Stephen A. Smith hopes to take on more acting roles

Stephen A. Smith is perhaps the sports world’s foremost talking head. He’s on ESPN seemingly every hour of the day in some capacity and is the single most identifiable voice and personality in the sports media sphere. His stature and reach has never been larger. So now, he’s trying to branch out into different avenues creatively and apparently has one eye on a potential acting career.

In a recent chat with Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Smith pointed to his small role in the sprawling soap opera General Hospital as evidence he has plenty of chops to break into Hollywood.

“I’m going to do it,” Smith asserted to Jackson in the interview. “I have a recurring role on General Hospital. They swear up and down I can act. I have never taken an acting lesson in my life…” Smith said, making his case that there is some untapped potential with him as an actor. He thinks trying his hand at acting could even help him improve on his ESPN shows.

“It makes me better on television. When you do that, you feel like you’ve achieved a great thing. I like that high, that feeling. It is something I intend to do because I think it’s going to make me better in everything I’m doing in my career.”

Smith has only appeared a handful of times as part of General Hospital’s mammoth 15,000-episode catalog and is younger than the show itself, which has aired continuously for 60 years since it debuted in 1963. For some reference, that’s the same year the Beatles came together and released their first studio album Please Please Me. It’s an ancient juggernaut among soap operas and Smith is a minute part of it.

Who knows whether Stephen A. is ultimately serious about making a run at acting, but he did say in the interview, even if it’s not acting, he doesn’t want to get stagnant with where he is in his career and risk becoming irrelevant.

“I’m never going to be stagnant or take for granted what I have ever again. I would rather wear myself into the ground than be broke, without the ability to provide for my family. For me, my choice is to make sure my daughters, my 15 nieces and nephews, my sisters, my loved ones are to some degree taken care of because of my efforts.”

Interesting comments there from Smith on the true motivation behind his prolific media career. Now, it’s time to see Stephen A. work up some fake tears or where a funny-looking wig while he tries to make his mark as a serious American screen presence in the film industry.