Having already been chosen for roles in the shows Watchmen, Lovecraft Country and The Gifted, Sarasota native Greg Weeks can right now be seen in The Tomorrow War, a $200 million thriller that is showing on Amazon Prime Video. The movie takes viewers on an adventure as they watch time travellers from 2051 inform modern-day civilians about a war against aliens that is happening in the future. Former soldiers and everyday people enlist or are drafted into the conflict to help save the present and future world.

Early this month, Weeks, who now lives in Atlanta, screened the film at Sarasota's Art Ovation Hotel.

“It was exciting. I basically brought Hollywood to Sarasota with the vision I had for the screening,” says Weeks. “It was beautiful. I was thrilled to show and share what I’ve been doing. It was fun to let folks feel the energy and excitement in the room—stuff I see and feel all the time.”

As a high school student, Weeks attended Booker High School. While Booker is well known for its Visual & Performing Arts program, Weeks was not enrolled in it. Instead, he was an athlete, and he eventually played football at Stony Brook University. Lem Andrews, Booker High's college and career adviser, remembers Weeks as a very good student and athlete.

“He set high goals for himself and worked very hard to achieve those goals. He was focused in the classroom and on the football field,” says Andrews.

Inspired by the 1995 action-comedy film Bad Boys, Weeks began taking acting classes while he was a student at Indiana University.

“I didn't know what to expect," he says. "It was just a unique experience. I was able to get a few parts here and there. That class taught me breathing and moving exercises.”

Weeks began auditioning for roles, but, like most actors, worked other jobs to make ends meet.

“There’s a lot of silence and a lot of rejection," says Weeks. "A lot of swinging and missing. I got out of the corporate workspace and started changing oil and being a service driver assistant at a car dealership. I even sold tires from car dealerships to used tire companies to try to make extra money in Atlanta.”

Weeks became emotionally drained while working his day job, doing the bare minimum to stay employed, while constantly working toward achieving his dream.

“It got to a point where I was doing so many auditions that I was starting to get in trouble at work for staying out and coming back late on lunch breaks, which, I did not care because it was a stepping stone job to me anyways. I knew that they didn't need me beyond where I could help them,” says Weeks.

Weeks finally secured his first professional role as a Georgian soldier on the NBC TV show Revolution. He drove from Atlanta to South Carolina for the shoot, in disbelief until the moment he arrived at the hotel and was given his room key that he had landed the role.

“Greg's career as an actor is a testament to his agility and persistence in that he didn't participate in our renowned Visual & Performing Arts program while attending Booker High, but he was able to tap and develop a hidden talent and utilize it to build his career,” says Andrews. “His drive and determination is a great model for all, because it reinforces that, if you're flexible, versatile, resilient and responsive to change, you can learn and grow as you adapt to the unexpected demands and changes that are an inevitable part of life."

Watch a trailer for The Tomorrow War here: