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Keith Powers: From football field to red carpet

Sitting on the bleachers, looking at the football field he once played on, Keith Powers, now 24, couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

"It feels good. It's a lot of memories. Track practice. Football practice," said Powers. "It makes me miss certain moments you know?"

Like many high school athletes, Powers once aspired to go pro.

"I played football and I had dreams of going pro. Who doesn't have dreams of going pro when you're young and playing sports? That was my first love," said Powers. "Things worked out differently which I'm actually happy about."

The model-actor graduated from Sheldon High School in Sacramento back in 2010. Since then, he's had quite a Hollywood career. It started with a brief, but very successful stint in modeling. Powers was the face for many household names including K-Mart, Target, Calvin Klein, Sears, and Kohls.

"Luckily I got into acting through modeling and I fell in love," said Powers.

In 2013, Powers made his acting debut in 'House Party: Tonight's the Night,' a direct-to-video comedy film released under Warner Brothers.

His biggest project so far? Undoubtedly 'Straight Outta Compton,' the NWA biopic where Powers played Dr. Dre's little brother. But despite the international exposure of that film, Powers said his huge social media following comes from his role as Theo on MTV's 'Faking It.'

Powers plays Ronnie from New Edition on BET's mini-series coming out next January. For this project, Powers said he had to learn how to dance and even sing, something he always wish he could do.

In 2017, Powers will also star alongside Bella Thorne on 'Famous in Love' on Freeform, formerly known as ABC Family. But as he climbs up the Hollywood ladder, he says he'll never forget where he came from. Powers is all about #SacramentoProud.

"We gotta rep our city man. This is the capitol. We gotta give our city hope," said Powers.

His advice to young people growing up in Sacramento? Keep your options open and don't put all your eggs in one basket.

"I would've never thought I could be an actor. What? Never in a million years!" said Powers. "You can do the extraordinary. The stuff you never imagined."

As Powers scrolls through his senior yearbook, he laughed at a quote he chose to go with his 'Best Dressed' photo: A good dresser is a good thief.

"I don't know why I said that!" chuckled Powers. "I don't know [what it means]."

For some reason, Powers' senior quote never made it under his official picture in his yearbook. But if he could add one in now, he said he would choose: Hard work is undefeated.

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