From “America in 4 Minutes” to “Sistas,” actor, poet, writer and comedian Branden Wellington’s roots connect him back home.
Although he spent some time in South Florida, Wellington was primarily raised in Indiana alongside one older brother, one older sister and five younger siblings. Before becoming a recurring guest star on “Orange Is the New Black” and ensemble cast member in Tyler Perry’s “Sistas” and winning an Emmy Award for his spoken word poetry, Wellington developed his love for the arts right there in Indianapolis.
“It almost felt otherworldly, the way things fell into place,” Wellington said. “I always tell people that if I had to do my life over, I would never do it again, because I got too lucky on the first go around.”
From a young age, Wellington knew he wanted to pursue a career in entertainment. He had an affinity for jokes and making people laugh and experience as a rapper doing battles in the city; he even followed sports for a while.
However, Wellington said he fell in with the wrong crowd and was almost killed during a mall shooting when he was 16.
“I think somewhere between (nearly) losing my life to foolishness as a teenager, I took it (performing arts) seriously, and then that’s when I locked in,” Wellington said. “I started doing my first couple of plays. I really picked up the writing with my poetry (and) started doing poetry contests, poetry slams. And I made up my mind I’m gonna leave Indianapolis and go to New York for college and do my best to make something of myself.”
Theater was the first place that really championed who Wellington was naturally, and he said Broad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts & Humanities gave him a place to belong. Although the school closed as a public institution in 2018, Broad Ripple’s magnet program was one of the top programs for youth in the U.S. at one point, Wellington said.
Other notable alumni of the school include David Letterman, jazz musician Bill Myers, Broadway actor Charles Browning, as well as David Cork (“Run the World”) and Emmanuel Carter (“Noggin Knows”) — who came up in the program with Wellington.
READ MORE: From Broad Ripple to Broadway: Indianapolis’ homegrown star
“In that little pocket of time, there was a lot of talent concentrated in that arts and humanities program,” Wellington said. “It really laid down the foundation to help me learn to appreciate who I am and (they) accepted me for my natural energy, accepted me for my jokes and accepted me for all those things that felt like they didn’t fit anywhere else.”
One of the most essential things to his education and fostering his talents were his mentors, Wellington said.
In the program, Kristopher Owens and Charla Booth were instrumental in helping him get started in theater. Booth, who used to work for the Indiana Children’s Theatre, holds a leadership position at the Africana Repertory Theatre of IUPUI and fostered Wellington’s love of language and words and helped him enter his first poetry competition.
Owens, who used to head up the theater program at Broad Ripple Magnet High School, now leads the theater program at Pike Township and said the thing he remembers most about Wellington was how determined and involved he was as a student.
“He just really wanted to be there and be involved and be good,” Owens said. “I just got the sense that Branden knew this is what he was going to do. He wanted to be there. He wanted to get better.”
At that age, students may not be aware of their capabilities or their potential, Owens said. Sometimes, all it takes is for someone to give them more responsibility or cast them as a lead in a play to see what they can accomplish. For Wellington, however, Owens was not surprised by his success post-graduation.
“Because I knew then he could take on work and do it because he wanted to,” Owens said. “If anybody is going to be successful, it’s going to be the people who are really, really in it and working hard for it.”
After graduation, Wellington’s mother dropped him off for college in Brooklyn Heights with $200 and an Xbox to his name. Wellington did not know anyone in the city but promised his mom he would “find a happy ending.”
He graduated from New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts in 2009, and although his career did not really take off until 2015, he spent those six years doing short and independent films, poetry projects — anything he could to “get a leg up.”
Wellington recalls asking his aunt what the best thing to pray for was as an 18-year-old looking for help.
“Direction,” she told him. “The world is a big place. Imagine never being lost.”
“Here’s the truth: until you can actually live 100% off your art, you still feel like you’re surviving,” Wellington said. “When I got my first series regular role in Tyler Perry’s ‘Sistas’ … that’s when I took a pause from all this running, and I looked back and I said, ‘Wow, we did so much along the way.’”
Despite all his accomplishments and awards, Wellington admits the project he’s most proud of is the poem that really kick started his career: “America in 4 Minutes.”
Wellington was 17 when he wrote the poem on his mother’s couch in Indianapolis. He submitted it to the NAACP Act-So contest and placed second. The winning poem was submitted as a video and led to Wellington’s “aha” moment.
READ MORE: Seven Black writers make 2024 Indiana Authors Awards shortlist
So, Wellington decided to turn “America in 4 Minutes” into a video project. He got a grant to film it on Capitol grounds of Washington, D.C., hired a bunch of extras and got to work.
Unfortunately, the footage had to be scrapped, but Wellington was determined to try again. This time, however, Wellington had help from Tim O’Brien, who did graphics, John McClellen, who directed and Tony Anderson, who scored it… oh, and his roommates filmed it.
They uploaded the poem on YouTube in 2012, and it received more than 800,000 views, Wellington said.
“I had this poem that I knew I believed in, and every time I went to a poetry slam, everyone always asked, ‘Do the America poem!’” Wellington said. “I watched this poem I wrote at 17 turn into something crazy by the time I was 23 years old, and it was my entire career as a poetry performer, as a professional poet.”
From there, Wellington picked up a campaign to write for the NBA, which opened the door for the New York Mets to bring him on as an in-game host. He was then able to find a manager who got him into acting, then his first agent, then his role in “Sistas.”
“So, it really all started with ‘America in 4 Minutes,’” Wellington said. “I always say that God changed my life through the gift of poetry. It was poetry that got me out of Indianapolis and got a scholarship to go to school in New York. It was poetry that helped me get my first professional writing job and opened the door for me to start working for big time organizations.”
This story has been updated.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-8748. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgvowanxx.
