(NewsNation) — Remi Adeleke is a former Navy SEAL whose story is one of riches to rags to Special Ops to Hollywood.
Remy was born in Nigeria. His father was a descendant of Nigerian royalty. He lived a privileged early life, everything was the best money could buy.
But the Nigerian government stripped his family of their wealth and his father passed away.
Weeks later, Adeleke’s mother moved the family to New York’s Bronx, where they fell on hard times.
Out of what he saw as necessity, Adeleke pursued a life of petty crime during his teens, but saw the military as his opportunity to turn his life around. After enlisting in the Navy, Remi set his sights on becoming a Navy SEAL.
After years of work, he began a new career in America’s most elite service.
Adeleke’s assignments would take him around the world. But it was his decision to leave the Seals that would mark his most difficult challenge yet, civilian life.
“It can be frightening to walk away from that into the unknown,” Adeleke said during an appearance on “Morning in America”. “And so it was the first few months, my transition was pretty, pretty rough. Because I questioned my decision to leave.”
One day as Adeleke was writing a grad school paper, his phone rang,. He was offered a one-day background acting role that turned into another day, then three weeks, then a principal speaking role that launched him into a vibrant film and TV career.
“My plan after joining the military was to go into business consulting,” Adeleke said. “I got my master’s in organizational strategy. And that was the focus and the goal.”
But the next thing Adeleke knew, Hollywood came knocking.
“I had this opportunity in entertainment,” he said. “And one thing leads to another and before I knew it, I was just like, you know what this is going to be the business I’m focused on.”
A lot of people struggle to get into the acting business, but for Adeleke, he kind of fell into it.
“There’s always a way,” he said. “There is always a way. It’s just about doing the hard work to discover that way. And that’s something that I had to do and I still have to do every day, you know, it’s not a cakewalk.”
Adeleke has worked as an actor, writer, producer and as a role model.
He is currently working on a project for TV, however, “It’s a “TV show that I can’t talk about just yet.”
Watch the full interview with Remi Adeleke in the video player at the top of the page.