I did not know how much the military or my military experience would pay
off or play a part in my acting career.
Mm-hmm.
Like the first slew of roles, it was always young military, young cop
police, and I figured out, okay, I know what Hollywood views as military guy.
I get it.
That's not true.
We're all different.
We're all unique.
Right.
You know, NCIS, this NCIS, that, and there's a new NCIS, which I just booked
again, so I'll be shooting that next week.
Thank you.
But this particular character, I'm like, oh, I know this character.
In this particular case, this was literally me like 10, 15, 20 years ago.
You know, it's all by God's design, but when you're going through life.
There's a lot of peaks and valleys that we go through, um, but we don't realize
how a lot of those things that may seem to bring so much doubt or fear or
confusion will be some of those moments that really become pillars and foundations
of the great things that are to come.
Coming to the show, we have Mr. Christopher Allen, a good and amazing
friend, father, husband, actor, veteran.
He has so many titles, it's unbelievable.
But he has blessed many, a stage TV and movie screen that many of you
have been able to see and witness.
Some of you played video games, uh, using him as a character.
It's pretty amazing.
But he hails from Nashville, Tennessee.
Also traveled through Memphis, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia, and then, uh, all
the way up until high school, uh, or his senior year of high school,
he ended in Baltimore, Maryland.
From Baltimore, he went to Morgan University and after his first year,
decided to pivot and joined the US Air Force, uh, where he was an
air traffic controller for several years before he, uh, decided to.
Get out of the military and come to LA to study acting.
And he has been acting, uh, since his move out to la.
He's been blessed in many different ways and, uh, most importantly,
his family and his wife.
He thanks them all and gives them all the support for all the success that he's had.
And right now we get to welcome Mr.
Christopher Halen.
Stay tuned.
Hey, my name is Kat.
And I'm Lee.
And welcome to the
Wildly Wealthy Life Podcast.
In this show, we explore the journey of what it means to live a truly
exceptional and fulfilling life.
Each episode focuses on how a foundation of brilliant minds and
brave arts nurtured through the arts leads to lifelong success.
Get inspired with actionable tips to foster a growth mindset,
leadership values, and creativity in children and adults turning
their potential into lasting contributions for their communities.
We hope that you embrace the challenge to shift your perspective as we equip
you and the next generation foray.
Wildly wealthy, wildly wealthy life.
We just had our conversation with Christopher Allen.
It was so fun.
Babe, what's some of your biggest takeaways?
Well, I love Christopher, number one.
He's an amazing man.
Mm-hmm.
Christopher, if you're listening, you are amazing.
Thank you for everything that you do and really his leadership through.
Servitude mm-hmm.
Is such an important lesson and you guys really need to listen from start
to finish to hear this whole story.
And, uh, what about you?
Uh, yeah, I think same thing.
Uh, his outlook on the heart for service is something that is really worth noting,
and I think that something that we should all apply in our lives and the way he
just shares it is really incredible.
And like the experiences he's had because of his heart.
For service is really wonderful.
So we'll bring him in.
Here we go.
So Chris, you have such a unique experience of different
roles, both now and like the.
Quote, unquote, professional Disney World side of things.
You have the acting performance side of things.
You've got motion capture, air force work,
fatherhood,
fatherhood, husband hood, like, there's just such a, a broad, uh,
approach to life or, uh, broad, uh, experience of life that you, you've had.
Um, as you look at your.
Now, what are some of the freedoms and what are some of the lessons that you're
trying to share with your kids to give them that leg up that maybe you didn't
have or you wish you had experienced when, when you were growing up?
Yeah.
Thank you for that.
For me, kind of like my life today and over the past several
years, you know, things have.
On the outside looking in, been all over the place in terms of not
having much traditional structure?
Yeah.
Or consistency.
So when I was younger, once my parents separated, even though I was always in
between Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta, and back, I was often in between
Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta, and back versus having one set of friends, uh.
Stable, same parental unit at home, whether it be mom,
grandparents, godparents, whoever.
There was a lot of shifting and moving around and just doing life.
I used to say, wow, I wonder and sometimes still do think what it
would be like, what my life would be like if I did have that consistency.
Same school, same friends, you know, same culture growing up.
But that wasn't my story.
I had the benefit and pleasure as I see it, of learning how to adapt.
Mm-hmm.
And
overcome in unfamiliar territories consistently.
If so, now whether I'm faced with situations or an opportunity in the
corporate world at Disney, or which is very structured and it is a. If you
would like to, you have an opportunity to show up, look away, talk away,
dress away, and imagine being that way, literally for 20 to 25 to 30 to 40 to
50 years, uh, most people work there at Disney unless they're, you know, fired
or let go, or laid off or whatever.
Mm-hmm.
See the benefit of that.
I appreciate the consistency in what that offers.
However, I don't like it.
Mm-hmm.
Now that it's offered to me, but I'm older and understand, I would rather be able
to, okay, I can do the Disney thing, I can hop on set and be fun and be free.
I can call back on my memory about the Air Force and remember what that was like.
And apply that today.
So as far as my kids are concerned, I'm glad that I'm able to say, okay, I would
like to provide you that consistency that I did not have at home between
mom and I, and safety, and security and faith and what we believe and why.
Mm-hmm.
And also so to you that there is a world of possibility.
You have the foundation, you have the structure.
I've taught you how to fly, so when it comes time for you to run and jump and
spread your wings off that cliff, hey.
Prep you the store, baby.
I am prep you the store.
You know what I mean?
You may rock two feet as soon as you get off, but just
remember you were made for this.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And those rocky, you know, shaky times are guaranteed either way.
So just about our perspective and how we see them and how we
choose to adapt and overcome.
So, um, my goal is whether I have two boys.
Mm-hmm.
Um, three, almost four.
The other one is seven one.
Came outta the womb.
More like, okay.
Boundaries, guidelines, yeah.
Cool.
The other one is more like me, boundaries and guidelines.
He understands that they're there.
