IT turns out that Everaldo Creary's soft-and-cuddly, nice-guy veneer may actually be bulletproof armour. And from all indications, it's been working in his favour.

EVERALDO CREARY... I want to leave a great legacy that can do Jamaica proud and make it better for the next generations (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

These days, he's a gracious, appreciative and level-headed Jamaican stage and film star on the rise, who is unapologetic about his gotta-do-what-I-love passion. And after years of racking up medals as in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) National Speech Festival as a performance poet with the boy group Nomaddz, Creary has discovered a real taste for stage work. But unlike many of his drama school-trained contemporaries, Creary (now in his mid-20s) was not concocted in a petri dish in some underground lab. His journey was far more interesting.

His skeptical parents (dad is a bishop, mom is an evangelist) encouraged him to pursue a college degree and use acting as a "back-up" upon leaving Kingston College. So Creary played the game, enrolling at the University of Technology (as a marketing student) in 2003. And then, after two years, he was over it, and started to take control of his destiny - one small role at a time.
"It was a hard decision to leave UTech but I just felt that I had to go with my heart. Doing theatre on the side was clashing with my school work. If I had had my own way after sixth form, I would have gone to Edna Manley to study Drama. Since attending KC, performing on stage has always been my love," Creary admits. "It was a risk but I'm glad I took the risk. I feel more blessed now, more successful and more in control. I think we all have the ability to assess ourselves and see where our strength lies."

HOUSE OF PRAYER

Speaking with Creary on a postcard-perfect afternoon in Kingston, the conversation suddenly veers toward faith and religion, which made me wonder initially if the fastest rising star in Jamaican theatre - whose extracurricular résumé so far remains unbesmirched by confessed drug habits, late-night party brawls or police arrests - had recently started a spiritual relationship with his maker. Or has he found a spiritual gateway to a fully realised life?

Turns out the chap grew up (the eldest of three boys) in the tradition of his parents' strict revivalist principles. So for much of his childhood, though he was the runty, relatively athletic kid, he was brought up in a God-fearing household.
"It was a very strict Christian household. I mean going to church almost every day for the week. My father is a bishop for one church and my mother is an evangelist for a Revivalist church. But of course, we stuck with mommy more. We attended the Zion Episcopal Baptist Church."
But these days, close to two decades later, Creary is on a different spiritual path; one he says allows him to worship God in his own way.

"Christians nowadays create God in such a way that it makes other people feel like it's impossible to reach God unless they believe what they the Christians believe. And that's not right. I grew up to appreciate Jesus as someone who loves everyone," Creary stresses.

"In these times, you have to have a healthy prayer life. Prayer is a conversation really but I think not enough people treat it as such. I have a lot of ideas inside me that I want to share with people, and I think the best way to do that is to probably write a book," he adds with a knowing smile.

KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE

In his latest stage work, as a cast member in Aston Cooke's witty satirical review Jamaica 2 Rahtid - Pupalick (currently running at The Pantry Playhouse in New Kingston), Creary delivers strongly and seems to have caught a stride that can only lead to bigger stage roles. Already in his budding career, it's mostly been a half-decade of outstanding efforts and few disappointments. At the same time, Creary hasn't just embraced theatre. He has since branched off into shooting television commercials and local feature films, appearing in such vehicles as the comedy Candy Shop and Storm Saulter's Better Mus' Come.

"It's easily the best movie out of Jamaica since The Harder They Come," Creary says of Better Mus' Come, which premiered to good reviews at the Flashpoint Film Festival in Port Royal this June.

Already, he has another film role in the works - a part in Paul Bucknor's upcoming dramedy Blood, Green and Gold, courtesy of Firefly Films.

"Right now we are doing some script and character development so I can't say too much about it yet. We are hoping to begin filming next year so that we can have something to show at the next Flashpoint," he points out.
At the moment, there's also talk of a role in a new Stages Production project, set for early 2009. For the time being though, he's still hanging tight with his boys from Nomaddz, and their album, tentatively titled The Trod, should materialise next year. The award-winning poetry group, which comprises Creary, Sheldon Shepherd, Oneil Peart and Chris Gordon, has dubbed their brand of spoken word as 'revolutionary'.

"We want to use our dub poetry to help revolutionise the whole contemporary and alternative poetry scene. There's a lot we plant to do. Apart from the album, we have a concert planned," Creary says.

He also plans to pen a screenplay about issues such as child abuse and how it affects victims into adulthood.
"There's actually a case I know of that I want to explore. I know it would make an interesting movie," he notes. "That's the kind of legacy I want to leave. A great legacy that can do Jamaica proud and also bring about some unity and professionalism that will make it better for the next generations."

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