Meet Franklin Livingston and some of his Pakistani actor and influencer philosophy: The concept of beauty, success, and attraction must be open to all human beings, regardless of their cultural looks or affiliations. Franklin along with his passionate and devoted network of professionals aim to accomplish this change through entertaining and intellectual art. Franklin Livingston is a New York based actor, director and producer. He enjoys acting on stage and film. He has had the pleasure of working in English, Urdu. Hindi and Punjabi languages. Read extra info on Franklin Livingston.
What makes Franklin Livingston different? Franklin has been described as a living legend. His legendary persona comes from his unique and creative ideas mixed with his diverse cultural upbringing, world travels, his ability to relate to people of diverse socioeconomic class, and his teachable spirit. He is also comparable to World’s best content creators like Charlie Chaplin, Rowan Atkinson, and Chuck Lorre. The unfortunate reality that hit Franklin is that he came to birth when American film and television largely undermines the creativity of people with Non-White accents and skin color. Classic Hollywood still doesn’t consider people of color as intelligent, dynamic, and in-demand as someone of the Caucasian race. However, Franklin is motivated and getting started to prove that the paradigm of racism among American actors is long gone!
Franklin Livingston grew up as a religious minority in Pakistan. He constantly faced persecution and prejudice, which shaped him to be a unique human being. He is a wounded healer — someone who embraces the people from all walks of life, empowering them to be whoever they want. Like Pakistan, in the United States, Franklin is once again a minority. But this time, it is not because of his religious affiliation but his ethnicity, where he has experienced terrible racism and discrimination on all levels. Livingston utilizes these experiences to evolve into a humanitarian advocate, share his struggles, and much more through his films, plays, and social media content.
For our readers that may be interested in acting, filmmaking, and producing, what advice can you give entrepreneurs just starting out in the industry? Be sure to get the right educational foundation. Research acting schools that you are considering. When you have completed your education there, be sure you never stop self-training. In what ways has the Covid-19 pandemic had an effect your career in the movie industry?Speaking as both an actor that has auditioned with other actors, that turned out to not be so great when we got on set, and as a producer, auditions that are done mostly via zoom now, are awful for picking up on so many of the meaningful but more subtle details that you notice when auditioning in person. In audition rooms, you can see the person enter, you see how they walk and stand. Were their hip sockets relaxed, shoulders relaxed, jaw relaxed? Do they look the part?
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂 I have already begun a movement by bringing awareness and empathy though my work. My collaborators have mentioned that they have learned many things they did not know regarding politics, sociology, and anthropology of America and the world. I am helping create a voice for all-inclusive theater and film in the U.S.
Franklin has had an unmatched opportunity to represent a growing number of Pakistani people in the US who are under-represented in Hollywood. Currently, there is no person of Pakistani origin in Hollywood’s big-budget movies and TV networks that has the background training Franklin has. Currently, Riz Ahmed has been in the news a lot due to his dramatic acting. However, Riz is a British-Pakistani which makes him distinctly different from Franklin Livingston. Franklin’s unique accent, enchanting voice, alluring charisma, and captivating presence makes him stand out among all actors Hollywood has cast from Southeast Asian backgrounds.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories? The most interesting people I have ever met are through random encounters. It was awkward in the beginning because I knew I did not have much time to talk to them in the subway, at a coffee shop, or at an intersection. I have made several friends worldwide through these kinds of chance meetings. Once I was paying for my sandwich at a deli near my acting school in NYC and I noticed that the cashier was wearing a fancy watch. I couldn’t help, but comment on it, and she responded by telling me her story. It turns out that she was an engineer from Venezuela, but her education was not recognized in the U.S., so she was forced to work service and retail jobs instead of in her field. We became friends on social media and after a few years we are still are very close friends.
With possibilities comes challenges: Like many people who have been affected by the pandemic, Franklin is no exception. He mentions that during quarantine, he developed a couple of health conditions. He gained weight, became depressed, and started showing signs of aging. He, therefore, suggests an acting technique that supports the actors and can empathize with their emotional and cognitive state so they can have well-balanced lives. Franklin goes back and reflects on all the popular American acting schools and realizes that they affect actors emotionally or disrupt their mental well-being negatively. He mentioned it’s time for classic acting schools to revisit their curriculums and research why most actors who survive their training are introverts. They after two or three years of training, their actors end up becoming socially awkward, emotionally closed off, and distant from those community members who are not from the same professional backgrounds as them.