But he understands that they're there for the average person, excuse me.
He, his guidelines are outside of everyone else's, uh, for his own logical reasons.
And I'm like that too.
But the beauty of just seeing who they are and how certain approaches and, and
things can be applied to them is great.
So my goal is to take what I've learned, uh, allow them to be them
themselves and just hopefully help them, you know, work out and steer this
thing called life the best they can.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Wow.
And in all of your experiences, Chris, uh, I know you've had a lot, you know,
as we already kind of shared here.
Um, what has been the main, if you feel like you, if you were to kind of
really expand on this one thing, the main thing that you feel that you've
held onto because it's the leadership skill or the value that has really
helped you in everything you've done?
Yeah, I'll say.
Transparency.
Not that I've done these things well, but when I have work like a
trauma, transparency, honesty, and understanding what it means to serve.
Mm-hmm.
If you can grow to appreciate and just work on those things, and by you I mean
we and myself included, you'll begin to see the value of those things and how
the average person in the workforce.
I'm sure many of us have experienced, we'll get distracted by the wrong thing.
For example, we spoke about me working at Disney and pursuing acting.
So acting is my passion.
Acting is the thing that I love to do.
Acting is something that I've been blessed to do.
I. At a cool level, and I continue to be a part of those opportunities.
So I'm, I'm thankful to God for that.
Mm-hmm.
But I've always had a day job, even in times in my career where I didn't
quote unquote have to, I've had a day job, so I'll go in entry level.
When I first got to la I, well, I don't know if I should tell people I'm an actor.
I don't wanna get fired.
I'm just gonna lie about it.
Um, and hope it all works out.
But then it got to the point where I was like, wait a minute.
It wasn't even about being necessarily honest, like I shouldn't be lying, which
shouldn't have, shouldn't have been.
But it was more so about if I have this thing in my heart that I feel that
I've been gifted and called to do, why would I be shy or ashamed or say, this
is what I am and this is what I am.
This is what I do, and then artistically and then hide it from you.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not giving my heart to just do that it deserves.
Mm-hmm.
So then it got to a point to say, Hey, let me be honest with these people.
Companies, employers, whatever.
I am an actor.
This is my pursuit.
I wanna be transparent with you.
I also wanna be honest with you and say, Hey, I may not hit the mark every
time, but my goal for you is to give you 110% because I do have other pursuits.
I don't necessarily wanna be here in 15 years, so therefore I need
to show you that while I am here.
I wanna show up and, and aim for a hundred percent, 110%, even
if I only hit 80 consistently.
Let's be honest with each other.
People who do wanna be at this company, on average, maybe you
get a good 75 to 80 period, right?
May or may not be striving for that 110%.
So the more I just had conversations with people being open and honest
with them, they begin to appreciate that honesty because the average
person, even if they do wanna work there, is not necessarily gonna be.
Honest with you from the jump about what their goals, their dreams or
aspirations are definitely about things that may keep me from getting this job.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
So people will say things like, you know what, I appreciate your honesty.
Okay, cool.
Uh, we understand you have goals because everyone does.
It's not just me.
Especially in a city like la, most people are not like really
wanting to be a valet friend.
Let's just be honest.
Okay.
Yeah.
So nothing
wrong with it.
I was a valet and it was great while it lasted.
You know what I mean?
So again, it's not like we're fooling anyone.
People get it.
And so that just shows, okay, if I do hire this person something, I
also try to instill into my kids.
If I do hire this person, at least I know what to expect, right?
That transl into security.
Expectation.
Less surprises.
Mm-hmm.
Less turnover.
If you wanna talk about budgetary things, you know, if this person leaves, well at
least I'll have an expectation of why.
Right?
We already talked about they're gonna work hard and do those kind of things.
So, uh, that's just an example of what I meant by transparency, um, being
honest and then what it is to serve.
Whether it's a valet or whether it's a Disney Prime example, I'm a
manager of the Walt Disney Company.
I work on the corporate side in post-production.
Think of me as a liaison between filmmakers and
post-production and the studio.
Once the filmmakers show up and say, okay, we got the footage from the
actors, everybody, now we need to put this movie together, splice it together.
They come to us.
We give them a literal space to do that, and if they need something
from the studio, they call my team.
So my day may consist of organizing their equipment, making sure that they have
what they need to literally, uh, turn on the lights in the room, whatever.
Or it could mean the Cheeto box is empty and the client really prefer hot Cheetos.
So can you take the hot Cheetos out and make sure you put the other Cheetos
in, or even just coworkers downstairs.
So imagine me coming from set.
Or from that motion capture, uh, experience that you spoke of being
ushered around and the big black trucks and new electric Cadillacs
and all that kind of stuff.
First class flights and then I come back to Disney and as
soon as I get in the door, Hey Chris, the fruit basket is empty.
Can you get on that for me, brother?
Thanks.
Let me know when you're done.
Yeah, it's very trippy.
Yeah, they're humbling.
Yeah.
So I, even with knowing the beauty of servanthood and in order to
be the a most impactful leader, you've gotta know how to serve.
To be, you have to be, have to be an impactful, uh, servant.
Even with me knowing that and going through all this experience
that we just shared, it's hard depending on what that task is.
Mm-hmm.
But to be able to show impressive feel that you're willing
to do it when people know.
Again, honestly, people know, okay, we got this, we got this
brother out here doing this.
And the people I talk to, my leadership at the company,
they, they appreciate my acting.
They champion me there and they also appreciate what I bring to the company on
the professional corporate side of things.
And they're just waiting for me to say, okay, I'm all in, or
I'm gonna go act full time now.
So don't get me wrong, they're supportive.
They love me in terms of all that kind of stuff.
Um, and they also understand that, Hey Chris, we get it.
It's tough, but at the end of the day, we do need these baskets stacked, right?
And that's just what it is.
Um, but that's an example of really having to humble myself, oneself
and say, okay, I need to serve.
'cause guess what?
