This East St. Louis actor has worked with Tyler Perry and Jennifer Hudson. Who is RobWood?

In 2017, Robert Wood’s father needed emergency open heart surgery. He almost died.

Fortunately, his dad recovered, but Wood, with the help of his wife, perceived the moment as a sign to pursue a childhood dream. Wood didn’t want to die without at least trying to start an acting career.

The following year, the East St. Louis native took acting classes in Missouri and started landing small roles. He now goes by RobWood because “You are your biggest brand. How you treat yourself is how others will.”

RobWood has appeared in films like Tyler Perry’s 2020 film “A Fall from Grace” (assistant prosecutor) and last year’s Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” (band leader). He recently finished wrapping another Tyler Perry film— “A Jazzman’s Blues”— which is set to be released on Netflix this year. He also plays a security officer in the current season of TV One’s crime docuseries “Fatal Attraction.”

But RobWood credits splitting his upbringing between Cahokia Heights and East St. Louis for his success so far. Not being cast in a project doesn’t scare him because rejection defined his childhood.

“We weren’t rich,” said RobWood, who now lives in Belleville. “We were rich in love. I’ve seen my mother struggle, but she always kept a good spirit about it. Seeing my mother overcome so many rejections from jobs, even housing and just making things work with what we had, and as an observant kid, you learn that I don’t think mom’s OK or I think mom’s OK. You learn to see them handle things.”

That’s why he auditions for every role as if he’s already secured it.

He instills that confidence in his seven children, too. A self-described “family man,” he has a 5-year-old daughter who is also getting a start in the acting business.

During a phone interview with the Belleville News-Democrat, RobWood said he is preparing for a commercial in Alabama, which he and his daughter will star in. He pointedly mentions how his career is nothing without the support of his wife, Cheri Wood. For RobWood, family is everything.

The Belleville News-Democrat talked to RobWood about his budding acting career and how the community in East St. Louis influenced his approach to each character he portrays.

What were you doing before you decided to pursue acting?

I was a musician, I was a counselor. When you’re a mentor and a counselor, that never ends. You’ll always be a mentor and counselor. I’ve worked in marketing as well. My wife said, ‘Babe, life is short. I know you’ve said you wanted to try acting. Let’s find out what you need to do.’ God has been allowing things to just fall in place. That’s what I did. I’ve done so much. A lot of things that I’ve done is more so helping people, especially our youth. When I’m home, I coach little league football in Centreville (now Cahokia Heights). It’s helping our children, and to me that’s the way, like the Whitney Houston song (“The Greatest Love of All”)

Did you grow up acting?

As a kid, I was always in local shows, school talent shows or whatever shows they would have. Even at the church, the Easter and the Christmas and the Thanksgiving plays, (I was a part of that). When we were younger, my mom and our siblings, we had a group, and I was like the Michael Jackson of the group, so that kind of started me out of not being afraid to be in front of large groups of people. My mom had us singing. My dad, at church, he would have us reading because he was over Sunday school.

Describe your East St. Louis upbringing. How did that foster your passion for acting?

East St. Louis is a great city. I was blessed and fortunate to be raised by two parents who love the Lord, and when you have that, you’re sheltered and covered by what’s the reality around you. Coming up with two parents that loved God and sheltered their children, which is kinda cool, but then as you grow older you find out, man I was in a war zone. I grew up in a war zone.

I’ve seen the ins and outs of what the city has to offer and don’t have to offer. Being from East St, Louis, I’ve dealt with a lot of rejection, and that definitely kind of ties in with what I’m doing now. You audition for a role, you’re not guaranteed to get every role you audition for. You have to know how to deal with not being selected. …I’ve seen our city produce a lot of good people that just love our city and love the people there and just willing to take their time to give back. I think that’s why I’m so passionate about giving back because I had passionate people giving back to me

Who inspired you to act?

