‘Black-Ish”s Tyler Lofton Talks The Acting Industry: Dreams, Pains, And More

Tyler Lofton, a young actor who has been featured in hit TV shows like Black-ish on ABC and The Sky is Everywhere on AppleTV+/A24, has been on the acting scene since the beginning of 2015. While he’s only been around for just a few years, he’s experienced a life’s worth of hardships, pain, and accomplishments. 

Even though Tyler started acting professionally fairly recently, the seed of wanting to entertain has been there his entire life. He describes that ever since he remembers, he “was always making people laugh, filming my own movies and magic shows on my dad’s camera, making myself fake cry to get out of school work or go inside during recess because it was too cold.”

Finally, during his senior year, Tyler took his first step towards a professional acting career.  He flew out to Los Angeles from his hometown of Cleaveland, Ohio to participate in an acting showcase. After the showcase, he signed with an acting agency and moved to LA 8 months later, never looking back. 

As Tyler was working away at his career, things started to go very wrong. Many people who aren’t in the film/TV industry believe that it’s effortless, glamorous, and amazing. The dark side of the industry is uncomfortable to hear about and incredibly sickening. As Tyler’s acting career grew, he started to fall prey to the evil in the industry that almost ended his career entirely. 

“An agent at one of the top 5 agencies at the time had invited me over for a ‘business dinner’ with many of their casting, agent, and actor friends. They sent a car for me,  and when I arrived it was just the agent and dinner for two.  Because this agent had repeatedly told me he could make or break a career with the snap of a finger, I was intimated, and stayed,” Tyler explains. “I was sexually abused and violated, and was at the lowest part of my life. It devastated me so much that I quit acting to take care of myself,” Tyler continues. 

Eventually, Tyler decided that he wouldn’t let the pain get to him. He took charge of himself and went back into the business, like he never left, smarter, wiser, and more determined than ever to sprint towards success. 

Now in 2021, with numerous career-making roles under his belt, he looks towards the future excited for his upcoming projects and success. 

For the aspiring actors, you can follow Tyler’s journey on instagram [@xoTylerLofton] and on Snapchat [itsTylerLofton]. 

Tyler is featured in the upcoming A24 film, The Sky is Everywhere, and also the Netflix comedy show, I Think You Should Leave.  

Interview Conducted by Charlie Kapinos

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Charlie Kapinos- Entertainment/Movie Editor– Charlie is a sophomore in high school from Los Angeles, CA. He loves to write, take photos, help others, watch movies and TV. He hopes to work towards a career in journalism after high school and college.