I'll conclude on this.
When I show up to set, I. You better believe that I'm looking
for those welts fruit snack packs.
I go crafty because it's my favorite snack.
Well, hey, here we go.
I just wanna kind of share, 'cause you saying that Chris,
about like transparency.
It just brought me back.
I haven't thought of this in a long time.
It just literally brought me back.
I was like, oh yeah, I remember that when I first came here and I wanted to
be a dancer and I would like go look for jobs and I had another layer of um.
Difficulty added to that because at that time I didn't have my papers.
So not only did I like, hi, I want the job, can you pay me cash under the table?
Like
directions paper?
Yeah,
because yeah, yeah.
Like my immigration papers.
Oh, okay.
I
didn't have my immigration papers yet figured out, you know?
'cause I was actually on a tourist visa when I first came here.
So I had that another layer up of like, uh, yeah, um, I actually need
to be paid in cash 'cause I don't.
I'm not legally not allowed to work here.
Mm. And then by the way, I'm a dancer or at least trying to be a working dancer.
And at any point I could just, I just need to call in and
say, sorry, I can't be there.
Right.
And that level of fear of like, I. Who, I need this job, but I can't let
them know that I'm a dancer because there's potential that I might call
out, you know, all these things.
Mm-hmm.
And there's a potential that it could happen multiple times in a
week, and I have no control over it.
Right.
And, and then realizing.
The only way for this to actually work is to actually be truthful about it.
It's the only way, you know, and, and so yeah, it's, it's funny that it's a memory
that I have not thought of in a long time.
And you just saying that really brought all that back.
Yeah.
Um, and.
We've known each other for a while, Chris.
Yes.
And uh, your honesty and transparency is, is always like something I look forward
to, like speaking with you on, whether it's, um, things that you're sharing,
you know, for me or just what, you know, whatever struggles you're going through,
your open, you do have that humility and it's such a beautiful characteristic.
But I. I can see that you just excelling in so many different ways
from where you're at right now, because you have such a balance of that.
The leadership, the, um, humor, humor, the ex, just the uh, the
excellence when you're on stage and you go into that performance side
of things, but then also just the.
The gift that you're able to give other people by stepping back and
having that humility, being able to serve and to lift others up.
I try to echo that as much as I can in my, in my role also at at work,
where you have to get in the weeds, you know, with, with the people that you're
working with and that you're serving for.
And that's such a great position that you're in.
I know you're gonna not be there probably your entire life by any means.
I know you're gonna excel in.
Blow up in different directions.
Um, but I do think that these are definite lifelong lessons that
you're gonna be carrying through with you, your, your entire life.
I wanted to ask though, too, you mentioned that, you know, acting, it's
who you are, it's what brings you life.
It's that mm-hmm.
What you feel you could, you've been called to do.
When did you start getting exposed to theater and acting?
'cause it sounded like you, you know, with the childhood you're
moving between Memphis, Atlanta, and every, what was the first
opportunity you had to get into acting?
And then when did you really feel like this is the calling, like this is God
the divine, and everybody speaking to you and saying, you need to step out on this?
Yeah.
I just got a little emotional thinking about this question for some reason.
I don't know why.
I'll just keep talking and we'll figure it out.
So when I was in elementary school or middle school, maybe freshman
year, you know, what do you wanna be when you grow up, doctor, lawyer,
football player, actor, whatever.
Seemed cool at the time, right?
Again, without having that structure and consistency, my
mind truly wasn't on the future.
My mind was on.
Right now.
Mm-hmm.
Whatever was in front of me and me as a, as a child, trying to grapple
with having, even though I didn't know what, how to word it or frame
it or process it with my world being
deconstructed in a very aggressive and violent way, talking about divorce.
And as a child, not knowing what to do with that.
And you know, my mom doing her best and she was very protective,
overprotective because she was a single mom just trying to do her best
to raise me and do her thing, right?
So my life was just about the now.
So I didn't really have a hard goal of being anything in
particular when I was younger.
I think I did a play in high school, which was not good.
Um, my ninth grade year.
So Nashville School of the Arts, I hear, I haven't been back to Nashville
where I'm from in a long time.
Unfortunately, I hear Nashville School of the Arts is a very, very good school now.
Great school.
When I was there, it was literally first started.
They sent out letters in the mail, Hey, check a box here if
you wanna go to this school.
That school, this school for high school, Nashville School of the
Arts was one of the boxes I checked.
Mm-hmm.
There's a lot of these system, as far as I know.
Mm-hmm.
Getting there, going there.
We did one play.
The drama teacher got fired for some reason.
I don't remember.
It was in shambles, is what I'm saying.
It wasn't like a Julliard of the South by any anyways.
Okay.
It was just a play.
I was just doing it.
I was just hanging out.
I don't think I looked at any lines, you know what I mean?
I just think I just showed up for the performance and you know.
Fumbled my way through the, it was very disrespectful of the craft itself.
It was disrespectful to the audience, to the teacher, to my classmates, you
know, just the kid doing whatever.
So that probably was my first introduction, but literally I
could have been playing kickball.
It, it really didn't matter.
Yeah.
Um, I think I may have auditioned also before high school for a
a, a School of the Arts there.
And I do remember it not being a good experience.
Like the teacher was like, this kid.
No, it doesn't need to be here, doesn't need to be acting, doesn't
need to be doing anything artistic.
And it was quite negative.
And so we move on from that and just go to school or whatever.
And then again, moving back and forth.
I was speed up to story my junior year in high school.
Ended up moving to um, Atlanta for a little bit, and then ultimately
Baltimore for my senior year.
Why did I move?
Well, my friends and I thought it would be a good idea to go to the mall and take
things that not belong to us clothing.
Listen to this story.
This go.
Okay.
Anyway, so you know how during prom season in school, well, at least in
the south anyway, they'll always have, uh, kids from the local community
or whatever, do a fashion show.
Yeah.
