Exclusive: Thomas Q. Jones: From the NFL to Being Mary Jane Cutty Buddy, Straight Outta Compton and Beyond
Posted by Wilson Morales
April 1, 2016
For some, it’s not easy adjusting to life after walking away from decades of being an athlete. Some guys either come back to the game while others start working on a new craft, whether it be trying another sport, owning a business, or better yet, get into acting. For former NFL player Thomas Q. Jones, he chose the latter.
Jones spent twelve seasons with the New York Jets, Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs. He is among the top 25 leading rushers in NFL history. In 2011, Jones retired from the game and entered the acting world a few years later in the hopes that it could be just as rewarding as his accolades in football.
Through hard work, Jones has started to get some notices and appearances in films and TV such as his role as Gabrielle Union‘s love interest, Brandon “Cutty Buddy” Gibson in BET’s Being Mary Jane, a supporting role in the indie film Runaway Island with Lorraine Toussaint and Aisha Hinds, and in a memorable scene with Paul Giamatti in last year’s critically acclaimed Oscar-snubbed film Straight Outta Compton.
Besides acting, Jones is the CEO of CASTAR Applications, which has developed its first mobile App at http://www.castarapp.com. Castar is a community for creative, talented individuals to showcase their talent, network with industry pros, connect with audiences and agents, grow and manage their fan base, and earn money.
Jones just appeared in Matthew A. Cherry’s latest film, 9 Rides, where Jones is one of several rides for an Uber driver trying to make some money on one of the busiest days of the year. What’s interesting is that the film was shot entirely on an iPhone 6.
Blackfilm.com recently up with Jones as he spoke about his transition from football to acting and taking it one step at a time and one script at a time.
I recently saw you in “9 Rides,” Matthew A. Cherry’s new movie that just played at SXSW. Of all the rides that he had in that film, your scene seemed to resonate with a lot of people. How did the role come about for you?
Thomas Q. Jones: I met Matt Cherry through my friend Liris Cross via twitter and then in person through writer and Director Charles Murray. I didn’t even know that Matthew had played in the NFL. We immediately linked quick. We both played in the NFL. He’s in Hollywood. I’m in Hollywood. He told me about his movie, and I had actually seen it, but I didn’t even know that he was the director, which was pretty cool. We just had a few meetings, and we started to build this whole relationship. Both football players, let’s help each other. It’s a very tough industry. It’s very hard to transition.
Either way, when you retire from the NFL, especially coming into Hollywood because there’s just so many stereotypes on athletes and being creatives. He told me about the movie he was producing. He was shooting it on all iPhones. I have a technology company, so I was really interested besides wanting to work with him too. And he gave me the list of roles that he pitched to me.
I saw this and I was like, “this is something that I think would be a good opportunity for me to show my range.” Because in so many other things I had done, I had been the love interest, and I wanted to use this as an opportunity to show my range. I took this role very seriously. It’s a major issue regarding domestic violence. I wanted to be able to bring it to life, and fortunately, people responded well to it.
Either people have seen you on “Being Mary Jane” or they caught you, at least if they didn’t blink, in “Straight Outta Compton,” so you are making the right connections to get that visibility. You mentioned just now that it’s a struggle at times for NFL players, but we’ve had players in the past who have successfully made that transition such as O.J. Simpson, Jim Brown, Ed Marinaro, and Terry Crews. When did you decide you wanted to be an actor?
Thomas Q. Jones: I decided I wanted to be an actor officially in 2013. I was working on a project in Miami. That’s where I split my time. I’m in LA most of the time but split time in Miami. I have a music label, and a film project was brought to me for a TV series starring Clifton Powell. I took it as an opportunity for me to get a chance to act because I never really had a chance to do much outside of football. I played NFL for 12 years. I played college football and high school so my whole life was pretty much football and school.
