Frequently asked questions

The About Me page does a good job of summarizing my life leading up to acting, but this section is meant to address the questions that might come to mind when you meet me and help give you a better feel for my personality. 
 

How do you pronounce your name

It's like jam, but with an S. Sjam.
 

Could I get that answer hold the sass?

Kuh-bed-uh. Handy mneumonic: it sounds like you better believe it

Person: Really?

Sam: Kebede believe it!

has anyone told you that you look like a young obama?

I've gotten Barack, Malcolm X, Arsenio Hall, Arthur Ashe, Sam Cooke, and Michael Jackson.

michael jackson?

You know which version.

Where are you from?

I was born and raised in Southern California, but my parents are both immigrants from Ethiopia. They came separately though. My mom pretended to be my Aunt's daughter to get into America at 17. She started in Texas and eventually moved to LA. My dad was on a scholarship to go to school in the (then) Soviet Union where he studied biomedical engineering. He was supposed to come back to Ethiopia, but he fled across Cold War Europe and eventually applied for political asylum in Italy to gain entry into the U.S.

Your parents must be really cool.

They used to be, now they're just regular old immigrants who overcompensate for their accent and culture by listening to country music and eating apple pie. I've listened to more Conway Twitty than I'd like to admit.

Do you speak your parent's language?

I can understand Amharic (the main language of Ethiopia), but when I speak I have a very american accent so I usually just respond to my parents in English. 

I can speak Japanese though!

So you're an Actor/writer/comedian?

You're not gonna ask about the Japanese thing? Fine.

Yeah, I hold a few hats. The actor part is pretty straightforward. As for the writer part, I've spent a lot of Grad school writing plays that I plan on producing over the next few years. I've written a one person show about the South Side of Chicago, a Kafka adaptation, a play about BLM vs. All Lives Matter, and a comedy webseries about black actors. As for Comedian, I’ve performed my hour set titled “I’m Ostracized because I’m Ostrich Sized” and I go around the New York circuit. I also love to do open mics across the country.

Why write a play about the South Side?

When they released the video of Laquan McDonald being shot by the police, I was mortified. I expected huge waves of change and protest, and there were some things that happened, but it was all so momentary. After a few months no one cared any more. I thought about why this happened, and I came to the conclusion that a screen isn't close enough. Human interaction is the corner stone of progress, so I packed my bags and went to Chicago. This led to the scariest and most enriching time of my life as I spent my days and nights on the south side during the bloodiest summer in decades.

After that experience I developed a deep need to create stories to help heal neglected communities. And I don’t plan on stopping any time soon

What are your goals as an artist?

I want to create stories that have never been seen before. Whether it’s an old play in a new way or something brand new, I care deeply about finding what’s new and making it alive.

Can I touch your hair?

No.