Special: The Man Who Still Achieved Even When No One Believed | Tom Moutchi

Tom Moutchi, or more widely known as Tommy Xpensive; has taken over social media with his short and incredibly entertaining videos. He has boosted the UK into the limelight of the “vine” style of entertainment. Coming from Camberwell, South East London , he has brought jokes, banter and entertainment to the entire world.

He’s only 23, but he has successfully built a large online following from his short comedic videos which he post across mulitple social media platforms.

Tom has worked with the likes of: Omarion, Will.I.Am, Chip, Wretch 32, Tinchy Stryder and Davido, and some of his sketches have even reached the heights of TV shows such as Rude Tube with over 30 million hits!


Achievements only others can dream of having. However,  the journey was not easy. Before you feast upon the meal of success, many have to acquire the ingredients of struggle and hardship, but with the driving fire from passion and willpower, the success meal can be cooked to perfection, making anything becomes possible.

How Did It Start?
Well Tom found that his life was in a state of a constant cycle. He didn’t enjoy where his life was heading towards. Funnily enough he originally applied to university to study Actuarial Science, but the concept of that path didn’t appeal to him any longer.
He decided to take a leap of faith and attempt acting, due to people always seeing him as a funny and adaptable individual.
Tom as an individual has split himself into two personas: his acting career and his online career. His online career consists of Tommy Xpensive. Tom believes that Tommy Xpensive, his online persona, is more recognized considering the forms of media he uploads onto are available world-wide.
His acting career on the other hand is not recognized on the same scale, but he has received professional credits which have gotten him more recognized.
He considers his niche to be the fact that he is a comedic actor that is adaptable. He can shoot comedy skits and also he can also switch to a straighter acting/drama style which not many actors can pull off.
His idols consist of Will Smith because his transition from a more comedic style of acting (Fresh Prince of Belair) to more serious roles he’s played. Another idol of Tom’s is John Boyega, who is from Peckham (not sure if you know him, read our story on him!) . He reminds Tom that anything is possible, and nothing can limit you. He uses John to remind himself that despite only 8% of actors  in the world have been given active roles, he still has a shot of being successful, even against the odds.
His journey:
When he started up, he literally started from square one. It ultimately resulted in him literally googling “how to become an actor”.

He learnt that the very basic requirements were headshots; which he didn’t have due to the cost of producing them. He needed an agent; which again he didn’t have and he also needed a show reel; which you’ll never guess what? He didn’t have.

At this point he had a dilemma on his hands. This is where the persona of Tommy Xpensive came into play. He networked well and created links with important people and created more and more opportunities for himself.

Before he knew it, he was offered parts in short films and theatre shows, which all counted as content for a show reel.

After he achieved enough content for the show reel, he managed to bag himself an agent. From that point on, everything was looking up for Tom. He even met people like Lord Michael Hastings who put his belief into Tom and invested financially into his acting headshots.

 

His team consists of a group of 5 mates who work together to produce content through skit writing and acting. He also has three mentors who are a big part of his life, who are: Bola Agbaje, Paul Payne and Lord Hastings himself.
Making A “Scene” In The Industry:
A project he was working on with Bola during the summer of 2015 which was titled “Snapped The Movie” was a short film all done on the social platform “snapchat”. This had led to the British council funding him to write another sequel in Nigeria.
Another UK version of Snapped The Movie is also in production. Keep an eye out for Tom in a web series called Hot Pepper which is written by Bola. Season one has been completed and look out for Tom and season two in this coming year.
Tom has worked with the likes of: Omarion, Will.I.Am, Chip, Wretch 32, Tinchy Stryder and Davido. Companies he’s also worked with are the mobile network TPO and clothing line Happy Chap.

His biggest achievement so far is an online skit that received 30 million hits on Facebook and also featured on RudeTube’s Top 50 as the 39th entry. This video is called “nowadays people can’t eat without taking a picture” if you wanted to have a look at it yourself.

Struggles:

His main obstacle? His parents. The disbelief they presented him was incredibly discouraging. It essentially crushed his confidence and crushed his hopes at pursuing what he really wanted to do. This led to bad relations between himself and his parents which terribly resulted to him being kicked out of his parents house. Now everything was a lot harder for him. Money was extremely tight. Tom pushed through and put acting and castings to the top of his priorities and it resulted to him being where he is now; on the road to success.

How did he get through everything life has thrown at him? Patience. Patience is seriously key. The best things come to those who wait, so you cannot rush success. Also belief. His belief in God has driven him through the darkest of times and is always with him when he celebrates his successes.

His tips to anyone who plans to pursue a similar career to his:

1. Pray and ask God if acting is truly your purpose. To be honest you will know as God, he puts the desires in your heart! – Psalms 37.4

2. Seek to learn the craft, drama school, full time or part time. Headshots, show reels, spotlight CV ( all the stuff an actor needs, research it)

3. Be determined not discouraged. Not everyone will see what you dream, sounds cliché but that’s how it goes.

4. Keep a good team around you, a support system of people that only want good for you.

5. Get some experience, short films, theatre. Don’t just jump into anything you see. Check out the Script, is it something you stand for? Will it represent you? Does the character challenge you?

6. Ask God about every decision you make! Best of luck x

He wishes to see himself in a US sitcom or series with at least some BAFTA nominations in the future, so clearly Tom is a big dreamer, and there’s nothing that can stop him in achieving his journey there.

 

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Samuel Okusaga
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