11 minute read
Eric Jordon Tidwell
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Q. Tell everyone who you are and what you do?
A. Hey everybody, my name is Eric
Jordon Tidwell, I'm from Detroit born and raised currently living in LA. I'm a writer, actor, director.
So, tap in. Can't wait to see you guys. Can't wait for you to see my future work.
Q. So, what plans do you have for 2021? What are some of your goals?
A. Well, I want to star in a feature film. A lot of the projects I've done so far have been music videos, short films, and series.
But I definitely want to carry a movie. I've also directed a short film this weekend. So, I'm looking forward to putting that out within the next couple of weeks. Other than that, it's just me writing and trying to continue to push our content. We are kind of still on lockdown here in LA.
So, it just gives a really good opportunity to just do whatever you can do to be creative.
Q. Let's talk about Tough Love and the experience behind that.
A. Tough Love was amazing. I started it in New York in 2015 with season one and then this year it was picked up by TV one. And they ran it on their network, and we actually reshot a spin-off season called Tough Love Los Angeles. So, we shot that during the pandemic, and it was released the week of Thanksgiving. And the season finale just happened two weeks ago. So, 10 episodes are all out now on YouTube for the people that don't have cable. Definitely check that out. Tough Love LA.
Q. So, tell us what's been one of your biggest accomplishments you’ve had so far in life?
A. To me, I will actually say probably this most recent accomplishment with Tough Love. This was my first time being on national TV,
It’s scripted series. I've been on
TV before in music videos and commercials. But this is the first time actually holding the character and people being able to see me kind of be myself in a way. And that was huge for me because I don't have any family members or friends growing up that were on
TV. So, I'm the first one to do it.
And I'm looking forward to doing it a lot more.
Q. Who are some people that have been your most influential or who motivated you to be an actor and a writer?
A. As far as acting, it was a natural transition. I started my career as a runway model in Detroit, Michigan.
And then I moved to New York to continue to pursue that career.
After walking in New York fashion week, I was contacted by Tough
Love team. They contacted me through one of my model pages I believe it was model mayhem. And that was my first time going in and auditioning for even something like that. So, I went in, and they just handed me two scripts, and I read them for the first time there out loud with the writer and was casting for that project. And my very first day on set is when I fell in love with acting. Growing up in my career as a model it's very strict.
So, it's not a lot of playing around,
I guess when the lights are on.
So, the fact that as an actor you kind of gets paid to play around.
It's pretty fun. I liked it a lot. And I was blessed to work with a very talented cast. A lot of them had graduated from film school. So, being someone who just kind of fell into it being surrounded by all of these professionals I just soaked up all of their knowledge.
Q. What do you do in your spare time?
A. In my spare time, I guess, just the same old Eric. I just watch basketball, and I like playing video games. But most recently, in my spare time, it's been writing. And the transition for that actually came recently, after concluding with the production on Tough Love. I just kind of wanted to keep the momentum going. So, I reached out to a production company to see if they needed any talent because
I knew that they were pushing out the shorts pretty often. And when I reached out to them, they actually told me that they were booked up on actors, but if I knew any writers, you know, they were looking for that. And I had written a couple of things before I never shot them just kind of wrote them down. And
I ended up sending them a couple of things that I wrote, they loved it, asked me to write for them. So far, we've shot three projects that I've written. And the most recent one, as I said, I directed, and that was on Saturday. So, I'm still off a high from that.
Q. Well, what has been the biggest challenge of yours?
A. Being away from family and being away from the people that are cared about the most. That has definitely been very, very challenging. Every time I see them,
I feel like 10 years have gone by even though it's only been three, four or five months. But that's the biggest challenge for sure being away from my family. And just being out here pursuing this path that you don't necessarily control.
So, while going along that journey, and looking back on the things that I miss, that sometimes is a challenge. But fortunately, I've made a lot of good friends and good connections here that just kind of motivate me and surround me with love. Being out here in
LA it's a lot of people that move out here for those same kinds of things. So, it's a community of people that have left their families, and I guess, kind of looking for a new one. So, that's been my biggest challenge for sure.
Q. So I know, LA is beautiful, tell me three things you love about
LA?
