JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Even while acting on various movie sets thousands of miles from his hometown, one piece of Ronald “RJ” Cyler II that will never depart from him is his love for his city — Jacksonville, Florida.
“Duval is my heartbeat,” Cyler declared. “Without Jacksonville, I wouldn’t be RJ.”
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With every thump in his chest, Cyler acknowledged how his Duval County days molded his faith, focus and overall hunger to put on for his city.
Anyone can take a 2,416-mile road trip to Los Angeles, California, but for Cyler, his ambition and desire to provide for his family took him on an unprecedented journey that landed him in the City of Angels.
The 29-year-old entertainer has established a name in Hollywood through roles in the HBO Max comedy series “Rap Sh!t,” Netflix’s “The Book of Clarence” and “The Harder They Fall.”
During a long Zoom interview from his home in L.A., Cyler took News4JAX through an exclusive look into the leap of faith that catapulted him to his entertainment success.
Backseat beginnings to stardom
From his days of forming a dance group with one of his older brothers to finding strength through grueling hospital visits as a Type 1 diabetic, Cyler described his Duval upbringing as his “Sparta” moment.
He reps the city’s Southside as his original stomping grounds. When he was a student at Englewood High School, his wandering mind would often get him in trouble in class — after he finished his work, of course.
“I used to talk a lot in school. It’s not that I was bad, my mouth just kept [moving] and it’s because so many different characters [would] pop up,” Cyler said.
Labeled a class distraction by his teachers, Cyler knew he needed a creative outlet to express himself. Acting filled that void.
“I wanted to do something with all the little voices and pictures that flowed through my brain space,” he said. “To be able to create a person is so cool, especially somebody that other people can relate to, heal through or learn from.”
Cyler’s talents didn’t offer him the cookie-cutter formula to red carpet victories.
The defining moment that eventually led to the launch of his acting career came in 2012 on a ride home from church.
His father, Ronald Cyler I, drove as then-18-year-old Cyler dozed off in the backseat while tunes on the radio echoed throughout the car.
Cyler’s short slumber was interrupted when he heard a commercial for the Celebrities Actor Camp (now known as The Celebrity Experience) that was coming to the Prime Osborn Convention Center for the first time.
He asked his father, “Hey, can I do this?”
“Nah man, we ain’t got the money. Just go back to sleep, and I’ll get you home safe,” Cyler recalled his father replying.
Though his father’s words can be perceived as dismissive, Cyler knew they were covered in love.
Cyler, sharing more than just a name with his father, credits his identity to his father’s profound influence.
“All my great qualities I had to learn from my papa,” Cyler said. “Success-wise, personality-wise, characteristics-wise, the morals, all of these things.”
Cyler also knew a mother’s love for her son was unmatched. So, once he and his father returned home from church, he told his mother, Katina Cyler, about his acting aspirations, and she convinced his father to let him at least try out.
“Thank God for my mama,” Cyler praised.
He got signed to an Orlando talent agency, but “they didn’t really do anything” besides take $700 for a photoshoot.
“We were out of money rather than actually making money,” he said, recalling the disappointment of believing he’d finally reached his breakthrough.
A few months later, he got another call from Adrian R’Mante, the camp’s owner, asking his family if they could come to Los Angeles for a program that would have put him in front of Hollywood agents, management companies and talent scouts.
His parents worried about the financial burden, but R’Mante offered to cover the costs if Cyler attended the program regularly.
During his senior year, Cyler, armed with confidence, got on a plane for the first time with his mother to head to the West Coast.
“Ma, I can do this if you trust me with it,” he assured her.
While juggling auditions and schoolwork to finish his last two months of high school in L.A., Cyler refused to let the mounting anxiety to provide for his family steer him away from his goals.
Instead, he used that energy as fuel to keep his promises as his family uprooted for his success.
“Anxiety through the roof,” Cyler recalled. “My parents relocated for this dream. We were homeless in L.A., but it never became pressure.”
Cyler’s next move was a simple one: prayer.
After his first few days at the camp, he was wandering in the parking lot of the hotel he called home when he received two words from God — words he said answered his prayers and solidified he was headed in the right direction:
Alright, bro.
“That was the greatest kind of reassurance that I was feeling,” Cyler said. “As RJ, I give God all the credit for who he created.”
God’s affirmation motivated him to remain focused and learn all the fundamentals of the industry.
The actor landed his breakout role in the 2015 critically acclaimed movie “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.”
