Meet Alex Benton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Benton.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Alex. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born on the Southside of Chicago. My mother and I moved to Atlanta when I was young. Growing up, I always had a love for movies and basketball. After school, my friends and I would get together to watch a movie. After the movie, we would try to recreate the most iconic scene from the movie. Around the time I was in fifth grade, my mother bought a new camcorder. From that point on my friends and I would use the camcorder to record our scenes. We would alternate being the director or the actor. From that point on I discovered my passion for filmmaking. Then, my mother and I moved to Alpharetta, Ga where I decided to put the camera down and to primarily focus on basketball. During my senior year, I took theater as my elective just to get an easy A. However, when I started the class I realized that this was where I was supposed to be. I eventually stopped playing basketball to focus on film again. After many conversations with my theater teacher, he encouraged me to take professional acting classes to hone my craft. A week later I began taking acting classes at Premier Actors Network. I started with group sessions led by Dwayne Boyd. I was nervous as it was my first time being around seasoned actors. After about a month of being in the group sessions, I was still very uncomfortable. Dwayne pulled me aside and suggested that I do one-on-one sessions with another acting coach, Mac Wells. Mac helped me break out of my comfort zone. After several coaching sessions, we felt that I was ready to get with an agency. Right before I went off to college, I sent a tape to BYSB Talent Agency in hopes that I would catch their attention. One week later I was signed by Tay Smith and Christopher Young to BYSB Talent. After a few auditions, I booked my first on-screen acting job. It was for a film called “The Waiting Room” which aired on BETHer in October 2019. The film is divided into four short stories, each focused on one of four women who all connect in a doctor’s waiting room as they wait to hear if they have breast cancer. Each short story follows one of the women’s journey after receiving the life changing diagnosis. I played a featured role in “The Story of Trinity” as Trinity’s (played by Rashan Ali) son, Rory. Seeing myself on TV fueled my desire even more to become a successful actor and notable filmmaker.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Things definitely have not been easy for me as I have pursued my dreams. Although I knew I had what it took to be a great actor, I realized I had to first get comfortable in my own skin so that I could effectively portray different characters. As a student, it is a struggle to pay for classes, demo reels, audition self-tapes and gas. But, I consider the sacrifice an investment in my future success. Also, being an actor tests your strength of character and perseverance. I constantly tell myself that I need to book the room and everything else will fall into place.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I plan to move to Los Angeles after graduating from Howard University to continue to pursue my acting career. I also plan to start my own production company to create films that will give voices to the voiceless. Lastly, I plan to do reverse-gentrification in the black community. I will buy up commercial and residential property to build it up and resale it back to my people. I want to help keep the black dollar in the community.

Contact Info:

• Email: alexkbenton@yahoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexkbenton/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexkbenton
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1160830/

Image Credit:
Dwayne Boyd

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