Born Deven Lavale Purifoy On February 27th 1983 In San Bernardino California; the 10th of 14 children. His father was a Pastor and his mother is a great gospel singer.
Mr.Hollywood started playing the drums at 9 yrs of age, at 13 he was given his very 1st drum set by a member of the Legendary Gap Band.
At 13 Deven became California’s State drummer in his church congregation. During his freshman year at Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley CA Deven joined the marching band.
Which went on to win several Championships.
Deven “Mr.Hollywood” Powers is currently the Host of The LA Live Film Festival 2018, 2019 & 2020 .
He’s also The Founder & CEO of Black Film Festival Los Angeles. When it comes to the high lyfe Deven is living up to it, you can catch Mr.Hollywood on the cover of High Lyfe Magazine’s highly anticipated upcoming Hollywood Issue.
When Deven’s not gracing the cover of magazines, or hosting Redcarpets he’s hosting “The Mr.Hollywood Tv Show” airing on At&t U-Verse ch 99, Charter Spectrum Ch.32 & . Mr Hollywood is becoming a voice.
Let’s know more about him in this interview
Los Angles :
Photographed by:Isabelle Ruen @isabelleruen
Tell us something about your last song?
My Last Song “Lock is off my upcoming album The New King of R&B.
The song “Lock” is about a girl in my past who had the key to my heart. The best part of my work is my vocals and subject matter.
What, according to you, is the best part of your work?
Deven Is my name given at birth which means God.
I got my last name Powers During my stint of incarceration.
The other inmates use to say I had a powerful presence the name Deven Powers God Powers just stuck. The rest is history.
How did you come with this name deveenpowers for your socials medias?
It feels Amazing knowing that i inspire people that I dont know personally. Whenever my fans approach me on the streets i get teary eyed knowing they know i exist and i inspire them.
How do you feel when you make your fans become engrossed in the lives of your characters?
The toughs parts of my work is the time i put into it wheather its memorizing a line or writing a song it all takes time and effort.
Tell us about the toughest part of your work? And why do you think it is tough for you?
Its tough for me because of the repetitiveness of doing things over and over again it can be a bit annoying but im a perfectionist.
i want consider a task complete until its done right. so in this since its not really tough because it comes natural.
If anything you would be asked to change about your work, what would be that one thing?
For me change is constant i constantly change the lyrics to songs that i write.so if i could change anything it would be lyrics to any of my past songs that may have been offensive to woman.i would love to bring our queens up and not put women down so
What would you want to suggest to budding a star carrer? What should they do to become successful ?
My biggest suggestion would be to Keep your faith in the most high 1st and foremost & secondly remain confident in yourself regardless of what people say, dont listen to the haters successful people only focus on being successful.
How does it feel to be a star?
To be successful you gotta be somewhat selfish by focusing on you and your career everyone will have an opinion about what your doing.
Tune all of it out and focus on you. Also you have to want success as much as you want to live.
You are always associated with acts of charity and humanitarianism; how do these acts impact your life?
It feels good to be a star im now finally reaping the seeds that ive sown throughout the years..looking back and realizing that ive came a long way from living on the streets of La to now being considered a rising icon is a big accomplishment for myself and my team
You are the recipient of the XYZ award; how it feels to receive such a great honor?
I get a sense of fullfillment by giving back every act of giving inspired me to continue to give back even more just by giving food or money to a homeless person puts a smile on anothers face gives me a sense that life is worth living im here to be a service to the most high and to humanity.
Tell us something about one of the best experiences of your life?
Its a feeling of great accomplishment its a feeling that all of this hard work wasnt in vain. its a feeling victory and we are in a victorious season
The best of experiences of my had to be when i was released from prison after a long sentence. Also being featured on the May 2020 cover of The Buzz Magazine was right there.
At what age did you realize that you want to join the entertainment industry?
I realized that at 16 i was going to be an entertainer and that i was going to be famous at the time i didnt know what it was going to be but i knew i had a musical gift and an ability to entertain because i was somewhat of a class clown in school
Describe your last experience on stage?
My last major performance was epic it was my 1st performance as a R&b singer. this was special for me because it was in front of Vip Records Sony The Orcard for a record deal that landed me a distribution deal with them.
What was your longest-running role on stage?
My longest running role on stage was the hit play silent tears where i was one of the lead actors
Do you have experience acting in television or film?
Yes i do i was on serveral tv shows the most recent was the judge hattchett show and a tv show called french connection.
What is the first thing you do to research and approach a role?
The 1st thing i do is pray i ask The most high to clear my mind body soul and spirit from any distrations and allow me to focus on this role .
Secondly i pick up the script and reseach other actors who have played similar roles and how they got into character.
What experience do you have in developing accents for specific roles?
I personally watch movies with actors and actresses who have accents and i practice on my english accents etc..
Are you flexible enough to work on short notice as a stand-in? How quickly can you assume a new role?
Yes i am very flexible i pretty much have a photographic memory so i can learn a role after seeing it once … im pretty fast at jumping into character
Can you tell us more about your role at the french connection ? specialy in front of jamal antar ?
I only played a small role in the french connection. I played hitman that was apart of jamals crew.
Jamal is amazing i had lots of fun working with him hes a great guy with amazing work ethic im proud of him and all of his success.
Any last word to your fans via the buzz magazine!
I want to thank you for this opportunity God bless you and your family