Disenchanted with his hometown at 14, Lathan McKay found that a skateboard was to be his vehicle on the road to self-discovery. He earned his keep by traveling across America professionally for the next 10 years.Interacting with a kaleidoscope of personalities and locales, McKay found many friends and mentors who have become as important to him as his family and Texas roots. Early on, his love for film ignited a passion for creativity and individuality that fuels all his waking moments. Lathan became a seventies-era cinefile, even though he was barely alive in that decade. Because of this, he learned to value the gritty realism embodied by talents like Warren Oates , Kris Kristofferson , Lee Marvin , Sam Peckinpah , and mentor and friend Monte Hellman . Joining Hellman's newly founded production company, Lathan has participated in the filming of Monte's latest oeuvre, "Road to Nowhere", and is conspiring to set in motion two screenplays he's co-written. McKay is honored to be portraying his favorite singer, the late Layne Staley , in the upcoming biopic Get Born Again. Lathan's life includes a few parallels to Staley's. In fact, he hauls around a stack of lyrics and poems that chronicle his trip which seem to be morphing into songs. A member of the Too Sensitive for the World Club, along with many of his close friends and peers, Lathan is a survivor. That trait informed his depth of character before he ever considered acting in the latter part of his twenties. After becoming dismayed with the business aspect of the Skateboarding World, McKay starred in Levelland (2003), which premiered at the 2nd Annual Tribeca Film Festival, turning in a memorable performance. The next leg of McKay's journey will in all likelihood be in cahoots with his many like-minded friends -- most of whom are respected artists in various branches of the arts of music and film.