mean what you think. If the call time is at 8:30 PM, do not show up at 8:30 PM, show up at 8 PM!! BEING ON TIME MEANS BEING EARLY. What that does is give make-up designers to touch you up if need be and be able to take their time. It gives the costume director the ability to look at the costume you have on and if they do not like it, make sure you bring other options. ALWAYS BRING AT LEAST TWO OTHER OPTIONS, JUST IN CASE. There are times things may get changed last second, so ALWAYS be overly prepared. Back to what I was saying, this gives every designer and director be ability to fully take their time with you and make sure you are exactly the way they want you for the shoot and able to execute everything. The icing on the cake, let’s say that you do not have your lines together, it will give you time to also be able to get off the book, without having to run around all over the place as well. With this plan everyone will be happy. The directors will appreciate you for being crazy early and for just being a team player. Directors do not like having to work with the “everything is about me because I’m the talent” type of person.

If you follow these three skills and knowledge, then you will be able to have consistent work, with no issues.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I love this question! It gives me a moment to be able to express love to those that supported me to be where I am today. First things first, I have to give acknowledgment to my theater family that taught me everything when it comes to acting. Dr. Jonathan Drahos and Mrs. Carolanne Marano, both taught me the fundamentals of acting. If it wasn’t for their teachings, I wouldn’t know how to fight my fear of crowds to even say a single word, let alone do an entire play. Jamonte Madison, Sean Deam, William Oxendine, Darian Rolle, and Jalen Boyette. These men guided me while in college and I learned so much about my acting style. As well as, how to be able to portray acting the way I do. To Sierra Jamerson, this one woman alone was able to drive and motivate me to get out of my head and fear of failing and just gave it a chance. I honestly would not be as far in my filming career without her believing in my abilities when I didn’t believe in myself. Thank you, Sierra. To my family, it was not easy raising me. I made it a mission to not make it easy hahaha. However, this family did an amazing job and I wouldn’t be the man that I am today if it was not for your teachings. Thank you, familia!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

photo 4. Lef to right, Chealsea Williams, Jamonte Madison, Sean Deam, Faith Harrison,myself, Sterling Pratt, Cheyenne Ward, and William Oxendine in At The Threshold 2021

photo 5. Darian Rolle and myself in Fences 2017

photo 6. Left to Right William Oxendine, Sean Deam, Jamonte Madison, and myself in Macbeth 2020

photo 10. Jalen Boyette and myself in Fences 2017

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Portraits of Resilience

Sometimes just seeing resilience can change out mindset and unlock our own resilience. That’s our

Productivity
Perspectives on Staying Creative

We’re beyond fortunate to have built a community of some of the most creative artists,

Confidence
Kicking Imposter Syndrome to the Curb

This is the year to kick the pesky imposter syndrome to the curb and move