I took a role in it playing his nephew. I had a lot of fun. I thought it was really cool. Clifton Powell really encouraged me because he saw some naturalness there and encouraged me to pursue it. One of the publicists for the show was really adamant about me pursuing it, so she helped me find a manager, and an agent. I started to get auditions. Because I had the artist I was working with, I wasn’t 100% committed to it. Once I started to get cast in a couple of parts. My first audition was “Shameless,” and I was cast for a role in one of the episodes. I was cast for a show called “Comedy Bang Bang” on the IFC network. The next role I was cast for was “Being Mary Jane.”
That’s when I really started to take it serious. I had to move to LA. I was like “I think I really have an opportunity to do this and be successful at it as a second career.” That’s when I moved to LA and became really serious, probably in the summer of 2014.
As a player who for many years had to read and understand plays for a game, is it a smooth transition going from reading and understanding plays to reading a script and understanding lines for a film or TV show?
Thomas Q. Jones: It’s pretty similar to be honest. The script is the the basis for your performance. You have to understand the script and understand what’s going on in order for you to contribute to best of your abilities.
The same thing with a playbook. You have to know the blocking schemes if you’re on offense. You have to know the defense if you’re on defense. You have to understand what you’re trying to get across, the objectives. With me being a football player, I’m used to taking direction. I’m used to interpreting a playbook. Getting scripts and breaking the script down from a work perspective was fairly easy. It was a totally different experience because I had to bring someone else’s idea, someone else’s words to life.
It’s different if it’s X’s and O’s because the X is where I’m supposed to be. It’s not as simple as X’s and O’s in acting because whoever created this project, they have a certain point that they’re trying to make. It’s my job to bring that to life with words that I might not necessarily say. In the beginning, that was probably the most difficult part…just understanding how to put those words into life through someone else’s eyes.
Are you continuing to work on your craft? Do you have an acting coach that you’re going to or do you play it by ear based on the roles you’re looking out for?
Thomas Q. Jones: I’ve been in class since 2014. I actually started to go to a couple of classes at the Acting School of South Florida in 2013. Just some improv classes and some study stuff. But I wasn’t committed 100% because of my artist and because of my music label and my technology company. Once I was cast for “Being Mary Jane,” that experience made me want to become a better actor. Made me want to understand the craft more.
When I moved to LA, I was introduced to Ivanna Chubbuck through John Salley. She had worked with him on the “Bad Boys” movie he was in. I met her. Unbelievable coach. She introduced me to Frantz Turner who I started to work with in her studio in the advanced class. It was an eye opener, definitely. It went from me performing with a helmet on to me performing with no helmet, which is a totally different experience. I learned so much in about 6 or 7 months in that studio.
Then I moved to another studio just to get a different experience. I went to Jami Rudofsky’s studio. I stayed there for about 4 or 5 months. Then I went to Scott Sedita’s studio and I’ve been there ever since. Now I’m back in Frantz’s class, so I’m in Franz Turner’s class on Sundays from 7-10. I’m in Scott Seditas studio On Thursday nights from 7 to 10 pm. So I’m in class about 7 hours a week.
That’s where the work is done. It’s not on the set. It’s not at the table reads. It’s done in the classroom with other actors. They’re more pushing me to become the best actor we can possibly be and working with each other and how it applies to the character. It’s definitely not the role, it’s the craft. I have the utmost respect for these actors, especially those actors that have been successful. It’s not as easy as it looks on TV or on film.
Can you talk about playing Brandon on “Being Mary Jane”?
Thomas Q. Jones: It’s a great role. I remember when I was cast for it. It was Twinkie Byrd who I auditioned for. It was a great audition. Twinkie made me feel comfortable. I read and I remember right after I read for Twinkie, I went into Robi Reed’s office. She called me over to her office. I went from Twinkie’s office to Robi’s office. She said “Well, Twinkie really likes you. I think this could really be a breakout role for you.”
