From “Aliens” to Netflix’s “Beauty in Black,” Ricco Ross reflects on longevity, reinvention and the experiences that continue to shape his career.
For Ricco Ross, longevity has meant refusing to be defined by any one role. From Private Frost in “Aliens” to Horace Bellaire in Netflix’s “Beauty in Black,” the American actor has built a career across film, television and independent creative work, continually finding new characters and challenges along the way.
His résumé spans “Mission: Impossible,” “Doctor Who,” “The Practice,” “ER” and “P-Valley,” reflecting a range that has taken him from cult classics to contemporary television. With season three of “Beauty in Black” now streaming and a fourth season on the way, Ross enters another chapter in a career spanning more than four decades. In this exclusive conversation, he speaks with DA MAN about the choices that shaped his journey, the lessons of working across continents and why he believes his best work is still ahead.
DAMAN: You’ve built a career that has taken you from Chicago to Los Angeles, London and beyond. Looking back, what do you think was the defining decision that changed the course of your life as an actor?
Ricco Ross: Getting accepted, and not only accepted but getting accepted with a fellowship, to grad school at UCLA! Until I die, I will bleed blue and gold.
DA: Early in your career, you felt you were being typecast and decided to leave the U.S. to study Shakespeare at LAMDA. What were you searching for at that point in your career?
RR: Like most actors, I wanted to be considered for a multitude of roles. I had a master’s degree from UCLA, and all I was being offered were gang members and characters like that. I know I was young, Black, tall and fit, but I watched my white counterparts play an array of roles, and I knew that, if given the chance, I could do the same.
DA: What did studying Shakespeare and working in Britain teach you about acting that you might not have learned had you stayed in Hollywood?
RR: First of all, it taught me that acting is just a job—an important job, and we get a lot of attention because we are in the public eye, but it’s just a job. Living a work-life balance is also important, and I remember thinking that when I left England, I would take that concept with me. I know that the stakes in Hollywood are bigger, but it’s not as important as actors often make it. We work to live and we do not live to work. Still, I do love it!
DA: You ended up living abroad for 13 years while also working as a model in France and Italy. How did that period change you, both professionally and personally?
RR: I got to see the world, and that will change anyone. There are three types of education: street education, formal education and world education. I had the first two, and modeling gave me the third.
DA: You once turned down a professional basketball contract in Cyprus to continue pursuing acting. What made you so certain that acting was the path you wanted to follow?
RR: I’m still not certain I made the right decision, but I’m happy with the choice I made. The primary reason I passed on the pro ball offer, which was a hard decision to make, was that I had just had my firstborn, a daughter, and I did not feel comfortable moving to a foreign country where I didn’t know the language, the culture or the medical system with a newborn.
DA: Your career includes everything from “Aliens” and “Mission: Impossible” to “Doctor Who,” “P-Valley” and “Beauty in Black.” Looking back, do you ever stop and marvel at the range of projects your career has taken you through?
RR: LOL… You know, as an actor, one is so preoccupied with finding the next job that we don’t often look back and see where we’ve come from. Just recently—well, this year—I have two movies coming out. In one, I play a Catholic priest, and in the other, I play the Devil. This gave me pause for a moment of reflection.
DA: Nearly 40 years after “Aliens,” Private Frost remains a character that audiences remember. What do you think makes certain performances stay with people long after a film is released?
RR: A lot of it is teamwork, so I don’t think it’s fair to take all of the credit. The writer writes the role, the cinematographer grabs the shot, the musical director scores the scenes, the editor creates reactions, the makeup artist and wardrobe create the look, and lastly, I make choices with the information I have and build upon it to breathe life into the role. If all of these things work in the context of the movie, the audience feels it and remembers it.
James Cameron and I had a conversation about me dying so fast in “Aliens,” and he stated, “You’re 6’3″, 200 lbs. We have to get rid of you. We have to get rid of everyone so that Ridley deals with the Alien, not because she wants to but because she has to. That is the sign of a real hero, but when you go, the audience are going to feel it and know that if Frost can be taken out, anything can happen. This will turn up the tension and keep them on the edge of their seats.”
DA: When you look back on your journey so far, what are you most proud of—not as an actor, but as a person?
RR: My children and the women in my life who have helped raise them is the first thing that comes to mind. The second is the people I’ve been able to help along the way. Lastly, spearheading a change in casting in Hollywood when I joined the SAG-AFTRA board in 2017 after the second year in a row of #OscarsSoWhite, when no one of color had been nominated, much less won an Oscar. I spearheaded a change in the language that casting directors present to actors, stating that all are invited to audition for pretty much all roles without limitation due to color, race, sexual orientation, etc.
DA: You’ve continued working through several generations of Hollywood and major changes in the industry. What has longevity taught you about building a lasting career in this business?
RR: That if you prepare yourself correctly, keep putting in the work, good things will happen. Also, to look at this business as a marathon, not a sprint.
DA: Your role as Horace Bellaire in “Beauty in Black” has introduced your work to a new generation. What was it like to have audiences discover you through this role before discovering everything you did before it?
RR: Surprising. I was only originally guaranteed five episodes as a guest star, so it was just another gig. Halfway through shooting the first season, Tyler Perry asked me if I would stay on as a series regular. He then rewrote seasons two, three and four to include me, and the rest is history. The biggest and most impactful jobs I’ve had, “Aliens” and “Beauty in Black,” were rewritten for me. I don’t know what that says, but it says something.
DA: What interests you most about Horace, and what was it like getting into his character?
RR: The complexity of the character and his intellect. When we first meet him, he appears to be poor when he’s rich. He appears to be old and feeble, but he’s strong and able. He seems homophobic, but he’s bi. At times, he can be the antagonist, and at other times, he appears to be the protagonist. To get all of this in one character is an actor’s dream.
DA: What is something acting has given you that you never expected?
RR: Maybe that I went from being seen as a Black man globally to being seen as a man.
DA: After more than four decades as an actor, what do you understand about yourself as a performer now that you simply couldn’t have known when you started?
RR: That acting is being, not acting, and that doing less is often more powerful.
DA: You’ve described yourself as believing that your best work is still ahead of you. What makes you feel that way after everything you’ve already accomplished?
RR: Time gives us experience, greater perspective, wisdom and more to reference from. My greater exposure has attracted better writers, directors, producers, filmmakers and opportunities. “The best is yet to come” is simply a logical conclusion, but, even more importantly, a strong desire.
DA: If someone discovers you today through “Beauty in Black” and then goes back through your career, what is the one thing you hope they understand about the journey behind all those roles?
RR: It was never easy, never comfortable, but always rewarding.
Photography Lensbymi
Styling Kimberly Yvette Goodnight
Grooming Veronica Nunez using Jaxon Lane and Pattern Haircare for Art Department Agency
Production Media Playground PR