As human beings, we strive to accomplish our long-awaited dreams and fulfill our goals no matter how far-fetched, out of reach or difficult they can be. Whether it’s to become a lawyer, a doctor, an author or even in this case, achieve three aspirations at once: a comic book writer, an actor and a screenwriter.

In the vein of Black History Month, I am prepared to share about one such man who has managed to achieve his ambitions both on the pages and on the silver screen. That man is Kevin Grevioux.

Grevioux was born in Chicago, Illinois on Sept. 9, 1962. According to Shadow and Act, his father owned a succession of supermarkets in Oakland, California, and his mother was a schoolteacher; both of which were Harvard graduates. In college, Grevioux earned his degree in microbiology at Howard University in Washington, DC — minoring in psychology and chemistry — and returned to graduate school to work on his masters in genetic engineering.

So how does his educational success translate to film writing and comic book profitability? This is where things get interesting.

Since he was a kid, he grew to have a fondness for movies and the film industry. Originally setting off to become a doctor, he aimed instead to go towards script writing after being inspired by films like Spike Lee’s 1986 comedy, “She’s Gotta Have It.” After taking writing and cinematography classes in his first graduate school semester, he moved to Los Angeles and proceeded to work on ideas for screenplays all on his own.

After volunteering to act in minor roles as a henchmen for movies such as “The Mask,” “Batman Forever” and Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes” remake, he wrote his first screenplay and worked with director Len Wiseman to bring to fruition their first film together, “Underworld.” It was an action-horror film that centered on a centuries-long rivalry between Lycans and vampires, starring Kate Beckinsale, that soon developed four more installments and a cult following.

Since Grevioux was 12, he’s been a fan of comic books, and to this day is collecting about 15,000 issues according to We Got This Covered. In 2006, he forged two comic publications of his own: Astounding Studios and DarkStorm Studios—and invented a comic book character named Blue Marvel in 2008 with Marvel Comics.

In 2010, Grevioux sold another original screenplay to Australian film company Lakeshore Entertainment. The screenplay was based on a produced comic book idea called “I, Frankenstein,” a concept meant to turn Frankenstein’s monster into an action hero. The project came to being and was released into theaters in January 2014 with Aaron Eckart (“The Dark Knight”) as the lead anti-hero.

When asked about how race is a factor in his success and daily life, he replied that his success in his occupation and his passions define who he is as opposed to what’s on the surface.

“Just looking at me, I am a Black man,” said Grevioux in a Shadow and Act interview with Michael Dennis. “But I am also a lot of things. I am a father. I am a husband. I am a Christian. I am a comic book geek and I’m a creator…For me, when I walk in the door sometimes, I’m already an anomaly because I’m working in a genre that African Americans don’t typically engage in. …So in terms of how race plays for me on a day-to-day basis, it doesn’t. Because we are much more.”

Grevioux is still writing and acting to this day.