Is your acting a tribute to them in some way?
Everything I do is related to my family, my children and my ancestors. Without a doubt. We represent. It’s no joke when someone says representation—it’s the truth. I take that very seriously. My name is on something. My face is glued to something. I represent my people.
How that passing in Article of Faith III?
In this photo, the character’s name is Damian Anderson. My mother’s maiden name was Terry Anderson. So the Andersons are half my family. I changed the name for that. So I’m always thinking about what people will see—my nuclear family and my culture, what they’ll see and how they’ll feel about my roles and how I’ll play those roles. .
When you were growing up, what was the first performance you remember seeing that had a profound effect on you?
Church. And I’m always in it, you know. There was an interesting shift when I paid more attention to the sermon than to praise and worship. Singing. Not everyone knows what praise and worship are. Choir.
Yes [laughs].
And I remember when that happened. It happened quite early, when I was about six years old. I was no longer looking forward to singing. I’m trying to figure out what this person is going to say. I would love to see what they say and how it affects those in the congregation.
What about those lectures drew you in?
Well, they all have a nice arc, don’t they? They are a slow part, a quiet part, a noisy part, then a quiet part. It’s a movie. That’s basically how the movies go. This is the quiet part. This is the noisy part. This is the noisy, fast part. We’re saying hello — here’s the quiet part again. Thank. Credit.
Right.
So watch that and feel how it’s moving through the congregation, and sometimes the organ comes on and that makes a bang — I saw it as a dance, a party.
I can hear nuance in the message, which is interesting to me. I like language. I love listening to how people talk, how they communicate. And I grew up in the South. So I listened to the sermon, and I heard my countrymen on the street talking crazy. That is also interesting to me.
Let’s talk about that nuance. How do you define it?
I think nuance is when you have two truths running at the same time, perhaps. That is not the definition. But when you look at a character and you see two facts running side by side, sometimes the two facts can be opposites—they may not say the same thing, but both are true. That, to me, is interesting. That’s where you learn the most about people. How wonderful would it be if you could really understand someone on two different levels at the same time? How much faster will we get to know each other?
When you take on a role, is that what you get – an attempt to connect understanding between you and the audience?
The audience must understand them. On the other hand, it was basically a bad performance. If you play a character that is marginal, if you can invite the audience to understand that character, that’s a lot more interesting. And the rewards are greater.
