ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Bishop Stevens pretty much looks the part that he plays onscreen.
"If you’re looking a mean-looking tough guy. I don't even have to audition half the time," Stevens said.
Stevens, a local actor and former professional wrestler, is originally from California. He moved to St Louis 19 years ago and continues to call it home even though he's an emerging Hollywood actor.
Wrestling is what led him to acting. "If it wasn’t for the wrestling those doors probably never would have opened," he said.
You may have seen him on the "Walking Dead," "Chicago PD," “Empire” or on the big screen.
"I had eight movies come out in the last year and a half,” Stevens said.
But he's no overnight success.
Constant training in the gym is just a part of it. Over the years, he's traveled thousands of miles, slept in his car. He said he slept at truck stops. He did it all in order to get auditions.
"A lot of people say, 'That's a lot to go through, I don't want to go through that.' You know what, it pays off," he said.
Now, he has his own action figures.
"It is amazing," he said with a laugh.
Stevens wants his career to set an example in his North County neighborhood. "It’s important that people see that," he said.
The tough-looking guy has a message for the tough times.
"You don't have to be out in them streets. You don't have to be doing dirt," he said. "You just work harder. Might as well do the good stuff. Work hard, get up there, and be proud of what you did. And know, can’t nobody take it from you man, can’t nobody take knowledge from you."
He's determined to be the role model for kids to show them that yes, you can reach the big time from St Louis.
"So I'm not going to say I'll be the next one to make it and leave. I'll be the next one to make it. But I’m staying,” he said.
Stevens' next big project is a movie he’ll costar in with Tara Reid called "Blood Thirst."
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