Percy Romeo Miller, Jr., A.K.A., “Romeo,” has quite a resume for a young man only 21 years of age. Currently starring in the highly-rated ABC dance competition, “Dancing With The Stars,” Romeo is redeeming himself from the unfortunate injury that eliminated him from the show 10 seasons ago, when he was originally slated to perform. Romeo’s famous father, “Master P” stepped in to replace him in the season 2 lineup. And redeem himself he has. He has steadily improved his performances through week 6 and his fans continue to vote in huge numbers to keep Romeo on the show. Also, co-starring in the just-released movie, “Jumping The Broom,” with an all-star cast consisting of; Academy Award Nominee Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Mike Epps and Julie Bowen, Romeo’s career is in full bloom.
In 2001, Romeo released his debut album at age 12 using his original alias “Lil’ Romeo.” Containing the hit single “My Baby,” which charted at #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-hop Singles, the album peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 and on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It was certified double platinum selling over 2,000,000 copies. That was just the beginning. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to be the son of entertainer, mogul and No Limit Records founder “Master P,” either. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 18, 1989, Romeo was signed to No Limit at the age of 5 after he wrote a rap to his dad. But, it wasn’t until seven years later that Miller would release his first studio album entitled, “Lil Romeo,” that would produce his first #1 single. In 2002, Lil Romeo put out his second studio album, “Game Time,” which peaked at #33 on the Billboard 200 chart and #10 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. While not as successful as his debut album chart-wise, it was successful in sales being certified double platinum and selling over 2,500,000 copies, making this Miller’s most successful album. Striking while the iron was hot, Miller found time to explore his interest in acting by appearing in several film and television roles, such as; “Max Keeble’s Big Move,” (2001) “Honey,” (2003) “The Brothers Garcia,” (2001) “The Hughley’s” (2001) and “God’s Gift” (2006), just to name a few. On top of all that, Romeo is a gifted athlete who excelled in the game of basketball. So much so, that he was awarded a full athletic scholarship to play basketball at the University of Southern California, where he continues to study film and acting. You talk about your over-achievers! As a 21 year-old man, with a sky’s-the-limit attitude, Romeo finds himself in high demand. We met Romeo over lunch at the legendary Chateau Marmont Hotel in West Hollywood, where we discussed his career, his life and his humanitarian endeavors.
LATF: First, I want to congratulate you on living to dance another week.
ROMEO: Yeah, thanks.
LATF: How would you describe yourself? Rapper, actor or something else?
ROMEO: Well, I feel life has no limits, that’s why my record company is “No Limit Forever.” That’s actually why I’m doing the show “Dancing With The Stars,” you know, it’s a huge platform. And I did the show to show kids that you can’t be afraid to fail and I want to be known as a leader. I’m not the average rapper, I’m not the average actor, I feel that I’m in a league of my own and I do try to do things differently. Nobody ever would think somebody from the hip-hop world would come on “Dancing With The Stars,” and actually want to do good and like it. Doing this show, it definitely opened my eyes up to a whole new world. And it shows with hard work, anything is possible. I’m not the best dancer, I used to be at the party and I’d be like this, just on the wall, horrified to dance and now I’m doing “Dancing With The Stars” in front of 20 million people, learning new dances, something I never did, and it definitely shows you anything is possible when you try.
LATF: Why did you drop the “Lil” in your name and just go with Romeo? Was it because there are so many artists with Lil in their name or you just outgrew it?
ROMEO: Well, I think naturally, everybody grows up, for me, my fans and a lot of people had the opportunity to see me start off as a young child and then to manhood. I went to college, ya know, played college basketball, and I went there to master my craft and to become an adult, and I just think like; “Lil Pookie” or whatever your name was when you were little, “Lil Doo-Doo,” whatever they used to call you, it’s a time and place for everything and you do grow up and you do evolve. So, it’s just growing up, it’s not that I didn’t like the “Lil,” it’s that now I’m Romeo the man, not “Lil” Romeo.
