CALEB CASTILLE

Joshua Caleb Castille / 31 / Actor + Producer

What is it about acting and producing that makes you want to do it?

The thing that drew me to acting was being able to go back into my imagination, like as a child, and be able to explore that space. I think that as life goes on and circumstances hit, problems force that part of your brain to suppress. So being able to constantly, kind of be in that imagination and flow, is something that is one of the coolest spaces to live in. We all daydream, right? And, like when I was a child, you couldn't tell me that I couldn't jump off the roof and fly. So that’s what is special about acting first of all. Secondly with acting is being able to have a unique ability to make people feel emotions and make people think. Some of the best actors and writers create in a way that forms thought.

As a producer it’s really cool to just connect the dots. I love getting to think okay, “who is the best person for this” etc. Also as a producer you get to develop: you start with an idea and develop all the way from conception to birth. Producing also teaches you how to be a leader too. 

Taking a quote from LL Cool J, “there is a difference between the good guy and the nice guy” - and very rarely is the good guy the nice guy. So for me, as someone who has always wanted to be liked, never step on any toes or offend anybody, it gave me a new perspective as far as overall confidence, being a leader, and getting things done. 

Where do you get your faith to keep creating?

God. 100 percent. I grew up in a Christian household. My parents have been involved with ministry for over twenty years. My dad is an associate pastor in Birmingham, Alabama and he is literally the most incredible person I have ever met in my life and will probably ever meet. He and my mom both. The most beautiful thing about faith in our family - the overall subject of it - is if you saw my parents and you saw the way they live as Christ followers, you would think like, “Gah lee, man you must have grown up in a house where everyday you were beat over the head with this thing”. And it wasn’t like that at all. My dad did lead us in Bible study before school when we were younger, but it was never in a forced way, it was always in a loving way. It was presented very lovingly. “Be a good person; treat people the way you wanna be treated” was always their approach. And as I got older, like everybody, I went through a rebellious phase - having sex before marriage, drinking - things my parents definitely didn’t encourage and I would say the Bible doesn't encourage. But I found God’s grace in a real, true, genuine relationship with Jesus when I just started exploring it for myself. When I wasn’t leaning on my parents or anyone else. What about this man do I relate to most? I started my exploration there and got serious about it. But my faith stems from the faith I saw displayed on a daily basis in my household from my parents, and that led me to figuring it out for myself. 

What drives your work?

Probably my faith as well. I believe that what I am doing is definitely God-ordained. I think the favor He has given me in my life and the course of my life - I tell people all the time that God’s track record in my life is undefeated. (Laughs). I am very grateful for it. So yeah what drives the work is the gratitude for this talent and gift, and also it goes back to my parents. I want to continue to give my parents the life that they afforded me. I am always trying to send them on a trip or do something special. 

What is your process as an actor?

I am all about the work because I come from an athletic background. So I just understand, working really, really hard regardless of if you have any talent or not. Preparation definitely breeds confidence and that's something I understand. I understood that, when I didn't understand the business. I didn’t understand early on that it doesn't matter in this business if you are the best actor or not. It’s actually not a performance based business. On the other side, being terrible doesn’t help you book work either - but for me I just, number one wanted to be a hard worker. I wanted to work at this thing at like, an Olympic level. I am not a trained actor but I am very coachable. So a lot of my teachers, acting coaches, directors, and even other actors know this about me and they have all noticed that I listen very well. I listen and apply. I think that early on that was one of the things that got me traction in a room was casting directors being able to see, “damn this kid came in with ten different choices, and he is able to take direction and notes very well.” So like I said, work is very important to me. I have to understand what I am saying, understand the dialogue - and that goes into the work. With any script I am asked to learn, I rewrite all the dialogue by hand. Once I have a great understanding of the words - then the rest just flows. 

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would say, “just listen to the wisdom of people who have already lived life and stop trying to learn lessons on your own.” I was number five out of six kids, I have a little sister. But as one of the youngest I grew up watching my older siblings live life, get in trouble, and learn. But instead of just learning from them, I would always go, “yeah I’m gonna see for myself” (Laughs). You know what I mean? So I would say to my younger self to take people at their word. Especially my parents. I have been reading a lot of Proverbs - I have been reading one chapter of Proverbs everyday this month and Proverbs is all about wisdom. I would tell my younger self to get wisdom. 

What is your greatest failure as either a creator or business owner, and what did you learn from it? How did you change? 

I would say my biggest failure is not finding ways to invest my money better. If your money isn’t moving, it’s gonna move out of your bank account. If your money isn’t workin for you it’s gonna move. But those kinds of things you kinda have to learn along the way. 

Why haven’t you quit? What advice would you give to someone who feels like giving up on their dream?

“Why haven’t I quit?” I would say eventually you're gonna get out what you put in as long as your intentions are right. If you have the right posture, the right heart - the result may not even look the way you want it to look, but you are gonna get something out of it. That’s a universal principle of nature, that’s reaping and sowing. I also just have a really high belief in what I am capable of. I know I am good at this, so that keeps me going too. That can sound conceited or cocky, but I think that my confidence comes from knowing that I am good at this - so eventually, yeah I am gonna keep saying it til it pays off! I am sure Picasso was sitting there, painting, and enough people told him he was good at it, so then he, at least I hope he, started to believe it. It’s not that you allow it to validate, or, I don’t allow it to make me walk around with a puffed up chest, but - it’s enough to know that I am not crazy. Cause there are a lot of people who are delusional about what they are good at. But ya I just, I am a winner man. Quitting is not an option. 

What do you hope to create that you can continue to repeat? 

I hope when it’s all said and done that I have created a legacy of generosity. When people look down at my tombstone, people say, “man, he was a generous man.” I hope they take that and repeat it. My grandma was a very, very, very generous person. So were my parents. I want to continue that. 

What are you on the verge of?

Producing some really cool things that I am very passionate about. They are not just for a good paycheck. And I am on the verge of selling a documentary about my college that I produced. And producing a college football series starting at my college... 

Where did you go to college?

University of Alabama. 

It’s been a long time coming with these two projects, and I am very very excited. 

Tell me one thing you love about yourself?

I love my ability to move in any room. I could talk to a doorknob. (Laughs) Ya like, I can be in any room. And I credit that to my parents who raised us - a black family living in the South. I am from a huge family, so I feel like I have had my share of moments. Moments in the hood, moments in white suburbia, in Birmingham, Alabama, being in a private school, then going to college etc. And I pride myself on that. I have always had a very diverse friend group and I was the kid in high school who had friends in every group or clique: band, theater, art, athletes, etc. So ya, I love that quality about myself.