After losing his home to Hurricane Katrina, Ryan Anderson, a 16-year-old who now lives in Dallas, has already won an award for his entrepreneurship and had one of his songs featured in a Spike Lee film.
Now he's making a mark as an actor with a role in Wuss, a film currently being screened at the Dallas International Film Festival.
"I'm just trying to set myself up for, like, a goal that I've been seeing since I was, like, 6," he told NBC DFW.
Wuss director Clay Liford predicts that Ryan will meet that goal. "I think Ryan's going to have a huge career ahead of him," he said.
Anderson plays one of the main characters in the film about a young high school teacher who "basically gets beat up by his own students" and decides to get even, Liford said.
In its few weeks in the public, Wuss has premiered and sold out shows at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
This isn't Anderson’s first post-Katrina venture. He rapped on television after he won an entrepreneur award for his record label, Bootstrap Muzik.
With war and natural disasters dominating the headlines these days, it's encouraging to hear some news that reminds us of human resilience and the possibilities for people — even kids — to find inspiration and success after tragedy.
Watch the Wuss trailer here:
Read more at NBC DFW.
In other news: New York Mayor to Kemba: Don't Forget Your Roots.