The Tyler Perry’s “Too Close to Home,” actor L.L. Burrell opened the interview sharing his love for the entertainment industry. At the early age of 6 was when his love for the industry manifested. Burrell had a fascination with the idea of being on television. He always envisioned that one day, he would be on the big screen. During his middle and high school years, he played sports and later began to pursue modeling as a stepping stone to catapult him into acting.

“I was an entertainer at heart”

How it all began

Burrell has always had a strong belief in his vision and knew that following his dreams was imperative. That belief was the inspiration that lead Burrell to leave college and pursue his dream of acting and modeling. If you’ve ever worked in the entertainment industry, you know that your big break can come at any time. For Burrell, that break was landing a gig with Nissan which was his first paid gig. At that time he did not have an agent, he was just a one-man show, but words can’t describe the happiness he felt. He went on to act on BET’s The Game and Let’s Stay Together, and recalls meditating about one day being on the show, and describes the experience as unbelievable.

” If you believe in what you do, you can do anything you put your mind to”

Landing the role on “Too Close to Home”

Burrell was contacted at the last minute to come and audition for a role on Tyler Perry’s T.V. series “Too Close to home.” The team was looking to fill the role pretty quickly, and to Burrell’s surprise, he was one of the the top 3 candidates that they were reviewing for the part. Within 24 hours he received the call that he had been selected for the role.

“Your life can change just like that”

Looking back over his career he has had some challenges but wanted to share with other aspiring actors its important to do your research and work at becoming better at your craft. Whether taking  classes or finding other means to develop yourself as an actor one must always be ready.

Working with the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF)

Burrell currently works as the AHF Urban Culture Ambassador and was given the opportunity to travel Africa with the foundation. During his trip, he met children living with HIV/AIDS and was humbled that despite having HIV/AIDS they were still happy. It reminded him of how blessed he was in his own life.

Other Projects: Burrell can also be seen on Blackandsexy.vhx.tv; on a show called Sexless, Chef Julian, and Wendy and Julian, which was licensed by BET Networks.

Fun Fact: Burrell shared with us he was born with 11 fingers, while he doesnt have 11 fingers currently. Through a series of strange events the extra finger fell off. But if you look real close you can still see some remnants of the extra finger.