CHESTER TRE ROGERS

'

Chester Tre Rogers Talks About Landing The Role Of Sterling Black On Bmf And Navigating Acting And Professional Sports

Cox: Last year, when you landed the role as Sterling Black, d d you th nk it would evolve nto this?

Tre: Honestly, no! When I aud tioned and got the role, thought t would be a one-and-done situation You know how it goes; you are in one scene or ep sode, and that s it But it turned into six months of f lm ng as my character Sterl ng Black kept growing in the ser es During that time, I had to turn down many teams due to the increase in my filming schedule

Cox: So, take me to you landing the role of Sterling Black and be ng on BMF

Tre: Honestly, it was just at the right place and time My parents and I took Ian Wolf the producer, out to eat to pitch him my resume I didn’t th nk anything was going to come from it But two weeks later, I got an email from a casting d rector for BMF And I had forty-eight hours to learn everything and submit my audition It was crazy because after subm tt ng my audition tape I received a callback an hour later asking when I would be able to film And that’s how it happened

Cox: What do you think you did in that first scene that made them say we need to expand his character and role more?

Tre: They said was so believable and scary how I came off (laughs) It s such a dope scene, and I m excited that everyone w ll get to see it They saw my demeanor, and they knew I was perfect for it So they nvited me to film the next ep sodes in Detro t for the next six weeks

Cox: What is it about Sterl ng Black that you can relate? Will I see Tre act ng as Sterling Black or Sterling Black being Tre?

Tre: I don’t say that s me how aggressive Sterling s with the things he does But I can relate to his principle about not playing with money (laughs) But, overall, it s his loyalty that I can tell because ’m a very loyal person That’s what you see with him and the whole BMF family It wasn t blood or knowing each other for years, but the loyalty they had with each other

Cox: Why do you think people are drawn to BMF, yourself included?

Tre: It s something many of us can relate to, especially me from the south The stor es of BMF are something we grew up hearing about It was so surreal to hear about Big Meech, putt ng kids through college getting people homes, and taking care of others outside of all the bad things you heard The story is cultural and iconic

Cox: Speak ng of teams you are both a profess onal athlete and a working actor Has t been tough doing both?

Tre: It is very demand ng do ng both It requires me to sacr fice my time and have extreme discipline As I mentioned I had to turn down teams while f lm ng for six months Then of course I was happy after we were done because I could return to the field But, again, t me was the most significant sacr fice for me because even when I went back to the area, there were times when we were done with practice, and I would have to head over to the studio to do voiceovers for the show But I understood this would come with the territory, so I was never worried

Cox: Since both industr es require you to give 100% while there, d d you ever get any pushback from coaches, directors, cast members, or teammates, thinking you might be splitt ng too much of your time?

Tre: No, I never received any of that, ma nly because I pr de myself as a profess onal Whatever I say I’m going to do, I do and give t my all When ’m on set, my directors and producers will complement my work ethic because I show up as a professional on time and know my lines Same when I was on the field My teammates didn’t even know I was go ng to the stud o once we were done with practice I did that so nothing could interfere with our practice and the team only sees me giving them my hundred and ten percent to what we are doing ng me

Cox: Speak ng of Football Tell me more about that and what you love the most about the game

Tre: (Laughs) I picked up the ball around six I love the compet tion of it all Playing in front of seventy-plus thousand fans every Sunday and beat ng the guy right in front of me s why I m still doing it The ultimate exper ence still gives me butterflies whenever I run out of the tunnel onto the f eld The brotherhood is another th ng I love about it I have built many relationsh ps in the locker room that will last forever

Cox: What is something you learned about yourself playing football all your l fe?

Tre: Being able to preserve Many don’t know that I was undrafted when I got to Grambling State University (the best un versity, to make sure everyone knows) But you see me now, and I have lasted eight years in the game Because of the adversities I’ve faced, and with football, you can throw anything at me, and I w ll preserve Th s showed up later for me one time when I went on set Something threw me, and I had to tap back into my football player mentality I told myself okay, th s happened; now get back up and don t make this same error again

Cox: I have seen profess onal athletes transitioning into act ng w th a particular and laser-focused m ndset

Tre: It s because in the game, we can’t get too h gh and we can t get too low with th ngs Let’s say I get a touchdown I may celebrate that for l ke three seconds, but then I have to switch to what s the next play That s the same w th acting I m ght kill this scene, but I still have to stay locked in with my character So, I use the same football tactics to keep me honed in on set and to maintain focus

Cox: So where d d act ng fit into a young Tre’s life?

Tre: It just happened to me at the age of ten There was this open casting call that I auditioned for and landed in my hometown From there, I kept at it and honed in on my craft

Cox: Nice; what do you love about acting?

Tre: I love that acting allows me to be artist c and creative and express my feelings It’s really like a therapy session for me when I’m working I must bottle up my emotions on the f eld and use anger and aggress on to win the game It’s d fferent with act ng because I can let all those emotions go t allows me to tap into other emot ons and feelings that I usually don’t For example, I m ght be go ng through someth ng that day, and I get to release all that

Cox: Th s has been fun Before we end, I know you are very entrepreneurial; let me know a little about that

Tre: I call myself a serial entrepreneur and a student of the game who is constantly learn ng In 2020 is when I tapped into my entrepreneurship I have a clothing l ne, a home health care company w th my fam ly, a trucking business, real estate, and so on I’m working on open ng a couple of lounges this year, so you all need to be on the lookout

“It’s because in the game, we can’t get too high, and we can’t get too low with things. Let’s say I get a touchdown. I may celebrate that for like three seconds, but then I have to switch to what’s the next play. That’s the same with acting. I might kill this scene, but I still have to stay locked in with my character. So, I use the same football tactics to keep me honed in on set and to maintain focus."

"Cultural meaning behind the machete included in the image above. “Growing up Haitian, agriculture & farming played a huge part in life. A machete is a tool to chop off branches in your way while farming or used for shaving a sugar cane, or chopping off a coconut. For me, it represents me chopping down every obstacle I had to face in life.”