Today we’d like to introduce you to Roman Banks.
Roman, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I thought I’d like to become an actor after watching Will Smith’s performance in I Am Legend when I was 11. I was just amazed that basically, one person and a dog could carry an entire movie and keep me interested in the story. Ever since that night, I rejected my previous dream of wanting to become a firefighter and set my sights for the big screen. Well, that and a German Shepherd.
I started doing theatre in high school because it was my only option. Finances were always of concern in our household and so outside programs and training were not a possibility. Having been inspired by Will Smith, I wanted to become a predominantly Film/TV actor. However, when two of the boys in my “Introduction to Theatre” class found out I could sing, they thought that it was in my best interest to continue into the musical theatre class rather than the non. You could say they were onto something.
Nonetheless, I had no real interest in theatre and was involved in it purely to hone my acting skills. Mainly because the plays/musicals that I’d heard of, as well as what I knew of Broadway in general, very much seemed like a space for that only accounted for white ideas and white traditions. And it was and in many ways still is! But all of that changed for me when Hamilton came to Broadway during my junior year of high school. Hamilton changed my life. It was the first time I’d seen people who look, talk, dance, rap, and sing like me presented in all of their glory on a Broadway stage. I couldn’t believe my eyes or my ears. A friend of mine sent me the bootleg, and after finally convincing me to watch it I was hooked. Those 46 songs were all that I listened to for two entire months. I decided at the end of my junior year that if I could ever make another person feel and realize about themselves what Hamilton made me feel and realize about myself, then that’s what I wanted to do. So, Broadway, it was.
During my senior year, I auditioned for four musical theatre programs: CCM, Carnegie Mellon, Webster, and Shenandoah Conservatory, making it into the latter two. I decided to go to Shenandoah, located in Winchester, VA, to pursue my education. Thank you, scholarships! During the second semester of my freshman year, I was scrolling on Facebook and came across an open call for Dear Evan Hansen, the 2017 Tony award recipient for Best Musical, where it appeared that they were casting for the upcoming national tour. I have only ever had two dream roles in musical theatre: Aaron Burr in Hamilton and Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen, both of which have been deemed as Tony-winning performances by the original actors who portrayed them. You could say I’m a bit of a dreamer. Nonetheless, I was auditioning.
I went to New York to audition, and what started as a silly dream became my reality in four months’ time. I was cast out of college in my dream show on Broadway as an understudy for the three young male roles, and in doing so became the first BIPOC actor to portray Evan Hansen. A testament and reminder to myself that dreams do come true. I spent a year and a half with Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway, during which I wrote my debut EP Days. Shortly after leaving the show in January of this year, I was cast in season two of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and my EP recently dropped on March 27th. So, that’s where we’re at!
Has it been a smooth road?
The road has been anything but smooth, but I don’t believe that God gives us challenges that he doesn’t believe we are capable of overcoming. It was extremely rough to be told I had two weeks’ notice to move to New York at the age of nineteen. With no credit to my name, nonetheless. I lived in a hotel for a week, then on my auntie’s couch for a week, and miraculously found a studio apartment with days to spare before I was going to be kicked out of there. Furthermore, my Broadway job, which was also my first professional acting job, came with plenty of challenges on and off the stage. My first 6 months in NYC were incredibly lonely. I only knew two people in the city before moving there but had little to no time to see them. And you’d be surprised to learn how hard it is to make friends in a city with over 8,000,000 people. However, NYC will either make or break you. It took me time, but I adapted and became stronger because of it. I’m a firm believer that God call the equipped but equips the called. And so he had to get me equipped for not only this job but what came next.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am an actor, singer, dancer, and musician!
Contact Info:
- Website: lnk.to/EPDays
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romanwbanks/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roman.banks.125
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/romanwbanks
Image Credit:
singing photo – Rebecca J Michelson
photo w/ pink background – Jenny Anderson
Evan Hansen solo – MurphyMade
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