I wish the Martin Luther King Junior High School was still in East St. Louis because that’s the place where I started to really develop. It was just so many educators there that helped because that’s what they wanted to do versus who’s hiring. It was connected to my elementary school, John F. Kennedy Elementary School. One of my mentors was our basketball coach, Michael Lennix. Michael Lennix was an Illinois State Police D.A.R.E. officer at the time, and he would come to our school. His brother is Harry J. Lennix from (the 1991 cult classic) “The Five Heartbeats.” He came to our school one time. Mind you, I was already doing plays and stuff, but when he came to our school, we’re all asking him questions and things, and I told him I want to be an actor one day. He said “Well, you can” and I was like, “Wow, he said that I can become an actor.”

What was your first role? When was that?

In 2018, when I started, I did a couple of theater plays, stage plays that year, and around September, I did a couple of short films. In December of the same year, I got a role with Tyler Perry’s film “A Fall from Grace,” and I was actually just called in for background. And I was just (happy) to do anything with Tyler Perry’s name on it. I don’t care if it’s the guy whistling across the street. That’s major for me.

When I got there, I was excited. I was literally on ten the whole drive there. I was there for three days. They were placing background (actors) for different parts. I heard one of the ADs (assistant directors) said they needed an assistant prosecutor. I probably walked past 200 people, looking him in the eye and said, I’m your assistant prosecutor. He said, “Excuse me.” I said, I’m your assistant prosecutor. He said, “Oh OK, is that in your email?” I said, I’m your assistant prosecutor. He said, “Oh OK, come with me.”

What was that experience like for you?

When that film came out, everybody just started reaching out. I made the movie trailer and everything. It was beautiful. Before that, I was at home and I cropped a picture of Tyler Perry, myself, Oprah Winfrey and I put them all on the same spread. I made a Facebook post at the time saying hey, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey. I look forward to working with you soon, and 17 days later that’s when I worked with him.

Are there any roles that have moved you?

When we did the movie “Respect,” that was just super dope. Jennifer Hudson is amazing. Working on that project “Respect,” was emotional for me because, for one, we’re talking about the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin and now we have this iconic, thunderous singer, voice in Jennifer Hudson. Every day on set was like a concert. It was front-row seats to being right there, and she’s just there jamming every day.

The song that really was a tear-jerker for me was just to see her embody what she’s doing and not only seeing that, but knowing that Aretha Franklin endured that and so the songs that she was writing was her reality. Once you get past the rhythm and the beat, which I really loved, and listen to the words, you’re just like, man these are painful words to hear. In one of the scenes, I just had tears coming out of my eyes because I’m just sitting there and we’re filming and I’m just like, man this is real….the song was “Ain’t No Way.”

What’s your method for getting into a character?

Everybody that you probably saw on TV, I saw in East St. Louis—from the rich man to the poor man, from the preacher to the sinner. I saw them in East St. Louis, so when I’m acting and they’re telling me to do this and do that, I’m like oh, you want me to act like Jermaine or you want me to act like Dante. It’s a matter of knowing how to project certain things at certain times. Every role is different. My acting coach said if your role is to be a stop sign, you’re to be the most still stop sign that you can be. She said if you’re to be a stop sign, you be so still to the point where people say, “Wow, that stop sign hasn’t moved yet. Who is that?” Now, that’s my mental approach for acting.

Is the TV One role your most current?

Yes. I don’t mind it. I love what I do as an actor, however, when you do those reenactment shows, it’s bittersweet. The sweet is that you get to do your work, but the bitter is you know these things actually happened, so my approach is a little different with those because I try to be as sensitive and deliberate as possible. I carry that in my head—this actually happened to someone.

What are your aspirations for your career?

I still work hard. When I first started acting, (I said) my goal is to win an Oscar, my goal is to get an Emmy, but after a while (I thought) I want this journey to be whatever God has for me. I used to have those thoughts, but what happens when you get this and that? Have you made it? Do you stop? Now, what’s your goal? I don’t really have a “In five years, I want to win an Oscar.” As long as I’m keeping God first, I think I’ll be OK.

This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 6:00 AM.

DeAsia Paige

Belleville News-Democrat

DeAsia Paige joined the Belleville News-Democrat as a Report for America corps member in 2020. She’s a community reporter covering East St. Louis and surrounding areas. DeAsia previously interned with VICE and The Detroit Free Press. She graduated from The University of Kansas in 2020.