Pop-Culturalist.com

Akono Dixon is a transformative storyteller who has brought complex and complicated characters to life in projects including Dolemite is My Name and the CW’s All American. This April, he leads the extraordinary cast of Hallmark’s Spring Breakthrough.

The must-see film follows Monica Rollins (Keesha Sharp), a single mother, who excitedly waits for her daughter, Vivian (Rhyon Nicole Brown), to come home for spring break, which is their annual tradition. Days before, after years of tireless dedication to her job, Monica is unceremoniously fired. To make matters worse, Monica is dealt a second blow when Vivian announces her surprise engagement to Shawn (Akono Dixon), someone Monica didn’t even know existed. She travels to the Gulf Shores for the engagement celebration, secretly determined to put an end to it, believing Vivian is much too young to be married. En route, she meets Clark Randall (Demetrius Grosse) at the airport, who also happens to be Shawn’s godfather, and an unexpected flirtation ignites. Monica and Clark spar about what she perceives is his juvenile attitude but as they learn more about each other, Monica begins to have a change of heart and just may find that she’s ready to open herself up to love once again.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with leading man Akono Dixon about Spring Breakthrough, disappearing into his character, and how the film explores the human connection.

PC: You were pursuing your PhD before you made the transition into acting. What ultimately led to that pivot?
Akono: I had a lot of friends and strangers who kept coming up to me and saying, “Akono, you have this light, this shine about yourself. You should really get into entertainment. You make people feel good.” Little did they know I started modeling when I was younger, and I’ve always loved being in front of a camera.

I’ve always loved being around people and using my energy in a really larger-than-life type of situation which has been TV and film. I remember going to New York on spring break when I was in college. I was there doing a little photo shoot. Being in New York and knowing that I wanted to act—which no one knew at the time—I realized, “Wow. You know what? I really want to act. I want to live my dream.”

I don’t think there was one specific moment. It was a cumulative amount of modeling when I was younger, people coming up to me constantly, and being inspired by movies and TV shows. That made me want to pursue it.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Akono: That’s a really good question. I feel as though I was called to act. I was called to influence people, whether that’s young boys and girls or adults. I feel like I have so much humility where I can do that.

Professionally, the person who has influenced me the most is River Phoenix. He’s such a phenomenal actor. Well, River Phoenix and Sidney Poitier. They both have such phenomenal stories.

Sidney Poitier was the first African-American male actor to win an Academy Award. Seeing him in movies, his class, and his professionalism, and knowing what he went through to get to where he got to is so inspiring. May he rest in peace. He’s such a class act and was so loving and kind. He’s a phenomenal actor and genuine human being who is also super talented.

The reason that I said River Phoenix is because I was raised by parents who were pretty spiritual. I’ve always been into self-help and treating everyone nicely, whether that’s animals, whether that’s people, and even myself and inanimate objects, and just having love for everything. River Phoenix exemplified that through his veganism. He exemplified that through his vulnerability and his work. He was so present and aware.

When I saw that another actor had that, I realized, “Akono, it’s okay to be yourself. It’s okay to be loving, vulnerable, and strong.” That was a big turning point in my career when I discovered River Phoenix and what he stood for.

PC: Tell us about Spring Breakthrough, your character, and what attracted you to this project.
Akono: Spring Breakthrough follows Monica, who is this high-powered businesswoman. Her life is going great until she finds out that her daughter, her bright star and only child, who is in college, gets engaged. The guy she’s engaged to is my character, Shawn. He flies her mother and her mother’s best friend to the Gulf Coast. Throughout the film, you see these two families learning how to understand each other and how to love each other.

Shawn is like the world’s best friend. He’s such an uplifting guy; his smile, his energy, his take on life, how he walks, and how he presents himself.

What really attracted me to Shawn is that he’s so focused. He knows what he wants. Though he may seem perfect, he’s also a very relatable person. He has insecurities like everyone has, but he’s also in tune with his greatness. He’s in tune with how he moves in the world, and he knows he’s a smart guy. He’s working in finance. He comes from a financial family. He’s just a really wholesome guy who really sees the best in people and wants to understand everyone and everything around him.

What attracted me to the story was the heart. There’s a roller coaster of emotions and polar and unipolar experiences that it keeps you so in tune with the film. You’re like, “What’s going on?” That’s one thing. The other thing is that it’s very human and very real. There’s so much human connection. There’s so much love. There are so many real-life experiences that as people we’ve all had, whether we’ve been in relationships or not, or with friendships or with crushes or with bosses. It’s such a real story that I know that everyone, no matter what walk of life they come from, will be able to relate to the story and may leave with a tear or two and with some inspiration too.

PC: There’s a beautiful moment in the film when Shawn is explaining that he knew Viv was the one because she’s the person who wants to share his ups and downs with, which is a beautiful metaphor for life and how we’re never on this journey alone. Who were the people who you turned to on your own journey?
Akono: My mother, father, and my really close friends. We all have different beliefs about certain things. However, we do share similarities, and we do have our ups and downs. We have our arguments, but at the end of the day, we know that we truly love each other. That’s the most important thing. We feel that. It’s the most powerful feeling in the entire universe.

