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Peter Macon, an actor and voice-over artist, has had an extensive amount of experience acting in the theater — completing 150 performances in Macbeth alone. His talents have landed him guest starring roles in various TV series, including Supernatural, Dexter, and Shameless, to name a few. When he isn't acting on stage or on a production set, he's flexing his incredible voice-over skills, which landed him a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for narrating Animated Tales of the World. "My Emmy is sitting on my fireplace and I look at it sometimes and think, damn, that happened?" he laughs. Peter's latest role involves working with Seth MacFarlane, one of the best voice-over artists there is, on his new comedic drama TV series, The Orville (slated to premiere September 10th, 8 pm PT/ET). He happily dives into his character Bortus on the upcoming sci-fi FOX series, and how the whole thing played out. "When you're guest starring, it's very hard to 3-dimensionalize a character, but my extensive time involved with the theater has really prepared me for this role. It's 400 years in the future and I'm an alien," he laughs. "You get time to build an arc for the character. Larger-than-life Shakespearean characters lends itself to Bortus." Bortus is best described as a very stoic, single gender species with no sense of humor. He doesn't really understand humans. "Comedy is like math. You have to have —let's see, how do I put this? One clueless, wacky personality juxtaposed with my character, which is like a stone. There are times on-set where I want to crack up, but I know I can't. All the cast and crew have so much fun. We're celebrating each other's success. I've been waiting for a long time to feel this. I've worked my ass off to get to this point," he says, noting that the most important class he ever took was attending clown school. "You have to be vulnerable and it strips you down. It's humiliating and child-like. Working with the mask and prosthetics on the set was really cool. There is so much expression in the mask that I get to wear." Before signing on to The Orville, Peter had another job offer in Namibia. "I was waiting to pull the trigger and sign the contract, but my reps told me to audition. I thought to myself, I'm sick of playing tragic characters. I want to do something fun. They auditioned 100 guys for this role. When I went in for the audition, Seth actually listened to my audition with his eyes closed." And then, he landed the role. "It was definitely meant to happen and I feel extremely grateful for this opportunity." Being paid to act, isn't something Peter has consistently experienced. He tells me that next year would mark 30 years since he actually did paid work as an actor. "A few years ago I was almost homeless, my sublet was up, and I had no job and no money. I did have a car!" he exclaims. "But acting was a no-brainer for me. It's that conversation one has with themselves. I could not, not be doing something that I love. I'd feel like I was a shell of a person." He continued doing what he loves, and it finally paid off. Now, the actor barely has time to come up for air. With his wife, new son, and role on The Orville, things are pretty hectic. "Sleep? What's that?" His hearty laugh booms through from the other end of the phone line. He's watching his 15-month-old son —who I can hear playing and talking— fly around the house in his makeshift cape as we talk. I can sense the giant smile on his face. "Babies come into the world with bread under the arms —to provide. And that's what he does for me. He's a curious, large little man with tons of energy. Now, I'm the king of naps. I'm mostly exhausted, but I wouldn't have it any other way." When Peter has some free time, he enjoys spending it with family and friends and painting. He refers to himself as a "hobbyist DJ," trying to produce and make music. "I like spending time with my lady and I enjoy being still and appreciative for all that I have. And then I like to figure out my next move. I have folders upon folders of projects in my brain. It's like being in a bookstore —you'll never get through all of the books. I get to do what I love and hopefully matter in the scheme of things." Being an artist, in Peter's opinion, isn't necessarily for everyone. "What am I doing in comparison to poverty, homelessness, global warming? These are all extremely important issues. It's really difficult for the place of the artist —the relevancy in society. Because sometimes you don't feel important. You don't feel like you're contributing. This business is not for everyone. It's so much more than just being famous. Being an artist is constantly redefining yourself. Life experience is what makes a great actor. More than half the battle of being an actor is that you have to know what it is you're bringing to the table. Things are constantly changing. Not too long ago, black men couldn't play Othello." This busy lifestyle is by no means slowing him down. By the end of this year, Peter hopes to pursue another big project in the works. "My friend and I have this whole crazy-long, macro game plan: Ojos. I'm very interested in building things, and that's exactly what this project aims to do —build multi-functional spaces, warehouses, galleries, and eventually cruise ships. I want to build schools and art academies. By December 8, I want to have the whole packet for investors ready to go. I chose the name Ojos [which is Spanish for eyes], because when you cheers, you look someone directly in the eye. The year 2017 has been a phenomenal year. After all, 17 is one of my favorite numbers…it's also the year I began my pursuit of acting." It's clear that Peter has a firm grasp of what being in the industry is all about. "I want to be relevant and contribute to society and bring happiness to people in some sort of manner. I just want to be useful." ML