MADE FOR HOLLYWOOD: Keith Powers Offers Advice For Aspiring Actors

MADE By Ashley White

Have you been watching TALES on BET? TALES is a new series created and executive produced by Irv Gotti and offers an innovative twist to the hip hop culture by reimagining our favorite hip hop songs as we know them into mini movies. It’s definitely a show worth checking out. MADE caught up with Keith Powers who stars in today’s new episode, “Cold-Hearted.”

“This episode is based off “Cold-Hearted” by Meek Mill,” explains Powers. “It’s about a rapper whose close friend turns on him because of jealousy, envy and seeing him blow up.”

“It was fun working with Irv Gotti and BET and being around hip-hop artists. I got to film with Maino, Mr. Blackchild and MC Lyte. You know hip hop is the culture, that’s what we grew up on, and then I love acting, so it was dope to merge both together.”

Powers, 24, is one to watch as he’s breaking into young Hollywood in a major may. He’s starred in Straight Outta Compton, The Walking Dead, BET’s The New Edition Story, Freeform’s Famous In Love and more. But, he’ll be the first to tell you that it hasn’t been easy breaking into the industry.

“Before I started booking roles, I got denied for so many things. When I look back, I wasn’t even ready for any of those things,” says the Sacramento native. “When I finally booked the jobs that I’ve done, I was so ready because I had put in so much work and I had taken so many classes.”

Acting can be a tough field to break into. Here, Powers offers his advice for aspiring actors…

1. “Get into a class and fall in love with the craft.”
2. “Watch a lot of movies. Study the actors’ work. Find out who the director is, see what movies they’ve done in the past. Really research the directors and writers and what type of work they do. Figure out your favorite genre.”
3. “Never give up. I know that’s cliché, but with acting it’s easy to give up. It’s so annoying sometimes. I feel like anyone in acting with the right team can be successful. It’s just about how long are you willing to stick it out for. A lot people will say, ‘I’m not going to do this anymore. I just want to write or produce,’ but if they would have stuck with it they would have a couple months away from booking that job that put them over.”

Check out Keith Powers in tonight’s episode of TALES on BET at 8/7c.