Koffee ChitChat
Koffee ChitChat
Behind the Scenes with an Award-Winning Actor
Imagine being swept into the world of cinema by the awe of "Jurassic Park" as a child, with your grandmother by your side, believing every dinosaur to be real. This week on Koffee Chit Chat, we sit down with Emmanuel Carter, the multi-talented actor whose journey into the entertainment industry was sparked by magical movie moments shared with his late grandmother. From these humble beginnings to becoming a notable figure in filmmaking, acting, directing, and writing, Emmanuel's story is one of passion, resilience, and heartfelt dedication.
Our conversation peels back the layers of Emmanuel's unique approach to his craft. He dives deep into the importance of script understanding and personal connection to bring authenticity to his performances. Emmanuel also touches on how improvisation has sharpened his reflexive acting skills and the challenges of stepping into roles vastly different from his own personality. For aspiring actors, he offers a goldmine of advice on leveraging modern technology and social media to create opportunities, emphasizing the power of staying true to oneself and one’s individuality.
And if you think winning an Emmy would be the pinnacle, think again. Emmanuel shares the exhilarating highs and surprising twists of his career, including the unexpected news of an Emmy nomination while at the dentist. His reflections on the vital role of parental support, the importance of a strong mindset, and maintaining good character in the entertainment industry are both inspiring and insightful. To top it all off, we share our enthusiastic recommendation to watch the classic film "The Preacher's Wife," leaving you with an inspiring quote by Jonas Salk. Don't miss this uplifting and insightful episode of Koffee Chit Chat!
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Hey y'all. Hey, we have an awesome guest in the house this morning. Welcome back to another exciting episode of Coffee Chit Chat. But you know how we do it we're gonna shout out the coffee of the week, and it's a caramel vanilla latte. Make sure you try one. So today we have an actor in the building. His name is Emmanuel Carter. He's a multi-talented artist who has made significant contributions to the Indiana arts and entertainment community. Carter began his acting career in 2016, making it a full-time pursuit in 2017. His career includes appearances in a reality dance competition series, netflix soundtrack, tv One's Fatal Attraction my favorite show and discoveries Murder Chase Me that's another one. I did Yup and CB's Case Files, chicago. He has also been featured in numerous television commercials and print ads. We have the star of Noggin' Nose in the house. Welcome to Coffee Chit Chat, emmanuel.
Speaker 3:Thank you First of all. That was an awesome introduction. I was like, dang, you're making me feel good. No, I'm so honored to be on. I really appreciate y'all bringing me onto the show. That's awesome. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:I'm so honored to be on. I really appreciate y'all bringing me onto the show. That's awesome. Thank you so much. Well you, thank you for taking time out of your business schedule to chat with us. We're excited to learn a little bit more about you. So what inspired you to pursue a career in?
Speaker 3:acting? That's a really good question. So it's weird because on one hand, for as long as I can remember, that's all I ever wanted to do. It was just one of those things that I felt like was just given to me, Like that desire that dream was probably. I think it was just given to me at such an early age.
Speaker 3:But I think the thing that woke the dream up was watching movies with my grandmother, way past my bedtime. My grandma was so cool with my grandmother, way past my bedtime. My grandma was so cool, Like when it was time for me to go to bed, she would let me come into her room after my mom was asleep and let me watch the movie she was watching. And I remember specifically the movie that sort of opened my eyes to like the possibility of like on-screen magic was Jurassic Park, because I thought those dinosaurs were real and I asked my grandma how they did that and she said oh no, that's just called movie magic. And ever since then I was like I want to create movie magic and the dream of wanting to be a filmmaker, an actor, a director, a writer all of those things were kind of wrapped up into one and I had dedicated myself to figuring out how to do that, ever since then.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, what a fun story. I bet your grandmother loves to hear that.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, sadly my grandmother is not with us, but she got, I feel like. I feel like somehow she knows what's going on right now, so she's smiling somewhere.
Speaker 1:Yes, that angel smiling down from heaven. Right, you have been acting for about, I think, eight years now, so that's quite a few. I'm sure you had quite a few roles. How do you prepare for a role, when you're chosen for that particular role?
Speaker 3:when you're chosen for that particular role. Wow, that's another good question. So my approach to when it comes to preparing for any role that I undertake it's so atypical. There's a lot of books and there's a lot of classes that will tell you about the process and show you how to get into a process, but because I come from the school of trial and error for me, I realized that the best way for me to prepare for any role is to read the script and to know the story as much as I possibly can get to know it, Because when people think about acting, they think that us actors are going in front of the camera and pretending to be a role.