A. The weather, I could talk about that all day. If I wanted to be very specific, I love the ocean. The coldest it gets here is like 56, or something like that. It's a really good thing. And that's normally only at nighttime. The potential that is in the air, there's so many different opportunities here to pretty much do whatever you want to do. Not even strictly entertainment, but just the opportunity that's in the air, I love it. It's a whole vibe. The hills, you're riding through the freeway, and you got to go up and down hills. And you see all these elevated houses and things like that. It's definitely a vibe. And coming from Detroit I've never seen anything like this. I like it to a lot more than New York because it's greener. New York is a lot of concrete. So here, you definitely feel more of a homey feel.
hats, out of all the talent that you just name you said, you act, you direct, you write. Out of everything you do, what are you really passionate about?
A. That's a good question. I would probably say, I'm really interested in the directing aspect. It was something really new to me, but just the fact that you kind of control the vision and can bring a vision that you have to life. I really enjoy that. Because normally, as an actor, you're trying to bring someone else's vision to life. So, being a director, you control the story. And definitely being a writer, you create the story. So, I think that
I really enjoy just from being an entrepreneur and growing up under one, I really enjoyed that building aspect. That building of a team and designating tasks, things like that. That's something I've always enjoyed. Anything that still allows me to be creative. But I could definitely see myself continuing to direct and produce projects. But the one that I directed on Saturday,
I actually did do a small feature in it. That wasn't planned. It just kind of happened. Because it was a struggle kind of casting everybody.
But last minute, I decided to play one of the roles. And I think that was really fun too because it’s kind of made me feel like my hands were all over the project. So, that was a real joy and I hope to be able to continue to do that on a larger scale.
Q. Who are some people you would
like to work with?
A. People I would like to work with. I would like to work with Michael B.
Jordon. Just to be honest, I want to kind of go head to head with him or something. I want to work with The Rock. I want to work with
Regina King. I like what she's been doing lately. And this is random but
Teyana Taylor, I think she's a really dope director. I think that she's slept on and will soon make that transition to film. Ava DuVernay.
Amazing, amazing, amazing person. I really, really want to work with her. Ryan Coogler, and James
Cameron. Like the list goes on and on. George Lucas, there are so many people that I want to work with just because I like the kind of movies that they make. I really see myself being someone that stands for something, playing characters that stand for something, as well.
I know growing up as an athlete,
I also want to do action and showcase my athleticism. So, a lot of these people make movies along that direction of where's something that is impactful. You know, it still is entertaining.
Q. So, since you like directing, and you love movies and stuff, what's your favorite movie?
A. Lion King. That's been one of my favorite movies since I was a child.
And when they made the, what is it? When they made the live version, they had Beyoncé and all these other people playing the voices. A lot of people said they didn't like that, but I liked it. But just watching it as an adult, and just seeing the different messages that were being taught to us as children. Because we're being fed information so much, I think that whatever we watch and listen to we consume it. It steers our mind; it steers our life in a sense. So, for me, that was something that really kind of stood out to me as a kid. Just the fact that he had to go out on his own and kind of figure himself out. And while he was doing that it was problems at home. It's a lot of drama in that movie. But, yes, it's one of my favorites.
you can give to others that want to be into film?
A. Don't be scared, just don't be scared.
It's going to be uncomfortable. It's going to be different.
It's going to be unlike anything you've ever done before. But if you're afraid, you're not going to really do your best or try your best. Because sometimes it's not even about doing your best but just trying your best. Just giving it your all. And if you have these reservations, then it's really easy to see that on camera. If you are afraid of going in front of casting directors and producers, we have things like TikTok and Instagram and all of these different little apps that you can play around with that has a camera recording yourself. I see a lot of people mimic these characters on
TikTok, that's actually something that I have a little concept and
I'm about to start doing as well.
Actually, I'll let you in on this. So, a lot of people throughout my career have told me that I look like
Ludacris. So, I'm actually about to start doing some TikToks strictly
Ludacris. Right now, he doesn't have a movie about himself or anything like that. So, this will be me trying to build up some kind of momentum in that direction. So, it may happen, it may not happen, but I just think it will be something fun to do and just kind of stay creative and loose. But other than that, I will also say, work with your friends. Instead of trying to make it from half court every time you shoot, take the easy shots, take the layups, and take the win. Be willing to work onset. A lot of times when
I work onset behind the scenes,
I learn different things. So, just really invest in yourself and your community.
Q. Tell everybody where they can follow you.
A. Yes, so tap in with me guys. My name is Eric Jordon Tidwell. You can type that in on Instagram. You can type it in Google. Everything could pop up my Facebook, Twitter,
IMDb, all of that. I have a website coming up soon too that will be ericJordontidwell.com. But yeah, guys, Jordon, don. So, make sure you don't spell it with an A.
