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Mekhi Phifer — star of numerous 1990s film and television hits — says the real mark of success as an actor, these days, is work that spans beyond social media fame.
Phifer, 51, is known for roles in films such as Clockers, Soul Food, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and 8 Mile and also television, including a recurring role as Dr. Charles Pratt on the NBC medical drama ER.
Speaking to PEOPLE on the red carpet at the event, Lifetime Celebrates the New Movies of Love of a Lifetime on Tuesday, January 28, Phifer said his career is “a blessing.”
“It’s always a blessing to be appreciated for your work,” he told PEOPLE. “I’ve been doing this since ’94 and it’s always been about the work. It hasn’t been about — this is before social media, but I never really got caught up in that.”
Phifer continued: “It’s always been about the work, the integrity of the work, always honing in on the skill set, constantly challenging myself, constantly doing different things, getting better at what I do, and just exploring all these different people and these different characters and different genres.”
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Asked about advice he’d give to the younger generation of actors, Phifer offered: “Any advice that I would give to a young person is be focused on the real task.”
“The task is the work,” he added. “Anybody can have five minutes of Insta fame, but to be able to have an illustrious career that spans over three decades, it takes hard work and dedication.”
The actor will soon star in the Lifetime movie Be Happy, slated to premiere in February. Speaking to PEOPLE, he said it “feels great” to dive into new roles.
“It feels great to be recognized in any forum. I’ve been doing this for 30 plus years, enjoying the ride, enjoying everything that I’m doing, and to be able to work with a great network like Lifetime [and] work with Mona Scott, Russell, Tisha Campbell, everybody involved … To be able to do that and express our artistic prowess is always a blessing,” he said. “So I just feel very blessed to constantly be working and constantly be doing different characters and portraying different stories.”
