Lance Gross Talks 'STAR,' Playing the Man Everyone Loves to Hate And Explosive Season 2 Finale

From the moment season 2 premiered, Fox’s STAR has put its foot on the gas, and the drama, music and sensational storylines haven’t slowed down since. This season has brought brand new goals, heartbreaks and even more obstacles for Carlotta (Queen Latifah), Star (Jude Demorest), Simone (Brittany O’Grady) and Alex (Ryan Destiny). As the second season barrels toward what will surely be a tumultuous conclusion, one character stands at the center -- orchestrating much of the chaos. Lance Gross made his STAR debut in season 2 as the mercurial Maurice Jetter, the head of A&R at Midtown Records. Though Maurice seemed to be a stand-up guy in the beginning, his true nature began to show as his past and his temperament started to unravel. It’s a role that Gross has thoroughly enjoyed diving headfirst into. "Maurice is so ambitious —he wants to win," the Oakland native explained to me ahead of STAR’s season two finale. "When I first started with this character I didn't know that he was gonna take the turn that he took. We all were kind of trying to figure out the character. In my talks with Lee Daniels, we knew he was going to become dark, but we didn't exactly know how. As the season progressed it just started to get real interesting. It’s fun because its something that I haven't really played too much in the past, and that's been interesting as an actor. I wouldn't say (Maurice) is a bad guy, I would just say he's about winning. He wants what's best for his artists and he sees something that shines in Star, so he's going full speed ahead with breaking her out.“

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Zazie Beetz Dishes On 'Deadpool 2,' Black Women Superheroes And Understanding The Spirit Of Mutant Mercenary, Domino

In Deadpool 2, Zazie Beetz makes her superhero debut as Domino in a flourish of luscious afro and nonchalance. A reluctant member of Wade Wilson’s newly formed X-Force, Domino has a dark and twisted past, but from her unbothered attitude, you’d never know it. Beetz was determined to make the character, originally created by Rob Liefeld, her own. The second she learned she was in the running for the role, the Atlanta actress set off on an adventure to figure out who Domino was in the Marvel comics and who she would become on the big screen. “As soon as the conversation began that I would potentially be engaging in and working with Ryan Reynolds and Dave Leitch on this movie, I began researching a bunch online," she revealed. "I went to a comic book store here in New York, where I live, and I told one of the employees, ‘I need to do some research on Domino.' Obviously, I had to ask without revealing what it was for. I was hoping to find comics that would encapsulate her spirit — not necessarily following a specific storyline trajectory or even sticking with one artist. So this man collected a bunch of different books that he thought would be good for me to look through, and I got the original comic where Deadpool, Domino and Gideon were introduced." After getting some context from the comics, Beetz moved on to the cartoon versions of Domino to get a sense of the character’s movements, cadence and tone. “I bounced around, and I watched one of the X-Men," the German native said. “There used to be this cartoon and Domino had a role in it. I watched that. For the audition, I felt it was important for me to understand her spirit and her character, and I did the best that I could. As we kept going, I continued. After booking the role, I deepened my research and deepened my involvement with the character and the universe."

Understanding Domino at her core was one thing, but getting physically prepared to play the mutant mercenary was another challenge. “The training ends up becoming this mental and emotional experience as well," Beetz reflected. “I was doing about four hours a day for many months. I was doing two hours in the morning of fight training, and boxing and choreography. It's kind of like learning a dance, martial arts, mixed martial arts, and then in the afternoon I did a bunch of weight training. I found the fight training to be actually a lot more fun for me because you're using your mind when you're sparring, and it's a whole body experience, and it's sort of this cardio mixed with knowledge and you're learning how to kick and you're learning how to punch and you have to adjust your body. With weight training, it felt very monotonous, and it felt like a challenge just all the way through and it didn't feel as mentally engaging."

