Allen Maldonado – All About the Truth

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  I am actually recurring on “The Shield” as Every-Day, those shows will air January 10th and the 24th.  Also, I’ll be guest starring on the ABC new show that’s a mid-season replacement “In Justice” as “Donald Brooks.”  That’ll be airing January 27th and also I just finished a lead role in the film called Jewels that is set for this fall.  Also, another film that is called A Good Day to Be Black and Sexy, which is a supporting role.  I am actually performing in a play on January 20th and 21st, a play called “A Bird In Flight.”  I’m dropping my debut single called “Moving Forward” which is off my album called Dead Right from my record label The Truth Records.  We just shot the music video that is in post production right now, it should be available this Wednesday (January 11th) for the single “Moving Forward.”  On the album I have songs about my accident that occurred last year around November 12th.  I was hit by a drunk driver and I pretty much almost lost my life, it’s been a big year since that accident.  I have had recurring roles on “Judging Amy” and guest starring roles on “Las Vegas” also.  So, after the accident things have really been picking up.  I wasn’t in the car, I was actually hit by the car, I was pretty much bed-ridden for about three weeks.  I broke my leg and it almost took off my bottom lip so I had face lacerations.  I had stitches inside and outside of my face and people thought I was done, that my career was going to end.  Through the grace of God everything healed up and the testimony to that is that when the last stitch in my mouth fell out I booked three episodic shows in one week.  That’s when I booked “Judging Amy,” “Las Vegas” and “The Shield.”  So, that was a blessing and we established our own production company.  We’re in the process of getting more investors for an urban high school comedy.   We’re doing some pre-production now, we’re just looking for some more investors. 

Q.  What can you tell us about the premise for A Good Day to Be Black and Sexy and your character?

A.  I play an aggressive friend who, my best friend is a female, and I obviously want it to be something else.  I pick her up from a bad situation and she’s vulnerable at the time and I’m consoling her and we go get something to eat.  I feel that since it’s the 4th of July it’s a good time to make my move.  So, through the course of that I go to make my move with her and she’s obviously not interested.  We go at it for a couple of seconds and then I kick her out of the car.  I kick her out of the car and hit her in the face with her bag of food and then I proceed to speed off.  Through the film I am a friend of hers and that certain incident occurs at the end.  The whole film is about this one young lady and it’s a series of different stories with different people involved.  I’m in the third act of the film but it’s three different relationships so I actually don’t know about the other two.

Q.  What made you want to be a part of this film?

A.  It was a particular role that I hadn’t ever played and I thought it would be fun to be something that I’m not.  I am not that type of person that would try to force myself upon a woman and then just kick her out and make her walk home.  That’s not the type of guy I am so it was fun to play something that I’m not.

Q.  How was getting to work with director Dennis Dortch on this project?

A.  It was good, he’s a real cool guy.  It’s funny because we were set to film around the same time that I got involved in the accident.  So, he pretty much postponed production because he wanted me to play the role that badly.  I have nothing but love for Dennis because he actually waited for me and he could have easily went and found another actor.  He really believed in me so he waited and when time was right we did it, we knocked it out.  I have nothing but love for Dennis.

Q.  You mentioned you were working on an album.  What kind of input did you have with the production of it?

A.   Since I’m the co-CEO of The Truth Records I had fifty percent, since my other partner has the other fifty.  I have fifty percent in decisions upon all the songs that I had written and I have total creative control due to the fact that I do own my own label, rather than with a major and they have creative control.  With the music it was a team effort, it was a total team effort, everybody played their position.  As a writer and as a performer I played my position.  As the producers, my business partner is the producer, he produced eighty percent of the album, he came up with the music.  Then my engineer, he played his position, he made sure all the mixes were right.  With my guest stars and my features on the album, they came in and played their positions.  They made their mark on the song and made the song go to another level.  So, everybody played their position and we made a great album.  As far as control, as an artist I feel everyone should have their own control in what they do.  Everyone should collaborate and bring everything that they have to the table to make it a better project.  Everybody that is on the project had control over what they were doing in their position.