You know, Texas dresses, whatever I was doing that I thought it would
be a good idea to do what my friends and I have been doing in full tuxedo.
Get up garb, walk around and basically steal clothes.
What we would do is we would go behind the cash wrap.
Hey Kitty, go behind the cash wrap.
And you can be a part of the story too.
That's right.
I the actor here, Chris.
Um, go behind the cash wrap, take bags.
Right.
And then just put clothing in the bag to look like we were shopping.
I decided to, I love it.
Stuff as much, many things not thinking.
Well, a cashier would just give you.
Two or three bags versus stuffing all this stuff in here.
So I was looking like foolish and I would walk outside, push stuff under a car.
Right?
Go back in, do it again.
The last time I came outside was like a team of security
guards waiting for me, whatever.
Okay son.
Ah, gotta go win.
So back during that time, if you, this was all like Ralph Lauren
and Tommy and all that kind stuff.
We used to work.
Yeah.
So you didn't need much to get over $500 worth of.
Whatever.
Yeah, yeah.
It was over
500 bucks.
It's a felony, which means you gotta go to court.
It was Friday, the courts are closed, so now that meant you have to go to juvenile
for the weekend until you can go to court.
So I had to call my mom and not say, Hey mom, I'm done.
Can't come pick me up.
But hey mom, I'm, I got arrested.
So she was like, okay, well hey, I'm not gonna come pick you up.
Sorry.
You know better.
So I had to call my godfather.
He came and picked me up.
My mom was like, I gotta get this kid outta here.
So I ended up moving to Atlanta for a bit with my uncle, and then ultimately to
Maryland, which is where my mom had moved.
Mm. Yeah.
The story's going somewhere.
Don't work.
Oh, I, I'm in, finished my senior year in Baltimore.
Kind of fell into the local college there.
Just because I was like, oh, I guess I should go to college.
I graduated high school.
I took like the SAT or whatever it was, or AC a CT at that time.
Mm-hmm.
Like the last possible time scored high enough, at least to get into college.
Went to college there, one of the members in our friend group up and
left and went to the Air Force.
Mm-hmm.
Look, okay.
So I'm traveling, going back and forth to New York during this time,
just doing some different things, not really focused on school.
Uh, other things happen.
I'm like, you know what?
The only way I would stop going to school if something crazy happened.
My mom was like, Chris, you're not focused.
Just come move this at this time.
She's moved to Florida.
She said, Chris, just come down here.
Get your life back together.
Figure it out.
And I'm like, the only way I'm gonna move is if I crash my car.
Something crazy.
She's, I crashed my car like a week later.
I'm like, all right, I guess I'm going.
Be careful what you say, I guess.
Yeah.
So I'm in Miami, south Beach every weekend.
In my mom's car until the sun comes up.
My mom is like, Hey man, this is not why I told you to come here in my car.
So I'm fussing, I'm yelling, I'm fighting.
I'm acting crazy.
Uh, and it got to the point where I called out my friend, I said, Hey,
Terrence, you like the military?
Said, yeah man, I love it.
So I literally went, didn't say anything to my mom or anybody else.
I signed up for the military on a whim.
God was looking out for me.
I ended up being an air traffic controller there at the air traffic controller Tower.
One of the civilians, his wife needed some volunteers for community theater.
I said yes, no one else did.
That is the true spark that kicked off.
Okay, maybe I want to do this thing for real.
Mm-hmm.
I did two plays.
Uh, one was a musical, one was a stage play, traditional stage play.
I had a blast and I decided, um, when I got out was like a year later
to move to LA and give it a shot.
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow,
that's cool.
That's a cool story.
Like there's just so many connecting pieces to it, you know?
And just if you look back, you're like, it was it.
I mean, 'cause it's always in hindsight, right?
Like we, we don't know until we're like past it and we look back, we're like,
oh, okay, this is why this happened.
Almost like a consistency and inconsistency and then.
The adaptability that you had to go through those different cities, different
friend groups, different experiences with the shoplifting and the, uh,
getting into school or graduating and then getting into college, and then
just all the, all of that is Yeah.
Yeah.
It's amazing.
What, first of all, as an air traffic controller in the Air Force,
do you have a favorite aircraft?
Actually, by default, I do.
My favorite aircraft is.
The F 22 Raptor, they have like F 22 A or F 22, whatever it is now, but mm-hmm.
So when the Raptor first came out.
We were one of the basics that they were testing.
So I mean, that thing would come out and if it rained one, and this
is Florida, so it rains, right?
If it wonder just every day that thing to it, right back into the thing.
Everything had to be perfect.
Conditions had to be perfect, you know?
So we saw it like go and go back, taxi out and go back, and then
eventually got up in the air.
But the difference between, so, um.
My base, Tendo Air Force Base, air Force base in Panama City, Florida was, is a
fighter try fighter pilot training base.
So once the fighters or the pilots get qualified to test on the fighter plane,
um, they come to our base and they'll do all the practices and their approaches
and the dog fighting the pretend wars out in the airspace or whatever.
Um, but those are f fifteens for the most part on our base.
Yeah.
So it was cool to see this brand new fighter that was essentially.
Replace or be the new F 15.
Um, and the difference between those two aircraft was amazing.
The F 15, for example, uh, if it takes off to do a quick climb, which is where
they straight up, yeah, go on the runway and man this way, then they kind of, yeah.
With the F 22, when they came out, it was like, you know, and straight up.
So it was wild.
And so that's why it's my favorite plane.
That's amazing.
Yeah, they, uh, I'm a bit of a nerd and, uh, oh yes.
Love, love watching the, uh, F 20 twos fly around.
Um, do you know Fort Hill Air Force Base, did you ever spend
any time over there or No.
Where's that?
Uh, Utah.
Uh, my brother lives at the end of the runway basically, and they
have a whole fleet of those, so they're always cruising around.
And he hates 'em only because they're loudest damn thing.
Yeah.
Um, but he, he works on the Air Force base.