LATF: Your first two albums were wildly successful, and the third one did really well, what happened to the fourth album?
ROMEO: Yes… the fourth album, that’s when I started focusing on school, and I lot of people don’t know I never did a tour, you know, I was supposed to go on tour and promote my stuff, but I decided I wanted to go to school and I was actually playing high school basketball at the time, and I was playing AAU basketball, so it was kinda like one of those things where I just wanted to give music to my fans, but I wasn’t able to go out and really promote it like I did with my previous albums. I went to school to show kids; you have your education, anything is possible. You know, fame comes and goes, money comes and goes, but if you have your education, you can do anything. And school is very important to me, and that came first before going to promote an album and going to do anything else, I definitely wanted to get my education and kind of live a regular life.
LATF: What were you studying in school?
ROMEO: Yeah, well I’m still at SC, I studied film and business. The reason I chose college is because I wanted to master my craft, you know, me knowing what I want to do in the future, knowing I want to be one of the biggest business moguls one day, knowing I want to be one of the best actors one day, I wanted to go to school and actually master my craft, and I think that’s what every kid out there should do, God gives everybody a talent, and you gotta realize what your talent is, while our friends are good at other things, you can only chase your goals and your dreams.
LATF: I hear that you’ve got some game as a basketball player; did you ever consider playing ball professionally?
ROMEO: Yeah, I’m nice on the basketball court, people don’t know. You come play with me and you’ll see. But, actually, one of my packages on my show, I made this incredible shot from the other end of the court; I made it backwards in the other goal. So, you got to check that out on “Dancing With The Stars.” I dunk left-hand, I dunk right-hand, that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life, I’ve been playing basketball since the age of 3. My dream actually, was never to be a famous superstar, it was to get a full basketball scholarship and that’s what I did when I did that at USC. People were kind of shocked, like; why are you giving up all this to go play college basketball, but that was always my dream as a kid. And I always wanted to play in the NBA; A lot of my good friends they’re in the NBA: Derrick Rose, Demar DeRozan, Russell Westbrook, those are my 3 good friends. I grew up with them playing with Russell at UCLA in Westwood and Demar playing on my team growing up. And then D. Rose, I was actually gonna go to Memphis instead of USC, people don’t know, when me and him became close. But, I definitely see a future in basketball. My dad tried out and he made it, and I think anything is possible if you try. If you could see me on the court, I’m nice, that’s all I’m gonna say!
LATF: I can imagine. Do you still play?
ROMEO: Yeah, I still play. You know, I actually played last week, I brought my partner, ‘cause I wanted to show her how I do it. She had me on her little wood floor to dance, but I wanted to take her to the basketball court and then we played and it actually shows that “Dancing With The Stars” actually improved my basketball skills, my balance is better, I’ve got a 42 inch vertical now, it was 40, I got 2 inches. I was dunking left and right, like I said, wasn’t missing a shot, so it definitely improves your footwork, so a couple of my NBA friends, they’re thinking about ballroom dancing now.
LATF: Really, how did it improve your vertical?
ROMEO: It improved, it’s crazy! Because, we rehearse 7 hours a day and I’m on my feet and everything is all footwork. So, I’m constantly on my toes, I’m doing different footwork, and it’s really relatable to my football workouts and my basketball workouts. And you know when you’re working out for that amount of hours, it definitely starts to payoff.
LATF: Wow, 7 hours a day?!
ROMEO: Yeah, it’s crazy though, ‘cause I met Jerry West and he was like; people don’t know dancing, you think basketball gets you in shape; dancing will really get you in shape!
LATF: Who is your favorite basketball team?
ROMEO: My favorite team? I’m one of those people; I don’t really have a favorite, but you know my boy Derrick Rose for the Chicago Bulls, I support all my boys. Oklahoma; my boy Russell, and then the Toronto Rapters, even though they didn’t make the playoffs this year, but my best friend plays for the Rapters, Demar DeRozan. But I love the Lakers, too being out here in L.A. I love a player like Kobe who reminds me of my dad, you know, no matter how old you get if you know the game, you can keep winning those championships. And I gotta show love to my home team New Orleans, and they’re playing the Lakers, so you know, that’s a good matchup for them.
