A LITTLE BACK STORY ON YOUR LOVE FOR ACTING

Cox: You mentioned sports So, was acting something you always wanted to do?

Richards: I ve been wanting to do it s nce I was five years old I was a kid with a lot of energy and my teachers were like we have to channel that energy somewhere Luckly, I went to a school that put a lot of energy into the performing arts They all thought I loved to be seen and that I talked a lot (Laughs) Nothing much has changed for me They asked me to do a singing performance in front of around three hundred people and I just loved the feeling I got

Cox: So where did sports come into your life?

Richards: Well, I had a very loving and support ve family but none of them where n the perform ng arts So, I grav tated towards sports growing up but my love and pass on for the perform ng arts was always there It wasn't until I got to be fourteen years old that I got back into the heavy of it all w th acting I was doing everything from theater to musical theater From there it was a slow molasses type of progression to what you see now with my career (laughs)

Cox: What is t about acting that you love so much?

Richards: This was something I knew I always wanted to do since I was f ve The thing that wakes me up each day to go for it is that I know there s this thing in side of me that loves t Acting also helps me focus because I did then and do now st ll have a lot of energy It took me while to learn how to take t, shape it and focus it You know what also helps me is that I had so many people in my life that didn't think I would do it They didn't believe in me I remember when I was in my twenties and a major ty of my friends were graduating from college, going for graduate degrees and nterviewing for positions Denim going for an audition didn't have the same type of ring of excellence for them

Cox: With all of that happen ng with people around you, how did you stay grounded and focused?

Richards: After the years went by it started to dissipate because I looked and stud ed the greats I studied what famous actors l ke Denzel Washington and S dney Poitier went through to get to their level of success I focused on my craft and as an athlete I used that energy around me from others and channeled t

Cox: What advice would you give to an aspiring actor who is having a tough time with themselves in this industry or those around them believ ng in them?

Richards: You have to bel eve in yourself from the beginning You have to believe in this You might not have the road map or the whole p cture But you just need to know that this s the journey you need to go on

D E A N D R E B R O W N

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