Meet Kevin Lam | Writer/Actor/Director

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

Hi Kevin, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. Being the eldest in my family, I am the very first, first generation American in my Mexican lineage. My parents are from Sinaloa where it is very hard to live day to day due to the extremely low wages people get paid. Some people turn to making easy money (in illegal ways), or stay struggling, or cross over to the U.S. Luckily, my parents took the risk of coming to Los Angeles and made it my home. I’ve always said it, and will continue to say it: “no matter where I go, I live in the ghetto.” Sinaloa is pretty dangerous in some regions, but South Central isn’t very far off either. Raised in an area plagued with gang violence and drugs, my family always encouraged me to work and set an example for the younger kids in my family. From a very early age, I had the responsibility of graduating from college (which I did) and working hard. Although I hated it as a kid, as i grew older, I came to realize that my parents did not risk their lives crossing a desert for seven days and leaving their family behind just for their success to overshadow me the rest of my life. I realized that I had more opportunities than them and if I chose not to take them, I’d just be tainting their sacrifice. Now, I’m in constant competition with my own family to do better than any of them whether it be working my daily construction job, or pursuing my career as an writer/actor/director.
My entire family has always pushed me forward, while holding onto the hard-working Mexican values. Even if they’re not physically with me sometimes, their words always remain in my head: “Hay que chingarle mijo!”

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a writer/actor/director and I also dabble with music unprofessionally (know how to play the guitar, drums, bass, and piano). I also have ADHD where sometimes I’m overly active, distracted, and hyper focused. My ADHD has been both a blessing and a curse because sometimes I say exactly what I’m thinking, occasionally upsetting friends and family; but it has also caused me to fearlessly explore different hobbies that all lines up with my career. It seems that fear of failure, simply doesn’t exist in my head. I tend to be overly optimistic which can sometimes bite me in the ass, but I still choose to learn that way no matter how many times it happens. I originally wanted to be a musician. I started off learning the bass, then taught myself the guitar, and then my family bought me a drumset while I didn’t even know how to play it. I formed a rock-band in highschool, but due to different music tastes and lack of effort from some, it just kind of fell apart. (I’m still really great friends with all of them though)

Regardless of that failure, I was still convinced I was born to entertain. I just didn’t know in what way. I genuinely didn’t feel shame or embarrassment being in front of an audience and I loved making people laugh. It wasn’t till my senior year, that a teacher gave us an assignment to recreate the story of Oedipus Rex (or Oedipus the King) into a modern day story and film it using the people in our assigned groups. Luckily I had one of my boys who formed the band with me in my group (we’ve always had great work chemistry) and we instantly started writing it. We shot it and filmed it in a couple of days and when we showed it to the class, everyone loved it, but what I loved the most was the film making process. From that moment on, I set my mind on becoming an actor.

I graduated highschool and went onto Santa Monica College. I instantly started looking for open casting calls and along the way, I fell for two different scamming agencies, but learned my lesson going forward. I took advice from a friend who was already involved in that industry and he pointed me in the right direction. He gave me legitimate casting services and breakdowns for how the industry works and I began getting cast in big projects… as background.

I didn’t really understand it, I had the charisma, I was friendly. So why wasn’t i getting cast as a lead? That was just one of the things I had misunderstood. I was so convinced I was a “natural”, but i couldn’t have been further from the truth. As I continued my background journey, I lost that naive arrogance watching the professionals work. I had the opportunity to be cast in a featured BG role as a punk rock drummer on a short directed by an up and coming director from the American Film Institute. Although I had no lines, I got to watch and learn from the lead actor who was playing the singer. He was so invested in his role that he even scared me several times on set, despite being the nicest dude ever. It was then that I realized I needed a school and lots of practice.

Not being the richest person, nor the poorest, I couldn’t spare the money for acting schools. I was barely even paying for my college books and I was also on a government grant that paid for my classes in Santa Monica. It was there that I took some extra credit acting and improv courses and got a well needed understanding of what it means to act. I had entered those classes looking at everyone as if they were my competition, because that was just my mentality at first, but by the end of my first lesson, I made great friends who ended up encouraging me the same way I did with them.

I quickly learned that alot of these artists are just like me and that they were not my competition whatsoever. They were my friends and teachers and I continue to learn from all the people i meet on sets to this day.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I can easily say, I would NOT take them to the Sunset Strip as most tourists like to go. Some completely underrated gems in LA are:

-The Korean Friendship Bell and Sunken City. There are plenty of seafood spots of they’re into it.

-Little tokyo in DTLA.
I’m a huge geek for anime and there is plenty of that stuff there. There’s also alot of ramen options

-Frank & Sons Collectible show.
There are more anime things there.

-Skyspace LA
There’s a glass slide that extends towards the outside of the US bank skyscraper in DTLA and slides down one floor. You can see all of the city as well.

-California Science Center
It’s free and its nostalgic.

-Grill Em All
Its my favorite restaurant. Its heavy metal themed and they serve all natural burgers. Its very different from traditional burger joints.

-Universal Studios
Its fun in general. Have them try butterbeer in the wizarding world of harry potter.

As an LA native, I can ramble on and on, but these are some of my absolute favorite spots.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’m a firm believer that no one is self-made in this industry. Anyone who says they made it all by themselves, are full of sh— That being said, there are many people in my life who pushed me into pursuing this career path. My mother encouraged me, but the one who pointed me in the right direction was an old friend of mine named Bobby. He may not have realized it at the time (and probably still hasn’t), but the small talks we had when I would go over to his shop after school, really convinced me that I can pursue this goal just like him. He also made me realize that this was an art, not a business. I’ve never seen anyone deliver their entire body, heart, and mind to an art, quite like he does and I’m glad his hard work has been paying off. Although we haven’t kept in touch for years, I still hope we can work together on a future project.

Lastly, I really do owe so much to the company/school that refined me into the artist I am today: The Actor’s Coalition Network of Los Angeles. Although I was skeptical in joining this at first (due to first meeting the president of the company at a bagel shop), I do not regret taking the leap of faith and welcoming a whole new collaborative group of artists into my life. Prior to joining, all I wanted to do was act. I really just wanted to be the lead in the next Marvel or Star Wars film, but in this company, I was taught and forced to write, direct, edit, and learn camera work; While it was forced at first, I quickly began to enjoy writing and directing. Now, I find myself working to write original stories that can equally entertain and teach lessons to people, rather than writing the next reboot, prequel, sequel, or spinoff to an already established franchise. (cough, cough)
So, heres a quick shout out to all my friends and mentors in ACN Los Angeles. Love y’all.

Instagram: Www.instagram.com/kevinlamgoesham

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8941615/