“I was pretty much a level headed kid with a lot of energy.” Nelson Estevez talks about his latest project with Tyler Perry and growing up in New York City.

What is your “backstory”?

I grew up in New York City, mainly Inwood which is on the northern tip of Manhattan (200th st, 207st, 211st). I also spent 4 years attending high school in Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx. I was born to two first generation immigrants from the Dominican Republic who worked extremely hard to provide food on the table and a roof over our heads. I am the oldest of two, and I have a younger sister.

Growing up around our neighborhood, we all made the best of what we had and what we could afford. We shared just about everything in our household and really didn’t have my own bed until graduating and attending college (where I still had to share a room). I am fortunate to have both of my parents while growing up in NYC and to this day. No matter what the situation was, they always managed to give us the essentials. I was pretty much a level headed kid with a lot of energy. My dad would introduce me to baseball as an outlet for this energy.

My sister and I would have a black vhs tape when we were kids where 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 theater throughout high school, where I pursued sports like baseball, football and track. When I was In high school. Years after graduating college(business degree) and while working a 9–5, I was presented a job to work as background for a scene in a movie (Hitch with Will Smith). I remember watching him (Will) 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 looking into working more background jobs. This is how I learned the basics of how a set runs. This was how it all started.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your acting/directing/performing career?

One of my acting coaches was always pushing me to grow and saw a lot of potential in me. He would always call me out in front of class if I did not do my thorough scene work. One day he just decided to pick on me for the entire class, calling me out or pushing past my “performance boundaries.” After a session we all took a 15 min break. I went to go drink some water at the fountain around the corner. After drinking water I looked up and saw my teacher there just grilling me. I asked him, “what’s up?” In amazement he responded… “Wow, that’s the first REAL moment that you have had ALL day, Nelson.” He just smiled and then walked away. This really stood out for me and although I laughed about it, he really helped to bring me, “out of my shell.”

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

Tyler Perry’s, “Acrimony,” Starring the very talented Taraji P Henson! You can see in theaters everywhere ‪on March, 30th‬! I play the character named Casey, who is one of Taraji’s (Melinda’s) brother-in-laws that tries to be as supportive as possible to his wife June (Played by Jazmyn Simon) and Melinda during Melinda’s decisions and eventual actions after feeling “used” and “betrayed” from her ex husband Robert (Lyriq Bent). It’s going to be a wild and crazy ride with a great, shocking twist in the end (duh, it’s a Tyler Perry film). I can’t wait to see what you all think.

It’s interesting that I have been also more behind the scenes working on projects. I have been in the process of directing, writing, producing and will be submitting to future festivals for an upcoming short which we raised $23k for. The name of the short is called, “Tubby Hook” and it’s a loose story on 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 (Criminal Minds) called, “Axis” which was just released in about every major streaming platform, ie, 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 to say.

Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?

Interesting people? That is a difficult question to answer because every time I am on set, everyone’s backstory or history could be an interesting or fascinating one for me. Even walking to the grocery store I have come across and have interacted with some interesting people. Especially in cities like Los Angeles and/or New York City to name a few.

Which people in history inspire you the most?

People In history that have believed in themselves to follow their dreams.