We all have dreams. Perhaps you grew up wanting to be a firefighter, police officer or construction worker. There’s something about those uniforms and big trucks, right? This is normal. We’re drawn to certain things and think we’ll most likely pursue them in one form or another.
Some of us end up in the place we thought we would in our ten year old minds. Most of us don’t. Life takes over and our path veers in unexpected directions. This isn’t always a bad thing, it’s just different from what we expected. For Emmanuel McCord, he’s exactly where he thought he’d be.
Born in Rock Hill and raised in Indian Land, Emmanuel (or Manny) was always drawn to the arts. While in high school, Manny worked at Hollister in the Carolina Place mall and began modeling shortly thereafter. Due to time constraints and Manny’s own admission that he wasn’t sure he wanted to be known as the “theatre kid,” he decided to focus on sports, specifically football.
A great athlete, Manny parlayed his football skill into a scholarship to Newberry College, where he played wide receiver for 4 years. He continued to model on the side while in college but it wasn’t until his junior year that he felt an overwhelming desire to pursue his dream of being an actor.
Although he had no previous acting experience, Manny took a leap of faith, moving to Los Angeles in 2019. He signed up for his first acting class shortly thereafter. “I feel like when you grow up somewhere, people know you for what you are, “ said Manny. “Moving away gave me that freedom to escape everything that everyone knew me for. If I embarrassed myself, I embarrassed myself. I was ok with it.”
Six months after moving to LA, COVID hit, putting a dent in his plans to fast track his acting career. “That changed things pretty quickly for me. It was a ghost town.”
Rather than move back home and give up on his dream shortly after it started, Manny decided to learn screen writing. If he couldn’t find any opportunities, he figured he’d make his own. He began writing short films, often creating a character for himself, which allowed him to work on his acting skills. He funded the films himself or by crowd sourcing and began submitting his work to film festivals.
Writing provided Manny with a sense of freedom. “Writing is just me and the paper, there’s no excuse. Even if I never get the chance to act, I’d still have writing.”
His proactive approach allowed him to showcase his acting and writing skills by way of a demo reel, which serves as a creative resume for prospective agents. The reel allowed him to get signed by an agent shortly thereafter.
Newly signed and ready to work, Manny’s first movie role was in Gigi and Nate, a 2022 film starring Jim Belushi. As fate would have it, a portion of the film was shot in the Carolinas (specifically Charlotte), bringing Manny back home and full circle.
This initial opportunity led to his latest role in Homestead, a post-apocalyptic thriller premiering nationwide tonight, Friday, December 20th. The movie and corresponding series is based on a novel series called Black Autumn.
Manny plays the part of Bing, an ex Navy Seal who’s hired to protect the Homestead. The character of Bing provides him the ability to expand on the law enforcement and military genre. These are roles he’s written for himself in the past and is comfortable playing. He mentioned his character “really explores the gray area of morality” and “how far you’re willing to go to protect those you love or those you’ve been hired to protect.”
Homestead also stars Neal McDonaugh and Dawn Olivieri, both well known actors who were recently featured in the hit TV series Yellowstone.
This is certainly a big break but it’s just the beginning of what is blossoming into a successful career. Manny has also been cast in a new Marvel production (although he wasn’t at liberty to share the details). Regardless, when you hear Marvel, you know it has the potential to be huge.
Manny hopes to serve as an inspiration to others who want to pursue their dreams, “I feel like my biggest goal is to inspire people from small towns. If they want to do something, I want to encourage them to pursue it. You only have one life. If God puts something in your heart, you go for it, no matter what.”
Thanks Manny. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Want to meet Manny? He’ll be @ RedStone 14 in Indian Land on Saturday, 12/21 from 2-4pm.
