{"id":1940,"date":"2016-04-27T23:01:35","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T23:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/arts-culture\/kevin-spacey-and-chevy-grant-prestigious-scholarship-to-long-beach-city-college-student\/"},"modified":"2016-04-27T23:01:35","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T23:01:35","slug":"kevin-spacey-and-chevy-grant-prestigious-scholarship-to-long-beach-city-college-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/kevin-spacey-and-chevy-grant-prestigious-scholarship-to-long-beach-city-college-student","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Spacey and Chevy Grant Prestigious Scholarship to Long Beach City College Student"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-48100\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DiontaeSimpson.png\" alt=\"DiontaeSimpson\" width=\"620\" height=\"287\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Screenshot of Chevrolet&#8217;s #DayItForward video.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Diontae Simpson has lived in Los Angeles all of his life. Simpson, an aspiring actor, is a fan of a multitude of larger-than-life screen personas, including Jim Carrey, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kevin Spacey.<\/p>\n<p>But it wasn\u2019t until a few months ago that he got to meet one of his heroes in the flesh. And his encounter was more than just a meet n\u2019 greet: one of his heroes arrived to personally offer Simpson a scholarship, granted on behalf of his foundation and that of Chevrolet, to attend a drama school of his choice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had no idea. It was a complete surprise,\u201d said Simpson.<\/p>\n<p>He had been set up for the occasion, unbeknownst to him, while filming an audition for what he thought was a film role. His professors asked students to perform a monologue on-camera before asking Simpson specifically for a call back on the campus stage.<\/p>\n<p>He arrived on stage, ready to perform.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust, please go to the center of the stage there, where that mark is,\u201d said the nasally voice of a man, who, to Simpson, was obscured by the bright stage lights. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDiontae Simpson,\u201d said Simpson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you nervous?\u201d asked the voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery nervous,\u201d Simpson said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you going to do for us today?\u201d said the voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to perform a monologue, a piece from <em>Moby Dick<\/em>,\u201d said Simpson.<\/p>\n<p>Under the pretense of offering Simpson \u201cmore direction,\u201d the voice stepped up onto the stage. Moved away from the lights and without the nasal affectation, the man revealed himself to be Kevin Spacey, of <em>House of Cards<\/em>, <em>Seven<\/em> and <em>American Beauty<\/em> fame.<\/p>\n<p>The shock moved swiftly across Simpson\u2019s face, widening his eyes for one surreal moment. \u201cOh my God,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vVJbVd8yCbA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Spacey was on hand to tell Simpson personally that he\u2019d been selected for a scholarship to a drama school of his choice (barring his acceptance to the program).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was mind-blowing. I didn\u2019t say anything, it was crazy,\u201d said Simpson. \u201cWe all wait for opportunities like that to happen. I am so humbled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spacey presented the award as part of a national \u201cDayItforward\u201d campaign, which consists of celebrities working in conjunction with Chevrolet to give back with certain acts of kindness\u2014much like the film, <em>Pay it Forward<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are proud to have one of our deserving students at LBCC receive this extraordinary opportunity,\u201d said Eloy Ortiz Oakley, Long Beach City College Superintendent-President in a statement. \u201cWe wish Diontae the best of luck and success in pursuing his passion for acting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Simpson gleaned all he could from Spacey in his short time with the actor, including some brainstorming on where he could use his scholarship. At the time, Simpson had thought he\u2019d be looking at Juilliard, but he\u2019s since narrowed down his pool of applications to the American Academy of Dramatic Art, the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and the USC School of Dramatic Arts.<\/p>\n<p>The maturation of Simpson\u2019s 10-month-old son likely influenced his outlined goals. While he ultimately would like to be an actor, he\u2019d also like a full bachelor\u2019s degree in Kinesiology. If he can\u2019t make it as an actor, he said he\u2019d like the option of teaching and coaching basketball and football.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing in the movies is something I really want to do,\u201d he said. \u201cBut [my ultimate priority] is that I can provide for my son and have him in a happy place, with no wants or needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Simpson spent the past year biking to LBCC from downtown Los Angeles precisely because it allowed him to take acting classes and Kinesiology prerequisite courses. Learning from Juilliard graduate Hal Landon, an LBCC professor, at the school proved to be a plus.<\/p>\n<p>Theater Professor Tony Carreiro said Simpson was one of the stand-out performances in <em>A Soldier\u2019s Play<\/em>, critically acclaimed at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDiontae Simpson has that unique blend of innate talent, a great work ethic, a sense of humility, true artistic passion and a wonderful sense of humor,\u201d Carriero said in a statement. \u201cHe has endless potential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the next 10 years, Simpson hopes to be in various motion pictures. But right now, in this instant, he said he\u2019s grateful to have been granted this opportunity, and happy to have learned from LBCC\u2019s finest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Kevin Spacey] helped me in my confidence\u2014I\u2019ve been performing exceptionally well,\u201d he said, as he rehearsed for LBCC\u2019s latest play. \u201cI\u2019m learning from people who have been taught in big schools. I\u2019m grateful for having them as acting coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few months ago, actor Kevin Spacey surprised one of Long Beach City College&#8217;s own, offering him a scholarship to pursue his dream: attending one of the nation&#8217;s top drama schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":154,"featured_media":67311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[665],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-lbcc","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/154"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1940"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1940"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}