LATF: What do you do to stay fit?
ROMEO: Well, what I realized my whole life, I always played a sport, and I realize that playing basketball my whole life, really kept me in shape. So, I don’t care what you like to do, if you love to play football, you love to play tennis, if you love to just dance, if you work out or play your favorite sport for at least an hour a day, that definitely plays a big part. And then, I’m one of those people I work out almost every day, even if it’s not a lot. Like, people think that you gotta go workout; 2 hours, 3 hours… literally, I may work out for like, 10 minutes one day and that’ll be it. I’ll wake up, and do 50 push-ups, I’ll do 100 sit-ups, and then I may just do the same thing before I go to sleep. So, it’s just about staying consistent. You know, it’s just like in life; you have a big goal, you’ve got to have your little goals, and it’s the same thing with working out. Even those days you feel like you don’t want to work out, if you feel that 20 minutes is a waste of your time and it’s not gonna do nothing, it’s really the biggest key. The days I don’t work out, I do a little 10 minute workout and it all builds up at the end of the day.
LATF: I read that you were supposed to do DWTS the second season, that would have made you seventeen at the time, right?
ROMEO: Yeah.
LATF: But, you were replaced by your father because of an injury, what was the injury?
ROMEO: I hurt my leg, that’s when I was playing football that season, because I played football in high school and I played basketball, and I ended up fracturing my hip in the first game. And I told my dad, if you replace me, I will come back and I’ll show “Dancing With The Stars” that the Millers can dance and I’ll redeem the family legacy. He literally had one day to rehearse, and it shows you just how confident he is, and how good of a father he is, to step in there for his son and go in front of 20 million people and do something that’s foreign to you. That’s like hopping in the ocean without knowing how to swim. And now I’m here showing the world that, look, we can dance. I think my dad actually was trying to hide his dancing skills so that I would look good. So that’s what he said he was doing.
LATF: (Laughter) How did you get approached for DWTS and did you want to participate in it?
ROMEO: Since season 2 they approached me a couple of times, but playing college basketball, you can’t do none of that with NCAA.
LATF: Oh, really?
ROMEO: Yeah, I was focusing on school at that time, then I was filming a movie which comes out May 6th, “Jumping The Broom,” and this year it was just perfect timing. Like they say, everything happens for a reason, it was perfect timing this year, I feel I’m at the right age. A 17 year-old trying to do the sexy Cha-cha, I don’t think that would have looked to good.
LATF: It looks like the competition is very grueling and demanding for the competitors because you guys are not professional dancers; does it sometimes feel like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?
ROMEO: Yeah, this year is crazy because nobody could dance at all. Everybody came in here from ground zero basically. I told Hines (Ward), “You’ve got that nice macho so I’m gonna super-glue his teeth, so he can’t smile”. I told Kendra (Wilkinson), I’m gonna just do something to sabotage her so she’s off the show. I told Ralph (Macchio) that we’re gonna play karate, I’m gonna karate kick his legs.
LATF: (Laughter). You’re taking the competition to a whole other level!
ROMEO: I got to do what I got to do to win! No, but this year, it’s definitely you got to try hard. It’s all in what you put in, is what you’re gonna get out. It’s really serious now, it’s a competition; a lot of our good friends are getting eliminated. And it’s just like in life with me; the harder it is, that pushes me even harder to want to succeed. I’m not a good dancer at all, when I look at this choreography the first days of rehearsal I’m like; there is no way I’m gonna be able to do that. But, that’s what makes me want to do it and achieve it even more. And that’s the message I want to show kids, when something’s hard that should make you want it even more, don’t be afraid, don’t back down.
