“I JUST GOT offered another movie role,” says Stephen Hadeed, Jr., grinning slyly as he guided his jeep through Friday’s downtown traffic. “I don’t know if I’ll take it,” he adds softly, almost to himself. “I don’t know – and I don’t want to sound like a dick – but I’m at the point now where any role I take needs to advance my career. I don’t want to only do things for fun.”
If he accepts this new role, it’ll be the eighth character he’s played this year alone.
Stephen Hadeed, Jr. | photographed by Rendel Gonzales; styled by Johnathan Zakour
Two hours earlier, during lunch at Chaud Cafe, he spent the time poring over the [T&T] Film Festival schedule; animatedly pointing out the must-see films; highlighting the ones up for an award; and diverting occasionally to critique Trinidad’s burger options. At this year’s Festival, he stars in the Michael Rochford flick, Pendulum (which has been nominated for Best T&T Feature Film, in the fiction category); appears in The Resort, directed by Shadae Lamar Smith; and presents his first short film, as a producer, Just A Drop. It’s a dizzying schedule.
“It really is an exciting time to be an actor or filmmaker in Trinidad and Tobago,” gushes Hadeed. “The film festival has done so much to spark that interest. The next three to five years will be awesome.” He could be overwhelmed, but I can’t tell.
Stephen Hadeed, Jr. | photographed by Rendel Gonzales; styled by Johnathan Zakour
Hadeed is also set to play Prince Charming in The Baggasse Company‘s stage adaptation of the classic fairytale, Cinderella. “In the majority of the roles I’ve had the opportunity to play, sometimes it’s easy to identify the similarities first, so you have a base,” he explains. “Then, anything else that is far-fetched, or exaggerated, that you may not have experience with, that’s where the work really starts to come in.” The Bagasse adaptation is a musical, and with little (read: no) singing experience, it’ll be interesting to see Hadeed pull this one off. “There’s very little in this world I cannot do. That’s the only reason I’m doing this [Cinderella]… because I know I can do it to some degree. I’m not a singer, but I can sing.”
Stephen Hadeed, Jr. | photographed by Rendel Gonzales; styled by Johnathan Zakour
For the most part, he serves as a template for the gentleman: suave and deferential, certainly affable, firm and more-than-faintly dandyish. At first glance, the 31-year-old actor/producer has a more measured presence than most. In fact, there’s an almost-stubborn restraint when it comes to his composure. That he would play Prince Charming, makes sense.
Stephen Hadeed, Jr. | photographed by Rendel Gonzales; styled by Johnathan Zakour
“The Prince, he has family pressures… [that’s] something I can understand. He has high expectations set for him, but… he’s a nice guy. He treats people well. I think that’s where he shows most of his colours, when he’s dealing with people who may be considered his inferiors.”
With his newly-added producer title, and burgeoning film and theatre roles, his life is a constant churn of day-job-ing at the family business, rehearsals, social appearances and family events. His family has a storied history: his grandfather founded a textiles business, which would later transform into a menswear retail empire. “I grew up in sales. My father’s in retail clothing. My grandfather was in retail clothing… I dabble in it. I help out and I contribute.” There’s a brief pause as he considers his next statement. “I’d be lying if I said it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life, but I appreciate and I respect what it’s given me.”
Stephen Hadeed, Jr. | photographed by Rendel Gonzales; styled by Johnathan Zakour
He’s sensitive about family stuff. In this moment, it becomes less difficult to imagine him as a vulnerable, overwrought thespian. Illustrated by the way he shares one of his anecdotes – whether it’s about his nephew’s first time at the Zoo, the importance of just-the-right-kind-of-fluffy barra, or that one time he wore a blinding, shark skin suit to someone’s wedding – Hadeed moves and speaks and stares with a kind of twitchy intensity. Throughout our meet-up, more fissures would appear. He slowly becomes a meandering, non-stop stream of childhood stories (‘oh, I was a huge nerd… I was bullied… I wasn’t cool at all…‘), mini rants about the proper use of indicators while driving, and social injustice.
Stephen Hadeed, Jr. | photographed by Rendel Gonzales; styled by Johnathan Zakour
With Cinderella, it’s his first time on a major theatre stage, and he’s literally vibrating. Cinderella co-director, Aaron Schneider notes: “His commitment and dedication to getting it right, sees him doing it again, and again, and again until he gets it right. And he does get it right, as you will see on stage. He goes after what he wants. He pursues, he dedicates himself, and then he reaps the reward.” There’s a gnawing restlessness with Hadeed; a need to try his hand at something new, often; and to examine every possibility. Like dropping out of university (pre-med) to chase his acting career. It’s precisely this type of reckless energy that seems to make up the whole man; the type of energy he pinballs between sharing and masking, with great calculation.
“It became something that I wanted to do so bad; to get back into the acting, to get back into the playing the ass – because that’s kind of what it is, playing the ass – and yeah… I left school. I came home and, after a few years of negotiating with the parents, I got the opportunity to go to New York and wait tables… I mean, act. And sell wine.
“I sold a lot of wine.”
Stephen Hadeed, Jr. | photographed by Rendel Gonzales; styled by Johnathan Zakour