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Michael "Bear" Mcgee sat down and talked with us about his transition in Hollywood as a bodyguard at Top Dawg Entertainment for ScHoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar, and SZA into becoming an actor.
Vol 82: You were a bodyguard for Top Dawg Entertainment, right?
Bear: Yes. That was pretty much my only bodyguarding job.
Vol 82: How long were you their bodyguard?
Bear: About four years?
Vol 82: You worked for Top Dawg when the artists were becoming big acts, right?
Bear: Yes
Vol 82: Describe what that experience was like to watch Kendrick Lamar and SZA develop into seasoned artists. They are successful now!
Bear: It was a lot! The experience was new to everybody! SZA had just got signed. She had one or two songs. Kendrick Lamar had dropped good kid, MA.A.d city, and ScHoolboy Q had dropped his album, Oxymoron.
Vol 82: What was your most exciting time as a bodyguard?
Bear: Just traveling-going to different places and seeing unusual things. When we were doing a show in London, the lights came on in the audience, and we saw that London had the most blacks in any crowd that we'd ever seen!
Vol 82: London? Wow!
Vol 82: Were you bodyguarding at a ScHoolboy Q concert when you got shot in the neck?
Bear: Yes, I was in Denver, Colorado. After that, I stopped working as a bodyguard.
Vol 82: I see. So, did you already have a love for acting, or did you seize the opportunity to act when it arose?
Bear: Pretty much. I'm a big dude! Industry people would see me, and they started approaching me about acting.
Vol 82: Who discovered you as an actor?
Bear: I bumped into different people in the industry. (No specific names)
Vol 82: Other actors chose a similar path as you, first as a bodyguard then as an actor. Do the two professions go hand in hand more than people realize?
Bear: Pretty much.
Vol 82: I believe Michael Clark Duncan, who played in The Green Mile, was a bodyguard first.
Bear: Yes, RIP to Michael Clark Duncan. There's a lot of actors who have done that. Suge Knight was a bodyguard. Mr. T. (from The A-Team television show) was a bodyguard, and there were others.
Vol 82: What acting jobs have you done so far?
Bear: I've appeared on SWAT, a Chevy commercial, Jason Bourne, Love By The Tenth Date, Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland, Saved by Grace, Snowfall, Black Jesus, Shameless, Judge Maybelline, and Hollyweird Anonymous. I've done some theatrical roles too. I also did Meet The Mcgee Family for Ronald McDonald (McDonald's); I've done the podcast Two On the Grind, and I've co-starred in and directed some music videos too.
Vol 82: Are you in the Screen Actors Guild yet?
Bear: Not yet!
Vol 82: You also have a fitness brand, right?
Bear: Yes! Bearknuckles Fit. The Instagram is @bearknuckles_fit.
Vol 82: You always advise that it's never too late to work on a goal!
Bear: Yea. It's never too late to get started or get it going! You're never too old.
Follow Michael 'Bear' Mcgee's Instagram@yachts.cigars
Photo Credit: Jordon Kelly/@_jordonkelly