Hollywood star Peter Macon to coach Kenyan actors in film masterclass
By Sinda MatikoKenyan actors will get a chance to interact with Hollywood star Peter Macon when he visits Kenya in September this year.
The ‘Kingdom of the Planet of Apes’ actor will be in Kenya to lead a film and theatre masterclass organised by YORA.
The Emmy Award winner portrays Raka in the high-profile science fiction film ‘Kingdom of the Planet of Apes’, which was released in May this year and has so far grossed $396 million at the box office.Macon has been a professional actor for the past 35 years, and as he prepares to return to Africa for the second time, he says his years as an actor have taught him to take a pragmatic approach to his career.
“I have learnt to expect the unexpected which I think is a good thing. It’s good surprise albeit strange when you get called up for roles never knowing quite what type they will be. I think it’s kind of just part of my story and my journey,” he says.
During his masterclass in Nairobi, Macon is also expected to share knowledge on what it takes to break into Hollywood, and his career journey in Hollywood which he notes hasn’t been easy.
Until three years ago, the film star admitted that he had experienced ‘spurt of downtime’ in his career.
In a recent interview, the actor who became a hit on Fox’s Sci-fi series ‘The Orville’, says he has found a groove in Hollywood but was quick to admit that it took time to figure out what that was. Commercials, for instance, were a no-go for the imposing Macon, revealing that he was rejected at the auditions 195 times.
“Being told no 195 times, you kind of got to listen,” he is quoted.
In 2002, Macon won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over for narrating the episode ‘John Henry, The Steel Driving Man’