Plant City residents will likely recognize a familiar face in Tyler Perry’s latest directing endeavor, “Too Close to Home.”
Charles Justo, a 1999 graduate of Plant City High School, has been cast as a recurring character in the television show. The show debuted Monday, Aug. 22, and is the first drama series to air on TLC. The first season has eight episodes.
“We want everybody to watch it so we can get green lighted for season two,” Justo said. The series centers around Anna, played by Danielle Savre, who finds herself in the center of a political scandal after her affair with the president of the United States is exposed. Justo plays Victor, a man who agrees to drive Anna back to her hometown after her scandal is exposed.
“I think a lot of the audience will be drawn to (Victor),” Justo said. “He feels the need to prove that he’s important. He loves attention, and he has a pretty picture on the outside. He’s got a little GQ to him. He’s very stubborn, and he wants to do things his way.”
The role doubles as an opportunity and a challenge for Justo, who is usually drawn to more comedic roles.
“I never saw myself doing drama,” Justo said. “I wanted to do comedy. I’ve done stand-up and improv. I think that’s what makes an actor. You have to learn how to be versatile. You can’t just do one thing.”
Since graduating from high school 17 years ago, versatility has become one of Justo’s greatest strengths — and something that helped him land his latest role.
Learning to Adapt
Justo took community college classes and moved to Miami following his high school graduation. He started doing fitness competitions.
“I always had an active life,” Justo said. “I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I had a personal training business, but I was getting a lot of modeling gigs in New York.”
To make modeling more cost-effective, Justo made the move to the Big Apple in 2013. Since then, he’s modeled for Nike, GQ Magazine and Under Armour.
“I decided to give it two months,” Justo said. “Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone before life really begins. There was a wave of good stuff that happened, so I decided to stay.”
Justo had a few acting classes under his belt at the time, but decided he wanted to pursue the avenue further. He was accepted to The Barrow Group Theatre Company & School, the same acting institution attended by Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway.
“I always wanted to do conservatory, but couldn’t commit due to work hours,” Justo said. “I am a student of the art, and I’ll continue to study for the rest of my life. It’s worked so far.”
Since then, the acting credits have started rolling in. Justo appeared in the independent film “Out of My Hand” in 2015 and has since appeared in the CBS series “The Inspectors” and the ABC hit series “Modern Family.”
His recent roles have prepared him for his latest adventure: working under the Tyler Perry label.
Too Close to Home
From landing an audition for the show to getting cast as Victor, Justo’s experience working with Tyler Perry Studios has been an exciting whirlwind.
“There was an episode of “Modern Family” that I was in that aired in March,” Justo said. “I played a yoga instructor. That episode, I guess, made it’s way around, and I got an audition.”
It was an opportunity that was simultaneously thrilling and nerve-wracking.
“It was either, ‘You’re going to make this or you’re going to blow it,’” Justo said.
After submitting a required audition tape on a Friday, Justo got a call on a Monday asking him to be in Atlanta for a callback on Wednesday. After landing in Atlanta, Justo went to his audition in front of some of the major names in television: the president of TLC, cast director Rhavynn Drummer and — much to Justo’s surprise — Tyler Perry himself.
“I had prepared scenes, but they picked the one I wasn’t prepared for,” Justo said. “By the grace of God, I
improvised a lot.”
Justo was offered a casting credit immediately after the audition.
“It’s an experience never to be forgotten,” Justo said. “We started filming within a week and a half. We shot the whole season. It’s kinds of great. Everything was shot in Atlanta. We would have been done in five days, but there was rain.”
Justo had just a few days to memorize his lines and delve into his complex character.
“Victor has a lot of layers,” he said. “You’ll start seeing that very soon. He’s free-spirited and warm-hearted, but he finds himself in trouble.”
Dream Chaser
On his way to becoming a household name, Justo would encourage anyone, no matter their age, to pursue their dreams — even if they come from a small town like Plant City.
“Do it,” he said. “Follow your dreams. You have to have a really thick skin. You can’t give up. You have to do what makes you happy. You’ve got to do the work, you’ve got to believe that it’s going to happen.”
For Justo, success started with small steps.
“It was, ‘What can I do next?’” he said. “Go after your dreams. Yeah, it’s competitive and it’s hard. But so is life, right?”
In the slower moments, Justo relies on hobbies and outlets to keep him occupied. For him, that was exercise.
“You’ll drive yourself crazy waiting for that phone to ring,” he said. “Exercise, training … that saved my life. It kept me off the streets. All I did was play baseball and basketball and work out.”
And never, he said, lose sight of what you want.
“Don’t say it,” he said. “Do it. I wanted to make something of my life. It’s a dream. You have to put in work.”
Justo can be seen chasing his dream in “Too Close to Home,” 9 p.m. Mondays on TLC.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.