Rising Star Tenz McCall On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry
An Interview With Edward Sylvan
I wish someone would have told me how this is a lifetime journey. I always thought if I could just book a big film maybe It would be easier to get films after that. It is not true for me at least. I still work really hard and films do not come easy no matter who you have worked with.
As a part of my series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Tenz McCall.
Tenz McCall was born in Southern California and broke into the industry at just 4 months old doing commercials and print work. His passion for acting showed at 2 years old when he memorized lines from the original Star Wars movies and performed them for his family. He booked his first role at the ripe old age of 5 on Jimmy Kimmel Live! alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and has been working ever since. He has had roles in Animated movie Scoob! with Will Forte and Mark Wahlberg and the long-running hit series Shameless with William H. Macy just to name a few as well as a current commercial campaign for Infiniti. Tenz will soon be seen in the dramatic film Stu starring Mark Wahlberg in which he will be playing the younger version of Wahlberg. Passionate about saving animals he lends his support to Angels for Animals. Tenz is fluent in French and enjoys building Legos from memory and using his stop-action camera to make the legos come to life. A typical SoCal boy, he enjoys surfing, chess, and running track.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in California. It seems like summer every single day.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I have always known that I wanted to be an actor. I am a huge Star Wars fan and the moment I saw Darth Vader I knew I wanted to be an actor. Darth Vader is the kind of character that you never forget. That is what I want to create. I also really like telling stories and as an actor, we are storytellers. I do stop motion videos and I get to tell stories that way too. When I watch movies, I study reactions.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your entertainment career?
The most interesting story I can tell you is when I met Mark Wahlberg. He is a really great guy. When he walks on set you know that he is the best of the best. He gave me a fist bump and I will never forget that.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I would say that I learned really fast to just be cool. I had a scene with Evan Peters in a series and when he walked on set, I said “Wow! I am a really big fan”. I don’t think that went over well. He looked concerned. Later I was told he was still in character. I loved him in X-Men. My favorite scene is “Time in a Bottle”. They slowed everything down and he was able to do things in that scene I could only dream of. That scene plays in my mind a lot.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
I just finished a film with Mark Wahlberg, where I play a younger version of him. His father doesn’t treat him very well in the movie. Mark’s character goes on to be something his parents probably didn’t support but it was what he wanted. I think people could learn from that. Just be you and don’t worry about what everyone else wants you to do.
Most young people your age don’t have to balance work and school. Can you tell us how you manage to balance your schoolwork, auditions, and time on set?
I have to say that balance is a tricky word. Most days I 3–5 scenes to learn in just 24 hours. I audition almost every single day and often I have callbacks for roles on top of the auditions. I am expected to be able to do everything. I have to juggle auditions and callbacks on the same day a lot of times. My teachers expect the best from me, and they don’t really understand how busy I am. I usually get home from school when it’s dark and I work on my scenes on the school bus or during recess. I come home and do my homework and then take the last hour or so and try to polish my scenes. It can get emotional because I put a lot of time and effort into my characters. If I had a magic wand, I would slow downtime. When I’m on set I have set school as well. I go to a French school and the dual-language requires a lot of studying.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
The person I am most grateful for is my Mom. She drives me to my auditions, callbacks and to set. She picks me up from school most days of the week to be able to make the auditions. A lot of auditions are facetime, but we have to make it home to be able to do that. My Mom also helps me learn my lines and polish my scenes. She prints them out and I just start breaking the script down. I will take my own time to learn it and then I need her to keep going over the scenes with me. My mom is my everything.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s jump to the main part of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
- I wish someone told me how to deliver the lines correctly. There is a term called upspeak and if you do that, then you are known as new to the business. It took me a long time to learn how to deliver a line naturally without making it sound like a sing-song.
- I wish someone would have told me how everyone on set is like your extended family. I have met so many amazing people along the way.
- I wish someone would have told me how this is a lifetime journey. I always thought if I could just book a big film maybe It would be easier to get films after that. It is not true for me at least. I still work really hard and films do not come easy no matter who you have worked with.
4 That my friendships would suffer. My friends stress over homework and tests, I stress if I can get my scenes memorized in time.
5. Being an actor requires sacrifice. I can’t play sports because I need to be available every single day and at a moment’s notice.
You are a person of enormous influence. How do you think you can use social media as a platform to be a positive influence to your fans, and for society at large?
I am mostly vegan, and I really love animals. If I can inspire someone to just make one meal a week vegan, then I feel very grateful to be in that position. It’s hard to be vegan every meal, but I know it is best for the animals and the environment and that is what keeps me going. Before I go on set, I think of something I’m grateful for. It helps calm me. I hope I can remind people that being grateful also is a key to being happy.
If you had the ability to choose to work on any TV show or film, or work alongside any co-star, or with any director, what or who would that be, and why? You never know who might see this article, especially if we tag them. :-)
If I had the ability to choose a film or a tv show, I would choose a film. I really like that a film usually takes about 3 months to shoot. What I love about this is that I can work with different people a lot more and I get to create even more characters. One time I was at Warner Brother’s Studio, and I just wrapped an episode of Shameless. I was invited to the museum on the Warner Brothers lot, but I chose to go back to school. The “Rock” Dwayne Johnson surprised the crew and showed up where I was filming. I saw photos of him with people I had worked with earlier. I was so crushed. If I had gone to the museum maybe I would’ve seen him walking around. I still think about that to this day. The Rock is someone I dream of working with. I can tell you that I would be smiling so much that my cheeks would hurt. I would hopefully put on my charming hat, and he would smile. The Rock has charisma and I hope to have that someday.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
I am on Instagram @TenzMcCall
This was very meaningful, thank you so much!
