Actor Nelson Estevez is a native New Yorker who can be seen playing Casey in Tyler Perry’s latest film, Acrimony. His talents expand beyond acting, as a mixed martial artist and athlete. Estevez considers both mental and physical training to be a key factor in preparing for a role. He says he trains to be an actor the same way athletes train to be in the Olympics, with conscious dedication and conditioning to all aspects of his life. What’s even more impressive is how he uses his mixed martial arts training to choreograph fight scenes. Do we have a future action star among us? From looking at his demo reel, we think so. We were happy to speak with the actor about his career, life, and Hollywood.
This is A Conversation with Nelson Estevez:
Get to Know Nelson
Name: Nelson Estevez
Home City/Country: New York/USA
The Time I Wake Up: It depends but mostly 8am.
The First Thing I Do in the Morning Is: Say thank you for another day.
My Typical Breakfast: Oatmeal with chopped bananas and blueberries with a glass of orange juice.
My Typical Lunch: Salmon Salad.
My typical dinner: Salmon with spinach and broccoli.
My Morning Commute is like: LA traffic is no joke.
After Work, I Like To: Go to my car and head home while listening to Interviews on YouTube.
A Fun Night for me Includes: Karaoke, dancing, laughs, and free food!
The Time I Go to Sleep: 12am-ish
The Last Thing I do at Night: Cover my eyes before sleep.
My Favorite Thing to do for Fun: Group Karaoke!
One Word to Describe my Personal Style: Clown.
My Favorite Movies: Batman (with Michael Keaton), Blade 2, Ghostbusters.
My Favorite Artist(s): 2pac, Michael Jackson, Nas, and Bruno Mars.
My Favorite Song of the Moment: Walk It Talk It by Migos.
My Biggest Hope Right Now: World peace.
Someday I’d Like To: Have my own island.
The Biggest Challenge I Have Overcome So Far: Becoming the first in my family to graduate college.
The Biggest Challenge I Hope to Overcome: Leaving a legacy for future generations.
What Was The Audition Process Like For The Role of Casey (in Tyler Perry’s Acrimony)?
The only information that was given to me was my character breakdown, the title of film, and who was casting. Nothing more. I just treated it like every other audition by making sure I was prepared, a week after I was on my way to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. Later, I found out that there were auditions in Atlanta, NYC, and LA for this role. It was meant to be.
Tell Us About The Moment You Received The News You Landed This Role. Where Were You?
I remember I had to rush to go to work right after the audition. I received the call from my agent later that week while I was at work via voicemail because I did not hear my phone ring. As soon as I saw the voicemail notification I called him back immediately. I had to fly out the following day. It happened so fast.
We Know You Focus On Your Physical and Mental Training To Prepare For a Role. What Exactly Does That Mean?
I try to put myself in the character’s shoes, from how he stands, walks, dresses, to his archetype and how he would respond and/or react in certain scenarios.
How Did You Prepare to Play Casey in Tyler Perry’s Acrimony?
I was very limited with preparation time so I just tried to find his objective in every scene. Casey is not very complex but he potentially has another side to him that is mentioned in the film. You need to watch and listen closely to the film to find out!
Describe Your First Day of Shooting Tyler Perry’s Acrimony. What Time Did You Start The Day? What Time Were You Done?
It was about 8 hours a day for me. We were there pretty early at about 6:30-7am. It wasn’t a problem waking up thanks to my adrenaline.
Do You Spend a Lot of Time In Your Trailer Going Over Your Lines?
I spend the majority of my time in the trailer going over my lines making sure I was clear and concise with my intentions and dialogue in the scenes. I wanted to leave an impression on everyone and bring my best.
After Filming a Movie With Such a Heavy Subject Matter, How Did You Unwind or Loosen Up When It Was Over?
Everything from the subject matter to my emotions of excitement booking the film, to the amount of work put in every scene, was a whirlwind of emotions. I got to unwind on the flight back to Los Angeles with some libations.
Do You Do Anything on Set to Change Your Mood?
It all depends. I usually keep an object in my pocket that I feel the character would have. That’s my little secret. For Casey, I had a note that said, “I love my wife,” and house keys in my front right pocket. This helps me to give my character more “substance.”
What Would be your Ultimate Dream Role?
I would love to be the lead in an action film where I train to do most of my fight choreography and stunts (depends how insane the stunts are). Also, I would love to play a supervillain or creature from another planet.
Growing Up, What Made You Want to be an Actor?
I have always been drawn to the craft but now I can finally say that my path in martial arts and as an athlete has truly complimented my journey, focus, and drive. My sister and I had a VHS when we were kids and we would record our favorite music videos, commercial, TV and film scenes and we would act them out and even build the “sets” with cardboard and/or sofa pillows. We would direct each other to make sure that we were able to mimic the scenes or moments to the best we could. We would spend hours doing this! My sister pursued theatre throughout high school; I pursued sports (baseball, football, track). A couple of years after graduating college and while working a 9-5, I was presented a job to work as background for a scene in a movie (Hitch, starring Will Smith). I remember watching him and Kevin James performing, improvising scenes while having so much fun doing it. This reminded me of my sister and I as kids and gave me the curiosity to look into working more background jobs. This is how I learned the basics of how a set functions. It wasn’t actually until attending a conservatory in NYC that I began to really understand and respect the craft in new levels.
What Advice Would You Give to Someone Pursuing an Acting Career?
Believe in yourself.
You’re from New York, What’s One Misconception About New Yorkers That Needs to be Cleared Up?
We are not all assholes! We are just blunt and passionate when it comes to everything!
There Has Been a Lot of Talk About Diversity in Hollywood. As a Person of Color, How Do You Feel About the Issue in Hollywood and What Steps Do You Think Needs To Happen in order For The Industry To Change?
I think coming together and creating content will bring a new perspective to situations that everyday people go through. Being Afro-Latino, our perspectives have rarely been expressed through film and media. I hold myself accountable to make sure that we do have our perspective and my perspective told through film and media. Diversity is happening. It’s moving.
Besides, Acrimony, What Other Projects Can We Look Forward To From You?
I have been in the process of directing, writing, producing and will be submitting to future festivals for an upcoming short that we raised $23k for. The name of the short is called, “Tubby Hook” and it’s a loose story on the tension between the Irish and Dominican communities living in Inwood, Manhattan. It takes place in the 1980’s. I have also written two pilot series dealing with certain common issues but from Afro-Latino perspectives. It is ready to go!
I also worked on a film directed by Aisha Tyler (CBS’s Criminal Minds and The Talk) called, “Axis” which was just released in about every major streaming platform iTunes, Amazon, Fandango, Vudu, etc. Sam Rockwell, Emily Bett Rickards, Emmett Hughes, Adam Rodriguez are just a few of the great actors attached to this film which I am proud of.
Nelson Estevez currently resides in Los Angeles. To keep up with him, head over to www.nelsonestevez.com.