We had the good fortune of connecting with Maurice P. Kerry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maurice P., what role has risk played in your life or career?
Fear is a feeling that often grips us all at some point on some level in our lives. Fear is designed to keep us safe and protect us from danger. It’s normal and it’s human. But it also has a funny way of keeping us from our true potential. The fear of failure can cause someone not to even try, not to take THE MOST important step, the first step. People are often afraid to risk their image or the idea people have of them. Specifically, people, they don’t know, can’t see or touch. Why?! When those people DON’T even know your name? What is the consequence of being yourself and doing what you love around people who neither add nor take value from the person you want to be? NONE! I am a United States Marine Corps, Iraq War, Combat Veteran. I’ve been shot at and bombed by people who wanted to take my life…AND SURVIVED! What the HELL do you think someone’s opinion is going to do to me?! With my fearless attitude, I adopted the phrase *F…IT and the #Don’tQuitGrit So take risks, I say again TAKE RISKS. Take them and own them! Some you will win some you will lose, but you can’t win if you don’t play. There can be no bravery without fear. So NIKE that thang! Because I know you can, HECK I did.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve always been an entertainer. It just took time to figure out what kind. I’ve been a rapper, a singer, an actor, a rapper again, then an actor again. In that order. What sets me apart from most is my drive, grit, and most importantly, and a healthy dose of courage. Settling on acting was the best decision I could have made not just artistically but psychologically and emotionally. My mother was a single mother, my father was not around much until I was about 18. Most of my “How To” on black manhood came from what I consumed from Television, music, movies, my friends, and family. “Men don’t have emotions” and “you spose to talk to or treat a woman like this.” My personal favorite is, “You only a REAL nigga if.” All that equals is pointless avoidable fights, broken hearts, and jail time. Take that mentality and add the rigorous training of the United States Marine Corps and you get ME from age 17-24. Trapped in the belief that a REAL man holds it all in. I started training with Coach Jonna Johnson, accredited Chubbuck Technique, Acting Coach in 2018. In her class, I was allowed to be open and free to feel what I felt without judgment. I take that freedom to feel and be SEEN feeling and willingness to take risks into my acting. I’ve become much more focused on giving an authentic portrayal of my character than impressing casting. There is liberation in self and owning yourself and being yourself even when living as someone else. The life of an actor is definitely for a special type of person. For a BIG part of our career, we will get told no 50 to 150 times just to get that elusive and illustrious YES! The kicker is, the most successful of us are often the ones happy for the NO as well because “At least they asked me to try in the first place.” GOOD POINT! I started out doing the background in San Diego, California. I thought I was on my way. I’m on a real t.v studio lot, OMG thats the star of the show, “LOOK AT ME NOW I’M SOMEBODY YOU NEED TO DISCOVER!!!” This is what I said In my head to every important person in production. The only person to ever speak to me and ask me anything was Jason Dohring star of “Veronica Mars”. He saw me actually studying college work on set while playing a background highschool student on television and said it was “Really cool that I was being productive while everyone else was talking about nothing serious, that’s what successful people do.” I worked background for a while not knowing the background casting “AGENT” I had, was not supposed to get monthly dues from my check, or that BG work is 99.978% NOT the way to become a serious actor. Wasn’t until I started training that I understood how and why MY WAY was not working. I had to overcome the challenges of lack of knowledge in the business and lack of knowledge of self. So it’s not and never has been easy for most of us, making it that much more important that you have people you can lean on for support. Like-minded individuals are the best UPs when you got the DOWNs. If you want to do it, do it. If you want to be it, be it. You can and I know you can. I answer questions all the time on Instagram and Facebook from people wanting to get into acting. So please don’t hesitate to reach out. To liberate you from fear and disinformation is to liberate us all. #DontQuitGrit

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It’s a pandemic! Um, I’ll show you around my extra bedroom where you will be quarantined for 2 weeks then you can come upstairs and check out these board games. Precovid Playing Playstation with my daughter I personally enjoy Dave and Busters for the food and the games, yes I’m a gamer. lol You can often find me in some kind of workout session at the local gym. Or in an acting class. Simple of better to me.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Jonna Johnson – Best Scene Coach in Atlanta Belle Bromfield – my manager / guide and Therapist The U.S. Marine Corps for making a man out of me. My Mother for not only always saying “Do it.”, but making me believe I could.

Website: imdb.me/MauricePKerry

Instagram: @MauricePKerry

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurice-p-kerry-613a62172

Twitter: @MauricePKerry

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maurice.kerry.52

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC-YxBgu4wRM1wT_FsLtbd4w

Image Credits
Bjoern Kommerell

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