LATF: That’s the thing that amazes me even more, the competition itself. Because you have people who basically are not dancers and the choreography is not easy. Then you rarely see people make big mistakes, little bitty mistakes, yeah. It’s the idea that you can take somebody and teach them that.
ROMEO: Yeah, I know. Kendra was laughing yesterday, because one of the pro dancers messed up worse than any of the celebrities did on yesterday’s show. She said; if that was us, we would be getting tortured right now. But, it definitely shows that when those lights come on, these people like me, we are really taking it to another level and the choreography is difficult. People don’t see behind the scenes you’ve got to learn that step by step and not being a dancer, that’s very difficult. So I encourage everybody to go out there, take a ballroom dance class and you will really feel our pain. We only get three days to rehearse and when those lights come on Monday, they expect us to be perfect. You know, nobody wants to go out there and mess up and fall first. Kirstie went out there and she fell, she was the best person for that. She’s a strong woman, her attitude is unbelievable, she’s independent, she’s not afraid of anything. Once she fell down, it showed that, hey, it’s just like in life; you fall down, you get right back up and come back stronger. That’s all we’re doing on this show. A lot of people mess up you may not know, but sometimes you mess up and you just gotta keep going.
LATF: Do you think you have a shot at winning the Mirror Ball Trophy?
ROMEO: Day one, I was like, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to do this, but now that we’re halfway through the season, I’m going to keep pushing, you know. I want my partner Chelsea Hightower to win her first Mirror Ball Trophy. I really want to win this for her. I’m taking it seriously, I’m a competitor. Anything that’s a competition, I don’t care if we’re eating food, I wanna be the first one done. I don’t care if I’m racing a little 5 year old; I want to beat the 5 year old.
CHELSIE HIGHTOWER, ROMEO
LATF: (Laughing) That’s a real serious competitive spirit.
ROMEO: I want to be the best. Yeah, I’m just real competitive and everybody on this show is; everybody wants to be the best. That’s the thing about it; you got to be your best. You can’t be Michael Jordan best; you can’t be Michael Jackson best. Kids have to know; be your best and that’s all that matters. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to keep trying, putting 110% in; hopefully I come back with that Mirror Ball Trophy.
LATF: I heard that! I think you have a shot at it. I’ve watched your development from week one until last night and you can see.
ROMEO: Yeah it’s crazy! I actually went and YouTubed myself and I was looking at myself and the development, it definitely shows that with time and hard work, anything is possible. I am not a dancer at all, but my foot work is better, my technique is better. This show definitely opened my eyes up to endless possibilities. In my future I may be doing more dance choreography in my videos and I love this show, ‘cause it shows that anything is possible.
LATF: When did you start acting and did you study acting?
ROMEO: Everything like; rapping, acting, music; all came naturally to me and basketball. But, acting, I used to take my camcorder when I was younger and just film movies. I remember being like, 8 years old and filming little movies on the camcorder. It came very natural to me, but once I got serious about it, I did the Romeo show for 4 years. I took a lot of acting classes, that’s what I did at SC. I went to acting school there. I want to show people that I am serious about this; I want to be that next leading man. I want to be that next big superhero and I think in order to do that, you have to have natural abilities. But, at the same time, you have to know the principles and foundation of everything. So I took a couple of acting classes here and there.
LATF: You’re currently in a new film, “Jumping the Broom,” can you tell us about your role in it?
ROMEO: “Jumping the Broom” is like a fairy tale, a real life fairy tale. Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonzo, Pooch Hall, D’ray Davis, Michael Epps and the list keeps going on.
LATF: A great cast!
ROMEO: It’s just a great movie. It’s one of those movies that when you go see it, you will look at life a little differently. You will walk out having a lot more faith. In my character, I play Sebastian the youngest in the movie, he has an old soul and he likes older women. So he’s definitely trying to teach these older guys how to treat a woman. This movie is just a beautiful movie. When you go see it, it’s really like you are watching a fairy tale. Comes out May 6th… great Mother’s Day gift. That’s all I’m saying!
LATF: Tell us about your new reality show called Romeo & Juliet.
