We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Priyom Haider about his emerging career. Check out the interview below.
Hi, Priyom! Thank you for granting the interview. We read your cover story. We’re completely blown away with excitement over your accomplishments. You were able to achieve what only a few have managed to do. Let’s talk about your road to SAG-AFTRA. You mentioned, at one point in your career, that it was an obstacle. How so?
Hey guys thanks for having me! You know how they joke in movies about acting and the industry “you finally got your SAG card? No longer working at McDonald’s!…” well I tell you, it is no joke. For those starting out, overcoming that obstacle in itself is a big hurdle crossed. Anyone who is going to be a serious film/TV actor has to get their SAG card someday. Sooner or later, it’s inevitable. How to qualify to be in SAG-AFTRA is a big obstacle. The length of this journey is different for everyone. When you first start out taking non-union gigs, making about minimum wage or less, that’s something that motivates you. It motivated me all right! I did a minimum wage extra gig for $64 for the whole day out in the desert, that would in no way further my career other than just making me the $64. I decided never to do that again. It caused me to research and educate myself on how else I could reach this goal as fast as possible. So I came up with the idea to produce my own project at the time and cast myself as the star to take care of this very important checklist. It was a very low budget comedy called “Cheater’s Relief.”
Tell us about your character and role in Compton’s Finest?
Compton’s Finest is a total action comedy! The story is about two Compton detectives played by Cisco Reyes and Charles Malik Whitfield who are on the hunt for a drug called The Devil’s Breath. “What does PIMP stand for”? You’ll hear that line a lot and the jokes that go with it. I play the role of Pablo, the son of the villain Colombian drug lord, played by Roberto Sanchez. I’m a bad rich boy who grew up in the cartel lifestyle. You’ll see some helicopters, guns blazing, blood and some jokes in this one. The movie also has other names like Lavell Crawford and Vida Guerra.
You’re also going to be in the Johnny Depp movie called City of Lies. What role and character do you play?
This is going to be a great movie and good for history too! It’s regarding the investigation of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur murders. Johnny Depp plays Russell Poole, one of the detectives. I just play a boxer who happens to be training at the gym in the police station and was fortunate to be in the same scene as Johnny. 🙂
You produced comedy projects. Tell us about Match.Con
Match.con as the name sounds is a spoof on the dating website. It’s a very funny epic comedy that tells the story of the reality of online dating, how people misrepresent themselves and turn out to not really be whom they say they are. It stars Teri Marlowe and I’m the director of it with a very funny cameo gym scene. The film premiered at IFS Festival 2016 in Beverly Hills and is now on Amazon Prime. It has a very diverse cast including people of all ages, races, and is LGBT friendly. We were considering getting the late great Verne Troyer for one of the leads too but it didn’t work out for scheduling reasons. It was the biggest budget project I had directed so far and also won an award of Merit at the Accolade competition. Check it out on Amazon!
What has been your biggest challenge in the industry?
My biggest challenge in the industry is juggling smaller gigs between auditions, the stress of conflicts and dealing with my unpronounceable name to most people. Alas, I’ve mastered the art of the hustle and the charm to have people get my name right. 🙂
What’s the ultimate direction of your career?
You tell me lol! My ultimate intended direction is to be able to stay focused and to keep going to reach my ultimate goal, fighting through and conquering whatever obstacles come in my way; that goal is to become the highest paid actor like my Hollywood heroes before me.
In this highly competitive industry, tell us how you continue to separate yourself from the rest.
Separating yourself from the rest of the pack is not only something that is good but a necessity I believe, especially in our business. My elite fitness level is one of the things that help me do that. I’m known for always being in top physical shape without question for several years now, and that itself has formed a sense of reliability for booking me for the kind of “built physique like roles” that are cast for. I also don’t do any drugs, smoke or drink any alcohol which helps keep my mind sharp, which brings next another thing – speed and diligence. I try to outwork my competition as much as I can, as fast as I can. I learned this the hard way early on because, if I’m not ready, the next guy is always there to replace me. Lastly, my outgoing personality with my other skill sets is something that also helps. I’ve learned if you see an opportunity you can’t be afraid to go after it.