Speaker 3:But I found out that if I found the similarities between me and this character, between this story, if I can relate Emmanuel Carter to what is on this page, then that's how I'm going to bring the most honest performance out.
Speaker 3:So I try to make sure that I memorize it as much as possible so it gets into my body. So by the time I'm ready to when they call action, it's almost like reflex. So I'm really just bringing aspects of myself to this character as opposed to trying to create a character out of nothing. That's why you hear so many stories, like when you hear about Denzel Washington or Leonardo DiCaprio or Viola Davis and they say, oh my God, I could actually feel what she was feeling. That's because her feelings were real. She was coming from such a real place, and that's kind of my whole modality is trying to be as honest with who I'm trying to portray as possible, which is basically just another version of me, but being honest, that's exciting and that that is so interesting to learn, and especially for our listeners who may be interested, you know, in their children or themselves.
Speaker 1:You know becoming an actor, how you study the characters, so I love to hear that.
Speaker 2:Do you do any different techniques like method acting or all the different acting techniques out there? Do you have a favorite one that you like to study?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I started off. So when I first started, I read all the books and I was going on being able to create the story out of the information that you're receiving right there on the spot. That's been my favorite class, because it teaches you to act on reflex and it teaches you to listen to what's going on in the scene, in the scene. I feel like every actor should study an improv class, because it sharpens this tool within you to be able to take in information and to be able to progress whatever story that's being told. So that's sort of like my bread and butter is being able to improv.
Speaker 3:Now, when it comes to playing characters that are completely against me, which I've kind of been doing lately, now that I have the freedom to be able to explore different types of characters that you wouldn't normally see me as Again, there's not really a cemented technique I just sort of take that character and act on reflex, like see what I would do. The very first thing I would do inside of this character is where I'm going to take that character, because if I for me, I'm not skilled enough yet to just like create this mosaic personality, so I go off of reflex like what I'm feeling this character would do, because I feel like if that's the first instinct, then that's where this character needs to go.
Speaker 3:For instance, I did this I'm not allowed to say the title of this thing yet because it hasn't come out yet but I basically just did a very dramatic role and the character does stuff in the film that I would never do in real life, like he does some amoral stuff. So I'm like dang okay, hey, how does? How do I relate to this?
Speaker 3:So, the first thing that I would do is like, okay, why is he doing this? Where's the humanity in this? Why does he feel like he's right? Why does he feel like he's justified in these actions? So that's kind of like a like a like a Frankenstein technique that I use to approach when I create these characters, characters I love it because you know what.
Speaker 1:That is exactly what I was going to ask too. Do you have any sneak peeks in the work?
Speaker 2:so we're gonna be waiting so what made you stay in individual acting?
Speaker 3:oh, amazing question, because the same talent, the same resources and, I feel like the same opportunities exist all over the United States in the same way that they do on the different coasts. People, I feel like when you think of trying to pursue anything from anywhere, people always have this idea in mind that you have to go and, in my mind, if you are resourceful enough, if you want it enough, you can create the opportunity, no matter where you're at. It's about being so true to yourself that nobody can say no, and when you move to these different places, you sort of become the place that you move to, and especially as an actor, if you're going to California, you're drinking in the culture, you're learning all these things that you should do to make it. But if you sort of stay in yourself, then you're acting on what you feel like you should do and that makes you so unique and it makes you stand out so much and it makes you so unstoppable, because you become something that nobody's ever seen before.
Speaker 3:Decided to go ahead and just stay here, because I'm so happy that we are entering into a place where accessibility to different places is, like it's, so widespread now. It's so easy. You have, I mean social media. You can scream from anywhere and everybody will hear you. So I love that. That that's becoming a lot more prevalent. But I feel like the more people sort of stay away from what's popular and do what they feel is right, that's when they're going to start seeing things change. So that was my whole, that was just my whole like thought process. When it comes to staying, when it came to staying in Indiana and plus all of the like, I was like, okay, cool, I'm going to be fine because all the super talented people are moving and so y'all leaving me here by myself. So I can, I can just attack this whole thing alone. So, thank y'all, y'all be back soon, thank y'all.
Speaker 2:No competition Like here I am.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. You can just be true to yourself. You can stand to your own morals and values and not try to.
Speaker 2:You know mimic can stand to your own morals and values and not try to.
Speaker 3:You know, mimic, what you're seeing out there in that, uh, that wild world, hollywood, exactly, you know, remotely do everything, exactly. Some of the worst advice I've ever gotten was from people telling me what other people did to make it. And every time and you know'm I'm bright eyed and I'm you know, I'm a dope in the, in the lights like trying to figure out what I need to do, because I do, I do desire to have a certain, I do desire to do certain things in this, in this, in this industry, that I'll listen to, anything that I feel like is valuable. But some of the worst and most counterproductive advice have come from people telling me that you should do this, this, this, this and this, and every time I've taken that advice, it always put me back because I was not doing what I did to get to the place of even talking to you.