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'Superfly': Director X, Trevor Jackson and Jason Mitchell On Bringing Gordon Parks Jr.'s Blueprint To The Present-Day

“There is a difference between getting out, and getting pushed out.” Michael K. Williams’ character Scatter offers those haunting words of advice to Youngblood Priest (portrayed by Trevor Jackson) in the new trailer for Superfly. Though this 21st-century film is a world away from Gordon Parks Jr.’s 1972 Harlem-set Super Fly, the core of the story remains untouched. Set in Atlanta, Jackson’s Preist has become increasingly wary of the drug game. The constant paranoia has become all-consuming. Determined to start over, he bands together with his girl Georgia (Lex Scott Davis) and his business partner Eddie (Jason Mitchell) for one last job before he vanishes. Seated at the helm is Director X, known for his astonishing music videos for everyone from Drake to Rihanna, and the filmmaker was determined to elevate Atlanta life in all of its glitz and glory without removing the layer of grime that comes with street life, violence, death and drugs. Seated in the center of a nightclub in ATL surrounded by equipment, props and the incessant chatter of extras in the background, X is clearly in his element. He'd been called upon to deliver a 2018 version of Super Fly, and he's determined to deliver. “We all know the reality of movies nowadays,“ he explained. “People want properties. If you're going to spend 20 million bucks, would you spend it on something you know people will be interested in right away, or would you spend it on an idea? We all miss the old days when people spent a lot of money on ideas they had, but this is the energy in the air right now. I think Cleopatra Jones is being remade. They're doing another Shaft. Even Taraji's Proud Mary; it's not a remake, but it's definitely in the energy of those old movies.”

Despite Hollywood's remake and reboot climate, X revealed that when he first received the script, though it was named Superfly, the tone of the original was nowhere to be found. For him, that was unacceptable. “I read the script, and it wasn't about a drug dealer trying to get out," he remembered. “I said, We gotta make Super Fly, so that’s the movie we’re making. You've got Scatter, Eddie, Georgia, Cynthia, all those main characters that were in the original are here. The major story points happen. We took the major beats of Super Fly and said, 'Alright, these are the major things that happen, these are the things that have to happen in our version, and all the other stuff we do from there is an expansion.'”

Though the original film was considered an action drama during its time, X wanted to elevate the narrative by amplifying the most explosive notes in the plot and fleshing out a glossy and elite Atlanta world for Priest. “There's a little bit of art to everything," the "Work" music video director expressed. “Everything's just a little hyper-real. I didn’t want to do this super realistic drug story. I'm not interested in that. We're making a fun summer movie. Strip club culture is such a big part of the scene out here, but even that, this is the Superfly version of Magic City. Atlanta is the Harlem of today. If you were poppin' in Harlem in the '70s, you was poppin' around the world. If you're poppin' in Atlanta, you're poppin' around the world. This is that black epicenter now."

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Actress Florence Kasumba Unveils How Her 20-Year Career Led Her To Become A Dora Milaje Warrior In 'Black Panther' And Her Hopes For What Comes Next

The moment Florence Kasumba introduced herself as Ayo, T’Challa’s security chief in Captain America: Civil War, audiences immediately knew the type of energy that the Dora Milaje would be giving to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Ugandan-born German actress made her MCU debut by staring down Black Widow (portrayed by Scarlett Johansson) as she sharply suggested the Russian spy turned Avenger “move or be moved.” What has come after has literally been cinematic history. When Ryan Coogler’s long-awaited Black Panther came rippling through the box office in Feb. 2018, eviscerating any expectations and quickly soaring to the $1 billion mark globally, we learned that women like Ayo, Okoye (Danai Gurira), Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), Shuri (Letitia Wright) and the rest of the women of Wakanda were the pulse of the country. Now, as the film arrives on DVD, Kasumba, who gave us our first glimpse of the fearsome Wakandan women, is reflecting on the whirlwind that has been her life and career over the past few years. “You know what, this has been such a long journey, and I was so excited to be able to discuss it again,” she revealed. "Black Panther is such an amazing movie."

Kasumba’s role as Ayo turned out to be much more than she could have ever dreamed of, especially after it was expanded into Black Panther. “When I was cast for the security chief, she was a character that wasn't supposed to speak,” she explained. “So when I finally understood, okay this is a big Marvel movie, I wasn't that intimidated, because I thought, 'Okay you're going to do this job, and it's going to be easy to translate.' Then I showed up, and I was supposed to say a line. Years later, I'm very happy that people liked my interpretation of it.”

