Today we’d like to introduce you to DeZell Lathon.
DeZell, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am an actor/writer/director for theatre/film/tv . I was raised in Jackson, MS where I was exposed to the rich history of African and African American culture through my elementary school, Adhiambo, which focused on the education of young African Americans to ensure that they had a clear understanding of their identity as a person of color. As I aged, I developed a love for creativity. Over recent years, I have discovered that the necessity of my creative identity came about from my constant battle with self-identity as a black gay man growing up in the deep south. Throughout my childhood, I would spend time in my room with my door closed where I could develop a multitude of worlds and characters to my heart’s content. I relied on my creativity for a sense of belonging because I knew that my creative works would never forsake me nor would they ever judge me. Instead, my characters always loved me for who am I and because of this, I do believe that my creativity was my first love.
As I continued my academic career, I developed an affection for the performing arts and in high school I made history by participating in the first play with a majority black cast when I portrayed Walter Lee in “A Raisin In The Sun” at Saint Joesph Catholic High School as well as wrote and co-directed a musical, “The Black History Experience” in which we had a cast of twenty and performed for an audience of five hundred students.
Although I had shown creative potential while in high school, it wasn’t until I attended the University of San Diego as a Theatre major that I discovered my creative voice. After joining the Black Student Union (BSU) and being present in the Black Student Resource Center (BSRC) on campus as well as work closely with my mentor Evelyn Diaz Cruz, one of the only tenure latina professors at the university, I found that I no longer needed to look any further than my own community to find my creative inspiration. Out of those experiences the name of my brand, Deeply Rooted, was developed with the intention that I would use my creative voice as a director, writer, and actor to give a voice to those communities that are not seen nor heard in mainstream media. I found that the absence of black bodies and their stories were missing from the stage so throughout my years at USD I used my in-class projects to highlight the importance of representation and how the beauty within the black community had been untapped.
One instance was the scene of Eurydice I directed in which the cast is usually predominately white but instead, I chose to cast all black actors as well as gender bend the role of the father and have an actress portray the role. Along with those choices, I decided to utilize the power of colored lighting to create a sense of fantasy, since this is another creative aesthetic in which actors of color are not often invited to experience. When given the chance to expand upon my creative aesthetic by Professor Evelyn D. Cruz in her Theatre & Community course, I wrote and directed a one-act play, Royals. I focused on the story of two non-fictional characters in African history, King Hannibal of Tunisia and Queen Nzinga of Matamba, I wanted to explore a world in which these two powerful leaders were married to each other and how their roles as African rulers affected their relationship as it relates to their marriage. I made that decision because we hear and see the stories of European royals in abundance in entertainment but rarely hear about the success of African royals and in-fact when Africa is mentioned in most cases it is about the desperation of the country. I knew of my rich history because of my teachings at Adhiambo, so when given the chance to highlight these two powerful historical figures and explore their relationship in a fictional world, I found it to be an honor.
After the show, I have since received a grant as a Keck Humanities Scholar to research ways to integrate African culture into main stage theater through the concept of a musical. I plan to expand on the initial idea of “Royals” by developing a musical in which a young princess is crowned the new ruler of her country following her father’s death. This announcement does not sit well with the king’s brother and he develops a plan to exile her from the kingdom. The story follows her as she reconnects with her tribal roots in the farmlands and eventually develops the courage to take back the throne and save her people from her narcissistic uncle. The musical will consist of costumes and scenery inspired by the Mali and Ghana empire as well as choreography derived from the African Gumboot dance.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
An artist’s life and smooth are two descriptions that by law of the world will never be allowed to exist within the same universe. As an artist and storyteller, you have to be fully willing to first accept yourself and then express yourself with the utmost confidence to be vulnerable. You might think that the latter is the easy part when in fact through my personal experience I found that the acceptance of one’s self – one’s true self in which you stand in the fullness of your truth is the hardest thing to do and not just as an artist but as an individual who exists within a society in which you are constantly coerced into conforming to the norms of others.