Speaker 3:There are certain casting directors and managers and producers that I've gotten in the room with because I was doing what I felt I should do to make it that far, and then, once I got to that point, they say, ok, stop doing all of that, but all that stuff that I did was how I got into this room. So I feel like confidence and self-resolution and a little bit of faith. That's good, that I don't care what anybody says. I literally don't care about what a book says. If you are doing what you feel is right, that's what's gonna make you successful I love it.
Speaker 1:Look at you, you from here too, out there killing it.
Speaker 2:Everybody said you have to go to california, I was like no, it's very expensive. A different lifestyle.
Speaker 1:I feel like.
Speaker 2:I could figure out a way. It's like how you test it. I figured out a way.
Speaker 1:I found a way to get in with the people that's right so because you've been doing it for a while, how do you handle like rejection, have you? You know, like, if you really want a uh, particular part and they say, oh no, we found somebody else, how much, how do you handle that rejection?
Speaker 3:yes, oh, yeah, that's. That's a great question. I was actually just talking about this with a friend the other day. So, yeah, like first starting out, you feel like every role is right for you. Every time you audition for a role, you feel like, oh, this is the one, this is the role. Or you feel, like you, you did so well with an audition that you deserve the part. I don't, there's no way, they're not going to pick me for this part. Not gonna pick me for this part.
Speaker 3:Um, so in the beginning, when you're told no, after feeling so completely like set in stone that you got this part, it crushes you because you're like what did I do wrong? You start to question your own abilities. You start to question, like a whole lot of things that make you feel very insecure. Um, but then as time goes on and it's just part of the process, because as time goes on, you start to realize that, man, I'm still getting the chance to audition for people. I'm still getting the chance to get in front of people that I need to be in front of. Oh my god. And I'm still auditioning. There's so many opportunities out there that I'm just waiting for the right one to come. So once you figure out, like you know what there's not a, there's, it's not a well, that's going to dry up and I'm going to miss my turn. I'm just. My turn is waiting for me to really accept it. That's all.
Speaker 3:It is Like Noggin Nose. I never thought that Noggin Nose would be something that I would ever be a part of. I'm so grateful that I got that opportunity Right around that time. I was auditioning for a lot of things and I wasn't getting anything, but Noggin Nose gave me the opportunity to do everything that I'm OK at. I don't say I'm good and I'm still working on these things. And that was the one that said yes. And because of that yes, so many other doors have opened up, and it took me getting that role to realize that everyone that's pursuing this will have their time to shine. It's just that one thing that's going to. It's going to come into their life and be like okay, yep, come on in. You write for this and now watch what happens I love it.
Speaker 1:I love it because I I interview a lot of people and they say be thankful for the no's because the yes is coming yeah that's so true, you do a lot of dancing and singing.
Speaker 2:Do you want to just be a singer, like an album or anything?
Speaker 3:Did you repeat that for me? I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Oh, and knocking no's. I know you did a lot of dancing and singing. Do you want to pursue a singing career too, Because you're really good your song is really catchy. Thank you, yes, man. They gave singing career too, because you're really good like your song is really, kennedy, when I'm getting.
Speaker 3:Oh, thank you. Yes, you, man. They gave me some amazing songwriters. Shout out to Chris Serndale and Jolene Bell and my one producer, sir Limitless. They I.
Speaker 3:I was so grateful to be able to, like, utilize different aspects of my skill set. That was the first time that I was able to do all the things that I grew up loving to do. I was a theater kid back in the day. Well, no, no, no, no. Let me stop, because all my theater friends who might watch this be like no, you didn't do no theater, I was an aspiring theater kid. I just never had the voice, but I do. I really do love the idea of being able to do more singing and more dancing, because, I mean, that was my. That was another one of my first introductions to the entertainment industry. Was the man himself was Michael Jackson.
Speaker 3:The very first music video that I can remember seeing was Thriller, and I saw that because I was being punished. I did something and my mom put me in a room and said you're going to have to watch this and it was so scary, but I ended up loving it and then. So since then I sort of like wanted to be able to do that. I wanted to do that. So, yes, I actually have been able to write a lot more music. I'm actually producing a Halloween album right now that is going to be released this September because I wanted to.