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'Dear White People' Vol. 2 Is Wittier, Bolder, Darker And More Impactful (Review)

Somebody is stirring up sh*t at Winchester University, and all of our faves are getting sucked into the storm. From the opening sequence of Dear White People Volume 2, it’s quite clear that the black students at the Armstrong-Parker House are about to confront much more than they did in the first season of the acclaimed Netflix series. Season 2 opens with an age-old debate, one that has started plenty of wars on Black Twitter and probably ended a friendship or two: salt versus sugar grits. The second season bangs on from there. Two weeks after the tumultuous protest against integrating Armstrong-Parker, and three weeks after Reggie (Marque Richardson) found himself staring down the barrel of a campus police officer's gun, Sam (Logan Browning) and the crew are struggling to pick up the pieces. It doesn’t help that they are now sharing their dorm with residents of the recently burned down Davis Hall. It's a change that has transformed their once safe space amid a predominantly white university into one fraught with microaggressions and disharmony. Apparently, the Caucasians find the scent of fried foods and Armstrong-Parker's choices in television programming offensive.

Mirroring the first season, Dear White People creator Justin Simien angles each episode of the 10-part second season from the perspective of one of the show's main character. However, this time, we go well beyond the surface, even stepping away from Winchester's campus completely. It’s not just Sam, Reggie or Coco (Antoinette Robertson) who get a spotlight this season. Lionel (DeRon Horton), Joelle (Ashley Blaine Featherson) and even Kelsey (Nia Jervier) get some well-deserved and much-needed fleshing out — giving new perspectives to the multiplicities and differences in the black diaspora.

Volume 2 of Dear White People is bolder. With the Trump election behind us, we're standing firmly in the midst of his presidency, batting a resurgence of white supremacy and racist rhetoric. Simien confronts it all head on. Though she’s used to her radio show "Dear White People" bringing forth criticism, it is now Sam herself who is under attack. A Twitter troll, @AltIvyW, is making her life miserable, assaulting her and the black study body with cruel tweets, abusive language and even threats to their safety. The mystery surrounding the identity of the troll is a thread that runs throughout the entire season. The relentlessness of being called everything from a monkey to a "half-breed bitch" is wearing down the most outspoken black woman at Winchester, and she's certainly not coming out of it unscathed.

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'13th' Cinematographer Hans Charles On 'Mr. SOUL!' And Being Deliberate About The Black Image

In the years following Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination as the Civil Rights Movement began to fray and crack, the Black Power movement arose, and Ellis Haizlip’s PBS series SOUL! gave black artists, poets, musicians, dancers, creators and activists a platform to tell their stories. SOUL! debuted on September 12, 1968, with Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles as its first musical guest. The show aired for five years before it was stamped out in the wake of President Richard Nixon’s suppression of the media. But for those five years, what Haizlip gave black people was glorious.

With their new documentary Mr. SOUL!, co-directors Melissa Haizlip and Sam Pollard celebrate Mr. Haizlip, an enigmatic and profound man who dedicated his life to honoring black people. To bring Mr. SOUL! to life, Haizlip and Pollard turned to actor Blair Underwood to narrate the film and 13th cinematographer Hans Charles to create the images. Amid the Tribeca Film Festival, I sat down to chat with Charles about Mr. SOUL!, black images and why he embraces being labeled a black cinematographer.

Charles’ journey into film began with a simple curiosity. "I think I just realized that there was a lot of action happening around the camera," he reflected. "There's just so much energy around it, that it felt like a place where you always would get a chance to work. That felt different from those people who wanted to be writers or directors. There is a certain energy and a certain sense of collaboration that occurs around the camera. That visual observation made an impression on me. I started as a film loader. I interned for Brad on a film called Mo. Then I became a second assistant on Mississippi Damned. Brad was teaching for one semester at Howard , and I was probably the worst cinematography student; I really didn't understand the technical concepts. But I would always be the first student there and the last student to leave. Toward the end of the semester, he asked two of us to be interns on a commercial he was doing. He asked his best student, and he asked me — the most enthusiastic student. I was the one who showed up the next day."

