‘I can be anybody’: Rising SCSU senior appears in crime drama

Sumpter, a rising senior and drama major at South Carolina State University, plays Mara Glover in “Born Again: The Series.”

It’s a crime drama which can be streamed for free on Tubi, one of the nation’s most-watched streaming services.

Sumpter says she began acting at the tender age of 8, but knew she wanted to be an actor even before then.

“I began at the Bluebird Theatre in Orangeburg. My first production was ‘Annie.’ I’ll never forget it because that was like the first audition I majorly blew. It was so bad, but somehow I still got a part in the play. After doing that, I knew that I wanted to do this. I really wanted to do acting,” she said.

Sumpter continued, “I’ve always known a part of me wanted to do something of the sort. I just never knew what it was. …

“I wasn’t the kind of kid that wanted to watch ‘Barney.’ I wanted to watch Disney, I wanted to watch Nickelodeon. I just wanted to see that because, first, I love the shows, and I love the different actors and the different ranges that they had.”

“I remember staring at the TV one day. … I didn’t understand the concept of acting yet. I was like, ‘How are they doing this? How are they pretending to be this person and that person? That’s kind of fun. I want to try it.’ So then I started doing it without a camera, without being on stage. I just did it around the house, really. I just did different things around the house, and my family was my audience,” she said.

Sumpter enjoys the places where acting takes her.

“I love basically just being different characters. Ever since I was a kid, I was very open and very wild. I would just do different accents and different characters, … just anything I would see on TV. That’s when I knew I can be anybody, I can play anybody. Then I got an opportunity to do it on stage. It just opened me up to a whole new, different level,” she said.

The actress is the daughter of Orangeburg couple B.J. and Zipporah Sumpter.

Her father also serves as her manager. She says they’ve both learned from the experience.

“Dad-ager. That’s what we call him. It’s fun. … I’m not saying I don’t listen, but we really had to establish our business relationship and father-daughter relationship and how to separate them. I think I’m getting better with that on my end. … I’m very thankful to have him, and he knows what he’s doing,” Sumpter said.

While she has had mainly worked as an extra on several television shows, including “The Righteous Gemstones,” “Heels” and “Sistas,” Sumpter said, “This was my first time ever having a lead character with lines.”

“Born Again: The Series” follows four individuals in Atlanta as they grapple with a series of gruesome murders in the entertainment business that seem to defy explanation.

“The cast and crew were so loving. It was just such a great environment. Everyone just took care of me, and I’m very grateful that God put that in my pathway,” she said.

Sumpter said the set became a home away from home for the entire month while she and other cast members were shooting the seven-episode series last year.

The experience was the first time that the then 19-year-old had left home by herself, but she didn’t let fear and doubt derail her plans to stay and make the experience a memorable one.

“I almost did not make it. I was very scared. Then, also, I started to tell myself, ‘Can I really do this?’ Fear started really getting in my mind. I was like, ‘Am I really capable of doing this for the first time – actually being an actress and having my own lines and having to remember them?’ I almost stopped myself, but I kept pushing. Thanks to my parents and God, they just kept pushing me,” Sumpter said.

She said her experience working with the show’s director, Jurian Isabelle of Huntsville, Ala.-based Isabelle Bros. Studios, was a pleasant one.

After her father asked her to consider the script for the character of Mara Glover, Sumpter said she eventually made the character her own. Even so, she was shocked after hearing back from Isabelle the day after she turned her self-tape audition video in.

“He was like, ‘I love it, I want you to play Mara Glover.’ … I was flabbergasted. I was very shocked. I’m like, ‘OK, I guess this is going to happen now.’ … I’m excited for it to be on Tubi. I like how they always give directors and other filmmakers a chance to express their story. I’m really happy about it,” Sumpter said.

She described her character as being in her late teens and living with her grandmother in Alabama, where she grew up in the church.

“She’s an aspiring singer that wants to write these songs and make it big with this record company called Madhouse Productions. … Once I make it, it’s a journey. I start going through a lot of things, a lot of twists and turns,” Sumpter said.

Sumpter said her parents allowed her to express her creativity from a young age, but she also gives credit to the training she has received at S.C. State for her success today.

“My parents encouraged me. … It really opened my mind so much to the level that I had such a great imagination. I really didn’t need friends to come over that much. I wanted them, but I didn’t need them because I had my imagination and my imaginary friends. It just took me to a whole different world, and that’s why I believe that having those parents has gotten me to the point where I am today,” she said.

Sumpter said S.C. State has also helped her hone her acting skills as a drama student.

“They’ve helped me with memorization, getting me out of my comfort zone. When you’re an actor, you have to. You don’t have a comfort zone. You’re just out there in the open. I’m like, ‘I don’t want to do that!’ You have to. So if it wasn’t for that, I really wouldn’t be able to play Mara as I have,” she said.

Sumpter said she has appreciated the trips to and from Atlanta, all of which were a part of the sacrifices her parents have made for her over the years.

She encourages people to not give up on their dreams.

“I just want to remind people to never give up. Your dreams can come true. Even if you don’t have a supportive platform, you’ve always got God. He’s always there. If you’ve got him, you really don’t need anybody else. You just take it from there and go with your goals,” Sumpter said.

She is not worried about where her acting career will lead and just enjoys each opportunity as it is presented.

“Honestly, it’s wherever God takes me. I used to kind of worry a bit about it freshman year because a lot of people were telling me, ‘You know, Zaria, are you sure about this? You sure you want to do this major?’ … I care, but it’s wherever the Lord leads me. I just want to start off slowly. Let’s graduate college first,” she said.

Sumpter continued, “If I do another production or another project during my senior year, that’s great, more to add to my resume. I’m not really worried about it. It’s just about taking life day by day.”

The budding actress said it’s more about the journey and what she’s learned along the way.

“I don’t really care so much about getting paid. I care so much about getting the experience and seeing how the directors are working, how the executive producers are working, the sound. I just see so much and how it all plays into one role. I really have a great understanding of the background and backstage crews and how they work. You really think about the director and actors and that’s it, but there’s so much: sound, lighting, costumes. It all plays in,” Sumpter said.

Her proud mother said she appreciates how much her daughter has grown personally and professionally.

“Her dad and I are very, very proud of her. I think we’re her biggest supporters. She started out in the Jr. Orangeburg Part-Time Players. I was there every summer. … We’re just extremely proud of her. We support her, whatever it is. If she comes to us and says she wants to do it, we’re going to do our best to make it happen,” Mrs. Sumpter said.