He plane paints, planes and stuff, so he, he gets up close and
personal with a bunch of those.
Nice.
Um, sorry, that was a total, like sidetrack.
I was just Oh, good.
In.
I did not know how much the military or my military experience would pay
off or play a part in my acting career.
Mm-hmm.
Like the first slew of roles, it was always young military, young cop
police, and I figured out, okay, I know what Hollywood views as military guy.
I get it.
That's not true.
We're all different.
We're all unique.
Right.
But I know what they perceive it as.
Yeah.
So you know, NCIS, all those, I've been on NCIS, this NCIS that, and there's
a new NCIS, which I just booked again, so I'll be shooting that next week.
Thank you.
This particular character, I'm like, oh, I know this character.
In this particular case, this was literally me like 10, 15, 20 years ago.
Wow.
Those were things, uh, you know, it's all by God's design, but when you're going
through life and a lot of that stuff is hard, you know, we talked about separation
and then this, and being at a new place and being the new, new kid every time.
Right.
And all that kind of stuff.
Or just new adult, anywhere, new job, new city, whatever it is.
There's a lot of peaks and valleys that we go through, but we don't realize how
a lot of those things that may seem to bring so much doubt or fear or confusion
will be some of those moments that really become pillars and foundations
of the great things that are to come.
Mm-hmm.
You know?
Mm-hmm.
Wow.
That's really awesome.
Could you talk on how the military kinda set you up to get into sag?
'cause I know you did some work.
Yeah.
Um, how did I get into sag?
Oh, so there's a group out in LA called, uh, VME.
It used to be VFT, veterans and Film and Television.
Now it's veterans and Military and Entertainment.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, they are a resource group basically for veterans who have any aspirations or
who are in the entertainment industry.
Period.
Doesn't have to be active.
Whatever it is.
And so being able to connect with groups like that, to have resources
with people who are working at the studios or working as writers or
directors, uh, or just who have been out here forever and are veterans with
connections, has been really a blessing and, um, quite impactful and helpful.
The way I got into Sac technically though, was I think I had a
couple of vouchers I needed maybe one more, uh, before SAG after.
Before SAG and AFTRA merged, anybody who was AFTRA already, this is for the
union nerds out there if they mm-hmm.
Are any, uh, if you were aftra, once the unions joined, you
automatically became sag.
Mm-hmm.
Technically how?
Gotcha.
Gotcha, gotcha.
What's cool too is like with your experiences, just the amount of people
that you've been able to help, 'cause I've seen it like, you know, with the
theater company that we've been a part of.
And, uh, just in your life with really serving your community and lifting
others up, do you have guidelines, some approaches that you typically take
that would help other people kind of explore, you know, their passions, their.
Access to being able to get into like the acting world as, or
the creative world in general?
Mm-hmm.
Actually, yeah, we can kind
of sum all of that up.
One, we have to remember that we're all human beings, right?
So we can focus on our differences.
Or what he has, or she has and we don't, et cetera.
Or we can focus on the fact that at the end of the day, I don't
need to let those things move me.
I don't need to worry, be worried about what someone else has, nor I need to,
nor do I need to spend time and energy focusing on someone else who may be hating
on me or whatever because of what I do or don't have, all that kind of stuff.
Hmm.
Whether it's working at Disney, whether it's being on set, we all
understand that when you spend.
What's the statistics?
Say you spend more time in the car between the car and at work, you more time.
You spend more time in traffic and at work people, you spend
more time with them doing that than you are like at home, right?
So people wanna spend, ideally a lot of time with people that they get along with.
So whether you walk into an audition room, whether you walking into an interview
setting or a workplace or whatever.
You wanna present and be someone who is transparent, someone who
is honest, someone who's down to serve and dying to help.
Because people may say, okay, this is somebody I can stand
to be around for five minutes.
Mm-hmm.
For 12 hours if we're talking about being on set 12, 14 hours a day or whatever.
So one, just a reminder to listen, we don't have to be crabs in the bucket.
You can walk into an audition room and feel like, listen, I am here.
I have this gift.
If this role is for me, if this job is for me, it's for me.
Doesn't really matter as much.
Who's the best in the room?
Yeah.
I'm gonna bring my best, whether I've been acting for a day
or for 15 years, either way.
Yeah.
So I don't need to worry about that.
And people trust me, can feel that in the room.
You walk into an audition room, you walk into an interview, whether it's on
Zoom or in person, you walk into a room.
People often give off a vibe.
We either compelled to that vibe or we're, what is it, re
repelled, repost, vibe, whatever.
We don't, we don't want that vibe.
Right?
Yeah.
And it's the same thing in an interview, in an audition room.
So thinking about just being a human serving, right?
What are some ways that keeps me in that mindset?
Well, serving can simply mean if I'm online going to the commissary.
I'm gonna say hello to the person who's cooking the food, handing me
the food, taking my money as I go.
When I got to Disney, um, I started during the pandemic, so everything
was shut down and I had time to have conversations with people who worked on
the lot, tradesmen, janitors, whatever.
And I do remember a quick conversation with someone who worked in the
commissary, in the cafeteria there.
She was like, you know, all these years I've been here, you are one of the first
people that consistently says hello.
Hi.
How are you?
I've only been there a year.
Again, I already said most people work at Disney for 20 to 50 to 30 to 40 years.
Mm-hmm.
Now, I wasn't surprised to hear her say that, but it's always sad
mm-hmm.
To
hear people say things like that.
One of the drivers when I was, uh, working on a gig, same type of thing, like, look
man, I appreciate you being so nice.
Most people that sit in the back, they don't say nothing.
And I get that.
Maybe you're a person who's just quiet, introvert.
It's cool.
But if that's really true, that can read positively too.
Mm-hmm.
Versus you making a choice to be like, you know what?
I'm taking my food, I'm gone.
Or maybe just subconsciously.
Being so focused on your meeting that you have at two 30 that you
just forgot to look up and say hello.
Okay, fine, I get it.
