people. He embraced his competitive spirit. He won a competition in Florida and had the chance to meet with various management teams. Unfortunately, none were clicking. So, he went back the next year. It was on the last day of that second year that he met and signed with the team that he is still with today. Once he graduated, he moved out from Edmonton to Vancouver to pursue his career. While his focus in school was theater, he found that his training built a work ethic he has been able to carry into his television acting career, that mindset of needing to focus and get work done. But when it came to auditions in front of a camera? “I was completely green,” he says. “So green coming out of the program because it was theater and I had never done film. When I started doing those auditions and doing ‘shelf takes’, I just had no idea how to present myself. It took practice.” That practice came in the form of doing audition after audition and not getting the part. He soon found his rhythm though and what he felt was the most authentic way to present himself. It’s this determination - the same driving force behind him trying all the various sports and arts - that also allowed him to transition from a theater actor to television actor in those first few episodes of Grown-ish. When Jordan first auditioned for grown-ish, he didn’t hear back for a month. He then got word to fly down to LA for a chemistry reading; his first one ever. A new and frightening experience made exacerbated by a delayed flight and having to drag his luggage to the reading. Luckily, the crew got him prepared in time. Then came time for the reading. While he had seen black-ish, it was one of
those instances where in the moment he didn’t realize who he was with. It was Yara Shahidi. It wasn’t until the walk back that he realized it was Yara. Having worked with her now he can’t believe how he didn’t realize it at the time “The reading went great. I was able to get directions and constructive criticisms. Yara is fantastic and we were working off each other. Everyone is happy and I leave; but that’s still no guarantee with an audition,” he says. When Jordan learned he landed the role of Vivek, excitement was replaced with nerves. He jokes that while filming the first few episodes he was wondering if he had ever taken an acting class. It was a brave new world compared to his life in traditional theater. But his cast and producers trusted him. They knew this was his first time acting with a camera in his face. This provided Jordan the support to grow as a television actor and in turn, develop Vivek. “Over the past couple seasons, he’s become someone who really needs love. He also wants it. You can see that he needs for someone to lift him up; that he’s enough. That’s something I’ve really taken into account with shooting this new season. He wants to feel he has an effect on people’s lives,” Jordan says, “And I think that’s something people can relate to. [The show] has tackled cultural appropriation and mental health awareness. There’s more of an openness to speak on these more than ever.” With grown-ish, Jordan Buhat is actualizing his dream. Years of trial and error finding the right fit has paid off for the young actor. The joy in him recounting his journey is the excitement for what’s to come. This performer is still in his first act. NKD NKDMAG.COM
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