| Intro | American film director and actor |
| A.K.A. | Tsalta D. Baptiste, Tsalta Dwan McQueen-Baptiste |
| Is |
Film director Actor Teacher |
| From | United States of America |
| Type |
Academia Film, TV, Stage & Radio |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 19 January 1988, Berkeley |
| Age: | 32 years |
Tsalta Dwan McQueen-Baptiste (Chinese: 王宇玄; pinyin: wàng yǔ xuán; born January 19, 1988), known as Tsalta Baptiste (pronounced /təˈsɑl.tə/ tə-SAL-tə), is an American film director and actor. He gained recognition for a trailer for Until the End of Time, an upcoming Chinese semi-biographical film, in which he portrays late American rapper Tupac Shakur.
Early life
Baptiste was born in Berkeley, a city in northern Alameda County and within the San Francisco Bay Area of California. He grew up listening to hip hop music from artists such as Tupac Shakur, Nas and Jay-Z, and began performing at the age of 9 as part of a musical group financially backed by Shari Lewis. The group broke up after Lewis’ death in 1998, but Baptiste continued to perform, turning his focus to acting. He graduated from Wilmer Amina Carter High School in Rialto, California.
Baptiste later attended Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California before being referred to a recruiter at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas by his sister. He joined the university’s debate team upon enrolling, winning over 20 first or second place awards at national events and international competitions in countries such as Belgium and Hungary. He later spent a month on a study program in Beijing, the capital of China, before enrolling at the Concordia University in Irvine, California.
Acting career
2010–2014: Early work
Baptiste appeared in a number of independent films while studying at Texas Southern, and also briefly worked at Music World Entertainment for its founder Mathew Knowles, the father of American singer Beyoncé. He later moved to China to carry out field research as part of his studies at Concordia University, while also teaching English at the Zhejiang Yuexiu University of Foreign Languages. He also appeared in numerous Chinese commercials,
In 2013, Baptiste appeared in a short film entitled Last Night at Dinner.
2015–present
In November 2015, Baptiste published a trailer for an upcoming film entitled Until the End of Time, centered around late American rapper Tupac Shakur, garnering over 135,000 views on YouTube before being taken down by Universal Music Group on grounds of copyright infringement. The trailer was met with mixed reception from critics, but in an interview with The New York Times, he said he “knew it wasn’t going to be well received”.
HipHollywood branded the trailer “ridiculously hilarious”, while Mic commented that it “hit on just about every B-movie trope, drawing blank, confused, breathless takes from almost every major music publication.” Although Complex commented that the film was “cheap AF [sic]”, they added that it is “coming from a place of love” and that Baptiste “definitely looks the part, and is clearly trying to get the iconic body language [of Shakur] down.” On the other hand, Vice commented that the film’s subject matter was “quite bold”, while Maxim branded its trailer “wonderful and strange”. Howl & Echoes praised Baptiste’s acting, commenting that he “captures Pac’s voice, appearance, and absurd hand gestures perfectly” and added that the film “promises to be the most sophisticated hip hop biopic yet made.” Crack branded the trailer “straight up magic”, adding that it is “gold from start to finish”.
In an interview with Rolling Stone Italia, Baptiste confirmed plans of a similar film about the Wu-Tang Clan.