Q.  You participate in the radio program “The Courtyard.”  How did you get involved with this?

A.  That’s funny, I actually auditioned for that over the phone.  I was working at my job at a clothing store called Burlington Coat Factory.  My manager called me up and he said he had an audition for me for this radio show.  When I got a break, my fifteen-minute break, I went outside on my cell phone.  At the time my cell phone was pretty jacked up, my antenna was broken and the cover was broken.  The phone was in shambles but it worked, it worked when it needed to.  So, I went outside and he faxed me the information for the audition to my job, my manager there Rachelle was a true person; she let me go to my audition.  I love her to death because she gave me my opportunity but, I went outside and did the audition over the phone and they said they loved me and that I got the part.  We did a show at USC, a live performance, it brought a lot of people together.  We had an event and it was live and people loved it.

Q.  You’ve done several guest spots on the show “The Shield.”  What is it about this show that has made you want to keep returning?

A.  “The Shield,” I auditioned for “The Shield” like twenty times.  I am exaggerating but around ten or eleven times I auditioned for them for different roles.  They loved me there, they just didn’t want to waste the talent on a role that wasn’t for me.  Finally, they gave me a shot as a kid named “Flash,” before I got the recurring role.  They gave me a shot as a kid named “Flash” who gets shot and is thrown on a gurney and the catch twenty-two to that, five months earlier I was really on a gurney from the accident so I really didn’t have to go far for that.  I get shot and I get thrown on the gurney and we’re watching the show and we’re excited about me being on the show and they actually pretty much cut that scene out.  You see my foot in that episode and the next season they called my agent and management and let them know they had a role for me.  I didn’t have to audition for the recurring role that I have now, due to the other work that I did and with it being cut out I was able to come back for the next season.  The role was cool, he’s a high school kid accused of murder, a high school shooting, and through the episode they try to figure it out and find out different information.  “The Shield” is a great show, it’s very intense, it’s real, and it’s shot on High-Def, it looks gritty, it goes perfect for the show.

Q.  What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A.  I just got introduced to paintball shooting, so that has been really fun for me to go around outside with paintballs.  Paintball shooting and I love my work, there is really not much stuff I do outside of my work because I love it so much.  I believe you should do what you love and you won’t have a problem working.  I do what I love and it’s just that I get paid for it and I make a living at it.  I make music, I started producing my own music now, it’ll be on my second album the music that I’m producing.  I am also a writer, I co-wrote the film that we’re in pre-production with, everything that I do revolves around acting and music.  That’s what I love to do, anything besides paintballing and relaxing sometimes and reading, that’s all I like to do.

Q.  Where do you draw inspiration from for your music?

A.  From my heart and everyone that touches my heart, especially my mother.  My mother inspires me with everything that I do.  Growing up the way I did, it was a one parent household with three children.  I was the only son and the youngest and pretty much all of my sisters are older than me, we’re seven years apart.  I really didn’t have them to run to as far as to learn how to be a man, so we grew up in the projects.  All of my friends and colleagues when I was younger either were doing drugs or selling drugs or were in jail, or were deceased.  It’s a blessing to have her in my life because I’ve seen her work ethic.  She’s still in school now, just to clarify about how hard she works, she has a job and she works for Martin Luther King Hospital.  She has a very good job there but it doesn’t stop her, that is what inspires me with my music, I reach from my heart.  It can always get better, I can never be satisfied for what I get on the surface.

Q.  Since it’s now 2006, what is something this year that you are most looking forward to?

A.  The year because every day is a new one and every day there are new connections, new jobs and new opportunities.  I am excited for everything that we built last year.  It’s the standard form for this year, all the hard work we put in last year is going to be the base for the result this year.  We’re going to see the result of it with the music, the acting, the film production company, everything I’m involved with is coming together this year and manifesting.  That’s what I’m excited for this year, everything that we worked hard for and built a base for last year is going to stand tall this year.