Kahlil Joseph

Kahlil Joseph is whom you picture when you think of the new age multicultural actor. An American actor with non-traditional looks, strong versatility in multiple dialects, physical prowess, emotional truthfulness and world experience, he remains truly unique and interesting. As a result, he brings a very large and knowledgeable dynamic to his work to life through a vast variety of different characters, both on screen and stage. Since settling in Los Angeles, Kahlil steadily continued to find good work as an actor on film, television, commercials, voice overs and stage. He avoided being "typed" by the entertainment industry into anything specific, which allowed him to continuously play an enormous range of roles. He took a hiatus from many years of working in the industry to stay home to raise his children, and is now making a comeback. Kahlil has traveled and lived in different countries from an early age - Australia, England, the United States, Canada, and much of Europe. He was introduced to the stage at five by his father, playing Noah in a production of "Noah's Ark" in Sydney, Australia. From a young age, he constantly displayed a genuine delight in entertaining audiences with various types of performances. Never one to be satisfied with learning one thing, he always tried to learn as many new things as he could. Kahlil had an extremely keen ear for sound since childhood, and would continually mimic everyone and everything he could. This was the humble beginning of his career as an actor with a specialty in voice and speech. Kahlil was constantly encouraged to read books that were advanced for his age. His mother was an English Literature professor and author introducing him to varied writing, and his father was an eloquent public speaker - an architect by trade, and a theatre practitioner at heart. By the age of 9, trained extensively in voice and diction by his father, Kahlil was consistently winning inter-school declamation and debate championships, which continued till the time he was 17. Simultaneously, at the age of 7, Kahlil began a life-long practice of another discipline that has had a profound effect on his work and person to this day - the martial arts. When Kahlil watched the legendary Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon (1973), he was inspired immediately by the way Lee so thoroughly and honestly expressed himself through his physicality and movement. Starting with Shotokan Karate, Kahlil branched into Tae Kwon Do, Hung Gar Kung Fu, and boxing. He then started fighting competitively on a full-contact amateur level. Today, Kahlil trains in and teaches multiple-system self-defense, consisting of Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Savate, all based on the philosophy of Jeet Kune Do, created by none other than Bruce Lee. From fighting in the ring to practicing, Kahlil found a huge similarity between martial arts and acting - one has to be totally truthful, vulnerable and committed to one's actions in order to wholly achieve one's objective. Kahlil earned his first B.A. in English Literature. During his degree, he was the lead singer for various heavy metal/hard rock bands. He learned and developed a strong respect during this time for such a type of singer, whom he believes needs even more vocal and physical strength and resilience than a speaker or singer of another genre. Following college, Kahlil was immediately cast as Jean Valjean in an international production of the acclaimed Broadway musical "Les Miserables". Training to sing in this show was a huge learning experience for him, as he now needed to sing a completely different style from his usual gigs - classical operatic. This also improved his speaking voice remarkably. Following the success of "Les Miserables", Kahlil was noticed and then cast in a steady recurring role as an antagonistic fashion designer on a prime-time TV drama, Khwahish (1999). He also played Zach the director in A Chorus Line (1985). Kahlil earned his second B.A., this time in Communication Arts (Theater & Broadcasting). He managed to consistently break ethnic and racial bounds as an actor through his quick ability with multiple accents, and was cast in many roles that were not originally written for an Indian actor. By the time he graduated Summa Cum Laude, Kahlil had worked professionally in the vocally demanding arena of outdoor drama and film, learned to ride horses, choreograph fights for the stage and film, and gotten accepted into a competitive graduate class of 10 actors at the prestigious UCLA's School of Theater, Film & Television, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Acting. Kahlil has received recognition as an artist of exceptional ability by official government bodies, and has returned to show business.