At the time, I didn’t really understand. I knew what she meant, but I just couldn’t see it. Robi Reed has been a casting director and Twinkie Bird has been casting for a long, long time. I was a newcomer. I didn’t actually get it until the first episode aired. Now with social media, you really get the responses. When my scene came on at the end of the episode, my social media just went haywire.
I was in LA, and they show it on the East Coast first. I wasn’t really sure what the response was going to be because I was the new guy. Omari Hardwick was the guy before, and I knew the fans really liked him. There’s always pressure to be able to fill those shoes. You’re anxious, and you want people to enjoy your performance. They enjoyed my performance which was a good thing. From there other things just started happening. I got a crash course in Hollywood 101.
Being famous as a football player is a totally different situation because people know you from what you do on the field. It’s almost like you’re a super hero because you have a cape on with your helmet and your shoulder pads. Being an actor is a different perspective because people see you. Especially that role because everyone saw me in an intimate, intimate scene. I think sometimes that sticks in people’s minds.
It was a breakout role. I’m very grateful and thankful for Gabrielle Union, BET, Robi Reed, Twinkie Byrd for giving me the opportunity. Mara Brock Akil too. Gabby…I’ve known her for a few years. She’s a great actress. For your first major role to be playing next to her as a love interest, it’s pretty amazing. I’ll always be thankful for that opportunity.
Do you miss the game?
Thomas Q. Jones: I don’t necessarily miss the game. I think I miss parts of it. I think I miss the locker room, being around other players, being around guys that understand that kind of lifestyle. Some of the things that we have to go through being NFL players. Lifestyle issues, family issues…just some of the hardships physically that we deal with. It’s cool to be around people that understand that. Certain things don’t even have to be said and we just understand each other because we go through it everyday.
But I don’t actually miss the game, miss playing. I haven’t been to a game since I retired. I just haven’t had the desire to go. I also think it would be a little bit hard for me to go. I spent a majority of my life playing that game and just the little subtleties smelling the grass, hearing the bags hitting. I think that would be a little tough for me. But I don’t miss playing. Not at all.
What are we going to see you in next?
Thomas Q. Jones: Right now, obviously ‘9 Rides’ is just hitting the indie circuit. I know Matthew Cherry Natasha Ward, Datari Turner, Jerome Caldwell…All the producers are doing a great job promoting this film. It’s all over the place. It’s getting a lot of buzz. Not only just in the film but in the tech world. Tech space.
I finished a movie with Jennifer Finnigan and Jonathan Silverman called “Andover.” It’s a dark comedy about a scientist that his wife passes away, and he misses her so much that he decides to clone her. So I play Jennifer Finnigan’s love interest, which is a really great movie. Great cast: Beth Grant’s in it. Richard Kind is in it. Stephen Bauer. Bai Ling’s in it. It’s a very random ensemble cast, but everyone just loved doing this project. That’s in post right now. I finished that in February.
I have a project that I actually start to shoot next week called ‘Corbin Nash’ starring Dean Jagger. I was cast for a role in that, matter of fact, last week, so I’m excited about that film. It’s a vampire…dark movie, thriller about vampires. Which is something cool because I get to play a really cool role in that.
I’m also working on my own project, producing a film called “Loyalty.” It’s a really, really good project.
What’s crazy is that living in LA, you never know who you’re gonna me. I was playing basketball ith these guys for 6-7 months before I knew they were writers and directors. They didn’t even know I was an actor until they say “Straight Outta Compton” so it very organically came together.
We have a comic book as well. A short sketch that we shot. We’re in the process of pitching it now. And then, I’m actually out here writing a couple of different projects, so just collaborating right now. I have a couple of projects. Something that’s coming out in the fall that’s really big. I can’t really say right now just because I’ve been sworn to secrecy by the network. Something big is coming in the fall that I’m really excited for everyone to see.
Just taking one day at a time. Taking projects as they come. Getting better and better as an actor, and getting more comfortable with Hollywood and with the industry. Just gotta wait and see what happens.