Derek Solorsano was raised by his single mother and half-older brother and sister in a house on the south-side of Chicago, Illinois. As a child he never had much but always dreamed of being a talented actor by participating in talent shows and mimicking movies in front of his family. It wasn't until after he served in the military and explored different career opportunities that he moved to Phoenix, Arizona and started pursuing acting as a career. He became an extra in the movie Kingdom and it was at that moment that he realized acting was his calling. After intense training at the school of hard knocks, he started to land supporting and starring roles in independent and student films. Those films gave him a taste of what it's like to be the focus in front of the camera rather than in the background. These films made him hungry for growth in acting, which has been his inspiration to succeed. His career recently took off when he booked a supporting role in the film 2 Guns starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg.