HOPKINS, S.C. — You might have seen him on the big screen in "Cool Runnings" or "Why Did I Get Married". On Monday, actor Malik Yoba visited Lower Richland High School to help inspire students.
A round of applause filled the room for Yoba, who played the role of encourager for students.
“He gave me so much confidence. Just watching him on tv and seeing him in person, it really made me feel like 'you got this,’” Lower Richland High School student Jonathan Gilmore said.
Yoba is helping students get ready to star in the production of “Swoop” by South Carolina native Stephanie Perry Moore.
"It’s about five young ladies who basically find themselves on a list, a little form of bullying, so they go to a guidance counselor and they sing and they turn into what was meant to be a sad thing into a great thing,” Stephanie Perry Moore said.
Swoop, a musical movie, will be produced by Yoba’s production company and will be filmed in Columbia.
“We don’t spend enough time putting energy and resources behind what is it that’s going to help these kids achieve the best life possible,” Yoba said.
25 students auditioned and will make up the cast of the movie.
“All of my dreams happened because I saw people doing the things I aspired to do. The message that we don’t get enough, particularly with our young people, is that their birthright is abundance, their birthright is infinite possibility, their birthright is the ability to achieve the things they really dream about," Yoba said.
Students from Lower Richland are now excited about the chance to see their lives played on the big screen.
“If he can teach me the way he went about it, then I can learn the way he acts and everything, then I can be up there just like him,” Gilmore said.