He also earned a Critics Choice Best Young Actor nomination for his role in the film.
Two years later, he played Billy in the “Power Rangers” movie reboot, where he was also nominated for the Teen Choice Awards Scene Stealer award.
Cyler is never afraid to acknowledge the divine role his faith has played in his success.
“God has opened doors to where I can be multiple places on Earth and get to speak about and do things that I couldn’t ever fathom,” he said.
This was only the beginning of a thriving career that has led him to share the screen with some of Hollywood’s iconic stars.
305 to my city
Cyler has worked with star-studded cast members such as Idris Elba, Regina King, LaKeith Stanfield, Jonathan Majors and Teyana Taylor. Though all pivotal moments in his career, nothing compared to the synergy that he and Jacksonville rapper/actor KaMillion displayed repping the 904 out in the 305 during “Rap Sh!t,” a recent series about a female rap group trying to make it in the music industry.
“I feel like every great role that I get to be a part of is cool, right? But something that I can create that’s great with somebody from the city, that’s like a staple,” said Cyler, who described working with the Grammy-award songwriter as winning a WWE Championship belt.
“KaMillion is a monument. The people we have from our city, they all become monuments of their creations,” Cyler said.
The Jacksonville natives worked together for two seasons on Issa Rae’s television series that was filmed in Miami.
“We put this on for the city. This is Jacksonville,” he said, adding that the show’s positive reception fueled his excitement to draw more attention to a hidden gem people often overlook.
Jacksonville often catches a lot of flak about negative stigma overshadowing someone’s ability to reach success.
But Cyler’s altruistic eyes see the opposite for his city.
“Jacksonville is a space where it’s so much talent,” he said.
And Cyler has plans to spotlight that talent. His future ambitions include expanding his Type On3 Productions brand.
He aspires to bring the first Type On3 Productions film studio to his hometown to serve as a safe space for aspiring actors and creatives.
“I really want to bring a space for an opportunity to Jacksonville to get their Hollywood ticket,” Cyler said.
While he doesn’t have a definitive opening date, the plans for the studio are in the works.
In the meantime, he has other ways he wants his contributions to leave his imprint.
“I plan on bringing nothing but great opportunities to the city, for the city,” he said.
The pride and love he shows for his city don’t go unnoticed, either. Cyler’s down-to-earth, comedic character leaves a lasting impression on anyone he meets — on and off the screen — and that has never left the Jacksonville community.
As he continues to climb the showbiz ladder, landing roles as Halle Bailey’s love interest in the “Because I Love You” music video and in an upcoming indie horror film “Night Patrol,” the support he receives magnifies.
Whether it’s a shoutout on social media, comments under a post, or an encouraging text, one point is clear: The city stands with Cyler.
“I also noticed, just as much as I don’t play about my city, my city don’t play about me,” he said. “I have a whole city of people that’s just down, and they get it.”
RJ after hours
Don’t confine him to just acting. Cyler is a man of many hats and hidden talents like skating, DJing, modeling, producing, gaming and being a husband to his wife, music artist Nariah Francois.
When he comes to town, you’ll likely catch him sliding on the rink at Skate Station in Orange Park. When he needs to decompress, he channels his inner yogi. They are two activities that Cyler described as his therapists.
“I’m a really big yogi. Hot yoga definitely became a heavy thing for me for more of a mental space,” he said, calling to the time when his grandfather passed while he was filming season one of “Rap Sh!t.”
“That helped me through that time. Hot yoga makes you focus on yourself and block out everything,” he said.
Another one of his pastimes that helps him unwind is football.
Cyler, in true Duvalian fashion, is a diehard Jaguars fan. Winning isn’t the core of his fandom, though. (His Englewood days prepared him for that, he says.)
He enjoys supporting the team but also enjoys the camaraderie that brings the city together at the games.
“The game will be lit. We don’t go to the games anymore to only watch football,” he exclaimed. “If you go to a football game in Jacksonville, it’s for the party. It’s not really for the game.”
Behind the scenes, Cyler remains true to that goofy and gifted high schooler at Englewood, whether he’s having an uplifting faith-based conversation or dominating whatever script is presented in front of him next.
This is just the beginning for the budding actor, sentiments that he proclaims for Jacksonville as well.
“I wouldn’t rather be from anywhere else other than Duval County,” he declared. “I love the city. People gonna put respect on our name in the next 10 years.”