Speaker 3:There was an aha moment where I said I don't want it to stop there. I don't want it to there to be a point to where it's like OK, I did that. I really want to keep on expanding on it, because I keep having so many different ideas and how to use different aspects of me, like my dance and my singing. I want to be a filmmaker, but I also want to do music. So how can I put those two things together? Oh my God, I'll make music videos. I have ideas for stories, but I want to sing. How can I do that? Oh my God, I'll tell the story through song. So, yeah, that's a great question. I have been actively going towards singing and dancing a lot more.
Speaker 1:So I want to ask you because I think I read your bio about how your efforts have earned you an Emmy. That's very impressive, so let's talk about that.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. Thank you, yeah, that's so. I won an Emmy for hosting a show that I did back in 2020 called Restart with Art. That it was. It was such a season of of of career abundance for me because it was during the pandemic and I didn't want to be stuck in a mindset to where because everything was shut down and everybody was sort of stuck on an island, the island of their homes I was like you know what? No, I'm still going to do what's on my heart, and so because of that, I got chosen to be on the show called Restart with Art. It was my first time ever hosting anything ever and I was just like, oh, I don't know how it's going to go, but we're going to try it.
Speaker 3:But I think because I never had the opportunity to host, I went about it in such a place of ignorance so it made my hosting look a lot different from the typical host. I ended up winning an Emmy for that. Then I got I got cast for Noggin Nose, which was that was. That was incredible. I'll never, ever forget that, that experience. And when I found out I got nominated for an Emmy for Noggin Nose, I had no idea I was even up for an Emmy. I was actually in the dentist when I got the news and my mouth was being worked on and I got a text message and it said hey, you got nominated for Outstanding. No, no, no, I'm sorry. Everybody was texting me saying congratulations and I was like what are y'all talking about? What are y'all talking about? I was talking about Dennis. Hey, hold on real quick. I got to change. I got to check my phone, so I got a message from one of the SVPs. His name was Sean Farrell amazing guy, brittany, y'all know Sean and he said congratulations on your Emmy nom. He said congratulations on your Emmy nom. And I was like huh. And he told me but so that I never expected to be awarded in any type of way because of that.
Speaker 3:When I got the news of the Emmy nomination, that made it all the better because we worked so hard on that show. We spend so much time in pre-production, recording the music, coming up with the choreography, the crew. They're going out and they're scouting, they're literally writing the script on the fly, coming up with the stories, like talk, like every single aspect surrounding abduction was going in 110%. Um, when you see the final product, it's so pristine and it's so wonderful and fun. But under that there was hundreds of people doing so much work to make that what it was. Um, I mean, we we'd have 12-hour days of it just being recording the dances for music videos and it was.
Speaker 3:It was some of the hardest work that I'd ever done in my life. It was so hard to the point where I was like, shoot, do I really want this? Like it makes you question like, dang, is this how? But it is, it is so worth it in the end. So I'm I'm more proud of the recognition for all the hard work than for the Emmy itself, for the Emmy nomination itself, because it just proved that all of our hard work really was noticed and really did pay it off, so that that was. The most gratifying part of that to me was, like you know, thank you for recognizing all the work that we did.
Speaker 1:So what would, what advice would you give our listeners out there who may give this career? Is this something you would tell them to let them do? Because a lot of times parents are not that fond of kids and the arts. You know, I know when Brittany was coming through and they wanted to do.
Speaker 3:I know yes.
Speaker 1:All its communication responded what do you want to do? I know she's all into communication, she's into art, she's in theater. They're like are you sure she may want to get a real job? And I'm like that is a real job, Right.
Speaker 3:Yes, that is so true and on one hand, that's really amazing that you supported Brittany in pursuing this career, and when Brittany had the opportunity to go to either Cali or New York, she knew exactly what she wanted to do, and now she's wearing that Nickelodeon shirt, you know, because that's where she made it.
Speaker 3:I feel like my advice would go to the parents first and I would say really foster a relationship with your child, a relationship that's built on trust, because you need to be able to come to your children and talk to them about anything there's. Sometimes we as parents and I still make this mistake myself create sort of a invisible barrier that you don't mean to create, but it's because you're trying to protect your child. But because you're trying to protect your child, they feel like they can't say certain things to you because they know how you will react. So a relationship that's built on transparency and trust is key because you want to be able to figure out what it is your child is really passionate about. Because, as a parent, when you know your child is actually passionate about something, you will move the heavens and the earth to make sure that you cultivate them along this journey.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So if this career is something that they really want to do. One, it's 100% possible for you to have the career that you want in this industry. And two, it's not as scary or as vicious as a lot of people think it is, especially if you go in with a strong mindset, a good heart and just be a good person. A lot of people say this industry is built on sharks and promises and all that stuff. It doesn't matter. As long as you are strong and set in your own self, then none of that matters. At the end of the day, people love to work with good people. That's actually something I learned from my manager, alex, who's the owner of the Green Room. One of the main reasons he wanted to work with me is that I'm a good guy and there's not a lot of people who openly are good people.
