Jeff Whitten, Correspondent

RINCON – Looking back on it, Theon Walls said he finds it odd it took him so long to get into acting.

“I was the class clown, just everybody’s friend,” Walls said of his time at Rincon Elementary and later, in Effingham County Middle and Effingham County High. “I always had a joke, during down times I would be the kid making people laugh.”

But until chance played a part and Walls was asked to if he’d be interested in a small role as a trumpet player in the remake of “The Color Purple,” filmed in the area a couple of years ago, the plan was to pursue music as a career.

“I didn’t end up in the movie, but the whole process really sparked something,” Walls said. “I discovered I would really like being in the movies, being on TV shows, but I want to act, I don’t want to be a background player.”

Now, with a recurring part as a homeless crack addict in the Tyler Perry drama “Beauty in Black” airing on Netflix, the 2004 graduate of Effingham County High School is intent on making acting his vocation.

“Short term, the goal is just to get better, so I’m still taking classes and private instruction and becoming the best actor I can be,” Walls said. “Long term, I definitely want to be able to support myself 100 percent by doing this.”

Getting that first recurring role, which qualified Walls for membership in the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, didn’t happen overnight. But Walls used the same discipline he took to learning the trumpet and applied it to acting.

He started taking online classes with the Cleveland, Ohio-based Houde School of Acting, learning what is referred to in simplest terms as method acting. He did some student films and independent productions, and roughly a year and a half ago the talent agency Atlanta Models and Talent began to send Walls out on auditions.

There were some rejections before Walls got the part of “Debo” on “Beauty in Black,” which is described as an adult soap opera. Walls sees Debo as someone who has “found himself in a situation he can’t get out of. He’s living on the streets, he’s battling addictions, and he just fell into this situation with these people who are powerful and have resources, and he’s a pawn, he’s trapped and for the most part he’s just trying to survive.”

Walls, who based Debo’s speech patterns on what he saw while watching interviews with heroin and opioid addicts, has immersed himself in the role -- so much so he said other actors on the set called him “Debo” during filming.

“I’m not going to do drugs, but there’s a sadness to Debo, and I tried to live in that world he inhabits the whole time,” said Walls, who studies various acting techniques as he seeks to hone his craft, from Sanford Meisner’s to Stansilavski’s, which also depends on what’s often called method acting.

“That’s what kept me into doing it,” he said. “The initial ‘oh, I want to be in front of people doing this, I want to show up and pretend to be this person,’ that dies away really fast It’s the fact I can live as another person, that’s super addictive. Meisner called acting “living truthfully under imaginary circumstances,” and it’s part of what really attracts me to acting and makes me want to do it for as long as I can.”

Walls realizes he’s still got a long road to go before he can support himself as an actor. He’s currently working at a Savannah music store and still considers himself a session musician as he continues to pursue acting.

“Only about10 percent of (the SAG-AFRTA union) work annually, only about 10 percent of that number makes over $50,000,” he said. Trying to get those opportunities to work is a little more stretched out for people just starting out like me.”

Still, the role as Debo has become a milestone for Walls, who now realizes “someone out there thinks I’m decent enough to charge people money to do this. It’s a cool little reassurance you can do this.”

That that “someone” is Tyler Perry’s production company can’t hurt as Walls seeks to build his resume.

“He’s super passionate but also sweet and understanding,” Walls said of Perry, the actor and filmmaker who has built an empire worth an estimated $1.4 billion, according to Forbes. “As long as you’re doing what you’re supposed to do, he’s the easiest person to work with and incredibly generous.”

Walls said his experience at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta was a reflection of Perry’s kindness.

“There was an overwhelming culture of love at that place,” Walls said. “One of the scenes I was shot overnight. It started about 10 that night and I didn’t get in my car to leave for the hotel until around 7:30 in the morning, and this sticks with me, as I was checking out at the security gate the officer looked at me and said, ‘alright man, you go home and get some rest,’ and the way he said it, it was like he really cared that I went home and got rest. And that’s the way it is across the board there, and it wouldn’t be like that throughout unless the person at the top is like that.”

Only a year and some change into his five-year plan to become an actor, Walls said he wants to not only be successful, but keep 912 as his area code. It’s where some of his earliest, and longest, supporters are.

“I have to mention my second-grade teacher, Mrs. Sabrina Heller,” he said. “She’s still involved in Effingham County Schools, and she’s probably the first teacher I had that let me be sort of on the strange side. She’s the first teacher that made me excited about learning. She’s an amazing educator and she encouraged me to be myself. I would not have the courage to do what I do without her.”

And it’s where Walls’ parents live, Vincent and Ruthie Bacon.

“They’re really cool, but there’s no impressing them,” he said. “They kind of go with the flow. If I told them I’d just won $10 on a scratch off or Tyler Perry put me in a Netflix series, it’s the same reaction. They see it as something you’re supposed to do, and this is normal and you’re supposed to get to this point. I do appreciate it, and their coolness in general.”

And then there’s Effingham County itself. Walls is a grateful native son, and could one day find himself auditioning for a role as a community spokesman.

“I’m blessed to be from there,” he said. “It’s a wonderful place and I don’t think there’s really a place like it. People talk about community and small-town life and love and all that is real, and I’ve never felt that I was held back because of being from Effingham. There are so many incredibly talented people in Effingham County that are beautiful, smart, and kind. It was a great place to grow up and I’m proud to be from there and proud to be loved by so many people there. It’s just like it’s always home, no matter where I live.”

Five questions with Theon Walls:

Favorite movie: Karate Kid parts I and II. Pat Morita’s performance in those movies is amazing. I’ve been watching them since I was 5 or 6, and still watch them today. They have less to do with karate and more to do with basic emotions.

Favorite music: Prince, Michael Jackson, Wynton Marsalis, it depends on the day. I’m also a Dolly Parton fan, and if you catch me on the right day you might hear “Jolene” coming out of the car.

Favorite food: The greatest thing is my mom’s stewed chicken, that’s No. 1, but my fiancé is half Korean, so I discovered Korean food through her and fell in love with that the past few years.

Actors: There are a lot of actors I watch and sort of emulate, but Jeffrey Wright, he’s a big character actor, he played on Boardwalk Empire, and Tom Hardy. I would like to mirror my approach to Tom’s, he really gets into the character and lives the part.

TV show: Beauty in Black

Whitten is a freelance correspondent for the Bryan County News.