By Michael Tuzzolo | Talon Assistant Editor
Justin David is a former Tallahassee Community College student who, after struggling for some time to find his path, decided to move to Atlanta in 2016 to pursue an acting career. It was a decision that was not popular with some of his family members.
Fast forward five years and he will be starring in Lifetime’s upcoming movie “Christmas in Tune,” which debuts on Nov. 26.
The upcoming film boasts a cast of household names such as Reba McEntire, Candice King, Norm Lewis and John Schneider. For David on the other hand, this is his first lead role.
Christy Clark is a booking agent with Stewart Talent Atlanta. She was responsible for negotiating David’s breakthrough role with Lifetime.
“Justin David is a delight to work with. He’s kind, funny, charming, professional and handsome,” Clark said. “Lifetime obviously saw that in him.”
The fact that the movie featured so many veteran actors and David, who is still at the beginning of his acting career, created an interesting on-set dynamic, said David, 28. At first, he was met with a little bit of hesitation on-set but very quickly he was embraced by all of the cast and production crew.
“I totally understood it. I’d look at myself the same way. Like, ‘alright, you got all of us here and then there’s this guy, let’s see what he’s got,’ ” David said. “I definitely worked the hardest that I think I’ve ever worked.”
David has dreamt of being an actor since he was 6, but he was unable to pursue it growing up due to cultural reasons. His family moved from south India to the U.S. before he was born, and their perspective on any career in the arts was that it was unstable and undesirable.
“Because of the cultural stigma around being an entertainer or being in the arts, you know, lack of security… it was almost as if I was told to not have an interest in that and have an interest in something else,” David said.
His family maintained a traditional Indian household, which made it difficult as he grew up and found himself drawn toward American popular culture’s music, TV and movies. He was “very shy and introverted” growing up, with his biggest influences coming through the art of television, most specifically “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” amongst other 90s sitcoms.
His first on-camera experience occurred during his senior year at Lincoln High School, where he anchored the school’s daily announcements and took a video production class. In that video production class, students would act in and produce short films, and David attributes this class for helping inspire his future acting career.
During his time at Lincoln High, David was also an avid guitarist, taking a Guitar class all four years and seizing every opportunity he got to perform.
Dr. Robles was David’s guitar teacher at Lincoln and said David was one of his best and nicest students.
“If you had a problem with Justin, it was probably you who had the problem,” said Dr. Robles. “He was a smart guy. He could’ve done anything.”
While at Lincoln, David was a member of three student bands. Former bandmate and close friend Justin Griffin is a music producer planning to open his own recording studio in Tallahassee. Their first band practices took place in the ‘kids play area’ of an apartment complex gym. They would often perform in the courtyard at Lincoln during lunch, or at the school’s annual ‘Battle of the Bands’ fundraiser.
While David’s interest in music was encouraged at school, it was met with a bit of friction at home.
“Anytime there was a gig or sometimes even practices, he would have to pull teeth to get permission to go because they really wanted him to focus on his studies,” said Griffin. “His parents wanted him to be a certain way or see certain people. Justin wanted the opposite, but at the same time he wanted his family to be proud of him.”
After graduating from Lincoln, David stopped playing guitar and enrolled in classes at Tallahassee Community College from 2012-2015. During this time, David struggled with settling on a career path.
“Those were hard times for Justin for sure… when we got out of high school,” Griffin said. “I think he felt a little bit lost on what direction he wanted to go.”
After high school graduation with the stress of deciding on a career looming large, David convinced himself that criminology was the best fit for him. As time progressed though, he soon realized that he would never find true fulfillment in a career he wasn’t passionate about.
He said that if his heart isn’t invested into something, he knows that he will not put 100 percent effort into it. He said he’s always been this way, and even laughingly admitted that he paid someone to finish his online geometry class in high school.
“I just did not give a flying fadoodle about triangles,” said David.
David was stuck at a crossroads, so he decided to take a trip to India. While visiting there and immersing himself in the culture, he contemplated his true purpose in life and decided to make a significant life change.
David returned to the U.S. and moved to Atlanta. He initially planned on getting back into music, but quickly he realized that acting was his true calling.
He signed with his first agency, which helped place him in his first few roles, acting in commercials, short films and student projects.
“Most of my first ever [material] in my portfolio, whether it’s my reels or my headshots or even my old resume, was garbage,” David said. “But those were the building blocks to help me figure out how to do this.”
David has invested thousands of dollars into different acting classes, and he attributes famous U.K. acting coach Keira Duffy with being his greatest help. He said the individual sessions he had with her helped him more than any acting class he has taken.
“She is a Godsend to me,” David said. “She understood how I work. I didn’t need someone to teach me how to act, I needed someone who could direct me,” said David.
Prior to starring in Lifetime’s upcoming “Christmas in Tune,” David has appeared in “NCIS: New Orleans”, “Black Box” and “Oxygen’s Snapped: Killer Couples.” All of which were small roles compared to this one.
Due to COVID-19, David’s audition process for the role was different from industry norms. Instead of meeting in person, he sent over an audition tape and awaited a response. He actually forgot about the role until he received the news that he got it on his Father’s birthday.
When he accepted the role, he had no idea who the rest of his co-stars were going to be with the exception of Reba. When learning who they were, David said he had trouble containing his excitement when he learned that John Schneider would be acting alongside him in the film.
“I am a huge Smallville fan… I think that was literally the best show I watched growing up,” said David. “To me, he is Mr.Kent.”
When asked about the future, David’s not exactly sure what is ahead of him. He has a few roles in upcoming projects that are set to come out within the next year, but he’s always on the lookout for his next opportunity. One thing he can count on now is the support of his family.
“They’re excited about it,” said David. “In terms of support, they’re definitely coming around now more than they have ever before.”
Although the decision to move to Atlanta was not popular with some family members, David now knows that it was the right choice. Art has shaped so much of who he is, and he is thankful for all the opportunities it has brought him.
“If I could just give back in the same way that art has given to me, I’d be kind of good with my life,” David said. “Not so much chasing money but chasing the dream.”
Michael Tuzzolo is a second-year Tallahassee Community College student from Jacksonville who is an Assistant Editor for the Talon, TCC’s student newspaper. He plans on finishing his AA at TCC and transferring to Florida State University to study digital media production.