You also expanded your acting portfolio to include writing, directing, and photography. Tell us why.
Out of necessity for survival! As I mentioned with other skill sets in the previous question, here’s the reason. Most actors starting out hardly make any money at all. It is almost impossible to survive. So, out of necessity, I had to become more entrepreneurial and so it opened up some of these other talents. I figured if I have to hustle to make more money I may as well stay in the business I want to be in and do what I love, instead of doing something else like a corporate day job or work the evening shift at a restaurant as a waiter. I did not want to get stuck doing that.
When looking forward to your career, what do you hope to achieve and why?
I hope to achieve a career like the great actors that I’ve always admired growing up and give timeless classic performances that will live forever. I’ve previously mentioned becoming one of the highest paid actors. As a filmmaker, it I also want to be able to make epic films that will live forever. I would like to also look into more business ventures. With fame and wealth, I hope to be able to give back to the community and people who helped me along the way. That’s very important.
Who have been your biggest influences?
To name a few, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Lee are two of my biggest influences, not just for Hollywood but also for life. This section can be a whole book but here’s to keeping it brief. Arnold is the reason why I decided to get in the business and to have the goal of being a movie star in the first place. When you think of people around the world, how many people do you know that have their dreams to reality ratio be exactly 1:1? Imagine a poor village immigrant farm boy from Austria that came to the United States with nothing but managed to rise to the absolute top in not just 1 but 3 completely unrelated career fields of bodybuilding, acting, and politics. He achieved basically everything he wanted that he planned from a very young age. Watching his larger than life presence on screen as a little boy in a 3rd world country where movies would come years later – was what did it for me. He is the epitome of having a vision and using unshakeable will and drives to accomplish it. Anything I need for life motivation. Meeting him is one of the most cherished moments of my life and it was destiny because I too am an immigrant from a poor country that came to make it big in Hollywood. Bruce Lee was the first Asian superstar in the United States that bridged the gap between the East and the West. One of the wisest, youngest men that ever lived, and died way before his time. Similar to Arnold’s drive but different. To me, he was not just about his achievement with martial arts but his wisdom, philosophy, and discipline to achieve goals in life. That’s what hits home to me and I always come back to that ground myself for the motivation and guidance I need. I want to make an impact on the world like him to be remembered for a long after my time is gone. The superior physical fitness is something we all have in common. haha.
Some more all-star actor/ filmmaker Hollywood heroes I look up to are Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood, and Warren Beatty. I was fortunate to meet Stallone too and everyone knows the famous Rocky story. Clint Eastwood is just a badass that can do it all, gets stuff done and wins awards and Beatty is a big inspiration still for being the only man in history to be nominated for best actor, writer, director and producer all for the same movie, twice. All the ladies loved him too, so who doesn’t want to be a guy like that. Super handsome, multi-talented and have women fighting over you. I met him too and got the secret, just kidding.
Among true pure actor, influences are the late great Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, and Al Pacino.
If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose this career? Would you do anything differently?
I would definitely still choose this career if I had to do it all over again. As they say as a test – if there’s anything else you can think of doing other than acting you should do that. Well, I can’t think of anything else. 🙂 I sure would do a few things differently. I would have at least managed to get some actor’s headshots and some classes under my belt BEFORE I arrived in LA all green without a clue. That would have helped speed things up a bit for me. It was almost dangerous but I’m glad I survived!
Do you have anything else you would like to share about your career?
Dreams I Never Had! Please check out the movie. It’s a multiple award-winning movie in which I have a big supporting role, and it just won Best Drama Feature in the Burbank Festival too, very recently on Sunday, September 9. It’s based on a true story on human trafficking starring Malcolm McDowell and Robin Givens. I play Adam, the spoiled rich son of the Mid Eastern family that entraps the girl for slavery. Also this year, I was a guest star on the Late Late Show with James Corden, as a surprise Bodybuilder in a comedy sketch!
Connect with Priyom:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingpriyom/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kingpriyom
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kingpriyom
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/pmh632
Web: http://priyom.us/
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