Martin Bobb-Semple | BELLO Young Hollywood

Despite your young age, you possess a consolidated career in arts, starting your theatrical journey at 9 and debuting on television as a young adolescent. How does being involved in a work environment at such an early age influence your practice until today?

Oh, great question! Because as a kid, I didn’t understand that I was working, if that makes sense. So, like you said, I started when I was 9. And for me, it was never a job. It was never “Oh, I’m at work right now”. It was like, this is fun. I’m doing this for fun. You know, it became a job once I realized that one, I was getting paid for it, and two, I was very tired. You know what I’m saying? Like the long days and long hours, it was a lot. But again, it was fun. So it didn’t feel like a job to me. Now, as an adult, I appreciate the fun in it a lot more because I’ve always wanted to be an actor. So for me, even to this day, it doesn’t feel like a job. It doesn’t feel heavy in any way. It’s fun for me! Even yesterday, I was shooting something until 4 a.m. I was tired, yes. Still, it was something that the child in me still sees the fun in. And that’s where What I’ve taken from my childhood to my adulthood is that ultimately what I do is fundamentally joyful to me.

What are the main differences between being an actor in England where you were born and took your first steps and working and now working at American productions?

If I’m honest, I haven’t personally seen any major differences. Overall, all productions operate the same, of course, with their particularities. The only difference is maybe that, I haven’t done a film yet, for example. But I know the difference in film production is that you have a different time. You may be shooting one scene in a day or two scenes in a day. Whereas in TV, you’re shooting four or five scenes, right? So it’s a lot more, sometimes even seven scenes a day. In film, I feel like you can take a little more time during your day to focus on one or two scenes. But whereas on TV, it moves a lot more quickly. So that’s not specific to UK or US, that’s the same in both. But I just think, definitely for me, having done a lot more TV than film, I’ve noticed the biggest difference between them comes down to the pace of things.

You started your artistic journey at English theater. What are the overall vibe differences between the English theatrical scene and American television?

So, the training that I got was very classical British training, which I feel like a lot of people look to in their practice. Some people want to train, you know, the very classical old-school English way. Because when I think in terms of the training, the one you get in the US, especially in LA, is very different from the one you would get in London. That’s because the way that we’re taught to embody our character is a lot different, the way that we’re taught to break down a script is a lot different. There are a lot of nuances that we don’t necessarily learn in LA, but I learned as a kid. So that helped me to embody my characters in a very different way from what I would have learned if I had just done screen acting classes in Hollywood, for example. It doesn’t necessarily make me better than other people. It sets me apart in the way that I have a very different understanding of what it is to play a character. There are a lot of nuances that we learn in the UK, or at least that I learned them. I can’t speak for everybody, but there are a lot of those nuances that I learned that I still use to this day.

From your Instagram feed, we can sense that you are consistently creative about your outfits. What’s the role of having a personal style in your life?

Oh, well, honestly, I just go with what looks good in my opinion. What I think I can wear, what I think complements me. I don’t have a strict vibe or style. If I feel like it looks good on me, then I’ll wear it. If I feel like it complements my personality that day, then I’ll wear it. Yes, I do try and keep up with the latest fashion trends and all that kind of stuff. But sometimes that may not work for me. So I’ll tailor it to myself. Growing up, I had a very stylish family. My brother always had a very authentic style. My mom and my dad were also all very, very full of creativity in their wardrobes. So I took inspiration from them growing up. And I molded that into my sort of style as I got older.

Very intuitive process, then?

Yeah, for sure, for sure. I feel like, yeah, I kind of just looked around, watched and learned, and then tailored it to myself. I feel like I have a very good understanding of what I like and what looks good on me. But I also know that, sometimes, you can push the boat out a little bit more and wear things you’re not used to wearing, which I did today at the photo shoot for BELLO. At the same time, I still wanted it to compliment me, and I still wanted it to look good. Otherwise, there’s no point in clothes wearing you. You’re supposed to wear the clothes. So yeah, I feel like I live by that motto.