But for those of us who make it a point to recognize those things,
you'll find yourself being afforded much more grace and success.
Mm-hmm.
Oh gosh.
This is so good.
I love that you share that.
'cause I look at Lee, that's literally how Lee is.
He, he, he always says hi to everybody.
It's, it's awesome.
Um.
The serving, like in in the acting world.
Yeah.
I
think it's really awesome that you kind of, your heart is always about service
and I think that's a testament to the fact that you have been able to consistently
book jobs because exact It's exactly that.
I think that I realized, um, you know, I think a lot of people think
about Hollywood and Los Angeles and they're like, oh, I wanna be an actor.
And everyone is always looking at the glitz and glamor.
Right.
And then you don't realize the work it takes to actually be a good actor.
It takes so much work.
And I didn't know that until I took a Meisner class.
And, um, I would, I every week it was just like, gosh, this is a
lot of like, shedding of yourself.
Mm-hmm.
And letting go of yourself.
Mm-hmm.
And actually not looking at like, oh.
Look at me and what I can do, but really actually connecting with your character
so that you can serve the audience.
It is, and I never saw it that way until I was in the thick of those classes
and realized, gosh, acting is hard.
Wow.
Like, yeah.
You know, and realizing, um, do I really want this?
This is really difficult.
So I Thank you for sharing that.
I guess I'm curious what has been like your favorite.
Job, like acting job.
I, I watched a TV show, Jane the Virgin, um, that was my, you know,
guilty flesher show and Lee didn't watch pretty much any of it.
It was me binging it.
Okay.
And, and I love that show.
That show is crazy.
Just crazy out of this world.
Crazy, you know, all the, all the twists and turns.
And of course you were on that show, so when, when you, you came on, I
was like, oh, that's, that's Chris.
So, uh, any of your favorite shops that you wanna share about.
What I like to say about Jane the Virgin, thank you, very kind of you
to, to bring it up, is one that's one of those cool traditional Hollywood
stories where it was supposed to be just, first of all, I auditioned for that
show six, seven times, which is normal.
Not necessarily fun all the time, but that just means casting appreciates
you and they'll keep calling you back until they find the right opportunity.
Mm-hmm.
Addition for that show a lot.
It was only supposed to be a day or two, and then it ended up being like
two, two and a half, three seasons.
So always grateful, uh, to God for that opportunity.
And for Gina Rodriguez and Jenny Irwin, the showrunner who basically, and again,
we just got through saying it, that they literally told me and one of the,
uh, writers was like, you know, Chris.
We saw you and your first day or two you came in, we saw you and Michael,
the other actor, or Brett doing your thing, and we're like, huh.
Something about this guy
I didn't like.
Mm-hmm.
Around.
That's how it always goes.
Again.
One, yes.
Uh, Brett, who plays Michael, he and I, we did have good chemistry in that scene.
It did just fit, but also.
Jean and I, I think just through chatting or whatever, uh, had good conversations
and one, she's just a great leader on set.
It does make a difference.
It's just like any other job, whoever's number one on the call sheet or
like the star of the show mm-hmm.
They set the tone
mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Of the show.
And by the tone, I mean yeah.
Of the show that she's on tv, but like the, the real life stuff.
Are they nice?
Are they kind?
Mm-hmm.
Are they respectful?
You have to be quiet and I'll look at them when they come on set
or they're like, no, no, no, no.
Everyone's gonna be respectful here.
Whether you're an extra, whether they have one day, no lines or all the lines.
Mm-hmm.
The star of the show sets that tone and everybody else kind of follows suit.
Mm-hmm.
And Gina set a very positive tone.
Everybody matters.
So it was really easy to vibe with her.
First of all.
Um, again, we had a cool vibe and so everything just kind of worked well
again, and we all kind of envisioned.
I could probably work here all the time and have a blast.
Mm-hmm.
I felt it.
They felt it.
That's why, along with the chemistry with the other actors and the fun scene
and stuff, I was able to be called back.
But that's just, it's the same thing at Disney.
It's the same exact thing.
At Disney, I've been able to come to know a number of key
senior executives at the company.
Mm-hmm.
And our rapport is not.
Oh, here comes the president of music.
Uh, I know what else?
And I get that.
And that's normal.
Uh oh.
Here comes the rock, Dwayne Johnson.
Oh, oh, oh.
Like it's normal.
Yes, I get it.
But if we spend this time being humble, honest, transparent, and realizing that
we're all people here at the end of the day, and you live your life that
way, it also comes off as refreshing.
When you do get around people who are used to.
Being put on a pedestal or maybe people are shy or nervous, it becomes refreshing.
Oh, again, here we go.
This is a guy I can have a conversation with.
Yeah.
But now, for example, with the president of music at Disney, he and I, I'll go to
his office and you know, we just chat.
Yes.
You know what I mean?
And, um, he's like, you know, Chris, I, I, I appreciate our dynamic.
You really seem like a Disney dude.
A Disney guy.
So if you find something that you like, let me know whether it's here
or whether it's at a different studio.
I know people, and it's so interesting having these conversations 'cause
the, uh, the average employee at Disney will make sense.
They're like, oh really?
Tom?
Like, oh yeah, great.
Like, here's a list of things.
But I've looked for that list.
I've searched for things at Disney that I could possibly do despite
me knowing that acting are my thing that I could possibly do to really.
Possibly fill my cup there.
It ain't happening.
I've honestly looked, you know what I mean?
But I think God is just like, nah, bro.
Like you're good where you are.
I'm tired.
And with these chills y'all, I'm trying to find something else to do.
But God is like, no.
Okay, they're gonna be crispy and tasty and you gonna put 'em in a basket.
Alright, fine.
But no.
But seriously, whether it's being on set or being in a corporate setting,
if you could just work on being a.
As corny or crazy as it sounds, a good person who's confident in not
just what they do, but who they are and what it means and what value you
bring to the table and to the bottom line of the company, uh, by saying,
this is a person who I can trust.
