#RoyalMen

#Reset 

#Refocused 

The power of faith and leaping is strong. Just ask our first featured Royal Man, Vaughn Hebron. Almost three years ago, the Hollywood actor was working in pharmaceutical sales in Florida.

Today, the 29-year-old is fast becoming a household name, following his breakout role in Tyler Perry’s hit series The Oval and the upcoming feature film, King Richard, starring Will Smith set to be released this Thanksgiving.

RoyalTee Magazine got the opportunity to spend the entire afternoon with Mr. Hebron in a Los Angeles studio to find out more about his journey to Hollywood, his challenges, future plans and what makes him RoyalTee.

Pharmaceutical sales to acting, that’s quite a transition! What inspired you to get into the industry? 

Vaughn: It was about two and a half years into pharmaceutical sales, and I started feeling like I was going through the motions of daily work. I was skipping out and living each week looking forward to the weekend. And mid-twenties, that’s not the way to live, so I started exploring other passions in my life. Acting was something I always been curious about because I’m a huge movie fan. And when I was in this little phase trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I started taking acting classes. It was December of 2016 when my company did mass layoffs and I was one of the people that got laid off. Even though they offered me another job the next day, I took it as a sign to maybe figure out if that acting passion was something I needed to pursue. And I decided to pursue it!

In your most recent role, you played the White House butler’s son, Bartholomew “Barry” Hallsen, in Tyler Perry’s The Oval. What was that experience like?

Vaughn: It was surreal, really beyond words to say the least. It was one of those things where you’re going to work every day and you’re pinching yourself because you really can’t believe that you’re here. And not only are you here, you are actually interacting with Tyler, you’re interacting with all the people that make his productions great. Even when you’re passing the walls in the hallway, you’re seeing all these moves and plays and famous TV shows that he’s [Perry] done and you really feel part of history.

On being laid off: “I just took it as a sign really. I was already thinking about it and maybe that little push was what I needed.”]

It’s amazing to work with someone like Tyler so young in your career. There must’ve been a lot of lessons that you took away from your experience. And also some challenges?

Vaughn: When you do something big for the first time, nobody really expects anything from you. But once you do it and do it well, then everybody expects it to be that or better each time. With that being said, there were scenes that I did really well and then Tyler would look at me and congratulate me like ‘yo you did your thing’. And then there were scenes that I didn’t do as well and Tyler would all of a sudden look at me like ‘yo what’s up, we need you to step it up’ (laughs). It was still my first time but the challenges were to keep on getting better each take, keep on getting better each scene and just do what you do, just keep on trying to do it better. Also, execute better, be a better actor; take what you did and the mistakes that you learned from and find a way to overcome those each and every time.

Going forward, what type of roles do you see yourself portraying?

Vaughn: I want to go from action roles to drama roles. As Barry (The Oval), you see a lot of aggression and rage that I can bring. But I also have a comedic side to me, I have a little sweet side to me. I can be a little calculating and mischievous as well; so, a psychological thriller would be very appealing. I want to do everything that I can… expand my strengths, that’s what I really want to focus on.

CHECK OUT THE FULL EXCLUSIVE  INTERVIEW AND PHOTOSHOOT WITH VAUGHN IN OUR 2020 SPRING EDITION.

PRE ORDER YOUR PRINT COPY HERE