Many
youths grow up in small towns of Wisconsin dreaming of the lights and sounds of
a New York City street. But what idyllic urban environment is left to attain
when New York (albeit Rochester) is already your home town?
For
21-year-old aspiring actor Darius Taylor, the West Coast was the place that
held this magic.
“Around
age 16, after I [visited] Hollywood, California for the first time,” he said in
an interview with The Badger Herald, “I felt like I was a kid at Disneyland; it
was a place I could see myself living… The light and atmosphere inspired me.”
Aside from the scenery and mystique, the move to
California after high school was a practical move for Taylor.
“Rochester,
New York, is my hometown where my family resides. It’s hard to leave what I’m
used to, but Burbank is a few miles away from Los Angeles, and there is more
opportunity In California. So now I’m in between both cities.”
He claims
that out of the eight states he’s been to, Rochester is the coldest city – “Our
winters have no mercy,” he said. Clearly, he’s never been to Madison.
Although
he’s already lived on both ends of the country, Taylor hasn’t reached national
stardom just yet. In the past four months he’s starred in two independent
“partially experimental” films, “Getting Direction” and “Pop Up.” These can be
found under his Youtube account, DariusTaylorVideos. Taylor is somewhat wary at
this stage of being racially typecast.
“I have
skills to do any kind of role, but my last two have been the naughty-mouth
token black guy,” he said. “I play the protagonist in ‘Getting Directions’ and
the antagonist in ‘Pop-Up.'”
When
hearing him describe other actors he looks up to, one can get a feel for
Taylor’s desired onscreen presence.
“My
celebrity inspiration is Denzel Washington,” he said, choosing not to mention
his childhood crush Halle Berry. “I study his camera art, his eyes and asking
movements, and add them to my set of skills. He is my favorite actor of all
time; his work sometimes brings tears to my eyes.”
While many
actors, including main inspiration Washington, realize relatively late in life
that they want to pursue the career, Taylor has known his calling for quite
some time.
“I’ve been
acting since age eight; starting off in elementary school performances. I
played Michael Jackson and John Lennon to name a couple roles. Me and my three
brothers always acted like we were the Ninja Turtles — I was the purple one,
Donatello,” he reminisces.
His family
is clearly an integral part of everything the young actor does. He says one
thing in particular, a tragedy involving one of his brothers, motivates him
every day.
“I’m not
arrogant or cocky; I’m confident. I have goals and the big one is to one day
win Oscars. I’m not putting all my time in this to fail soon as I get my first
break; I will not stop entertaining the world with this gift God gave to me,
and after I make it I’m going to dedicate all my success to my little brother
Christopher Jones that was murdered.”
In light
of this determination, Taylor says he actively markets himself and his talents
in a number of ways. This is necessary for any novice actor to get noticed and
succeed in the industry.
“My main thing now is networking. As long as I
network and keep my name in the minds of the casting folk I’m happy — not to
mention sending my resume and reels to tons of people,” he said.
When not swept up in his career, Taylor lives the
life of most off-duty college students.
“[In my
spare time] I’m big On Facebook, Xbox 360 and making music. If I wasn’t an
actor maybe being a music producer would be next to my name,” he said. “Artists
I listen to are Kanye West, Jay Z, Plies, 50 Cent and Eminem on the Hip Hop,
but I’m diverse when it comes to music because I love it all.”
Overall, though, for Darius Taylor
it’s all about putting in the time and hard work and appreciating the art of
what he’s doing. A West Coast lifestyle is nothing if not paired with the drive
to make it big.
“I have a walk-on mentality, so I’m very humble
and focused,” Taylor said. “It’s hard to put down any work put in front of me.”
Some quick
facts about Darius—
Height:
5’8
Siblings:
Six brothers total; one murdered and two sisters.
Sign:
Scorpio
Interesting
facts: Uses the Wii to get in shape, can’t swim, was prom prince one year at
his high school, was captain of the high school basketball team and JV football
team.
Birthday:November, 3
Favorite movies: Favorite comedy movie is “Friday”
Starring Ice Cube; he says, “that’s a classic movie.” His all-time Favorite is “John
Q” starring Denzel Washington; he says, “he needed an Oscar for that, but that
movie always gets to me.”
Favorite sports teams: Green Bay (GO PACK GO) and
a newly found Knicks fan (mostly for Allen Iverson)