ZBEK ready to make his mark

Jermaine Nelson adopted the stage name ZBEK (Zealously Be Embracing Knowledge) when his acting career started to soar.

ZBEK developed an interest in acting at an early age. The first movie he saw that inspired him was The Nutty Professor.

He secretly began to 'perform' in his room in front of the mirror, mimicking the actions and facial expressions of some of his favourite actors, including Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Al Pacino, Bruce Willis, Denzel Washington, Paul Campbell, and Glen Campbell.

ZBEK's journey has had many challenges along the way. To begin, he did not have a network of friends and colleagues who worked in the industry; he built this one step at a time.

There were many days when he questioned himself about his acting career and whether he was simply wasting his time.

He never doubted his talent, but he wondered if he would get the break that he needed to make his mark as an actor.

Things started to look up for ZBEK after he was featured in various music videos, including Vybz Kartel's Real Youth (2016), Busy Signal's Stay So (2018), and most recently, Wayne Marshall's Glory To God (2018).

Other music videos include Chronixx's Skankin Sweet (2018), Jada Kingdom's B.Y.E.H (2018), and Charly Black's God Is In Control (2018).

ZBEK has had many other roles in various TV and film productions. They include the role of Okeen, a lover boy, in the short film Perfect Love, which won an award at the Greater August Town Film Fest in 2018; Mango Wars (2017); Flight (2018); and Savannah (2017).

He lives by his personal philosophy: "The sky is no limit to what I can achieve because my achievement has no limit."

ZBEK sees the local industry as a ladder to propel him on to the international stage as he recently wrapped up an American series called Melting Pot, which will air on Netflix in the US.