76 Who Do You Think You Are?
of God and the voice told me, “It’s time to move, it’s time to go.” I knew
exactly what it meant and I knew where to look. I immediately went to
Oxford Books (no longer in existence) on Peach Tree Street. I thumbed
through these books called How To Be A Working Actor In New York and
How To Be An Actor In Los Angeles. I chose New York and moved on
July 6, 1996.
I was as green as grass gets, but before I went to New York I said
to God, “You know I’m supposed to move here. I’m going. I have $400
in my pocket, but it’s what I’m going to do.” I got to New York and a
month later I auditioned for Jesus Christ Superstar, the national tour,
and I was cast. That’s where I met Carl Anderson.
Carl Anderson was my first introduction to Agape. Carl was Judas
in Jesus Christ Superstar and I was playing Simon. Carl would always
tell me if I ever came to L.A. he wanted me to come to church with him.
Carl really took me under his wing and helped me out. He said, “Anything
you need, you just let me know, and I’ll take care of you while you’re on
the road.”
He made his transition before we ever made it to Agape together,
our schedules just didn’t match, but Carl was very instrumental in my
knowing that someone really cared about me out there. It’s a big world,
or at least it seems like a big world when all of your family lives in the
South and you move to New York. My mom had asked me if I was crazy
when I decided to move to New York. I said, “No, I’m going because I
know that something is calling me,” and I followed that voice.
Since then I’ve had several experiences of voices speaking to
me. Not just in an everyday tone, but in a very declarative one. I get
input every now and then, and I know exactly what it’s about. I’ve listened
to the voice inside, the voice of God, my higher self speaking to me. It’s
the spirit within saying it’s time to do this, time to do that. It’s the guidance
of inner self and spirit, universal substance, universal consciousness,
and my ancestors.
I started a dialogue with my grandfather while I was living in
New York in 2003. It came as a result of someone bumping into me and
not saying excuse me for the ninetieth time. I was tired of it. I was
marching back to give that person a piece of my mind and I heard his
voice say, “Don’t do it, just let it go, don’t get yourself all worked up, is
not worth it.” The voice kept coming to me, anytime I would get upset
or if I thought I was being taken advantage of. I wasn’t one to let people
just say anything to me. I’d be like, “You’re not going to talk to me like