Rising Stars: Meet Calen Meeks

Today we’d like to introduce you to Calen Meeks. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After graduating from Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010, I went after an entertainment career by pursuing music. I would audition for local things and all those well-known singing shows. I got through to the executive producer rounds but I wasn’t ever shown on TV. In 2015 I relocated to Atlanta with a guy I was dating. We broke up after a year and some months lol, which is when I moved back to Detroit. I felt like I didn’t really get a chance to pursue my career in entertainment while in Atlanta, so I relocated back to Atlanta in 2017. I started dancing as a GoGo boy and documented my daily life on Instagram which is when my following quickly started to grow. I started making skits and one went viral. My following grew even more, then I started getting paid to post products from businesses. 

In 2019 I appeared on Bravo’s reality tv show Blind Date. After that, I wanted to do something bigger so I started applying to modeling and background acting/casting companies in Atlanta. In 2020, I had my first speaking role in the City Girls – Flewed Out music video feat. Lil Baby. Lala Means of Millticket got me casted as the City Girls’ airport security guard. ”I can’t let you on this plane with that fake ass chain” was my line from the video. It has over twenty million views now. The reaction videos are funny. Fast forward to 2021, I started working with Clive Davis of Cab Casting. I got booked on the tv show Bigger (BET Plus), Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground (HBO MAX), and as a recurring character on Tyler Perry Studio’s All The Queen’s Men (BET Plus) as Jay. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As a new actor, the hardest thing is finding a way to transition from having an extra role to having a speaking role.  I didn’t know if I needed a manager/agent or what.  But then one day while filming the City Girls Flewed Out music video, I proceeded to improv my own line into the first take of filming. I didn’t hesitate, I did it with confidence. Being on many music video sets I know that the directors add stuff on the spot and normally are chill.  And to my surprise, the Director liked it and instructed me to keep using the line until he said stop, don’t say anything, just do the action. I thought like “oh no, he changed his mind”, but nope they were just getting footage then mic’d me up. Then we continued filming. That’s how my first speaking role came about. 

I didn’t get confirmation or anything from the production company after filming to know if they were gonna use the scene in the music video so I had to wait until the video was released. It was like October. I watched my televised acting debut with everyone else on Youtube. So much anxiety not knowing. This is pretty much all the time if you’re not the main character and you shoot a scene… I would just be happy but worrying, like “I hope they keep the close-up or non-scripted line that we filmed.” I felt that way about my character on All The Queens Men until I saw him in the show promo trailer LOL but that was from PTSD before I started MAKING IT in Black Hollywood. I actually wasn’t a part of the original cast of All The Queens Men. I auditioned for the club owner but didn’t get it. But Mr. Perry liked my audition so much (along with a few others) that he wrote us into the show. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
-Bigger (BET Plus)  

-Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground (HBO MAX) 

-All The Queen’s Men (BET Plus) 

-Blind Date (Bravo) 

-City Girls  

– Flewed Out music video (Quality Control) 

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I’m a singer! I plan on releasing a music video for my single Rainbow which is available on all streaming platforms. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/calenkmeeks
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/calenmeeks