'BMF' Actor Da'Vinchi Reflects On Changing His Reality After Growing Up In Poverty: 'I'm Still In My 20s — And Now My Parents Are Retired'

Da’Vinchi, 28, has been on quite a roll in Hollywood.

From shows like “Grown-ish” to “All American,” the Haitian-American actor has been stacking roles. However, Da’Vinchi’s starring role and portrayal as Terry “Southwest T” Flenory on 50 Cent’s “BMF” (or “BMF: Black Mafia Family”) on Starz is his biggest gig to date.

Although Da’Vinchi, born Abraham D. Juste, has made a name for himself in the acting world, he is transparent about coming from humble beginnings. In an interview on REVOLT’s “The Blackprint,” the Brooklyn, NY, native was open about the way he grew up.

“I grew up in poverty,” Da’Vinchi told host and REVOLT CEO Detavio Samuels. “A very normal situation that most of us grow up in, but of course while you’re in it you don’t really know it because everyone else is like that around [you] until you switch environments. And then, you start realizing the depths of the lack that you were in.”

He added, “The poverty that I faced was you don’t have all the meals throughout the day. We heavily relied on school lunch. My mother, she was making ends meet with a salary that was [around] $30,000 a year.”

Despite his background story, Da’Vinchi was set on wanting more for himself, which led him to attend college and major in criminal justice. Although he earned a degree, he went on a different route and pursued acting.

Da’Vinchi’s drive to want more out of life wasn’t limited to going to school and landing roles. He credits seeking knowledge from various platforms for assisting him in his success. What’s more, his ambition wasn’t only centered on himself but also his family. Being relentless and staying the course resulted in him taking care of his parents while in his 20s.

“I didn’t have physical access to anyone that was doing well in life, but I was able to have YouTube,” he said. “I was able to read books. I was able to listen to a whole bunch of podcasts and different things of people doing that. It helped and it worked for me, and now my parents are retired.”

Da’Vinchi emphasized that staying focused on his goals early on played a significant role in him reaching enough success to make sure his mother and father did not have to work anymore.

“One of the biggest things that I see, and I think it’s one of the biggest problems in this world, is that a lot of us think, ‘Oh, we’re so young. We can just do whatever.’ People think their 20s is to waste. I played my cards right in my 20s — and I’m still in my 20s — and now my parents are retired.” 

He continued, “God don’t give you years to waste otherwise you wouldn’t have them. So this idea of YOLO, you only live once, yeah keep doing that, and when you’re 50 and social security has ran out and all that stuff, you’re going to start looking back like, ‘D-mn I wish someone told me.’ …Stop the notion of ‘I’m so young and I have so much time.’ You don’t. You don’t know what can happen to you tomorrow, and just take your life serious because you have generations that’s depending on it.”