When Columbus Short works he doesn't stop. The onetime Britney Spears choreographer goes hard until his bright ideas - currently, it's his upcoming "hardcore drama," that's he's producing, directing, and financing himself, about a young girl who doesn't realize she's both Korean and black - is completed. "Everyone around me says I work too much, but if I'm sitting at home, something's wrong," says Short, who caught our eye with his turn as a comedy writer on NBC's ill-fated Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and with his stoic yet triumphant starring role in last year's hit Stomp the Yard (Screen Gems). Undoubtedly, he'll do the same in the upcoming This Christmas (Screen Gems) and Whiteout (Warner Bros.). "I need to be out grinding," he says. "Sitting around drives me insane."
NAME: Columbus Short
BIRTHDAY/AGE: September 19, 1982
BORN (CITY): Kansas City, Missouri
RESIDES (CITY): Los Angeles
PERSONAL MOTTO:
" I'll sleep when I'm dead. Everyone around me say I work too much, I'm always grinding. And another one is "Strap Him Up." It's for my boys, so they laugh. every time they're about to go out and pick up chicks. That's corny though, don't print."
SOMETHING I DO EVERY DAY FOR SANITY:
"Pray, and meditate. You got to. You'll go crazy. You got to just sit with yourself sometimes. You gotta take the time during the day to just do that. Sitting around drives me insane. So I have to be doing something proactive."
PLACE WHERE I'M MOST PRODUCTIVE:
" In L.A. when I'm not doing a movie. When I'm home, and I have time to be self-productive, not working for a studio. Like, I just wrapped a movie Saturday, so now that I'm back, I can set up other projects. So it's good to have downtime. And L.A. so spread out."
FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING/GOOD LUCK CHARM:
"My sneakers. I'm a sneaker-head for real. I have a closet full of sneakers. I have over 75. Around my house, but it's weird, because around my house I have over a 110 pairs of sneakers, but put them in the guestroom. I get sneakers that are brand new. I get stuff shipped to me. Jordan will send u a box, and Nike would send u dunks or air force 1's, so u have fresh pairs all the time. And it's funny when u don't have the money, u have to go cop them, but when u do, u get them for free.
My good luck charm is my girl. (Been together 4 years)."
MOST FRUSTRATING MOMENT:
" I was driving on a suspended license, didn't know it, and got pulled over in Orange County. And it was basically this dude, and asked me if it was my car, and I have an expensive car I guess, in orange county, and I'm black, hate to say that, but it's real. Searched the car, took the car, and just left me sitting on the street man, in the middle of orange county, I had know idea where I was. So that was frustrating. When I talked to my boy, he was like, "stay calm. Be cool." I was really polite to the dude, I had just got back from stomp the yard, literally two days before. But he was being a prick, so I just remained calm. I started feeling my ears heat up. I do have a temper. I personally have a temper, and the last couple of years, I have calmed myself. Like, I'm really chilled now. Of course he was white. He was white and condescending, but not all white people are like that. But racism is still alive and well in America. You just grind through it. A friend of mine, everytime you ask him a question, he just says, "black in america man, black in America."
PERSON I ADMIRE MOST/PERSON WHO TAUGHT ME HOW TO HAVE JUICE:
"I love Denzel's swagger. I've seen every movie Denzel's done, and for a young actor there's not a better mentor. And will smith, honestly. But Denzel is someone I've deemed my mentor, someone I've studied. But overall, my mentor is gene Kelly. He has the3 swagger. There no swagger other than gene Kelly. He invented what swagger should be. He is the embodiment of a movie star. He does it all. Acting, dances, he's charming. Gene Kelly is that guy."
5 YEARS AGO, MY GOAL WAS…:
"My goal was to get a choreography job with a big artist."
5 YEARS FROM NOW, MY GOAL IS…:
"I want to have a predominant production company that produce quality films. And I want to have an Oscar. I don't know if that mean anything really, these days. But I really don't know if it matters, because there's some fantastic actors that have not received Oscars. But to be acknowledged and recognized by your peers as a fantastic actor is something that I hope to accomplish in five years."
BIGGEST PROBLEM FACING OUR GENERATION:
"Sex, drugs . . . biggest problem facing our generation is our generation. And it's sad, because it's coming from all angles. And I love music, and I love our business, but it's sex. It's dangerous. And we're eating ourselves inside out and it's sad.
But back in the day, the way they are now would be unacceptable in the 50s and the 60s. and I'm not saying it's wrong, or it's not wrong, but its sex. And young girls are having it younger and younger. And it's not good, I don't care what anybody says. And it's raceless, it has nothing to do with race or anything. It's just our society, it's just breeded on what's pumped through the media and it's sex. And we got a generation where it's about celebrity. And that's what people wanna see and we're feeding into it. Media hurts our generation, because it's not positive. Everything on the news, is negative. Every single thing is horrible. There's nothing wholesome, do you think there's morals? I don't think there's moral's anymore! I was raised with, you're not having sex until you're married. Did, I live by that? No! but, being raised that way was fantastic, but I was very sheltered. I wish I had a little more freedom when I was younger. Kids are running households now. Teenagers are running their parents. I've seen teenagers cursing their moms out in the grocery store. So it's all around the board. Young little black teenagers are pregnant at 11. as young people, we need examples. Will smith is a fantatic example of a family man, and positive light for people to look up to. Oprah, fantastic. The wolrd looks up to Oprah. But we need a younger generation of those type of people. Who's coming? I guess it's up to a few chosen ones. And I would want to be chosen, because I want to be an example."
FAVORITE BOOK, AND WHY:
"What got you here won't get you there. So, this guy is like a life coach, so it's more for CEOs of companies, but the same kind of business mentality for our business as well."
FAVORITE MOVIE, AND WHY:
"That's a hard question. Back to the Future 2, it's a classic. Children of Men. My favorite films though, are probably films the masses never heard of. A lot of Paul Greengrass films, a lot of Billy Wilder."
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Comments
1.
newjacob says:
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I thank all the people who support Obama, It's God will on Obama to win the precidential election.
I thank God also for everything he has done for us on obama,i pray that God should lead him and be with him through out is tenure. in Jesus name
November 6, 2008 at 2:09 pm