Speaker 3:So that's the advice I would give the parents to the kids, to anybody, to aspiring actors from any age do it, just do it. Do everything that you possibly can that goes towards the passion. Watching movies is studying. Creating little videos for yourself is studying. Go out and figure out what you can do to get represented by an agent that you trust. Once you get an agent that you trust your agent is going to send you on auditions. When you do that audition over and over and over, day after day, you're building up a skill set that's based on consistency, and the more you do it, I promise something's going to work. So my most important bit of advice is to just be consistent.
Speaker 1:So can you tell our listeners how they can follow you?
Speaker 3:Yes, so you can follow me on my Instagram. It's at Eman Carter, and that's where I usually post. I post only my work there, and I post quite frequently, and a lot of the things that are coming up now will be starting to be trickling down into my stories. Down into my stories, um, and I have some pretty fun stuff that I'm excited about that I'm going to be sharing on my instagram, uh, so yeah, if you are so inclined to follow ya boy, it's at emancarter on instagram yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely do that you got any more britney.
Speaker 2:Oh, for the last bit, for fun, since you're an actor in this world, like what is your favorite movie and favorite movie genre so easy.
Speaker 3:My favorite movie is lord of the rings, the fellowship of the ring. That is my favorite movie and it goes into my favorite genre, goes into why that's my favorite movie. My favorite genre is horror films. I grew up a horror fanatic. What you like? Horror.
Speaker 2:I love horror, I love the Wrong Turn, I love Final Destinations, the.
Speaker 3:Saw.
Speaker 2:He's like a black comedy whore.
Speaker 3:That was a good one, that was a good one. It came out like a year ago or something like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, on Juneteenth yes.
Speaker 3:What was it called? I never seen it. I got to watch it you got to watch it.
Speaker 2:It's called the Blasphemy. That's right yeah.
Speaker 3:That's funny. Okay, I'm going to watch it.
Speaker 2:It's like slashing. That's my genre. I like a good slashing movie.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's a good subgenre. Right there, y'all, I'm going to put you on the one that's so good right now. It's called Talk to Me. Have y'all seen?
Speaker 2:that yet.
Speaker 1:I haven't seen that, I haven't heard of it. Okay.
Speaker 3:Okay, please watch. All I'm going to say is just go watch. Talk to me. It came out last year, um, and in years, it's one of the best horror movies I've seen in years. Um, every time I come up, every time I want to create a story. It's always horror, every everything. That's why I like lord of the rings so much, because you know it's it's a fantasy, but it was shot in the style of a horror film and I had never seen a fantasy be done that way ever in my life and I had never seen I never. I didn't grow up reading the books, but I loved that movie so much that it just threw me into the whole world of JRR Tolkien. I became just a Lord of the Rings stan. I did everything. People maybe want to watch Lord of the Rings stand. I was up, I did everything.
Speaker 1:People maybe want to watch Lord of the Rings. I think my own is up for now.
Speaker 2:She's not going to be in it.
Speaker 3:Yes, Brittany we know your favorite genre. What's your favorite movie and your favorite genre?
Speaker 1:Oh, it's all about the thrillers, and you know what. My favorite movie, though, though, was waiting to exit oh yeah oh yeah, that's a classic and I well, it's a close, close, um second. It's the preacher's wife, because I really love that show. Yes, you have to watch the preacher's's Wife.
Speaker 3:I've never seen. I got to watch the Preacher's Wife now Never seen it.
Speaker 2:It's so good. Whitney and Denzel, oh my goodness, the soundtrack is excellent. What?
Speaker 3:Denzel and.
Speaker 2:Whitney, you did. Whitney was in the end.
Speaker 1:Everything is excellent on there.
Speaker 3:Shoot. Okay, all right, I'm going to watch the Preacher's Wife Y'all watch. Talk To Me, I'm going to text y'all too.
Speaker 1:But, we really appreciate you taking time out your day to chat with us on Coffee, chit, chat, and I'm going to leave you guys with a quote of the week.
Speaker 3:It is there is hope in dreams imagination and in the courage of those who wish to make those dreams a reality. And that is, by Jonas Salk, that literal words to live by. I love that quote, love that.
Speaker 1:Yep. So tune in guys next week for another exciting episode of Coffee Chit Chat.
