Edgar Guerra (left) films a segment with Tyrone Tillman (center) and Glenn Campbell outside Tompkins Houses in Bed-Stuy, where the trio grew up together. (Photo: Jack Delaney)
By Jack Delaney | jdelaney@queensledger.com
BED-STUY — It was a sunny morning in Bed-Stuy, and three old friends were settling into their folding chairs.
As he does every year, Edgar Guerra had come down from Springfield, Massachusetts, to visit his childhood stomping grounds at Tompkins Houses.
But this time was slightly different: Accompanying Guerra was Tony Bass, a producer and director whom he tapped to help create a documentary that profiles the former Brooklynite.
The movie, tentatively titled “Mission Possible,” centers on Guerra’s budding career in the entertainment industry, which has grown from ad spots for a local solar company to a new role as a detective on a show called “Cutting Ties.”
To tell that story, however, Bass wanted to go back to the beginning. That’s why Glen Campbell and Tyrone Tillman, two of Guerra’s friends from his Tompkins days, were sitting outside the front lobby of “Headquarters,” waiting for the camera to roll.
“We love Edgar,” Campbell started off. “He was a little, skinny guy. He was friendly, never had a problem, his family brought him up right. And most of all I really appreciate him due to the fact that he comes back to his neighborhood.”
Talk quickly turned to another one of their mutual friends. Campbell, 70, lived on the 11th floor; Tyrone, 67, was on the 8th; Guerra’s family, four boys and four girls, were on the 5th; and the comedian Tracy Morgan, 57, who rocketed to fame on “SNL” and “30Rock,” grew up one floor down, on the 4th.
But before Morgan made his name, there was a different star on the block: Mark Breland, a boxer with a 110-1 career record who won gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics and posted five Golden Gloves, the most in the award’s history.
“One time I was sitting across the street with Tracy and little brother that passed away. When Mark came home from the Olympics, he was flooded by people on Park Avenue, so we went over there to congratulate him,” remembered Tillman.
Guerra tapped Tony Bass (left) to shoot and produce “Mission Possible.”
“Tracy looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to be bigger than Mark.’ I’ll never forget it. Me and my brother told him, Tracy, we’re not trying to hear that — Mark, this is his stage right now,” said Tillman. Then he smiled: “Well, as I come to find out, Tracy’s bigger than Mark. I haven’t seen him since when he became famous, in 20-something years.”
As a child, Guerra’s mother would dress him in the style of JFK, Jr., telling him that he was destined for greatness. But art and film fell by the wayside amid a string of big life changes: Guerra moved to Springfield in his teens to work at his uncle’s fish market, and his parents joined shortly after to start a restaurant in the area.
Now Guerra, 60, is looking to replicate Morgan’s rise to stardom, albeit on his own terms. For the past seven years, he has worked as a driver for a company that specializes in transporting passengers with disabilities, yet his mother’s passing five years ago reignited his interest in pursuing an acting career.
“This is what I always wanted to do, for years and years,” Guerra affirmed. “This is what my mother wanted me to do. It’s like what Tracy said — This is my time, it’s up to the man in heaven to make it happen.”
Guerra has found an ally in Bass, who left the IT department at Bear Stearns to launch a newsletter and entertainment magazine in Rhode Island called The City Beat. Eventually, he relocated to Springfield to start a business with his brother — who tragically passed away soon after they found an office. Bass stayed in town, where he has kept up his publication while running a recording studio and 24/7 radio station.
“I knew that communications in general was always going to be a big opportunity if you were able to get into it right and have good people around you,” said Bass, packing up his cameras.
Guerra and Bass have finished their initial round of filming. All that’s left is to follow Guerra as he throws himself into his latest TV role, and looks to make his mark as a professional actor.
“I want to give this a try,” said Guerra. “It’s been haunting me, and I can’t let this thing go by.”
