Meet Randolph Summiel: Actor

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

Hi Randolph, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risks man, risks are interesting to me. The thing about risks is you’re not sure if they are going to benefit you or hurt you but without taking risks you’ll never know how far you can go or if you’re truly walking in your purpose.

I consistently have to ask God for direction and clarity because I don’t always know what I’m doing. I just know I have to walk by faith and not by sight and keep going. After receiving my Master’s Degree I worked odd jobs trying to keep everything together. Times I slept in my car because I couldn’t afford housing comfortably. It was hard, but for me, necessary to achieve my goals. Finding myself in these situations proved to me how much I wanted to be a successful actor. I didn’t want to give up. It was a crazy risk but without that experience, I wouldn’t be this far. My sacrifices may not mirror others however, they are apart of my journey. Coming to terms with my reality, has allowed me to accept who I am and welcome my risks.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My craft to me is truly capturing the essence of telling a story through performance. I look at every aspect of filmmaking as a performance, I just love the acting part the most. I feel truly attached to the story that’s being told by the actor. I believe what sets me apart from others is that I actively pursue my desire to know everything about filmmaking so that I can be the best actor I can. Then I practice it and I execute it to my best abilities and I’m relentless in this journey with an understanding of patience. I’m versatile and have a wide range. I love the process of researching and creating characters. That process is beautiful, it gives me perspective on how other people live and it opens my mind. I’m enlightened through embodying personas. That excites me, It’s deeper than just memorizing lines and performing, I love becoming the character and I love how all the other pieces to production bring a story to life. I’m proud of how self-made I am. Nobody held my hand through this process. From acting to production. I did the work to be where I am at and I give thanks to God and there’s a lot of work left to be done. It is not easy at all. They’re where a lot of hours studying, networking, and just learning how to be me in a world that can manipulate you to be someone else. I believe everyone’s challenges are equal obstacles for the individual because everyone starts from a different bottom. Now, some are privileged in life but they still have their struggles. For example, those who may have a better start financially in life but struggle with self-love. That doesn’t mean their struggle isn’t real to them and tough to overcome. I believe that’s what we’re all fighting, for now, to operate and understand what equality truly is and how to truly love. One of my toughest challenges was my relationship with God. The more I struggled with that relationship the more I struggled with everything else in life. There were times I didn’t want to believe and times I acting accordingly. I studied different belief systems and talked to many people who believed in different things but something kept tugging me towards Jesus Christ. It wasn’t until I truly started understanding a personal relationship with God that things starting making sense to me. I started applying His guidelines and I would experience joy in times of pain, comfort in the darkest hours, and strength when I felt weak. I’ll never be perfect and I have a lot to work on but this path felt right to me and true to me. The more I stick to it and learn about it the more that is revealed to me. I’m never holier than thou, I understand who I am, where I came from, and what I’ve gone through. I’ll never neglect that, I just work on being a better self. So, how I overcame my challenges is studying and applying God’s word to the best of my abilities and then I started seeing different results. The lessons I’ve learned and that I’m still learning is how to block out distractions. Taking social media breaks, taking time to myself, and not actively dating. It takes focus to get to where you want. In a world of canceled culture; you want the world to see how you practice what you preach but if you stumble people are on you like vultures as if stumbling isn’t apart of the process. I try to lead by example even though I’m not perfect and I never will be. I aim to inspire and motivate through my craft, to show that we can grow through any circumstance and be better humans. That’s what growth is about. The underdog can become the big dog. That’s how you Blume. And that’s what I want people to see about my story. How I overcome and went from the underdog to the big dog by persevering and having faith.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is an interesting question because I’m not someone who goes out too often, I stay pretty low-key. It seems like whenever someone visits me in LA they want to smoke weed. So, I would have something ready for them then take them to a dispensary so they can experience that. Then I would take them to a place called “The Sattdown” It’s a Caribbean restaurant in studio city. I was put onto it and now I show all my friends that spot. Depending on the time of day they arrived, I would have to take them to a spot to see the sunset. I have a spot that I go to on Burbank Blvd. No one is ever there and it’s peaceful, that’s where I do a lot of thinking and writing. Throughout the week we would have to go to the beach most definitely. Hit Venice, Santa Monica, and Malibu. Possibly Camarillo beach too because I remember having a Bond Fire on that beach during the sunset and into the night. Also at night we would take a ride through Mulholland Drive, reach the top so they can take a look at the entire city. For fun before World on Wheels closed that would be a place to go. On Sunday I would take them to a Vegan Street fair over in North Hollywood and put them onto so many different healthy foods to add to the diet and enjoy the vibes of LA and meet people. If they wanted to see the tourist spots like Hollywood of course we would go but what I enjoy about California is the fact that you bring the vibe with you to wherever you go. I would then take them two hours down to Temecula to the biggest Casino in California, that’s right near San Diego so that’s a place we would have to check out too and walk to strip and eat their Tacos because their tacos are just different. I’m still learning LA so there’s more I have to figure out but if I had a free week, that’s how I would plan it in no specific order. Oh yea, we would have to go hiking as well and go to a few brunch spots. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First and foremost, I wouldn’t be capable of anything if it wasn’t for God. So Shout out to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ publicly. I want to give a shoutout to my parents. My mother and father have been very supportive on this journey. I understand that it’s a blessing to have both parents support me on this journey because not everyone has their parents on their side when it comes to living an artist’s dream or just in general. I am grateful and proud of that. Although my parents don’t always agree with me and my decisions, they have always been supportive and pushed me to be great. It’s not normally talked about how two black parents are involved in their child’s life as a unit and I believe that should be glorified more. The truth behind being supportive parents in the black community should be talked about and light should be shined on it. I want to shout out my sisters because they help keep me sane. I’m able to vent to them and talk to them about things I wouldn’t be able to talk to with anyone else and know they have my best interests and love me. I also want to shout out (@Shockleyfilms). Shabiron has been a brother of mine from the sandbox, and his believing in me and wanting to create with me is creating possibilities for myself that I’m truly grateful for and is a blessing to my journey. Not just as a creative but as a friend. My brother/roommate Egypt Ali has been someone who has had my back throughout this journey as well and helped me in Los Angeles. I would give a list and start naming people to shout out but out of respect for them being mentioned publically, that might not be something that they want and I don’t want people to feel left out. I just know that I wouldn’t be able to do anything I am without those who I’ve encountered on this journey. The people I’ve learned from struggled with worked with, and been blessed by so shout out to all of you and thank you.

Instagram: @RandolphSums

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRiXvbArVCgJ8EiTZK1ZkIg

Image Credits
Zakk Connor IG: @ZakkConnor Alina Rafalovskaia IG: Rafalovskaia.photography Kevin Owens IG: @Kevinjamesowens