By Ada Toro
“I always loved and thrived off attention as a kid; I can see how that’s like a drug and I channeled that energy through various school plays and a healthy love of reading literature aloud,” Alexander Mulzac said to me.
Many have seen Mulzac star as Brave Williams in “Where Hearts Lie” or the BET feature “How To Tell You’re a Douchbag” that premiered on Sundance. He recently finished working on “Ambitions”, which is Will Packer’s new series consisting of ten episodes that will air on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) June 18th.
Born in the Bronx and partially raised in Antigua, Mulzac appreciated and felt liberated every time he was up on stage performing in plays as a young ten and eleven year old boy. During his time in grade school, he and his parents didn't really think much of acting as his true calling since the representation of evidence through film and television mediums were severely lacking.
“In the 80’s, other than The Cosby Show, sitcoms in syndication, or witnessing Eddie Murphy’s meteoric rise, representation was sorely disproportionate,” he said. “I thought you had to be either innately gifted or enormously lucky to be able to make it in the very Caucasian business of acting.”
With those thoughts in mind, Mulzac abandoned his love affair with performance. He ended up attending City College as a Pre-Med major determined to graduate with a degree that would provide him something stable enough to satisfy his parents. At City College, he befriended someone who asked him to audition for a play she was producing.
“I auditioned, got the part, and my love affair was reignited,” said Mulzac. “I changed my major in the second half of my sophomore year and started to learn the difference between performance and acting.”
He was inspired by some amazingly talented faculty and thespians in training within the CCNY Theatre program.
“My mind blew open and out my mouth spilled a declaration to be mentioned among the greats; I was going to be an actor,” expressed Mulzac with great enthusiasm.
Once he graduated from CCNY’s Theatre program, Mulzac worked on a variety of independent films and theatre. Not to mention that he’s held a couple of survival jobs to keep him afloat up to now as some of those jobs took him off the path of the starving artist for a while.
“I started getting compensation for my acting talents within the last three years,” he said. “Before I joined the cast of “Ambitions”, I worked as an office manager and Personal Assistant for a Hypnotherapist.”
After telling me about his journey to stardom, Mulzac provided me with some juicy details on the role he plays in “Ambitions”. He plays an antagonist named Damian Collins on the show who may exhibit some sociopathic behaviors. Mulzac said Damian is creatively resourceful and has skills with some serious utility, is aware of his talents, and enjoys being cock-sure for those reasons. Damian is a character that enjoys his mischievous self and the theatricality of watching his plans unfold…twirling his imaginary mustache all the while.
“I’d like to share his fierce individualism and not be susceptible to other people’s perceptions,” said Mulzac about Damian. “I’m definitely, mostly, probably not a sociopath.
With “Ambitions”, Mulzac feels he is fortunate to be part of a well-crafted, diverse show which has hit dripping all over it. He received the opportunity to star in the show when he was requested to self-tape from George Pierre Castings back in October 2018. He submitted his materials and didn’t hear anything after a few weeks—so his mindset was moving on to the next project.
“Thanksgiving rolls into early December and my reps contact me out of the blue on a Friday night with considerable news to let me know that I’m ‘pinned’ to work on this project “Ambitions” and they’ll get back to me with a definite answer at the end of the weekend,” he said.
Mulzac was told that if he was offered the role that he would literally have three days to get all his affairs in order to travel and shoot. He felt an eerie calmness over the weekend and assurance like no other that he was going to land the part.
“My agents called back early on Monday and told me the part was mine,” he said. “It was like an out of body experience having my big break on a TV show produced by Will Packer, starring Robin Givens, the bombshell beauty whom I idolized from “Boomerang”, Essence Atkins and Brian White, on Oprah’s network no less.”
Indeed, Mulzac is one to inspire artists of all sorts to go after their dreams, and if I have learned anything sitting down with this talented guy, it’s that the universe listens to your heart and always finds a way to deliver even years later.
“This moment, this experience, is for my parents, my girl, friends and fam,” he said. “They lifted me up during the toughest days and kept pushing me.”
And… with a grateful heart for those who never leave your side while you blaze your own path.
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