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'Phantom Cowboys' Beautifully Twists and Bends The Coming-Of-Age Genre (Tribeca Review)

Coming of age documentaries certainly aren't new territory. Recent films like Quest and Raising Bertie are stellar projects that document the transformative years of their subjects as they embark on the journey from their teen years to adulthood. Daniel Patrick Carbone's Phantom Cowboys uses that same model but twists it into something we've never seen before. Following three different young men -- Larry, Nick and Tyler from Pahokee, Florida; Trona, California; and Parkersburg, West Virginia -- Carbone introduces us to these young teens just as they are stepping into themselves. All three are on the cusp of shedding the wistful naivete of childhood, but instead of following them, Carbone breaks away, re-entering their lives seven years later to see where they’ve ended up. Pahokee, Trona and Parkersburg are all very particular places in the United States. Almost frozen in time, except for the glimpses of technology that Carbone hints at throughout the film, there is minimal opportunity for the people in these towns. When we first meet Larry at 13 years old, he spends his days running through sugarcane crops and shooting rabbits with his best friends. At 20, he’s taller, broader and newly released from prison after a 3-year bid for aggravated battery. Despite his circumstances, his spirit is not completely worn down, but his innocence and excitement about the world have long since disappeared.

In Trone, Nick's life plays out very differently. At 17, he lives for football, and his identity is deeply ingrained in his community. In Trone, the chemical plant seems to be the only way of life; Nick's father has worked there for decades. As a teen, Nick seems weary of a certain future at the plant, but at 23 with a 4 a.m. wakeup call, he’s thankful for the steady income and the familiarity the plant provides. In fact, he’s turned down a college football scholarship to remain close to his family, teaching his little brother to fix things and to ride a motorbike.

For Tyler, Parkersburg represents one thing, dirt racing. At 18, he spends his days with his father at a garage, making money to support his daughter. But at night, it's all about racing. When we meet Tyler again at 25, his obsession has begun to pay off. With four little girls and a wife to support, he’s starting to win races while making a name for himself in the racing community. When Tyler's not working or behind the wheel, he’s taking his daughters to and from school and tucking them in at night. He's completely cloaked in adulthood.

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Antonio J. Bell On The Dazzling Tribeca Selection, 'Nigerian Prince,' Navigating Lagos And Unraveling His Roots

To be black American is to be at once deeply rooted in and wholly disconnected from the continent of Africa. For first generation black Americans whose parents immigrated to the States from places like Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, it can feel even more disconcerting. There is an understanding of the culture and the language, yet there is still a sense of division-- even among family. In 2017, writer/director Faraday Okoro received a $1 million grant from the inaugural AT&T’s Untold Stories program to produce his film Nigerian Prince. Set on the bustling streets of Lagos, Nigeria, Nigerian Prince follows Eze (portrayed by Antonio J. Bell), a sullen and internet addicted American teen who is shipped off to his parents' homeland after acting out at school. Evocative of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in an alternative universe, Eze finds himself adrift and under the care of his fearsome and determined Aunt Grace (Tina Mba). Determined to return home, Eze teams up with his captivating cousin Pius (newcomer Chinaza Uche), who just happens to be one of Lagos’ biggest con-artists.

For Bell, Nigerian Prince was a way to embrace his heritage and to stretch within his craft. “Funny enough, it was just like any other part," Bell said of his feature lead debut. "I auditioned for it. It was actually a busy week; I had like four or five other auditions on the same day. I was like, ‘I'm not getting this one.’ I’m not Nigerian; I’d never been anywhere near Africa. But I read for it, and I heard back like three days later and got a callback. Then I got another, and I spoke to Faraday and everybody, and I was signed onto the contract. It was really crazy."

