The breakdown for that particular spot called for quirky individuals who like to have fun.  We actors could do whatever we wanted – sing or dance – and then we had to say some lines.  I decided to do a dance that I do with my little cousins whenever they come over – except we dance with our clothes on.  I wore JOE BOXER underwear to the audition.  I knew it was for a Kmart spot and I just had to get it because I’m from Detroit .  So, I went in and dropped my pants and did my dance.  Next thing, I see the ad on the television, and I start getting all these hits on my website.  It’s just amazing.  I feel so blessed.

Ever since I was a child.  I love attention.  I’m from a family of five.  My younger sister and I use to perform at family gatherings.  We had props and customs - it was like a home theater production.  We’d take our show on the road and performed at family reunions.

Right!  My family is key to sustaining a good spiritual and mental plane – to staying sane - particularly in a business that is extreme hectic and chaotic at times.

I’m a big believer in education, which was a huge priority in my family.  My siblings went to college, but they didn’t graduate.  Neither did my mother and father.  I’m the youngest and I went to Cornell University .  I graduated with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in industrial and labor relations.  It was very gratifying and it feels great to have a solid educational background.

I always knew something big was coming my way.  I wanted to go to school for the experience and for the knowledge.  In the long-run, I think having a degree in labor law and business administration is the best tool to utilize within the film industry because it’s a business and I’m a self-employed entrepreneur.  I am not afraid to embrace the business aspects of the entertainment field. It is a very tough business and a lot of it deals with having excellent marketing, communication and inter-personal skills.  My confidence and skills stem from my education and my experience in corporate America .

Upon completion of college, I spent a couple of years in corporate America .  A make-up artist discovered me, and he said I could make it as a model and actor.  I took some pictures with a photographer, sent them overnight to an agency, and I’ve been working for the last three years with no side jobs.  I’ve really been blessed.  I’ve traveled around the world doing something I’m really passionate about.  It’s an amazing feeling.

By passion, I mean working with integrity.  Besides my family and education, the third thing I value most is integrity – personal and professional. 

I feel it is important to move forward from the Kmart ad campaign creating positive images of myself and being a part of making positive images in the media.  I hope to be a part of projects that are quality projects.

Right now, I’m very impressed with Edward Norton.  I’m also a big fan of Hill Harper.  What I like about the two of them is the way they are able to become the characters they portray on film.

My first love is major motion pictures - dramatic films.  I really like MONSTER’S BALL.  It’s a heavy film, professionally done and well acted, particularly on the part of Halley Barrie.  That’s the caliber of film I would like to be a part of in the immediate future, as well as five years from now.  I think it’s interesting to be able to portray the happiest guy in America, which is the image I created for the JOE BOXER ad campaign, but I think it would be wonderful to portray a character who is the direct opposite of that.

As an entertainer, I feel obligated to show the different parts of Vaughn Lowery.  I think it would be interesting for individuals who support the JOE BOXER character to see me in a quality sit-com or dramatic film.

Actually, I am writing for a project, and I am working along side a studio writer who is helping me to get it in the proper form.  I won’t star in it because it’s based on a much younger character, but I hope to be involved as a producer.  I would love to start a production company and produce innovative films.

I’m always challenging myself.  I’m always exercising my muscles.  As an actor, I’m always in training, always taking acting classes.  I’m always preparing for roles.  I’m slowly moving away from modeling because of the acting, but I’m constantly updating my modeling portfolio as well.  I believe you get out of the industry as much as you put into it.

Not at this moment.  I’ve always had people looking out for me, giving me insights on the business - my acting coach, my management, my agent and one of my fashion photographers, Ron Contarsy who shot many of the images on my website.  I like surrounding myself with people who will give me their honest opinions – not yes-men.

I was less fortunate.  I grew up in a distraught neighborhood - in a low income, Section-8 housing project.  Education was the key for me.  I was always the class clown, but I found learning fun.  I got straight A’s in school.  When I was fourteen, I took got into the Upward Bound Program, which helps inner city youth.  They got me into a prestigious boarding school and that really changed my life.  I was away from home and that gave me my independence.  The program better prepared me for school and for life.  I lived with people from diverse backgrounds, and I feel like I owe the program my life.  Many of my old friends didn’t have that.  Most of my female friends got pregnant early and now have a ton of kids.  My male friends are either in jail or on drugs.

Now, I’m mentoring a young man that I found through an organization called the Heart of Los Angeles.  His name is Leo Herrera, and he’s like my little brother.  It’s been great since I don’t have immediate family in Los Angeles .

I got involved before everything blew up with JOE BOXER.  I did a web search for the words community and Los Angeles and I got Heart of Los Angeles.  I went to the center that same day.

I’m a very spiritual person and I pray to God for direction and clarity.  What will be, will be.  Right now, I think I’m where I’m suppose to be.  I pray to God for affirmation and clarity.  He always gives it to me.  As long as I get that affirmation, I think I’ll be okay in this business.  If not, I have a degree, and I can move on, but somehow, I think this is where I should be.  As long as I get clarity and affirmation from God, I’ll be okay.