A northern Illinois spoken word artist took his performance skills from one stage to another – then to television.
Caneil Oliver is a poet, actor, and entrepreneur. He said his first love of the arts came from being a part of the hip-hop scene in Aurora. He wrote his first rap in elementary school during the 80s. He wasn’t willing to share it but said his skills were top notch.
“I was dope. I was a good rapper,” he said. “You know what I used to --that's all I did was rap. And it kept me out of trouble.”
Although he started writing at a young age, he said he doesn’t consider creating rap lyrics the same as writing poetry. Some may argue this case, but Oliver said he became a poet later in life.
“I didn't get introduced to poetry until I seen Def Poetry Jam," he explained. "And I think that was like in the early 2000s -- if I'm not mistaken.”
He said he’s left the hip-hop world behind.
“I'm a poet," he said. "As far as like, hip-hop, I mean, I tapped out a long time ago. I'm still a big fan of it. I listen to it daily; I work out to it. But no, I'm a poet.”
Oliver said his spiritual faith is the pinnacle focus of his being. He said his main goal is to operate in the fruit of the spirit and shared that he talks to God more than he talks to anyone else in his life.
One conversation with God happened after he saw a trailer for a Tye Tribbett movie. He said the trailer made him emotional. So, he asked God if acting was something he was supposed to do.
“And when I said that it's like I felt the presence of God, you know," he said. "And so, then I started opening up for these stage plays. Then I got the opportunity to be in a play. And it's totally different from coming on stage performing spoken word.”
He said although he was already acting, he felt it was important to seek out additional training. So, he enrolled in school.
Oliver continued to do stage plays and said his background in spoken word helped with his acting. He already had stage presence and knew how to project his voice. Another technique he adopted from being a spoken word artist was how to remember lines.
“I call it a mind exercise. Because I'm constantly saying the first thing, like the first line, I'm constantly saying it over and over," Oliver explained. "So, the last piece I wrote — just to give you an example -- it’s called Prototype. And so, 'Prototype,' it starts off by saying, 'I never met nobody quite like you.' So, I'll say that — let's say 20 or 30 times.”
After being a part of about 20 stage plays, Oliver stepped into the television world. He started doing commercials and other movie projects. He worked with a company called A1 Quality Media for a web series called Decisions. He stayed in contact with the owners, and they thought of him for a film project they were working on. They offered him the lead role in an Amazon Prime movie called “Humanity Without a Home.” That movie came out in 2019.
The Aurora native said he has California dreams. He visited the state to perform spoken word and one time for a movie premiere. One of his instructors from school suggested that if he was serious about the move to the Golden State, he should get his Screen Actors Guild card and become a part of an Actors Union. But, he said, he didn’t get the card.
“So, I just kept doing my thing around here and I just ended up buying a house here," he said. "But you know what, that's still something that I would love to do. I'm not counting that out because I bought a house.”
Oliver said being rejected is the most challenging part of the job. There are local roles that he is interested in but hasn’t been cast in. Some include Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Chicago PD. He said the competition is deep and he gets a little down whenever he auditions for one of those shows and doesn’t get it.
“If 10 doors close, I might be hurt for a couple of days or whatever, but always get back up because it's always other opportunities out there. I do four auditions a week," he said.
Another challenge came when the pandemic took the spotlight. Oliver was forced to do home auditions, but he had no clue how to execute those.
“When you do your home auditions, you got to have your phone horizontal, you got to have a plain, you know, I'm saying backdrop," he added, "and I didn't know that at first."
He said he immediately took a class to learn how to create a polished package. He said his fellow actors helped him as well.
Oliver said, after all his efforts, he leaves everything in God’s hands and what is meant for him will come to him. He will continue to do spoken word poetry, but he said his next steps are to learn how to write and direct his own films.
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
