Storytelling Paid Off for Actor Lee Thompson Young

At the tender age of eight, Lee Thompson Young was already accustomed to performing before an audience. Telling traditional folk tales about the Carolinas - he was born in Columbia, South Caroling - at local festivals and events gave him a small taste of what it was like to be an actor. By the time he portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was ten years old, Young had been bitten by the acting bug.

At the age of twelve, Young and his mother moved to New York City where Young began acting professionally. He landed several roles in commercials and a co-starring role in a play.

All this led to his career-launching role as The Famous Jett Jackson, an original Disney series. He also appeared in a Disney Channel movie, Johnny Tsunami. He also appeared in The Guardian, South Beach, Scrubs, "Friday Night Lights" and "Akeelah and the Bee."

His acting career didn't interrupt his education. Young graduated with honors from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. His parents emphasized education and his mother is now an educator at Florida A&M University having chosen teaching as a second career.

Young also has a second career choice, should he ever need the option. He is an avid photographer and has also studied and trained in Capoeira which is an Afro-Brazilian martial art form.

"It was developed in Brazil by the slaves," Young states in an Ebony interview. "It's really interesting because they weren't allowed to practice martial arts because the slave owners thought it was threatening, so they disguised their African martial arts as a dance. It looks like a game. Two people are dancing and there's music playing, but all of the dance movements have a martial arts application." [1]

Currently, Young is going into the second season of Rizzoli & Isles as Detective Barry Frost, partner to Angie Harmon's Jane Rizzoli. About the second season, Young says, "Now we all know each other much better. We know each other's rhythm, we know how we work and I really think it shows in our interactions." [1]

Gauging by the success of Rizzoli & Isles, storytelling took this young actor a long way.

Sources:

[1] Ebony

TNT

Wikipedia