I experienced multiple obstacles along the way in my artistic journey. One of my biggest hurdles was possessing the ability to become vulnerable enough to succumb to the needs of the characters I wanted to portray or create. Throughout my childhood, my father taught me to always stay in control of my anger and to never allow others to see me sweat. Although his intentions were good, these teaching gave me the tools I needed to essentially become numb and to create emotional barriers whenever I felt hurt. It wasn’t until my role as Walter Lee in “A Raisin In the Sun” that I found myself breaking down those walls and allowing myself to connect with the pain of my character. In order to do that, I drew connections between the Younger family and my own.
While in Mississippi (MS), I also found myself constantly shorthanded by the number of creative opportunities that were available to me. When I arrived in San Diego, I was overwhelmed with the number of opportunities that were available to me and had a hard time finding a balance between my personal life and my artistic career. I would often sacrifice my relationships with friends and family in order to put in the necessary work to ensure my success. This came to a head during my sophomore year in college. It was a strange time as this was both the most successful time in my life but also the hardest. I was cast in a total of four shows back to back with no break as well as writing and directing “Royals”, remaining an involved student in the community and maintaining my grades; at the same time I was battling with the idea to come out to my parents and fighting my depression because I felt completely alone and I also experienced high moments of anxiety because I had more things to do than I had time to do them.
Even though I enjoyed the abundance of opportunities that existed within San Diego, I found myself struggling to remain confident. I was now faced with the fact that I was in a market in which I had more competition and at times I found myself succumbing to those insecurities. It was truly a trying time for my mental and emotional health but nevertheless, I survived to tell the story.
Please tell us about Deeply Rooted.
Deeply Rooted is the parent brand that I created to serve my creative endeavors. It is in its early stages of development with the potential to grow into something that will leave my legacy for the next few generations. Currently, the goal of Deeply Rooted is to act as a space to create stories that cater to those that feel neglected by mainstream media. I hope that as a production company I can write and produce stories that use diverse voices to tell stores through either film/tv/theatre that connect with our audience and make them feel noticed. Deeply rooted’s main function is currently to provide services for self-tape auditions for actors including a portable studio, a reader and footage editing. We also assist actors with creating their demo reels in formats that allow for them to be uploaded to the multiple casting services online. I also provide my skill and knowledge as a director and actor for creators who either have an idea to develop into a script or who have a script that they want to be produced.
What sets Deeply Rooted apart from other creatives is that we value the idea of diversity and we incorporate that theme into everything we do. Also as a collaborator, I believe that the best idea in the room will more than likely not come from me but from either my production designers or the other actors that I work with, I choose to work in a way that allows for other creatives that I am collaborating with on a project to feel their voices and ideas acknowledged throughout the process.
I do have plans to expand Deeply Rooted into a brand that consists of an international production company with several locations, a fragrance line for men and women, male clothing line and bottled Moscow mules to be sold in various grocery stores on an international scale. I would also like to start a foundation associated with Deeply Rooted that will provide scholarships and two-week summer exposure programs for students from underrepresented communities who do not have access to opportunities within the field of theatre/film/tv.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I believe that as you develop as a person, who you are today is shaped by the experiences of your past. I am not sure if presented the chance to restart that I would necessarily change anything. My experiences have not only shaped me as a creative storyteller but also as an advocate for those that share experiences with racism, homophobia, and depression or anxiety.
Pricing:
- Demo Reels (under 3 min) – starting at $75
- Self Tapes (including portable studio and reader) – Starting at $20 for 15 minutes + $1 for every additional minute
- Creating Actor/Director website – Starting at $100
- Directing/Acting services contact for quote
Contact Info:
- Phone: 7692519222
- Email: dezell.lathon@gmail.com
- Instagram: @dezell_lathon
- Other: vimeo.com/dezell
Image Credit:
Photographer: Amari Dixon, Ryan Blystone
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