Meet Kevin Baker

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

Hi Kevin, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

My purpose in life is to leave a lasting impact on people by the time I leave this Earth, and I found that purpose through acting. The crazy part is, I never actually wanted to be an actor. The inspiration for acting came from my two dear college friends, Latika Brown and Kinnedra Johnson. Long story short, in the Summer of 2016, at Illinois State University, we were having a movie night watching reruns of Empire. They noticed that I was subconsciously talking like an actor: noticing the background, where they were standing, how many lines, etc. and jokingly said, “Why don’t become an actor since you know so much?” I then reenacted the famous “I will find you,” scene from the movie, Taken and blew them away at how well I performed the scene. We were up from 10pm until 7am, and they drilled in my head how badly that I need to become an actor.

Over the next year, it was a constant on and off thought in my head, but I never pursued acting until I talked to my childhood friend Timmie McNeese. One night, we were sitting in his car, and he said to me, “If you gon talk about it, be about it. But if you ain’t gon be about it, shut up talking about it.” That sincerely motivated me, and the next day I contacted my intelligent tech friend Zaid Hameed, and he helped me make a YouTube channel. The following day, myself, Timmie McNeese, Zaid Hameed, and my cousin Terrell Clark all met up and filmed my first parody video skit. From there, my acting journey officially started on Wednesday, August 30, 2017, or as what I like to call it my, “Acting Anniversary!” On that day, I dropped my first ever acting parody video on my social media platforms and my YouTube Channel called, “Kev UnPHazed.” It was a parody video of the classic movie, Friday where I portrayed, “Smokey” as “Puffy,” and Terrell Clark, portrayed “Craig” as “Ced.”

Little did I know that that posting that video was going to be the foundation to lifelong career in acting that I want to endure. I knew nothing about acting while making movie parodies, so I decided to enroll in film school. However, while making all of the parody videos that I made on YouTube, I was unknowingly putting together my film school application. Using those videos, that’s when I enrolled in DePaul University for the Fall 2018 trimester and moved to Chicago, Illinois to truly chase my acting dream full throttle. I graduated with a master’s degree in film and television in 2020.

Although, I didn’t know anything about acting, parody skits and actual filmmaking have a huge difference. Taking film classes in film school is what steered me along the right path learn about filmmaking, how the industry works, and to network with new people. Pursuing acting was the best decision I ever made. If I’m being honest, becoming an actor really saved my life and made me find my purpose. I want to become a successful actor so that I can give back to my hometown.

Where I’m from, East Saint Louis, Illinois, it’s not a city that recognized for the entertainment industry; sadly, it’s primarily recognized for its high crime rate. I want to change that narrative and be the person that makes East Saint Louis, Illinois be known for its dream chasers and leaders that come from that city. Throughout these 8 years I’ve been acting people have told me firsthand that I have left an impact on them and that brings joy to my heart every time. If possible, I want to help inspire, motivate, and encourage as many people as possible to pursue their dreams, and that’s my ultimate purpose!

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

Acting is simply what I do. I’ve been acting every day since August 30, 2017, and I have no plans on ever stopping. I’m still on an independent level but my goal is to become an A-list actor and filmmaker someday. The truth is television and film have become a part of my everyday existence; it’s honestly, who I am now. My main goal is to make acting/filmmaking my full-time career, to be a series lead on a TV show and/or the headline as the lead actor in a feature film. I want to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, not for me, but to show people that anything on Earth is possible as long as you believe. I think a star will showcase and cement that into the eyes of everyone but especially the people of my hometown.

What I feel is the most exciting thing about acting is knowing that I have changed so many people’s lives on a small scale. For the last 8 years of me acting, people I personally know and people that I don’t even know at all have either called, texted, direct messaged me, or told me in person that I have impacted their life. People have literally told me that I have caused them to start exercising and they’ve lost weight, people have pursued acting themselves, others have started singing, dancing, modeling, rapping, and even doing photography, all because they look up to me. I post my acting journey on social media to motivate people and people are constantly telling me how I impact them just by posting. The most powerful story of all so far, came last year in 2024. One of my high school classmates called me after seeing me as a background actor in Mea Culpa, starring Kelly Rowland. He said to me that he had been silently following my acting journey for years and I was the reason that he enrolled in college. He said and I quote, “My life was going down a dark path, and I have to be an example for my child. I specifically called you today to let you know that because of you, I graduate tomorrow with my degree in Business Management. And I’ve decided to start my own business, all because of you.” We ended that phone call, I sat and there and I literally cried. It wasn’t until that moment that I truly realized how much of a beacon to others I’ve become.

