Skylan Brooks
The talented Skylan Brooks was born on 12th February 1999, in Torrance, California, USA, and is known for his standout performances in shows and movies such as “The Darkest Minds” and “BLOOM”.
As a child, Skylan’s parents enrolled him in a number of extracurricular activities and sports to keep him busy. One of those activities included theatre and acting classes, and over time, Skylan discovered that he genuinely enjoyed the craft and wished to pursue it further.
At 6ft (183cm) tall and weighing 171lbs (78kgs), Skylan’s imposing stage presence and quiet confidence have helped him become considered one of the most promising young talents right now. While perfecting his craft, the actor has explored just about every genre since his 2005 debut, from sci-fi thrillers and drama shows to artsy shorts and kids’ movies.
Apart from acting, Skylan’s greatest passions are photography and writing, which he does in his limited free time. The Californian’s writing is inspired by nature, the state of the world, and talking with friends or even making up scenarios in his head. Meanwhile, he became interested in photography as a way to capture different aesthetics and follow his imagination.
Regarding Skylan’s personal life, the actor is believed to be single and focused on his career.
Career
In 2005, Skylan landed his first (uncredited) role in the short “Roll Bounce”. Three years later, he returned with minor roles in “Seven Pounds”, “The Van Pelt Family”, and “Who’s Boo?”, which led to a one-time appearance in the Disney series “iCarly”.
2010 was a busy time for the young actor, as he did two shorts – “Ships Wrecked Cove” and “Stanley” – played Buddy Boyd in the romcom “Our Family Wedding”, and appeared in the music video for “The Little Black Book”. The next couple of years were similarly jam-packed, and Skylan’s performances shone through even in his more lackluster projects, such as “Noobz” and “General Education”.
At just 13 years old, the African-American performer scored a leading role in the George Tillman Jr. movie “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete”. The surprisingly uplifting coming-of-age story followed two inner-city kids forced to fend for themselves, and evade the police and a host of unsavory characters after their mothers were taken away by the authorities – all the while awaiting the results of a child-actor casting call which could be their ticket to a better future.
Skylan and his co-star Ethan Dizon earned Oscar buzz that year due to their outstanding performances, which is no small feat considering that the movie boasted a star-studded cast with the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Anthony Mackie and Jordin Sparks. Years later, Skylan would describe his experience working with Jennifer as ‘really nice’ – even though she had to slap him several times while filming one of the scenes, for which she apologized profusely.
The Californian’s next roles were in “Oliver, Stoned”, “Southpaw”, and “The Get Down”, and he became noticeably more selective with his projects following the success of “The Inevitable Defeat”. In 2018, Skylan played his first celebrity, West Coast rapper Snoop Dogg, in a miniseries about the unsolved murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G; he also joined the cast of “Empire” as Quincy, a young man who was wrongly incarcerated and developed a close relationship with supporting character Andre, played by Trai Byers.
Although his recurring role in “Empire” came to an end in 2020, Skylan remained booked and busy with “Outsiders”, a sci-fi thriller about a teen who’s blamed for the disappearance of his girlfriend. The actor played main character Jaylen, who had to race against time to clear his name and protect himself from his fellow townsfolk and law enforcement officers; meanwhile, Clark Blacko portrayed Jaylen’s girlfriend Amira, who was abducted by aliens during a raucous house party.
Outsiders trailer: Skylan Brooks, Taryn Manning sci-fi thriller pits a high school student against otherworldly forces https://t.co/WQ0HANvAvc pic.twitter.com/auh7VkyNjw
— Arrow in the Head (@arrowinthehead) March 9, 2022
‘The amount of work I’ve put in, it’s even hard for me to think that I’ve done this much,’ Skylan admitted during a promotional interview. Despite the movie’s serious subject matter and the prejudice his character suffered, the actor had fun playing Jaylen and was able to live out what his teenage high school years could’ve been; Skylan himself was homeschooled from 10th grade onwards and was unable to attend many parties due to his busy filming schedule.
During his interview with Movie Web, Skylan shared which scenes were the most challenging to shoot, and spoke about his future career aspirations. ‘I want to create things that are in my own mind and really take the time to flesh it out… I’m at a point where I can finally say: this is what I’ve achieved, and this is what I want to achieve for myself.’
Around the same time, Skylan also filmed for the 2020 action thriller “Archenemy”, which premiered worldwide at the Beyond Fest and was released in cinemas two months later. Written and directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer, the movie follows Max Fist (played by Joe Manganiello), a man who claims to be a hero from another dimension, and who’s fallen through time and space to Earth, where he has no powers.
Skylan’s character, a teen boy named Hamster, formed an unlikely friendship with Max, and they joined forces to wipe out the local drug syndicate and its vicious crime boss. According to Skylan, he accepted the role because he liked the thought of playing a ‘young black teen who has an edge to him but follows his heart’. Unfortunately, the independent film was a box office flop that made just $136,240.
Overall, Skylan’s career has been an exciting and fruitful one with plenty of anecdotes to tell his grandchildren one day. While working with Forest Whitaker and Jake Gyllenhaal on “Southpaw”, the Californian recalls Forest taking a moment to tell him to continue to stay focused and be humble, not to take anything for granted. Meanwhile, shooting for “The Darkest Minds” with Amandla Stenberg was full of hilarious moments, such as when the cast members decided to make up a song between takes in the forest where they were shooting.
Moving on to Skylan’s net worth, we believe that the actor is sitting on a small fortune of $2 million thanks to his roles in a variety of successful projects. For the time being, acting is Skylan’s only stream of revenue.