PC: Without giving any spoilers, not everybody is on board with this engagement. There’s a moment when things come to a head, and Shawn has to open up to his potential in-law about needing her blessing before they’re able to move forward. You handle that scene with so much nuance. How did you create the space to dive into that particular moment and show a different side of your character?
Akono: That’s a great question. When I first got the script and was about to bring him to life, I asked myself, “What is Shawn not showing to the world?” AKA what is Shawn’s darkness? Why is he so happy? Why is he so bright? I understood, “Oh, this is why Shawn’s happy. This is what he went through. This is why his life shines so bright.”

When it came to that scene and how I was able to provide so much nuance, it was the help of Mykelti [Williamson], our director, and Silvia [Mathis], our EP. I was able to let Shawn fully speak. I don’t know where Akono was at that moment. I don’t know if he was pushed to the back, but Shawn was there. I just let him speak. That’s where that came from.

PC: This is your first leading role. Did anything surprise you about the experience? What was the biggest takeaway?
Akono: Every time that I get that question, I just want to do a backflip. This has been a dream. First of all, I want to say thank you to Hallmark and the entire Hallmark family. I love them so much. They treat everyone so well, and I love the stories they make.

The main thing that I take away from this is my responsibility to the craft and to those who will be inspired by me. That’s the main takeaway because we were working long hours. Whenever I’m working, I want to do not just my best, but I want to be a sign of upliftment and show complete dedication to the craft and story. That’s something that I really took away from that was to make sure the story is always the most important thing.

I really want to be a great example to anyone watching. That’s one of the biggest things that I took away is the responsibility of what I’m doing, who’s watching me, and what I want to leave behind, not just on set, but even when I’m at home. How can I be a great person?

PC: Is there a particular scene that you’re really excited for audiences to see? Which was the most challenging to film?
Akono: The most challenging was the one that you asked me about earlier. It was tough. Usually, when it comes to vulnerable and emotional scenes, that’s my forte. That’s what everyone in class knows me for. That’s what my coaches, agents, and Hollywood know me for. But during that scene, it was tough because I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted to do it so well. I wanted to make everyone proud. Then when I realized, “Wait, Akono, just go deep and be truthful.”

For me to connect with that truthfulness was to connect with Shawn and let myself get out of the way. That was the most challenging thing to do. I had to let Akono go and welcome Shawn in with all of his love, brightness, insecurities, and goodness.

As far as what scene I’m most excited for people to see, it’s all the scenes. There’s not just one scene. I believe every single moment that I experienced on this set was magical. It was beautiful. Everything stood for something.

PC: There are so many universal themes that this film tackles. Was there one that hit home for you? What do you hope audiences take away?
Akono: This film tackles humanity and that it’s okay to be human. We all relate to this because it’s a human story. No one is perfect. Throughout the story, you see everyone’s greatness. However, you also see their insecurities. You see what makes them tick. You see what makes them happy. You see what they’re shy about and what they don’t want people to know. It’s very human.

What I want people to take away is that it’s okay to be you. You can live life and not know every single outcome. Also, I hope that people are inspired by the film. No matter what’s before you, if you lead with love, everything is going to be fine. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true.

There were some amazing moments that happened to me even before I got this project. I believe I was already on a higher resonance of love. Then this project came, and that’s how I felt Shawn resonates. That’s what I got from the story. I hope everyone gets the inspiration to follow their dreams and to go after the things that they love no matter what the world says and no matter what obstacles may be in their way. Because when you watch the story, all the characters have obstacles, whether they’re physical or emotional, but you see that it all comes together – because we all found love. Each of the characters finds love within themselves and everyone around them.

PC: This is such an exciting time in your career. What’s your dream role?
Akono: I would love to be a superhero. I really would. I would love to be a superhero. However, I would also love to be a superhero who still is similar to how I see Shawn and how I hope other people see Shawn, who’s strong but he’s also vulnerable. He’s strong but also soft, which is relatable.

A lot of times, I’ll be honest, I see myself as a superhero, even though there are things in my external world that aren’t in my favor. But I think the reason why these external things in my world aren’t in my favor is because of my internal world and how I feel about myself, and how I feel about things that are going on with me emotionally, mentally, and physically. I want all that to come across in the characters I portray. I want them to be grounded.

It would be great to play a superhero that hasn’t been made yet. But I do love Spider-Man. I love Superman. It would be phenomenal to have a superhero that we haven’t seen before and give him real-life human complexes that everyone can relate to. I would love to inspire people because I feel like I inspire myself on a daily basis. I feel like it’s my duty and feel like it aligns with my nature.

To keep up with Akono, follow him on Instagram. Spring Breakthrough premieres on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries on 4/30 at 7/6c.

Photo Credit: Garrison Wilson