Fred Tolliver Jr. spent many shifts at the Sherwin-Williams paint store on Collins Street wondering what his purpose in life was and where that would take him — even if that meant leaving his hometown.
More than 10 years have passed since he saw a commercial and decided to take a gamble on acting professionally. Tolliver’s big bet on himself seems to have paid off.
He’s now living in New York City and getting regular work on and off screen. You can see or hear him in several Spike Lee “joints,” as the legendary director would say, and now you can also stream his latest film, The Last Whistle, on Netflix.
“It was just me following the omens and following the universe, allowing that to guide me and not being stuck on just living in Plant City and playing the safe route,” Tolliver said.
Tolliver’s goal may have been to chase his dream out of Plant City, but his roots are still important to him. That was among the reasons he signed on to act in The Last Whistle, a drama that initially released this past June and features Friday Night Lights alum Brad Leland, as well as Parks and Recreation actor Jim O’Heir and University of Kansas head coach Les Miles.
“We filmed it last summer in Texas and for me, it was very nostalgic,” Tolliver said. “It brought me back home… I got to relive my old high school days when I played football and got to work with some actors I admired before this film came out.”
Like his character, football star Benny Robinson, Tolliver played football in his youth and absolutely loved the game. He felt a strong connection to his character upon reading the script and knew he couldn’t turn the role down if it was offered to him.
“Football coaches become like your second father,” Tolliver said. “With Benny, the coach was like his father and I could relate to a lot of the things happening with Benny and his coach.”
The role also let Tolliver put the pads on and play for the first time since 2006, which he said let him “relive my old high school days.”
Robinson is the star player on a successful high school football team in the Fort Worth, Texas area. The events of the movie are set into motion when he collapses during a particularly tough practice and dies from an undiagnosed heart condition, which forces head coach Victor Trenton (Leland) to balance handling the aftermath of Robinson’s tragic death with keeping the team’s winning ways alive no matter what.
“Of all the things I’ve done so far, this was at or near the top,” Tolliver said.
After realizing he didn’t have a future as a pro football player, Tolliver enrolled at Hillsborough Community College and thought he’d try and become a defense attorney. He stopped attending after about a year and a half, realizing that wasn’t really something he was passionate for, and found himself stuck in a rut.
“I stopped going, hit a crossroads and felt like maybe there was something else I was supposed to do,” Tolliver said. “I was driving, doing paint delivery and I heard this commercial about acting three or four times before I really heard it. I said ‘Maybe I’ll give this a shot.’”
He participated in seminars and tested with agents, took acting classes at Mary Jo’s Performing Arts Academy in Carrollwood and worked hard at his craft in Florida until January 2009, when he decided it was time to take a leap of faith and move to New York. His first credited role, per IMDb, came in 2011 when he played a rookie cop in superhero film Somebody’s Hero.
Tolliver’s resume includes roles in Spike Lee’s 2012 film Red Hook Summer and the 2017 TV adaptation of She’s Gotta Have It, a role in 2013 crime drama Broken City, which starred Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe, and a role in a 2015 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit titled Decaying Morality. Tolliver has also continued to work with Lee in several uncredited roles, including a taste of Broadway with Lee’s 2018 production of Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth starring the notorious boxing icon himself.
“Getting firsthand experience with (Lee) was invaluable,” Tolliver said. “He’s a legend. On set, working with someone of that magnitude, you want to be prepared… (Red Hook Summer) was a challenge but it was wonderful.”
Tolliver is currently in what he calls the “grind” stage of auditioning for roles. He’s currently hoping to land a part in an upcoming Lena Waithe production and auditioned last week for something “really big” that he’s not legally allowed to discuss at this time.
This career, he said, is broken up into two parts: the grind of auditioning for roles and the “high” of working in roles and finally seeing the projects release.
“This work, it’s a revolving cycle until you hit that one big one,” he said. “I have wonderful agents and managers who keep me busy.”