Chance Calloway on Faith, Resilience and the Magic of Myth-Making
WRITTEN BY BRI STOKES,
Photography by Amber Salik
Chance Calloway is a limitless talent—as a screenwriter, author, director and musician, his artistry and the influences that have shaped it are staggering.
The passion he carries for his many disciplines radiates off of him with an exuberance that is revitalizing to bear witness to. Over the course of our discussion, he speaks animatedly about everything from Norman Lear to Greek mythology, and it’s impossible not to get swept away by the excitement he has for the arts. He’s a true creative in every sense of the word—the kind who creates not just because it’s their livelihood, but because their art cannot be contained to any one time, place or medium; the sort of artist who creates because they must.
I joined Chance on a sunny August afternoon at the L.A. State Historic Park for a conversation on faith, his digital television show, Pretty Dudes, and how to remain optimistic and resilient throughout the undulations of life.
"I turned myself and my friends into these superheroes based on Greek gods."
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"I turned myself and my friends into these superheroes based on Greek gods." 〰️
“I’m hella gay. I’m also hella Christian,” Chance exclaims at the top of our conversation. “[Those two things are] incongruous, but that’s still part of me.”
The multidimensionality of his lived experience—as a Black, queer, Christian veteran—informs his art, which is rife with nuances and multi-layered ideas surrounding the intersections between identity, spirituality and community.
“Whenever I incorporate religion into my art, it's about engaging it with the reality of life—how does [religion] impact the characters? How does it impact the world in a real way? And that's not always positive.”
Chance openly acknowledges the ways in which, from an outside perspective, his identity and faith may seem at odds with each other, but asserts that this is “because of other people of faith, not because of anything within me, not because of anything with the God that I believe in, and not because of the queer community.
“Whenever I incorporate religion into my art, it’s about engaging it with the reality of life—how does [religion] impact the characters? How does it impact the world in a real way? And that’s not always positive.”
“If you think of all the other sins that people could rattle off the top of their head, the majority of them are sanctioned by people [or] by the government. If you think of how many times people lie, how many times people kill, [and] the concept of adultery—those are things you can get forgiven for. However, if you identify as queer, then you go to Hell, which fascinates me. So I could just walk down the street and kill a man and I can be forgiven. But because I love a man, I'm going to hell?”
Chance’s interest in diverse storytelling began with his fascination with mythology and superheroes, which arose from a reverence for Biblical stories and the powerful, larger-than-life people within them. In the sixth grade, he began working on his first novel, which featured characters patterned after his childhood friends.
“I turned myself and my friends into these superheroes based on Greek gods,” he says of the project. “If you read comics, it's all associated with mythology. As I got older, I was like, ‘oh, but what if they get their powers from God as opposed to mythology?’ So I read about people in the Bible that you could think of as superheroes, like Samson, or Elijah, or King David.”
The pull to create modern mythos is alive and vibrant in the world-building of his novels (such as Lost, a fresh take on the Peter Pan story told from the perspective of a Lost Boy loosely inspired by Rufio from Steven Spielberg’s Hook) and in Pretty Dudes, the digital dramedy he created and still writes and directs. Pretty Dudes shimmers with its own air of myth-making in its electrifying cast of characters and the grand ways in which they influence each other’s journeys.
"I have the benefit, because of my queerness, that I get to see that sensitive side of men more."
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"I have the benefit, because of my queerness, that I get to see that sensitive side of men more." 〰️
The show, which premiered in 2016, follows the day-to-day adventures of a group of five friends living in Los Angeles as they navigate through various relationships. It portrays masculinity and male friendships with an affirming, sensitive slant—one that is, arguably, rarely seen or explored in media.
“I have the benefit, because of my queerness, that I get to see that sensitive side of men more,” Chance says, “and I like to show that in my art as well. I feel like a lot of times, especially in comedy, masculinity is reduced to these tropes that aren't recognizable, and usually unlikable—like the slob husband with the hot wife, or the chauvinistic, misogynistic friend that gets all the girls anyway. I can't relate to these people. So what I tried to do is show the nuance in a lot of friendships and relationships.”
Pretty Dudes was originally born from a desire Chance had to see a show that centered (and was rooted in) queerness, even as it charted the lives and stories of non-queer characters. “I love the whole ensemble concept. I love the whole six-friends-one-brownstone kind of thing that Living Single popularized, and other shows stole,” he tells me, laughing. “So I thought, ‘okay, how do I do it? How do I make it queer, make it Brown, make it fun and engaging?’ That's how I came up with Pretty Dudes.”
True to his writing style, the show is partially inspired by his own friendships, and seeks to honor the diversity that weaves throughout them. He speaks ardently about his desire for Hollywood to catch up to him, and about how the dearth of non-White showrunners and filmmakers behind the scenes is often reflected on screen.
“In Hollywood, straight White men get to make mistakes all the time, and with a bigger budget, and still get co-signed by older, straight White men, consistently,” he says (he also very explicitly mentions Colin Trevorrow by name here as an example). “But because I'm Black and queer, you give me less opportunities than other people [get]. I could look at that and be defeated. There are a lot of talented, amazing filmmakers that have left L.A., because of the way the system perpetuates the cycle.”
“In Hollywood, straight White men get to make mistakes all the time, and with a bigger budget, and still get co-signed by older, straight White men, consistently. But because I’m Black and queer, you give me less opportunities than other people”
But “defeat” is simply not a part of Chance’s vocabulary.
His endless creative drive is fueled, in part, by an unwavering sense of optimism that permeates through the warmth of his personality. He believes that the distance between the impossible and the possible is the width of a mere stone’s throw, and he leads his life according to the resilience that this belief has gifted him.
“I think what I am is a cartoon character walking through a Michael Mann movie. I'm the real-life Roger Rabbit. So, all these bad things are happening, and I'm still just like, ‘yeah, but there's also good stuff!” he says buoyantly.
(For the record, I’d like to get “I’m the Real-Life Roger Rabbit” framed somewhere in my home).
For Chance, the key to creative success and accessing the courage to meet life’s challenges is to practice discernment, to define all potential setbacks as simple challenges, and to radically and radiantly create the spaces you want to see in the world.
“Life sucks, and there's just so much bullshit out there. I just refuse to let it bring me down.”
Pretty Dudes, as well as Chance’s novels, music and upcoming projects can be found on his website, chancecalloway.com.
