From The Source Magazine Issue #271 | 2017
If fans are searching for someone to lookout for in 2017 who is oozes superstar potential, look no further. Here comes Bryshere “Yazz” Gray.
Bryshere Y. Gray is a 23-year-old Philly product who is taking over the tv screen one production at a time. Die hard fans may know him as Yazz The Greatest or simply just Yazz but make no mistakes, Bryshere has been killing the competition by creating his own lane on the television/movie scene where his portrayal as Hakeem Lyon on Empire has fans already dubbing him as one of the rising stars of the next generation of talented actors. Fresh off the major success of his portrayal as Michael Bivins on the highly acclaimed 3-part TV miniseries of The New Edition Story, we got to catch up with Yazz to talk about the great start into his career, along with future endeavors he’s working on.
How much of your Philly roots played an impact in towards the success you are enjoying right now? Man, Philly is just a place full of ambitious, talented people that really didn’t get the opportunity to express themselves. It helped me in a way that I would become hungry and a lot ambitious to where it would help me knock down challenges and to take each opportunities being given to me seriously and not just letting them give them an reason to pick someone else for the job.
Who inspired you towards taking your career and the entertainment business much more seriously in which helped you become the star you are right now? Wow, there’s plenty of stars like Will Smith, Wesley Snipes and Denzel Washington who I became inspired into forcing myself to push through to make my career become as successful as it is now.
You have gained a lot of love and recognition from playing Hakeem Lyon on Empire. How has the experience been for you to elevate the popularity of Hakeem on the show? It’s been great. Just to see him grow, just to seem him really become a man and to watch him elevate his music through Empire is just a great thing.
What’s it like working with Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard on the set of Empire? It’s been amazing. It’s been an exciting process every single day. They are legends so you can only get to learn through from actors like that once in a lifetime. So I’m truly grateful for them to each me and to school me on the craft of excellent acting at it’s best.
Recently, you portrayed Michael Bivins on the hit television movie, The New Edition Story. How was the experience getting into character to create the perfect portrayal of him through the evolution of his career? Just being around Mike and just really took the method from the Ali movie just how Will Smith took the role and embodied Muhammad Ali. Just watching Mike and his movements so I could be really authentic to the role. I took that technique so I could tell the story of New Edition to fans as authentic as possible.
Did he give you any first hand advice on the process of elevating the portrayal of him behind-the-scenes? Yes, he definitely gave me great advice. He helped on parts like the dance moves which it took me awhile to grasp. I’m more so on the 2000, millennial side of the spectrum in that department. Back then they had more of an smooth choreograped slide through which was great and was different from today. But he was making sure that all of the moves being pulled off in the movie was tight and on point just how it was when they performed in front of their fans in those days.
How has the success from The New Edition Story been treating you? It’s been a blessing. I have people come up to me talking about Mike. People come up to me expressing how much they loved the work. It’s just great to be a part of an story about these guys who have been in the game for 30 years. I’m happy that the story is being told to our generation. And it was important because they got a lot of hits that they probably laid out that they want the fans to know about. But now…they know!
If you see a beautiful girl you’re interested in at a event or party, how would you approach her? I wouldn’t approach her. If she was sexy, if she was beautiful, I would give her that wink you know, the innocent wink normally works. But other than that, I normally focus on my work, but hey I don’t discriminate at all.
As Bryshere is off to an amazing start for 2017, this bright sensational actor is ready to apply pressure to the game with future productions in the works. Other than elevating Hakeem Lyon into a young icon on Empire, Grey is ready to move his talents onto the the big screen too.He will be appearing in a movie called Sprinter which will be debuting later this year.