ROMEO: Romeo & Juliet is a reality show that they’ve been trying to get me to do for a minute now. I didn’t sign off on it yet, but it’ll be basically about me finding love. I am looking for my Juliet, still. So it will be like one of those shows; Romeo trying to find love. But, it has been postponed because I had to do more movies.
LATF: I read that your next project is the film, “Wolf Boy”?
ROMEO: Yeah, well, “Wolf Boy” is an action, slash, thriller. If you like Twilight, then you’ll like “Wolf Boy.” It’s about this boy who transforms into a wolf, a regular teenage boy in high school, his life is changed. Also, another movie I’m working on is a big superhero, I can’t really talk too much about it. But, you’re going to see me as the next big action hero.
LATF: Oh really! So “Wolf Boy” is something that is in production already?
ROMEO: No, “Wolf Boy” doesn’t start production until December.
LATF: Are you active with any charitable organizations?
ROMEO: I am active with Urban Born. You can go to urbanborn.org, this foundation; me and my dad have been doing stuff with them for the past 10 years. When I started my career, I noticed that a lot of these young kids looked up to me, more than they looked up to an older person. And over the years, I just wanted to give back to the kids, and give back to what I know, and that’s education. The dropout rate is 3 out of every 10 high school students are dropping out. If they see someone in front of them preaching this in the flesh, it will show them that anything is possible. And they will catch on now, rather than catching on later. We try to go to these elementary/middle schools and try to talk to these younger kids and try to show them that education is important. Don’t worry about the fame and the cars; if you get an education, you are the richest person in the world. I think this generation is forgetting about the foundation, which is education. That’s what we do at Urban Born, we go to different schools, speak to the kids; we do a lot of “Reading to Achieve” programs. We just try to show them that, hey, you’re not alone and if you do try, don’t be afraid to fail. A lot of kids are afraid to take big tests, so they ditch school. They are afraid to raise their hand, they are afraid to go in front of the class. We want to teach them to do all of that, because it’ going to make you a better person.
LATF: That’s fantastic that brings me to my next question, which is; You have become a role model. Do you feel involved with what’s going on in the world? Do you have an opinion?
ROMEO: I feel that you can only do as much as you can do and I can’t change the world in the blink of a second. That’s why we do a lot of things with Urban Born. These kids have got to realize that if you have one person that can make the bigger difference, if I can help one person, that will make a big difference, but you have to keep it going.
You have to pay it forward, that’s what I say. You know; I help you, you help the next person and that person helps the next person. That’s all it is. If everybody does something positive, take the right steps forward, then we can make the difference in the world. Me, I can say and preach as much as I want about what I see and how I feel about the world, but one person isn’t going to change it if everyone else doesn’t come and help back it up.
LATF: So then you just do what you do to help along the way by influencing people in positive ways.
ROMEO: I think a lot of celebrities kind of feel like they are God or that the world revolves around them, and for me, the world doesn’t revolve around me. I’m out here to help the world and whatever part I can do, that’s what I’m going to do. That’s why I do a lot of charity events for these kids, because I do feel that those little moments make the biggest difference. I don’t care if I help 10 people or 20 million people, it’s definitely a work in progress.
LATF: Well, that’s great man. I want to wish you the best of luck on “Dancing with the Stars,” because I’m going to be rooting for you; I’m going to be doing my thang, voting for you.
ROMEO: Thanks, I need all the votes possible. (To the camera) I may take you to prom if you vote for me. Hit my twitter @romeomiller
LATF: Ok, now they are going to hold you to that. I wish you nothing but luck and love and success man.
Romeo is on-the-go these days practically 24/7. With his recording schedule, DWTS’s dance rehearsals, acting roles, and personal appearances, Shakespeare’s much-quoted line from Romeo & Juliet, is certainly applicable to our modern-day Romeo, but with a little amending… Like; “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou not?
Originally published in the former digital magazine LA TEEN FESTIVAL, now LATF USA NEWS
