One of Wahoos’ biggest fans, Tremayne Blair, walks red carpet in film premiere

By Jerry Ratcliffe

If Tremayne Blair had his way, he would have shown up for the red-carpet premiere of “Unfailing Love” sporting an orange and blue tux on Thursday night.

Blair, a devoted Wahoo fan, can usually be spotted in a crowd, on vacation, traveling or just hanging out, wearing UVA gear. A native of Galax, Va., who now resides in Winston-Salem, the actor had to settle for the standard movie premiere all-white tux in Hyattsville, Md.

“I support my Hoos everywhere I go,” Blair said. “My family pointed out that every photo that I post, I’ve got some Virginia apparel on.”

Except for his stroll down the red carpet in his first starring role of his relatively young acting career. In “Unfailing Love,” Blair plays Hosea, who is, in the words of producer Jewell Powell, “writing his memoir about how God used [Hosea’s] marriage as a living example of God’s love for His people and all the ups and downs [Hosea] had to endure because of his obedience to God.”

The film takes place in the DC metro area over a seven-year span, along with flashbacks to his childhood, one in which during a dream, God instructs an 8-year-old Hosea to marry a woman that He would reveal to him one day.

“Hosea has been searching his whole life to find the woman of his dreams,” said Powell, who also has a major role in the film. “When he thinks he found her (Sonya, as played by Kelsey Delemar), God tells him no.”

We won’t spoil the plot at this point, but as Blair notes, “Hosea stays obedient regardless of what circumstances are being presented in Hosea’s way. He is passionate, love endures and that’s his motivation that gets him through everything … and this brother goes through some stuff in this movie.”

This isn’t Blair’s first rodeo. He is known for “Blood of the Mummy (2019,” “Life Changes Everything (2017),” “Making Him Famous (2023),” “Christmas with Buddy (2022,” “Sights Unseen (2002),” “Suicide Note (2022),” “The Closet (2021),” “Talent (2020,” and some TV shows, most notably, “Homeland,” of Showtime fame.

Growing up in Southwest Virginia, Blair was a state champion in a one-act play under the direction of B.J. Carroll and did some community theatres. He was mostly into music — drums and piano — and was nominated for and won “New Artist of the Year” for a composition in 2014.

It was then that his acting career began, almost as an accident or a great twist of fate.

Blair was goofing off, as he put it, at the punch table at the awards show when a lady beside him asked if he had any acting experience. He told her about his limited exposure to acting and when she replied, “So, you have no film or television?” he practically laughed in her face, thinking she was just blowing smoke.

When he returned to his table, his friends asked him if he knew who that lady was. Turned out she had cast numerous big-name projects. Blair immediately approached her and apologized, explaining he didn’t think she was serious.

Turned out she was very serious, said he fit the look of a character for season three of “Homeland,” and asked if he would come to Charlotte and audition. 

“I was like, what the heck, if nothing else I’ll get free food out of it,” Blair recalled. “Within an hour after the audition, I got a phone call and they offered me the role.

“I remember later, sitting in the trailer and praying to God about how much fun this was and that if this is something He put in my lap, He was going to have to help me because I had no idea what I was doing.”

From that point on, one door after another kept opening.

“I’m going to ride this wave as far as it will take me,” Blair said.

After many appearances, he can now say that he landed a starring role in a film, and Powell called him personally after his audition and offered him the role of Hosea.

‘It has just been a blessing,” Blair said. “I’m trying to have as much fun as I can and soak it all in.”

That doesn’t mean it’s easy. While Blair said he can’t really relate to all the game pressures that his Cavalier heroes experience on the field of play, he is challenged with his own set of pressure to deliver as an actor, particularly in his latest role.

“I don’t care, anybody in the world who is in this industry, whether it’s a blockbuster hit all the way down to independent film, the fact that you beat the odds and you have the opportunity to star is something, it’s just incredible,” Blair said.

“There would be times I would be sitting on set and there’s a different kind of weight on you as an actor, sitting there thinking this whole film predicates on your talent right now. This fails, it’s because you suck. That’s a lot of pressure, man.

“This person’s paycheck, that person’s paycheck, all depend on what I do when this director says ‘action.’”

Blair praised the work of Powell and Delemar, who he described as a superstar actress with whom he had great chemistry. In fact, after several days on the set, he said he felt the two were “really bringing it” as actors and when a new character (Cameron Arnett, Star Trek) showed up, Blair remembered texting Delemar hoping that Arnett showed up with the same energy.

“After his first scene, my lip dropped because he was so good,” Blair said. “I thought to myself, this is going to be a great movie.”

Blair specifically thanked Jermaine Blair, Pastor Clayton Carnell and Pastor Rodney Gray for helping him make his character authentic and their assistance with Bible verses that were pertinent to Hosea’s life.

“I would call them at all hours asking questions, and I know they giggled every time, saying, ‘Well, I guess Hosea has another question,’” Blair laughed. “They enabled me to bring much more life into Hosea’s character, and I’m forever grateful.”

Next time we see Blair, if not on the silver screen, he will likely be sitting in the stands at some UVA sports venue with a bag of popcorn and standing out in orange and blue.