Napoleon Tavale

Born in American Samoa and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Napoleon's parents instilled in him the Samoan culture with music and dance at a very young age. The family created their own costumes, did their own make-up, and had original choreography that showcased performances all over the Twin Cities at weddings, summer camps, nursing homes, diversity events, parties, Holiday celebrations, and church functions. The rehearsal space was in their basement, in the backyard, and in the garage. This is how he learned to speak and write in Samoan fluently and more importantly, when he fell in love with story-telling. He was a print and runway model for Mall of America's store catalogs and rotunda shows. Tavale got involved with a local TV show, "Whatever", where he was a reporter who did movie reviews and interviewed local celebrities like up-and-coming superstar wrestler (at the time) and MN Gopher alumni, Brock Lesnar. Tavale enjoyed playing recreational sports like football and basketball. Today, he plays basketball wherever and whenever he can. Acting took place at Cretin-Derham Hall High School where he got involved in musical theatre productions and one-act plays. His first acting audition, he did not have anything prepared so he had to sing "Do-Re-Mi" from "The Sound of Music" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" It worked out since he was cast in his first play as a chorus member in the musical, Grease. Tavale's artistic achievements earned him a John Albers Scholarship towards college. Tavale earned a Theatre Scholarship to Whittier College where he earned a BA in Theatre. After his BA, Tavale's professors encouraged him to audition for Graduate programs through URTA. He auditioned for over 30 schools nationwide, had some great offers, and gladly ended up accepting a full ride scholarship to the University of Virginia, where he proudly holds an MFA in Acting. Napoleon is a first generation college graduate, a tremendous accomplishment that he and his family are extremely proud of. These degrees assist him with teaching opportunities in Drama and Special education. Tavale wrote, executive produced, and starred in an original short film called: Off The Rock. The film is inspired by true events and follows a young man's passionate journey from American Samoa to play football in the NFL. (He/Him/) (IG@NapoleonTavale)