Charles Melton has reflected on the lessons he’s learned through playing sports.
Charles Melton thinks his sporting background has given him a strong sense of “discipline”.
The 35-year-old actor played American football at Kansas State University during his academic days, and Charles believes those experiences have helped him in the film world.
The Hollywood star – whose father worked for the US military – explained to Bustle: “I think sports has implemented a discipline in my life, alongside the upbringing from my father.
“You know, when you think of the minutia of sports and the preparation that goes into getting ready for the season or watching a film, understanding your opponents, knowing the playbook, visualisation, teamwork — I think all that stuff kind of fed into my own individual practice as an actor because I never went to school or anything.”
Charles moved around a lot as a child, because of his dad’s military career. And the actor admits that those experiences have shaped the man he’s become.
He explained: “All the kids I went to school with, we knew this wasn’t going to be the forever home. And maybe one of our parents was away at war while we were living overseas on a military base.
“I don’t know, it’s like there’s no such thing as social awkwardness. Or you’re desensitised to it because you know you won’t be in this place for too long. So why worry about what someone may think of you?”
Charles has enjoyed a run of successes in recent years, including a starring role in Beef, the hit Netflix series. But the actor has been keen to avoid being labelled.
Charles – who starred alongside the likes of Cailee Spaeny, Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac in season two of Beef – said: “Art’s not meant to be limited to an identity.
“But also, when someone sees themselves reflected through the medium of cinema and television, it does something, and it means something. There’s something beautiful in witnessing something that’s maybe not seen as often.”
Charles Melton’s sporting past influences his acting career, but how?
