“Baby Mama” Actor To Document His Journey From Hollywood to Hip-Hop in New Web Series
September 4, 2012

Email: yachtclubmanagement@gmail.com
Url: http://www.blockstarzmusic.com/

Bronx, NY native Andrew Hillmedo Jr. p/k/a Dante Hillmedo is an American actor who's appeared in a handful of movies, most notably 2008's major motion picture Baby Mama starring Saturday Night Live alumni Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and is now trying his hand at a career in rap – with little success.

Hillmedo will document his misadventures in a documentary called “This Is Dante”, which he is co-producing independently with leading digital label Block Starz Music and Yacht Club Management.

“This Is Dante” will highlight the fledgling actor-turned-rapper's ascent – or lack thereof – in the music industry in a series of funny webisodes to air at www.ThisIsDante.com beginning this fall.



Hillmedo says the series will detail his career false starts, including an ill-fated collaboration with distant cousin Slick Rick, and missed opportunities, like a nervous audition that lost him a role in the Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious, through a mix of behind-the-scenes footage and funny reenactments.

Hillmedo,whose background is Jamaican, started acting in elementary school as part of the glee club and carried on into junior high, where he was in the drama club before leaving due to time constraints.

“I revisited acting [later] in high school, but ended up getting scammed outta $800 by a company that vanished as quick as we got there, which put acting on hold again,” explains Andrew who appeared in IIya Chaiken's award-winning Liberty Kid in 2007 and played a drug dealer in the Biography Channel television series, Watching the Detectives, in 2008. “My first year of college I did a lot of research and took matters into my own hand. I went out and took some acting classes then got myself cast as an extra or background in movies and commercials. That led to getting named roles in features.”

Around the time of Baby Mama, Hillmedo was attending New York's School of Visual Arts, where he majored in Computer Animation -- before being “kicked out” because he couldn't afford the tuition.

“I was $9,000 short of the $28,000 a year tuition,” says Andrew, who's only done lite acting since Baby Mama due to what he says is a lack of casting calls for African-Americans that fit his look and size.

As the recording artist Dante Hillmedo, whose first name comes from Andrew's character in Baby Mama, the talented, young New Yorker may be taking on his most ambitious role to date.

“The biggest difference between music and film is that music is more fan based than skill and film is more skill than fan based,” says the 25-year-old entertainer. “In movies, having fans may help you get the role, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to if you can play the part the way the director envisions it. In rap, you can be the hottest emcee, but without a following, nobody will recognize you.”

For more information on Dante Hillmedo, please visit www.ThisIsDante.com

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