Trinidad and Tobago
Express
Her Feature
Essiba Small
Actress Khadija Glasgow-Speer
A star on the rise
HOW does an actress from Trinidad and Tobago, who graduated from The University of the West Indies in Theatre Arts, make inroads in Hollywood as an actress to star alongside A-list actors? 'Purpose, Persistence, Passion and God is how a Trini woman like me infiltrates Hollywood!" Khadija Glasgow-Speer declared.
Born and raised in Arima, she was recently seen in the Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino's series Atlanta and is currently in The Best Man – The Final Chapters. She told Her magazine: 'The Bible says pray in secret and the Lord will bless you in public'…and also that, 'A man's gifts will make room for him.'
'One of my life's mottos comes from my primary school - 'work and pray!' I put in the work and I hold the faith, through prayer.' Glasgow-Speer has been making quite a name for herself, but she doesn't sugarcoat the fact that the acting industry in the US is a competitive one and that it is 'much harder than it seems to fully get a foot in the door'.
'You have to be able to not only accept disappointments with a smile, but be ready to give it your all, again, five seconds later. A production literally gets upwards of 4,000 submissions per role! I researched and continue to research my way in this space. There are a lot of distractions and noise, so as we say, you have to eat the meat and spit out the bone!' The married Glasgow-Speer, who jokingly gave her age as "young enough to fulfil my dreams and old enough to know to ask God for wisdom, continually', is the eldest of her parents' three children - her younger siblings are Raquiya and Kobe. Before migrating to the US, she put in a lot of work locally in the areas of performing and creative arts, sport management and artiste management. She studied sports management, volunteered and worked with a couple of football teams, both locally and internationally, hosted the magazine-style television talk show Open Book, produced and hosted an evening drive-time show on Sky 99.5 fm and worked with Isaac Black-
man, Destra, Skinny Fabulous (Gamal Doyle) and Lil Rick (Ricky Reid) as an artiste manager and booking agent.
Glasgow-Speer also created her own brand of swimwear, Cicily, to meet the needs of women who want to modest swimwear.
Once she got to the US, she followed up with screen acting classes.
'Stage acting and screen acting are two completely different disciplines and it's important to me to master both.
I consider myself to still be in acting school, as it's a continuous learning process!'
Auditions, the actress said, are done in different ways - in person, self tape, virtual and hybrid (a combination of the aforementioned). She has been fortunate to have not only experienced them all, but also get booked.
'Most auditions start with casting directors receiving thousands of headshot submissions for one role. Out of the thousands, 35 are selected to audition, from which only seven to ten may get a call back. The directors only see these seven as prospects, so to get a call back for any actor is amazing.' Glasgow-Speer recalled how her first official call back went down. 'It was for a campaign I did for Disney Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoon.
The whole experience was surreal! It was in the heights of Covid and they needed me to be intimate with my costar.'
'I told my agent, 'I don't know about that nah!'. Then, I got an email inquiring if my husband would be willing to do this with me. Before even asking, Zach (her husband), was like…Yes, of course!
'Long story short, after two call backs, we were booked and literally having a second fairy tale wedding experience all over again! While on set, Zach whispered to me ? 'OMG, I can't believe you get paid to do this!
This feels like too much fun to be a job'.'
For half of last year, we were two of the faces of Disney's Weddings and Honeymoons campaign. I was over the moon happy, to say the least!'
At her first major booking, Glas gow-Speer said she honestly believed she bombed in the audition. In reality though, she was booked right away.
'I was stunned!!! I got into a room of about 12 -15 people looking at me. It was a cold read, meaning that I had all of two minutes with the sides (A piece of the script) beforehand.
'After reading just two lines I heard - 'Ok, thank you, next!'
'Three months later, I received an offer for the role in my email! I'm unable to reveal what it is just yet so, stay tuned!' Of the characters she has played so far, Glas gow-Speer was hard pressed to say which was her favourite.
'I love and respect everything, and every experience in its time.
But, a few that stand out would be: Keno (A ghetto American youngster) in a comedy sitcom called, Squatters.'
'Khadija' in Atlanta, because Donald Glover said he loves my name! 'I really enjoyed this role because I felt like myself in imaginary circumstances. I didn't have to particularly create a character, but this part allowed me to share a bit of my country in a meaningful way with Hollywood.'
Fans of the series would remem- ber Glasgow-Speer relishing the opportunity to use her vernacular in Trini-To-The-Bone episode seven of the Atlanta series.
Her role of Crystal in Best Man, in which she plays Morris Chestnut's sexy limo drive, and get to work with Sanaa Lathan, Regina Hall and Taye Diggs, 'will forever be one of those close-to my heart' roles for many obvious reasons, including working with some of Hollywood's best actors.
With all the A-listers she gets to work with on Best Man , Glas gow-Speer says she never goes on 'star trips'.
'I have respect for our profession and the hard work actors put in to be successful in this industry.
After working alongside these people and having personal conversations, you realise how much more you have in common with them than you think.'
For Glasgow-Speer, acting is more than just playing a role.
'This is me walking boldly and living purposefully in my God-giv en talents and giftings, without apology, in a larger space. My family has always been 100 per cent supportive of all my endeavours. And, the family I married into, is no different. I tru- ly thank God for blessing me with such a strong support system.
'I've had the opportunity to guest host a couple talk shows and red carpet premieres in Hollywood, as well. As such, my media prospects are very promising. My swim line, 'Cicily', has also been expanding. I'm trusting God in every single aspect of my life.
"God and my husband are my primary consultants, and I have a close unit of family and friends that I can rely on for wisdom, support and prayer.'
Photo: Arima-born Khadija Glasgow-Speer with co-star Morris Chestnut in The Best Man The Final Chapters.