What I have coming up is that this year I wrote, produced, starred in, and co-directed my first ever film titled, “Puzzled Literature,” under my brand Kev UnPHazed. What started as a skit for parodies is now going to have something that I created from scratch be the face of it. I still can’t believe I made my own movie, and it’s a horror movie that everyone should be on the lookout for, dropping in Fall 2025. Also, I have been casted in my first ever lead role in a feature film in a movie titled, “A Million Lies!” That movie is scheduled to start filming this Fall. It is written and will be directed by the awesome, Caryn Lee. I cannot wait to film this movie; I absolutely love the script.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. I live by the quote, “You have to spell CAN before you spell CAN’T!” That was a quote I learned in the 9th grade from high school track coach, Barry Malloyd. That quote has gotten me through every obstacle or challenge my freshman year of high school. I say this to myself every single day, “You have to spell CAN before you spell CAN’T! I CAN and I WILL.” When I was doing the pre-production work for my movie Puzzled Literature, I was honestly ready to be done with it and tired of working on it. Creating my first movie was not easy. Each day, no matter how tired I was or hungry I was. I would get off of work and dedicate 2 to 4 hours of doing what needs to be done to finish the pre-production for the film. Saying, “You have to spell CAN before you spell CAN’T,” everyday caused me to not only get my movie ready for filming but I also finished prepping everything I needed done for the movie a month ahead of schedule.

2. A quote I learned while on this film journey, “You network is your net worth.” I cannot begin to express how important networking is in the entertainment industry. My entire cast and crew for my movie Puzzled Literature, I met through networking. My mindset is that every networking event I attend, every film set I’m on, or every acting class I enroll in, etc. I force myself to network with at least one person. Every person that was a part of my movie I met and networked with either on a prior film set or at a networking event. I have the thought process that success is given it’s earned and that I have to work for anything I want in life.

3. This is a quote that I personally made that I say to myself quite often. “There’s no ‘I’ in team, there’s no ‘I’ in leader, and most of all ‘I’ in loyalty.” Just like it takes a village to raise a child I personally believe it takes a village to become successful in the entertainment industry. What I mean by that is teamwork makes the dream work. I wouldn’t have made any of the accomplishments I have with my team, us all believing in each other, and helping each other to succeed. There’s a sitcom I am apart of called, “The Khaleel Show,” the cast and crew of that show have easily become some of the most important people in my life. Also, two of my lead actors from my movie, Inglish India and Raheem Lavelle, we have a group called “I.R.K. My Nerves” (Inglish, Raheem, and Kevin), they’ve become like a true brother and sister to me. I love the Khaleel Show Cast/Crew and I.R.K. My Nerve like they were my own flesh and blood.

I say all this to say you have to be willing to put yourself out there and go through the trials and tribulations. Nothing in life worth having is going to come easy!

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

Without a shadow of a doubt, I have to give this recognition to a man named, Gary McMillan Jr. I will say this wholeheartedly with my chest out, “I would not be the actor I am today if it was not for Gary McMillan Jr.” What I mean by that is, I met Gary my first trimester at DePaul University. Our class was tasked with creating a 10-minute short film in a group project. We got paired in the same group. He and I instantly connected because he and I have so much in common and we’ve been locked in ever since. As I said, I knew nothing about acting prior to film school. Outside of what I learned in class, he taught me literally EVERYTHING I know about acting and filmmaking.

For hours we would sit at his house writing scripts or talking about movies. He taught me how to make a series bible, how to set up a casting call, how to produce a movie, how to direct a movie, and he even helped me learned how to become a background extra, and so much more. Because of him, he made two of my dreams come true. One in particular I’ll speak of is when I first became a background actor in 2018. I was a cast an extra on the show Empire in a scene with my acting idol, Taraji P. Henson. I had no idea how to even do that, and he made that happen. He casted me in my first ever acting role as his big brother in his sitcom, “The Maurice Show.” Working on that project is honestly the real reason of how I developed into the actor I am. Gary McMillan Jr. is the brother that I never knew I needed.

However, there are two other people that have made just as big an impact on my life. Their names are Kyla Hawkins and Jasmine Dunlap. Kyla Hawkins isn’t an actress, but I met her when I moved to Chicago, and she has been my biggest support system in every accomplishment (both acting and non-acting) since the day I met her. in 2018. I call her my Guardian Angel. Jasmine Dunlap is an actress that I met at a networking event in 2023 and almost every single project that I have worked on since that day, she’s either acted on it with me or helped me with working on it. I’m thankful for the people in my life.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: kevin.baker2
• Facebook: Kevin Baker
• Youtube: Kev UnPHazed