Meet Carleton Bluford: Actor, Writer, and Singer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carleton Bluford and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carleton, how do you think about risk?
To me risk has always been on par with, hope, taking a leap of faith, stepping outside of yourself, and taking chances. As a creator, doing this is essential. And once you take that leap of faith, two things immediately follow. The first is excitement. Stepping into the unknown can garner great rewards. It also gives you this super human feeling. You’re trying something uncomfortable and new and that feels great…then it feels scary and vulnerable and then here comes the second thing. Fear. What if people hate my acting choices? What if I can’t hit the high note this time? What if someone thinks my writing is juvenile? What if, what if…My whole life, I’ve taught myself to fight through my fear like my heroes and come out the other side victorious and brave. The only problem with that is I wasn’t really overcoming my fears, I was just burying them. “Forget it and just push on!” I would tell myself seconds before going on stage. Then you watch the fear manifest into something else trying to escape your body. Your leg shakes uncontrollably, you brain is flooded with thoughts of failure and you can’t remember your lines, whatever it may be. Afterwards you beat yourself up thinking that you lost the war with your fear. But recently, a great actress and mentor in my acting studio, Megan Ketch, told me that overcoming your fear isn’t the brave thing to do. It’s accepting the fear that is brave. Your fear and your bravery live hand in hand in a balance within you. It’s about accepting them both. So now this is how I think about risk. Being comfortable in the uncomfortable feeling of risk is essential to progress. And every time I’ve stepped into the realm of taking risks, I’ve won. Even if I’ve failed, I’ve failed up and my gains have gotten me to where I am today. It has lead me into things like being in “High School Musical”, Singing for the Mayor of Long Beach, and recently appearing on a hit TV show as a co-star. I highly recommend taking risks and finding comfort in doing so. But risk in the entertainment industry and in all business is connected to money. And the “fear” of losing money sometimes prevents people from taking risks. That means taking risks on new talent, new writers, unknown directors, or producers, etc. Why take a risk on an unknown when you know a friend or someone who’s been doing it for years and you know they can do the job? That way you minimize your risk right? I get that. The only problem with that is that you can miss out on diversity and diversity creates new ideas, new perspectives and new paradigms. Without that diversity, we are stuck in a loop of the same ideas playing out over and over again and even the successful ones begin to lose their shine. We’ve all seen this. So there’s the problem. If they take a risk, they might fail, and all that money they just put on the table could vanish…but, it could also bring about something amazing and something so good it changes things forever which in turn, could equal lots of money. Playing it safe in business is “smart” and keeps you in business, but it can also limit your growth and the opportunity to gain more. It’s exciting to see more and more new faces that I’ve never seen before on TV and film these days and if you want to be one of them, find a way to put yourself out there and risk. There may actually be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I feel that I’ve been given a unique perspective. Having deep roots of family in California and Chicago but growing up in Utah has colored me in a fun way. One of the biggest ways it has colored me is that it has given me a drive to be a part of stories and create stories that include diversity without it having to be a story about that diversity. So, for example, I’ve written a screenplay called, “Cowboy” about an African American house slave who is taught the trade of bounty hunting with the promise that he’ll gain his freedom if he hunts down his own runaway slave father. The lead of this film is African American and he is a slave, but the film is ultimately about freedom. What freedom means to different people and what the cost of that freedom is. My hope is that it is a film with a universal theme that everyone can relate to when they watch it. I’ve heard people speak after seeing a preview and say, “Oh ok, that’s a “Black film”, like only black people will get it or watch it. Which I think we have to get away from. It’s simply a film that tells a story. And regardless of race, it resonates with you or it doesn’t, but you have to watch it to see you know? It’s time for a diversity of voices to be heard and honestly, I don’t want to be pigeon holed into writing a certain story or acting in a certain story just because of my race. Not to say that I don’t want to write or act in those stories, I just also want to see a day when there’s a romantic comedy with two African American leads and people don’t just pass it off as a “black movie”. It’s a romantic comedy that happens to have black people in it. I’m proud of Cowboy and am excited as we are ramping up to pitch it and am also proud of a play that is being workshopped and produced by Plan-B Theater Company that will be called, “The Clean-up Project.” I got where I am today professionally by taking risks. As soon as I stepped on the set of “Touched by an Angel” with my mother Dawn Bluford who worked on the show, I knew I wanted to create stories through film and any other medium I could. I started asking questions. How? How do I get to be like Denzel Washington? lol What do I need? What do I have to do. And like Will Smith says to do, I started laying brick by brick to build my wall of success. Through rain, snow, sleet, or hail, you push to build. Was it easy? Absolutely not. In entertainment, nothing is guaranteed. You have to live with disappointment and failure. The feeling of getting that first job and your whole neighborhood cheering you on is powerful. It’s also just as powerful in a different way when you don’t get the next 18 jobs…for years…and listening to some people say, “Is he still doing that?”, “Oh yeah, I think so…” You may look at your life and think, man, I hoped I’d be much further than I am now. It can be really discouraging. But as U2 would say, “It’s not a hill, it’s a mountain when you start out the climb.” You gotta keep going because it’s a marathon. Give yourself a break and celebrate the victories when you get them because you will get them. Through the good and bad, I love this industry and I will never stop working in it. The people are incredibly inspiring and to me, it is home. The lessons you’ve learned along the way are many. The biggest I think is to get out of your own way and try. Showing up for yourself is half the battle. I’ve learned that there’s only one YOU stop trying to be “Denzel Washington and be YOU. You are beautiful, we want to hear what you have to say. And patients, be patient with yourself, and with everyone around you because we’re all trying to figure out what we are doing. Even if we think we know, we don’t. We are truly all in this together. What do I want the world to know about me and my story? That Denzel Washington made me believe that even I, a little black boy from Utah, could one day win an Academy Award if I worked hard enough. And you know what? I will. And I want all of those other kids out there to know that your dreams are obtainable, just reach and keep reaching. I am inherently a collaborator. Who loves people. So, if you want to work together or even just want another person to support you, reach out to me. Let’s make some magic happen.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well covid has changed a lot in LA, there are so many places I still haven’t explored. But, one of my favorite places in LA is “Sloane’s Valley Village” The atmosphere is beautiful, the endless mimosas are amazing, and the owner Bobby Montes is one of the best people I’ve ever met! 10 out of 10 would recommend. You gotta go on every hike you can, they are all beautiful. Temescal Canyon being one of them. I live very near Disney and the Warner Brothers and if you love film and it’s history, even just driving by these historic lots, that I one day hope to work at, gives you a feeling of complete awe and amazement. “Don Cuco” in Burbank is the best Mexican food. But also “Los Amigos” has amazing Margaritas. Not just because I used to work here, but “The Grove” is a must to walk around as well as “The Americana”, and “Pacific Palisades.” Want the best chicken sandwhich you’ve ever tasted? “Hot Mutha Clucker” is out of this world delicious and the vibe is very LA to me. It’s the cool “spot” to go if you’re hungry and want amazing flavor to explode in your mouth. lol

