Belleville school bus driver has ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘Chicago P.D.’ on his acting resume
Many young people try to break into the movie business by heading to Los Angeles and waiting tables or working retail until they make it big.
Antonio Bryant, who goes by the stage name Antonio St. James, is taking a different approach.
The 35-year-old drives a school bus in his hometown of Belleville when he’s not acting in TV shows or independent films in Chicago and St. Louis, including one that’s running on BET this month.
“Selena always said she had to conquer home before she made it out in the mainstream, and that’s kind of the road I took,” Antonio said, referring to the late Mexican-American singer. “You build up momentum, show what you can do and that becomes your foundation as you go out in the world.”
His mother, Cecilia Eiland, 55, is happy to have him nearby. Her other son, Army Specialist Ja’Mel Bryant, was killed in Iraq 11 years ago.
But Cecilia understands that Antonio may someday have to move to further his career. He already has two agents and a Screen Actors Guild union card.
“Whatever he decides, I’ll support him 100%,” said Cecilia, who works in day care.
‘Chicago P.D.’ put him on TV
Antonio got his first TV exposure on the NBC series “Chicago P.D.” in 2014, when he played a police officer in one episode. He returned as a kidnapper in 2016.
A reviewer with the online magazine TV Fanatic described the kidnapper, Kenneth Waddell, as “a man so bad that not even the gangs want anything to do with him.” In the episode, local residents help police find him and his female captive, and he gets shot in the back.
“I wasn’t too fond of (that episode),” mother Cecilia said. “But I think he did a wonderful job. He played the part well.”
Antonio went on to appear in the Twentieth Century Fox hit movie “Gone Girl” in 2014. He’s the security guard who confronts Rosamund Pike’s character in a parking lot as she tries to escape from her husband. The scene was filmed in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
“I was so excited,” Antonio said. “And seeing the process of how a big-budget movie is put together ... It just blew my mind.”
His other IMDb, or Internet Movie Database, credits include the independent films “Belleville,” “The Makings of You” and “Expect Delays;” the short films “Osi” and “Diegenesis;” and episodes of the TV shows “Empire,” “Shameless,” “APB,” “The Chi” and “Sense8.”
This month, Antonio is promoting the BET film “Holiday Heist.” It’s the story of an ex-con torn between a life of crime and a fresh start with a woman he meets while scoping out a potential heist, according to IMDb.
Antonio landed a speaking role in four scenes. It didn’t hurt that he’s a towering figure at 6-foot-5.
“(My character is) a background muscle-type guy,” he said. “He does the dirty work for his boss.”
“Holiday Heist” premiered Dec. 14 on BET. It may be rebroadcast, but cable subscribers can watch it anytime on the network’s website.
Brother was music partner
Antonio graduated in 2002 from Belleville East High School, where he appeared in productions of “Othello” and “Little Nell.” But he became more interested in music as he got older, writing lyrics to songs composed by brother Ja’Mel.
“When he came back from Iraq, we were going to put our songs on a CD, but he never made it back,” Antonio said. “He was killed in a rollover accident. His (vehicle) flipped over, and it crushed him.”
One of Ja’Mel’s legacies was persuading Antonio to join the drama ministry and gospel quintet Psalms 100 at Southern Missionary Baptist Church in East St. Louis, which led him to get involved with community theater groups.
Antonio attended Southwestern Illinois College and St. Louis University, but he paused his education to focus on acting. He has worked a variety of jobs to pay the bills — mowing lawns, giving out samples at grocery stores and answering calls for Anheuser-Busch.
Since March, he’s been employed by Belleville School Transportation Services bus company, serving West Junior High School and Franklin School in Belleville. He also helps take care of his grandfather.
“The kids love him,” said Vicki Sims, a student supervisor on his bus. “He’s fair. If the kids are doing something they’re not supposed to be doing, he’ll give them three warnings (before going to school officials). He always gives them a chance to do the right thing.”
Antonio used his own money to buy Christmas candy for students, as well as greeting cards for those who had excelled. The children don’t know about his acting career. He keeps his private life to himself.
“I think it’s so cool (that he’s in movies and TV shows),” said Vicki, 56, of Belleville. “I get to live vicariously through my celebrity bus driver.”
Nailed audition for first film
Antonio’s first independent film was “Osi,” released in 2011 by Coleman Entertainment.
“I’m very proud of that because he’s going to be a major Hollywood actor,” said director and producer Kevin Coleman, 45, a St. Louis native who now lives in San Francisco.
“Osi” is a short film about violence in North St. Louis. Kevin initially got frustrated during auditions at The Black Rep because he couldn’t find the right person to play a gang member with the important function of being a bad influence on the lead character.
Then Antonio walked in and “nailed it,” according to Kevin, who enjoyed working with the young actor.
“I’d give him a little direction, he’d think about it, and then he’d just do it,” Kevin said. “He’s a natural. It was meant for him to act. He’s extremely talented.”
Kevin is amused by the stark contrast between the bad-boy parts that Antonio is adept at playing and his real-life reputation as a nice, polite, gentle and funny guy.
“He baked cookies when we were filming,” Kevin said.
‘All Gone Wrong’ is up next
Antonio will be seen next playing a police detective in the independent film “All Gone Wrong,” which is expected to be released next summer.
The film stars Tony Todd, best known for his chilling performance in the 1992 supernatural horror film “Candyman.” Todd has a cameo role in a “Candyman” remake now being produced by Jordan Peele.
The “All Gone Wrong” plot is described on a web page for a Kickstarter campaign launched by its St. Louis writer and director, Josh Guffey:
“After a rookie undercover cop is killed in a house drug deal gone wrong, his mentor is put on leave and begins an unauthorized investigation into the failed deal. As he digs deeper, he uncovers a vast drug network operating under the surface of a rural town.”
Antonio is writing his own short film with the working title “To Be with You,” as well as a novel that he’s adapting from a script dating back to his Belleville East days.
He has a couple of other projects in the works in Chicago, but he’s not giving details yet.
“I love acting so much,” he said. “I just want it to be a main fixture in my life. I don’t have to be in the Denzel Washington or Tom Cruise family. I just want to be happy with what I’m doing.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
