Fans know him as Derek Roman, bad boy athlete on VH1’s popular series Hit The Floor. Freeman shows his range as an actor in his new film for TVOne, Second Chance Christmas.
LAS: You have your Bachelors degree as well as a masters degree, how did you transition from the corporate world to being an actor?
MF: I’ve always had a knack for business. I wanted to either be an entrepreneur or CEO of a corporation. When I graduated I had a job lined up for almost eight months at IBM. They had offered me a job during graduate school. I thought I was going to be the first black CEO of IBM. I was apart of their executive leadership development program. At some point in your life you take a step back and you assess the things that drive you. Your whole life you build up these things that you want which include owning a house, having a nice car and money in the bank but I soon realized those things weren’t important to me. I wanted to pursue something I was passionate about. While I was still working my full time job, I wanted to do something different so I started modeling. One thing led to another and here we are.
LAS: What’s your advice for those who may be in the corporate world and want to work in entertainment; how do you choose passion over stability?
MF: It was important for me to be really honest with myself. Although making a lot of money in a corporate job would be great at the end of the day, does that define who I am? Stability versus uncertainty-that’s when you have to exercise your faith that what you’re doing is the right thing. Your career doesn’t change over night but if you’re consistent with your choices to follow your passion, success is inevitable.
LAS: What initially interested you in the role of Malcolm in Second Chance Christmas?
MF: When I read the script I was moved by it. It was a story that I don’t really think has been told before especially from a males perspective, marrying a woman that has a pre-teen then stepping up as a father when tragedy happens. When you read something that touches you and makes you look at the world around you differently, I think that’s how I felt when I read the script. The relationships are very honest and at a human level, I think there’s something in the movie that everyone can relate to.
LAS: What was your take away from this character?
MF: With any good character we see a piece of ourselves and that’s what makes them so interesting. For Malcolm it’s the desire for love, family and a willingness to fight for the things that are most important to him.I worked everyday from twelve to fourteen hours because it was just as much a challenge acting wise as it was physically to prepare for the intense moments that you can’t fake.
It was a great opportunity to showcase a more complex aspect of who I am as an actor. Derek Roman on Hit the Floor is a very complicated person. He’s a bad boy who has issues with substance abuse. As Malcolm in Second Chance Christmas I get to show my range as an actor. I truly loved the challenge of this role.
I told the director, Alton Glass before we started filming that he didn’t have to worry about me not being prepared. In the same way you wouldn’t show up to a track meet trying to remember to pass the baton-it’s too late. Acting is an opportunity to stand in front of a blank canvas and create art with the help of the director. Hopefully we’ve created some kind of painting that truly depicts the message of hope, family and love. From Glass to Courtney Triggs to the folks at TVOne, we grew to be family on set. The cast was great, Tank was so funny, he’s become a great friend. Singer Kandi Burruss was amazing; everyone was really on point. I hope people enjoy the film.
