I’ve at all times had a factor for performing — even earlier than I knew what that actually meant. As a child rising up in Houston, I used to be the one at all times cracking jokes at school, telling tales on the improper time, simply attempting to make folks chuckle or react. My dad and mom used to say I at all times needed to be the focal point. Wanting again, I feel that was the primary signal.
However coming from a Nigerian family, being the “humorous child” didn’t precisely line up with the expectations we had at house. My mother was a caregiver, my dad a correctional officer — exhausting work and self-discipline had been the muse of every thing. And when it got here time to decide on extracurriculars, the pure path, given my measurement and athletic means, was soccer. Regardless that there was a quiet a part of me that needed to strive theater, I wasn’t fairly able to veer off the course my household had in thoughts.
So I suited up. Soccer gave me construction, function — and surprisingly, the same thrill to performing. Operating out underneath stadium lights, feeling the group, making massive performs — it felt like a present in its personal proper. I poured every thing into it. I ended up being nationally ranked and earned a number of Division I scholarships. For 3 years, I performed school ball with desires of going professional.
Then I bought damage. A critical again harm modified every thing. That second might’ve damaged me — I received’t lie, it shook my identification — but it surely additionally gave me house to keep in mind that youthful model of myself, the one who used to gentle up watching motion pictures with my household or telling tales at school. That previous ardour began coming again into focus.
So I decided. I instructed myself, end your diploma like an everyday scholar — no pads, no video games — after which go after appearing with the identical depth you gave soccer. I knew I couldn’t deal with it like a passion. If I used to be going to do that, I needed to commit absolutely. That meant ranging from scratch and giving it every thing I had.
I moved to New York Metropolis and enrolled on the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. I had no blueprint, no security web — simply that very same mindset I carried by means of years of athletics: work exhausting, present up, don’t complain. That work ethic turned my edge. Individuals suppose appearing is all about expertise, however actually, it’s about consistency, collaboration, and exhibiting up ready — similar to sports activities.
Since graduating in 2019, I’ve been steadily constructing. I’ve had the prospect to write down, direct, and star in brief movies like Unhealthy Match and Heaven Spot, and lead within the mini-series Mr. Hill’s Lovable Spouse. I had the surreal alternative to carry out stay within the Metropolitan Opera’s manufacturing of Moby-Dick — an enormous stage, excessive strain, and a efficiency I’ll always remember. Most lately, I wrapped a function movie alongside some extremely proficient people. I can’t share an excessive amount of but, but it surely’s a mission I’m happy with— and one which marks a brand new chapter within the journey.
I nonetheless carry my roots with me — Houston satisfaction, my Nigerian heritage, my household’s values. However greater than something, I stay by one fact: you water a plant lengthy sufficient and it’ll develop. That’s what I’ve achieved — whether or not on the sector or on the stage — and it’s what I encourage anybody chasing a dream to do. Preserve watering. Keep affected person. Preserve exhibiting up. The expansion will come.
Discover out extra about Cordell at CordellIjoma.com