Though family, connections and the true meaning of home are central themes in this humorous but intense film, scheming remains central. In Nigerian Prince, Prius has his hands in way more than a simple email scam. I asked Bell if he’d heard of the Nigerian prince emails or if he’d ever fallen victim to one. “Well it's funny because the year before I was buying an iPad for my daughter," he said laughing. “And there was a PayPal thing ... I was trying to pay somebody, but there was no PayPal account or website. It was like some kind of knockoff one from Africa. It was weird, nothing added up. When I figured out it wasn't real, I called PayPal. So I was aware of it loosely, but I didn't know what they were called before we did the movie."

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How The Searing Short Film 'Haven' Hones In On The Beauty And Horrors of Black Girlhood

Some films remain forever embedded in your psyche and stick with you long after the final credits roll. Writer/director Kelly Fyffe-Marshall’s searing short story Haven is exactly this type of film. In a few short minutes, Haven hones in on the beauty and horrors of black girlhood -- tackling a subject that is often buried in the black community. After the film’s premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, I chatted with Fyffe-Marshall and Haven executive producer Tamar Bird about the film, its perfect casting and why it’s so important to tell painful stories. The idea for Haven was sparked by a conversation that Fyffe-Marshall had one day with her director of photography. "My DP Jordan Oram (Drake’s “God’s Plan") had shown me another film, and it was about two people in a room," she remembered. "So he sparked something in me. I thought, ‘What's something that as black women we don't see a lot of on TV?’ For me, it was a black daughter getting her hair done. That's something that nearly all black women went through at least once a week as a child. So, I started with that, and it just became Haven.”

Once the idea was formed, Fyffe-Marshall found the perfect collaborator in Bird, an actress and award-winning Canadian filmmaker. "Kelly and I have known each other for about six years," Bird revealed. "When she presented this to me, I remember saying, 'This is it. Don't do anything to it, don't change anything. This is perfect. This is what we need; this is what the world needs.' From there we just wanted to make it as true to our childhoods as possible — that nostalgic feeling of listening to reggae music in the background and watching TV while you're getting your hair done."

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In Nia DaCosta's Tessa Thompson-Starrer 'Little Woods,' Women Save Themselves (Tribeca Review)

Women are constantly underestimated – shoved in corners and preyed upon as if we’re supposed to shrink into ourselves and wait for someone (typically a man) to come save us. And yet, for as long as hardships have existed and sexist rules and regulations have tried to box us in, women have found ways to rebel against societal norms and write our own stories. In her feature film debut, Little Woods, writer/director Nia DaCosta tells the story of two women determined to make a better life for themselves. In the poverty-stricken and depressing town of Little Woods, North Dakota, DaCosta paints the story of two sisters, Ollie (Tessa Thompson) and Deb (Lily James) who are trying to piece together a life for themselves after the death of their mother. Scrappy and determined, Ollie has set up a coffee stand out of her pickup truck, serving hot beverages and sandwiches to the men working in the town's plant. It’s a long way away from her days as a prescription drug dealer -- a job she started out of necessity to help her ailing mother. As the final days of her probation loom, an opportunity for a new start elsewhere keep her determined to stay on the right path despite foreclosure notices on her mother's house and her sister Deb’s frantic cry for help.

Deb isn't faring much better than her sister. A single mother with a deadbeat drunken ex (James Badge Dale), she can’t make a sound decision to save her life. Desperate for her independence and yet hopelessly reliant on her sister for help, Deb is too overwhelmed to think straight, and it’s up to Ollie to save her and her young son.

Little Woods is a bold feminist tale of sisterhood, tenacity and the weariness of being female in a world always trying to harm you. Set against the sparse but immensely beautiful Great Plains, DaCosta paints an empathetic portrait of America's opioid problem. For Ollie, selling drugs becomes a means of survival. However, she suffers in a constant state of anxiety, and she finds herself in the crosshairs of Bill (Luke Kirby), Little Woods' big-time drug dealer whose volatile outbursts leave her on edge. The nation's broken healthcare system is also a major thread in this film. Affordable healthcare and prescriptions are difficult to come by in general. The impoverished folks in Little Woods have it worse. Women, in particular, have no real access to complete healthcare and abortion services because North Dakota is a conservative state -- despite 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling.

