Tarantino Smith

Actor: Black Boy

Hailing from North Carolina, Tarantino moved to New York City on a full scholarship to study acting, singing, dancing, and vocal production & speech at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy - a private conservatory in the upper west side of Manhattan. He finished conservatory early by landing the lead of Sundiata in a national tour of The Lion King of Mali. While on tour his passion for classical theatre continued to grow, and upon returning to NYC he started training with The Pearl Theatre Company where he studied classics such as Checkov, Ibsen, Shaw, and Shakespeare. To further his experience he also worked with legendary acting teacher Wynn Handman on a historic drama piece (based on letters written, or rather orated, by ex-slaves) and on two One-Man Shows: Ralph Ellisons' Invisible Man and Richard Wrights' memoir Black Boy - all adapted verbatim from the novels. In Black Boy Tarantino tells the story of a black boy growing up in the Jim Crow South, transitioning through a "tour de force" of 20 different characters. Though his passion for his craft was developed and continues to develop on the stage, he has also appeared in a few independent films such as The Life (2002), Battle, New York Day 2 (2011), Robot Revolution (2015) and Carbon Copy (2017).

from Tarantino:

“Through Literature to Life, I've discovered more about myself, things that I could only feel…that I now have words for. And many of the students and communities I've encountered have discovered the same.”