Yeah.
This is a person who's transparent.
Mm-hmm.
They can talk in front of a room.
I can send them to Tokyo, Disney.
Or we can send him to Europe and he is not gonna embarrass production or whatever it
is, then that's worth his weight in gold.
And we can also talk about this from a very like non spiritual.
Acty way.
We can talk about facts.
We can talk about dollars and cents too.
I can talk about what I bring to the table from a corporate setting.
Mm-hmm.
I'll be bored with it, but if that's what somebody wants to talk about,
we can have that conversation.
Mm-hmm.
But I just been in the room and been on set with so many people in power.
You realize that there are good people in power who game recognizes game
People see good people and that's be around at the end of the day.
Yeah.
So good.
I, yeah.
So nice.
Just to hear the continuation of what I already know.
You know, like Chris is the type of guy who like randomly on like the time,
the day and time that you need it.
Like there's a text and it's just like, what's up?
Just checking on you, thinking about you.
And it's like, bro.
If I could only tell you how much this means to me right now, and,
uh, I always count on you to possibly send back or reply something that only
Lee would send back or reply with.
Yeah.
I, uh, I'm happy to try to equal smile in my own unique way, for sure.
Um, but you know, it's just, you do have that, that attraction, that
charisma that draws people in and.
It's, it's your openness, it's your willingness to serve.
It's your pursuit of excellence at the same time.
Like you're not just sitting, waiting to, um, do something.
You know, you're, you're constantly, my perspective, constantly working
on, I. Being excellent in what you do.
You know, seeing you on set when you're coming in.
You're not, um, trying to figure out your lines like the day of, or at
least it doesn't appear that way.
If you are, you're excellent at it.
Uh, but you know, excellent
at acting like
you can see the work has been put in, in that sense.
And I know in my heart of hearts, like when you go into to work, when you go
into, uh, the Disney world, when you go into sets to do, uh, motion capture,
you carry that same excellence that.
Just, I'm here to serve.
I'm here to help, but I am also gonna work my tail off to make sure, you know,
I, I produce something great and I, I, I bring something great to the table.
I have a follow up question to that.
So what I wanna know, Chris, is I. My hope with our show right, is for this
to not just so inspirational to, to the general, but also very specifically to
parents, educators, caregivers, um, who have children in their lives like Lee.
And I don't have kids, but I teach kids every week and that's, that's my life.
I'm surrounded by kids and I love it.
It's, it's what I love to do and I, I want to be that educator that
really empowers kids and awesome.
And get to really, um.
Really help them work on their mindset.
So what I want to know is where you are now in life, and of
course, you know, there's so much more that's in store, right?
Mm-hmm.
But where you are in all of your life experiences, if you look back,
is there a mindset shift or a belief system that you feel, man, if I
only learn this as a child, if, if someone taught this to me as a child.
I would have maybe, you know, again, it's all in hindsight, right?
Yeah.
But if only I taught, I, I learned this as a child, would I have so much more,
um, tools in my toolbox as an adult?
Yeah.
It's the same thing today as it would've been then
if I would've known my worth as a human being.
And what that means.
It has nothing to do with the tallest, the shortest, the lightest, the darkest.
We will deal with those things in life, but to know our worth, what worth means,
what value means, and how we were born with everything we need to be whatever
it is that we want to be or to attain whatever it is we want to attain.
It's a game changer.
So whether it's me at seven or whether it's me now being able to say, okay,
there's something I want outta life.
Even if it's just to wake up in the morning and have peace, there's something
I want in life and I'm not getting it.
Let me spend time figuring out why that is.
Because that comes from inside joy and peace comes from inside.
Mm-hmm.
So as a child and with my boys and any child that may volunteer with a
be around or whatever, my hope is to sow into them seeds of, of greatness.
Right.
We're not even sow into them seeds of greatness, but to, you know, bring
to light and help fertilize the seeds of greatness that are within them.
Hmm.
So we can continue to do that.
Continue to show young people.
That's what life is about.
For them to be able to really harness and, and, and grapple with and get to know
how, how beautiful they are on the inside, how capable they are, what dedication
means, uh, what hard work means and respect to whatever it is they want to do.
The hard work of just waking up in the morning, sometimes that will
be the game changer, and that's the thing that's shifted me.
Um, and me as a man of faith, you know, I have the blessed.
Joy, even though it's not easy to fall back on the fact that I feel like
God has created me to be who I am.
Mm-hmm.
So therefore, I always have reason to, to have joy.
Um, even though I may not feel it, I have to continue, like I just said, do
what I need to do to focus in on that.
But yeah, I tell those beautiful babies, man, that you, you're
here, you're alive, you're well, you're doing it and you're amazing.
And that it takes time, it takes dedication to.
Fertilize.
You know, you can't just throw one piece of fertilizer and then leave it alone.
You gotta cut, you gotta prune, you gotta stay with, you
gotta wash, you gotta water.
Okay, this one likes this water uhoh.
This one's too much for this water.
Uhoh.
This one's going die.
Whoa.
Wait a minute.
You know, onto that TC uh, that's been is the thing and, and I,
the thing that I wish I had
Yeah.
When I was younger.
Yeah.
I was just really encouraged by that, Chris.
Um, I've been teaching for 15 years over different disciplines, so I've
been always around kids teaching kids, and what I've realized is that
the main thing that sets apart one child from the others is really their
mindset and who they believe they are.
That's it.
It doesn't matter what discipline I teach, whether I'm teaching dance or
aerial or piano or any other thing, right?
Like the thing that sets apart one child and in their ability to succeed
is literally in their mindset and what they believe about themselves.
And so you saying that, like just going back to.
The thing that we really need to teach our kids is their worth.
It's, and, and a lot of that starts with the things that are going
on between their ears, right?
Because our minds, our mind is a playground, right?
Like it's a playground for, for the good and.
The bad.
Yeah.
And it depends on what we are focusing on.
It depends on what we're listening at, right.
