Woody McClain walks off Cam Newton interview in tears after discussing Hollywood’s typecasting of Black men

Actor Wood McClain is stepping into a new chapter, fatherhood—a milestone he says has shifted his perspective on his career. 

To many of us, actor Woody McClain is the man behind characters like Cain Tejada in “Power Book II: Ghost,” or modern depictions of R&B singer Bobby Brown. And while he has the ability to captivate audiences so well that they associate him with these fictional characters in the real world, McClain is striving for more.

In a recent interview with Cam Newton, the actor was asked to reflect on his acting process, which in turn stirred up some emotions for McClain. While he prides himself on authenticity, he admits he has concerns about being placed in a box. Just as social media recognizes him for this gangster portrayal of Cain Tejada, he recalls an exercise in his first acting class that placed him in a box.

“My first acting class I took in LA, they had this exercise on the first day of class and you have all these actors in there and then [the instructor] sits a chair in the front of the room,” he said explaining how the activity involved other students in the class type-casting the person in the chair. “So I’m sitting in the chair and everybody’s saying ‘bad boy,’ ‘the thug,’ ‘the killer.’ I’m hearing this stuff. They don’t know me…That moment made me realize people judge you before you even talk, before you even say anything.”

Though he once used to “pick any kind” of role to fuel his desire to act, he now says he looks at things very differently.

“I want to be very strategic of what I pick because I don’t want everybody to keep perceiving me as this bad person,” he began to explain before visibly getting emotional. As his voice began to tremble, the actor ultimately got up from his seat and walked off-camera to compose himself.

Returning to his seat, sniffling and wiping his tears, McClain explained how hard he’s worked to “not be seen as that young Woody,” who would take on any role.

“I want to be a role model. I want to be that person people can look up to or go to. And I won’t allow nobody to put me in a box,” he continued.

In addition to his emotional confession, McClain revealed that he is getting ready to be a father to twin girls, another milestone that he says played a part in shifting his mindset.

“Finding out I have twins on the way, two baby girls. And for some reason, now in the acting community, people identify you with what you play,” he explained. “So I don’t want my baby girls to grow up and think their dad is a bad person, so I’m just more conscious of the art I put out to the universe.”

“It’s scary cuz I know nothing about being a father, so everything is blurry right now trying to figure it out,” he concluded.

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