Mikael Griggs came to Marian University expecting football to be part of his future. Instead, his time in Indianapolis became an early stop on an unexpected journey that would eventually take him from the football field to modeling and, ultimately, to acting.
The Fort Wayne native will appear in the upcoming season of Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black, debuting Aug. 27 on Netflix.
“It honestly was never really the plan; it kind of just happened,” Griggs told WANE-TV in Fort Wayne. “Coming out of Fort Wayne, I went to Indianapolis to play football, and I thought that sports was going to be my thing. And it kind of didn’t go that way for me, so I just took a detour, and one thing led to another, and I’m here today.”
From Football to Modeling
While living in Indianapolis, Griggs was approached about modeling. That opportunity led to work with major brands, including Finish Line, Lids, and Nike, as well as appearances in Fashion Nova product listings. Griggs told WANE that his modeling work even appeared on advertising displays in New York City's Times Square.
His career took another turn after he moved to Houston and worked as a personal trainer. One of his clients, an actress, helped him secure a role as a personal trainer in a movie.
Griggs said that stepping onto a film set for the first time brought back some of the nerves he felt when he began modeling, but he enjoyed the experience. More acting roles followed.
He later competed in the reality series Love Cabin, where he and another contestant won the show's $100,000 prize.
Taking the Next Step
Joining a Tyler Perry production brought Griggs to a much larger, faster-paced movie set.
“Being on Tyler Perry’s set specifically is pressure because it’s so fast,” Griggs said. He told WANE that smaller productions may allow several takes to get a scene right, while Perry's production moves much more quickly.
The larger audience also brings a different kind of pressure.
But Griggs' path from Fort Wayne to Indianapolis, Houston, and Atlanta has taught him something about unexpected turns.
“What do I tell the skinny kid from Fort Wayne? Don’t be afraid of change,” he said. “That has probably been the biggest thing that has helped me in my life, is not being afraid to shift and change and move.”
It is a lesson that began to take shape when the future Griggs, imagining himself on a football field, changed direction. Years later, that detour led the former Marian student-athlete to one of acting’s biggest stages.