And, and the voices that we actually allow into our, our system.
And then that affects the way we approach life.
And so it's just encouraging because me seeing that, uh, now after 15
years of teaching, that's why I, I got certified for this program
is called Adventurous in Wisdom.
And what that is, is it literally teaches kids 27 life skills broken
down into these like five modules.
And the very first one is simply teaching the kids the scientific,
the brain science about how our minds work, the difference between conscious
and subconscious, all these things.
And then it goes down deeper and deeper and deeper.
It teaches kids the power of responsibility, integrity, um, respecting
their self, like who they are as a person.
Like actually.
Seeing their worth and teaching them how to self-talk and, you
know, giving them these tools.
So I'm just, I, I, I just love what you shared because it gives me encouragement
to know that the decisions that I've been making as far as like, you know, being
an educator is, is really important.
So thank you for sharing that.
Thank you and I do briefly wanna commend you for that.
And uh, also to, again, coming from a single parent household,
my mom was amazing and she did throw those things into me.
And large part of the reason I am who I am today is solely because of her.
Uh, but also she spent a fair amount of time doing things that she would
not have had to do, being away from the home or whatever, if, uh, the
situation would've been different.
So thank you for what you're doing, because even if my mom and dad
or whoever would have been there together, it still takes a village.
It still takes that dance teacher, that piano teacher, that teacher at school to
affirm and solidify and further fertilize.
I guess I'll just keep saying, 'cause I have two plants outside.
It's my new thing.
What?
One piano.
One 14.
I'm very proud.
Okay.
You're a plant dad.
What?
Yeah, I know.
Well, the first time, uh, but anyway, you get what I'm saying.
It does take that village.
So thank you.
Great job.
Kudos.
Keep it up.
Amazing.
Thank you.
Um, my final question for you, my great esteemed amazing friend
Christopher Ellen, if you were to define a wildly wealthy life Oh yeah.
For our viewers, how would you do that
Wildly wealthy life?
I would have to stop and think.
Possibly not about the first thing that comes to mind when I
think about wealth or success.
I possibly would have to take a moment and think a little bit deeper into that.
I've heard a lot of conversations with people who have had all
of the things in the world.
Hmm.
But when time comes and they realize uhoh, none of those things can save me.
Oftentimes, not a lot of time, but oftentimes I've heard people say things
like, wanna spend more time with family?
Maybe I would've just ostracized myself from so and so.
I would've maybe worked on this relationship with whoever,
whoever, whoever, right?
So even though those shiny things, nothing wrong with the things, but when the things
take place of, you know, important things that become an issue wildly wealthy life
for me and whatever it is for you or whoever else, but you know, we'll get it.
Is my family happy?
Hmm.
Am I doing what I need to do to make sure they have, they're
set up for success to be happy.
Mm-hmm.
To feel safe, to feel secure, to know that no matter how far they go, 'cause
I pray they go as far as the Lord will take them, that they always have a place
to come back to call home despite, or these walls are structured at the time
that they can always come back to these people who love them, who taught them.
Their value, their worth helps to be wild and wealthy all at the same time.
Um, to me that that's what it, that that's what it means.
Legacy, you know, that's what it means.
That's what's important.
As, as much as I want to go and attain and get and keep acting and
working and doing the thing to get the thing to help the family, yay.
To get more stuff and all that, which is good in that, it's really to know that.
Listen, I have a house here.
I don't need a bigger one.
I have a car.
I don't need a faster one.
My kids don't care about that.
Mm-hmm.
My wife doesn't care about that.
Now, she may wanna do shiny Porsche, but she knows it's the one that we have.
Uh, the car that we have is just fine, but for all of us to be content
with where we are, understand our value as people as we just shared,
especially our boys and my wife too.
Me too.
Mm-hmm.
Then listen, let's talk about it.
For that to be true is wild.
In today's society, especially with the youth, their number one issues
are not, man, we're feeling so good.
We dunno what to do.
It's not that.
It's Oh, depression.
Mm-hmm.
Suicide effects of screen time.
What's happening?
People getting tired of the dating apps.
So now it's gonna be a new thing that, you know, that's what's.
Real.
So what's wild?
It's not out to really care about any of that and understand, oh,
that's just what the world is.
Hmm.
At home and I know who I am and I can go out and affect change things versus
the world coming in and affecting and changing me and all the work and
Lee and Ka are doing with the kids at school and with the classes or whatever.
Right.
The end.
Thank you.
And scene.
Perfect.
Thank you Chris.
With the world out there, uh, where can people check in and do, are any like
big gigs, any fun things coming up on the horizon that we can find you people?
Follow me on social media at Team Chris Allen, uh,
Instagram and Twitter, you them.
Less active on Twitter, uh, and all that jazz.
I don't know when it airs, but you can look at NCIS origin.
It's episode 1 0 9.
Mm-hmm.
So you can probably see that on IMDB, like the schedule.
And then I'm waiting to hear back on this potential contract role, like lead
role for, uh, young and the Restless.
I've auditioned for them also.
Mm. Many times I've been on the show once or twice.
Mm-hmm.
But this time, uh, casting really, uh, likes me for this one particular role.
So casting producers typically need to agree.
Mm-hmm.
And then we'll see what happens.
So hopefully you'll, you'll catch me there in a, in a, in a major capacity, but if
not, we'll see what God, what God has, and we'll all figure it out together.
That's right.
Awesome.
Well, Chris, thank you so much for your time.
This has been so lovely.
This has been great.
I miss y'all.
It's so good to see you.
I know.
So good to see you.
Come, uh, visit you soon.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's been awesome.
Yeah.
All right, good.
I'll give you back your
day.
Good.
And thank you for having this conversation with me.
I really appreciate it.
You two are the best.
Thank you.
Thanks.
You got some nuggets.
Love you.
Bye
bye.
Alright, friends, that's a wrap on today's episode of Wildly Wealthy Life.
We hope you're feeling fired up and ready to take on the
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