Can we explore a little more about how your family inspired your fashion sense?

Growing up, I would always see them in these really cool outfits, and my family’s Caribbean-born. So, for them, they had a very interesting, old school, but yet modern style that I picked up on, right? Yes. And again, over the years, they tailored it to the different generations and different decades. I saw that, and growing up, I took little gems from them and made them more personable.

Also from your Instagram account, your experiences worldwide are all over your photos. Can you name the most exciting place you have visited recently?

Oh, that’s difficult. But what I will say, I most recently went to the Dominican Republic. That was amazing. I went with a couple of friends, and that was one of the best trips I’ve had in a very long time. And another one, randomly, is Barcelona. I love Barcelona. Barcelona is a beautiful, beautiful city. I’ve been to Madrid, I’ve been to another small town called Valladolid, but Barcelona was an amazing city. I can’t wait to go back.

You have recently upped to series regular in the Netflix production “All American: Homecoming”, what’s the impact of this change on your professional journey?

Well, this season has been… It’s been challenging. It’s been a great journey. From where my character Lando started, at the back end of season one, and then to season two, I was recurring, and this love triangle started to form. And now in season three, you get to see the growth of my character. And that’s been the most amount of… I don’t want to say fun again, because I say fun so much. But it’s been a really interesting journey for me and my character. And it’s been a great time to just explore that and really get to learn more about this character. My castmates are amazing. And the ones that I got to work with very closely this season genuinely helped my journey. But yeah, it was very challenging. There was one episode in particular, which you’ll see, that was the most challenging in my career so far. It was very, very, very challenging. But we did it, and I got through it. And I can’t wait for people to see it. It was a huge challenge, but, most of all, a great opportunity. And we had a lot of fun with it.

Are there any traits of your character, Lando You feel personal identification with?

Not to say that I fully agree with him. But he has this interesting charm about himself that I can relate to. I find myself doing things that he would sometimes do. Me and him are very different in a lot of ways. Like, he’s very calculated. He started very obnoxious, a bit of a jerk. He was rude, a bit cocky as well. Things that I don’t believe that I am at all. But through the journey, again, the journey of him, he’s shifted into this, lovable guy who had this love triangle, and now he’s softened a little bit. And this new side of him is more similar to maybe how I am than his other side was, which was this, you know, really aggressive, angry guy. And there were reasons for that. He was aggressive and angry because he felt he deserved things that he didn’t have due to other people in the show, other characters. For me, our similarities would probably just be that I mean, he’s a bit goofy, which I think you’ll see. He’s a bit goofy this season, and I’m like that. You know, I like to joke. I like to clown around a little bit. And he’s like that. So I was able to bring aspects of myself to him this season.

Do you plan to conciliate your work in theatre with your work in the television career in the future? Going back to doing theatre at some point?

I think so. Yeah, I think so. I could never not go back to doing theater. It’s where I started. A lot of my training was theatre-based. So, one day I will. I don’t know when. I’m very curious as to when that time will be. But I definitely will at some point. I just think I’ll need to wait for the right project. But I will, for sure.

What are your desires and ambitions for the long-term future?

I mean, I have a lot. I want to get into film. I want to do feature films, for sure. I haven’t done one yet, so that’llbealotoffun.ThefirstonethatIdo,Iwantittobetherightone.Iwantittobethe right film with the right story, the right cast, and the right meaning behind it. And the right character, as well. I want to produce, I want to direct. I have a lot of ideas in my head for great films. I just need to put it on paper. Once I find a way to do that, and once I get to collaborate with some great writers, I’ll start to create my own stories. And, again, storytelling is something that I love doing. I’ve loved doing it since I was a kid. It will never leave me. As I get older, I’m going to find new waystotellstories. And,as I said,getting more into film and the whole producing and directing side of things will be one of my next moves.