Before he was walking runways and starring in TV shows and movies, Tyson Beckford was about that life a.k.a. the street life.
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The model and actor said as much in the recently released docuseries, “In Vogue: The 90's” where he talked about his upbringing in the Bronx and how he used to be tied up with some questionable folks doing questionable things before advice from his big brother sent him on the path of the straight and narrow,
“I got into modeling because of my late brother Patrick. I had done a photoshoot with The Source hip-hop magazine. I remember showing him, and he was so excited for me,” Beckford said in the series. “He basically told me to stop being in the street and go be an actor, go be a model, go be whatever you want to be.”
Having revered his older brother as his “inspiration” and a “teacher,” it was a complete shock to his system to find out he’d been killed not too long after they had that heartfelt conversation. On a quest for revenge, Beckford then shockingly revealed his plans to go take out the people who had taken his brother’s life—which would’ve wiped away his budding modeling/acting career for good had he gone through with it.
“I remember I got the call at maybe 3 a.m. that he’d been murdered. My head was just fucked up. I’m on the subway to go murder the guys that murdered him. I’m loading my gun, and I remember his words as if he was standing next to me.”
He added, “[It] just dawned on me that this isn’t the life that I want, no. And it basically changed my life. I went from doing bad shit to turning around and go to auditions and casting.”
Years later, Beckford became the face of men’s sportswear for Ralph Lauren which ultimately catapulted him into his career. In the years following, he’s been in countless ads, magazines, shows, music videos and more.
All six episodes of “In Vogue: The 90's” are available to stream now on Hulu.
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