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Obviously, I have to thank my mother and father for their continued support and love, they are the best and without them I couldn’t be where I am. And to Sarah Walker who pushes me daily to go after my dreams, thank you love for going on this journey with me. I have to thank the amazing Debbie Britt at Cornerstone Talent Management for taking me on and believing in me. I love how excited she gets when one of us gets cast and how proud she sounds when she tells you over the phone, “You got the part!” She is incredible and I am lucky to have her with me on this journey as well. I also have to recognize and thank Lindsay Pulsipher for introducing me to Logan Donovan who runs our writing class, and Megan Ketch, who runs the “Studio” acting program. Being introduced and accepted by this elite group of writers, actors, and creators has changed my life. Not only I am a much better performer and creator, but I feel that I am a much better person. Following your dreams is so hard. And having a community of people who understand that is crucial. These people aren’t just talented, they are genuine explorers of the human spirit. To me, they are titans and to work among them has made me feel like I can achieve that level in my own career and I will. I get to see and read Academy Award winning work on a weekly basis, inspiring is too small of a word for it. Megan Ketch is an extremely talented actor/writer and has cultivated a group of creators who are just as powerful and illuminating. Logan Donovan has done the same cultivating stories that I truly believe will rock the world once produced. And for me, Lindsay Pulsipher is at the middle of all of it, a powerhouse actress and writer as well. Thank you for giving me wings. I look up to these Titans hoping to become one myself. It is a blessing to be surrounded by people that you look up to. They push you to level up and that’s precisely what we are doing. Pay attention to what these beautiful artists are doing, there are such amazing things coming soon.

Instagram: @Carleton_Bluford

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carleton-bluford-5265b617/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carleton.bluford

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqlkxNp91B8&t=12s

Image Credits
Photo by Ashley Randall, Pepperfoxphoto and miscellaneous