Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Roy Williams, Jr.. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Roy 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 father has been the driving force behind my strong work ethic that continues to move me forward. A U.S. Army Veteran, I watched my father work long hours every day to provide for our family without complaint. He would travel for the government and be away from time to time, but he still made time to connect with me. He attended all sporting events and helped me hone my baseball skills. I now practice softball with my daughter and make sure I’m there at each game, cheering her on.
To maintain both his health and time with family, my father would wake up and go for a run at 4 am every morning. Now, I also get up at 4 am to work out at the gym. One lesson I didn’t appreciate then but do now was the to-do list that was left for me each day. My father would leave a list of chores I had to finish before I could do anything “fun” taped to my door. I now make sure I get chores and work done first thing in the morning. I am a husband and father that partakes in all household chores.
He encouraged me to pursue my passion: film. Once I decided what I wanted to do in my late teens/early twenties, I went all in. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA and went right into local work. Rejection, while tough in the beginning, has been a non-issue thanks to my father’s rearing. That lead me to land roles on networks such as NBC, CBS, Netflix, ABC, and BET working with talents such as Jamie Foxx, Anthony Mackie, and Patricia Arquette, to name a few. To share my love of acting and introduce the benefits of a strong work ethic to our community’s youth, I have started teaching with City Hearts: Kids Say YES to the Arts. It’s been rewarding to see the youth break through their shells and show an interest in this art form.
Not one to give up, I am always working on my craft with acting classes, attending panels, and working on both independent and short films. Acting is a marathon, not a sprint.
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?
While working at the Nike outlet store as a late teenager in Sandestin, FL, I was approached by a producer to audition for a play called Hollywood Comes to the Emerald Coast. The audition went well and I booked a small role in the play, and at that point, I learned this is what I was supposed to do.
A few years later, I moved to Orlando to study film and television at Full Sail. After graduation, I continued my acting regionally, booking films, television, commercials, and print work.
I landed representation in Los Angeles in October 2012 and was asked to move to LA within the year. My wife and I decided to move cross-country so I could pursue my passion and relocated to the area a year later in October 2013, almost to the date of my manager’s request.
Since then, I’ve worked on various network, streaming, and cable TV shows like Black-ish (ABC), The Act (Hulu), The Bold and The Beautiful (CBS), Dad Stop Embarrassing Me (Netflix), The Rookie (ABC), Being Mary Jane (BET), and others.
Acting is my passion, something that I truly live for, it’s also an extremely challenging line of work. The number of rejections, notes, and overall experiences is enough to make anyone stop in their tracks and reevaluate their decision to pursue this career path. But, because of the unwavering support from my family and friends and their belief in my abilities, I am able to continue working hard every day, to achieve even more success. And I celebrate that success, with the people I love most – because I really wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for their love and support.
While I am proud of the projects I’ve had the opportunity to work on so far in my career, I’m most proud of my family. Being a father and a husband are truly my greatest achievements and the source of my daily motivation not just for my career but for my life. And I feel like that’s what sets me apart from others, having my family to lean on and support me helps me get through the tough times I experience in this profession.
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?
Answer: strong worth ethic, patience, thick-skinned.
With a strong work ethic, combined with patience and a thick skin, we can succeed at whatever we wish to accomplish. Success can take time and most will experience failure, but if we can accept and learn from these experiences we can achieve anything we set our minds to. The combination of these three qualities will set you on the right path to victory.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I’m always open to collaborating with other talented artists, it’s truly a key to success. We can always learn from others, and I see myself as a life-long learner. Steve Jobs once said, “Great things are never done by one person.” I value working with like-minded actors and filmmakers who are driven by a deeper purpose. It’s important to lift each other up, to see each other grow and win together.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.roywilliamsjr.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamroywilliamsjr/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roywilliamsjr/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoyWilliamsJr
Image Credits
1. Matt Kallish
2.Karim Saafir
3. Matt Kallish
4. Matt Kallish
5. Matthew Martin
6. Leonidas Jaramillo