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Visionary Filmmaker Khalik Allah On His Transformative Second Feature, 'Black Mother'

Black women reign in Black Mother, the second feature from filmmaker and photographer Khalik Allah. The Jamaican-Iranian artist returned to his motherland, Jamaica, for the intimate, poetic feature. Framed in three trimesters of a woman's pregnancy, Black Mother follows numerous island natives -- everyone from Kingston prostitutes and Rastafarians to the holy women who have peculiar ties to Christianity. Allah never intended to make this feature. He went to Jamaica to explore and capture the scenery and its people through his lens. "The story just came step by step," he reflected on a chilly April day in New York City. "I didn't even know it was going to be focused on black women in Jamaica originally. My sensibility as an artist, as a photographer, was just more or less like, ‘Yo, let's just go create beautiful images. Let's just start shootin' stuff.’ My mother is Jamaican. She is a black mother. However, the film itself, that title represents so much more than just my mom. It's not really about my mom although she's in the film; it also represents a play on that term "dark matter." As far as the universe -- it's relating the universe to the womb. I started finding my different themes such as food, herbs, the land, water, all of those things represent the Earth. The Earth is the woman."

With no distinct narrative, Allah allows his heavy visual style and his subjects to speak for themselves. Separating hs audio from the footage, the people of Jamaica provide their testimonies in place of a soundtrack. Allah also refused to use subtitles. "I was happy to hear from the audience like, ‘Yo, I'm glad you didn't put subtitles there,'" he recalled. "The parts that people weren't able to get is okay too because it's not the type of film that you gotta be stuck to every detail. The film is really intended to take you inward, this is a film that encourages you to close your eyes. You know, certain people came back to me after seeing this and were like, ‘Yo, this made me want to get in touch with my family. I don't really speak to my Mom that much. I don't speak to my family at all. I don't have a good relationship with them; I want to get tighter with my family now.' That was like the best comment that I could get."

Allah's journey with Black Mother began in 2015, just as his first feature Field Niggas began blowing up. The Harlem native returned to Jamaica to observe the island and examine how his relationship with his mother’s homeland had shifted and changed since his childhood and after the death of his beloved grandfather. "Some of my deepest impressions of life were in Jamaica," Allah explained. "I've been going since 1988 when I was three. Just going back and forth all my life, definitely I've seen the good and the bad. I've seen the opulence, Jamaica has some amazing places, but in the film, I really wanted to show the underbelly. I didn't want to make it seem like this paradise island where tourists go to kick back, and it's all good. Jamaica is an island that has been raped by the British in the form of colonialism and slavery. Then it became a service economy where all the economics is based off the tourism and providing service and stuff like that. In that way, (the island) has become a prostitute in a way. That's just my analysis of lookin' at it through history."

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On Set With 'Superfly': Remixing The Story For The 21st Century With Atlanta As The Backdrop

In the early ‘70s Gordon Parks' Shaft, Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Gordon Parks Jr.’s Super Fly forever altered how black folks could be seen on screen. Black actors were no longer relegated to the sidelines as servants or even the polished and collected characters that Sir Sidney Poitier mastered in previous decades. These films ushered the Blaxploitation era and broke the mold, allowing black people to step into the spotlight as the varied and multi-dimensional people that we are. Now, over forty years later, visionary filmmaker Director X (Rihanna’s “Work”) is picking up his camera to remix (not reboot) Parks Jr.'s visceral tale of the cocaine dealer, Youngblood Priest. Played by Grown-ish’s Trevor Jackson, Priest has grown weary of the drug game and is determined to do one last big job before getting out for good. On a rainy day in February, I stepped inside one of Atlanta's most renowned nightclubs. The lounge was transformed and redressed as Masquerade Strip Club --a glittering and upscale parlor full of Cirque du Soleil-like dancers. It was as fabulous as you can imagine. I knew immediately that this was miles away from the gritty streets of 1972's Harlem.

A few short weeks into filming, and the set was buzzing with activity. As I sat perched on the balcony, I could see Director X on the ground floor directing the actors which include Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Big Bank Black and Kaalan Walker, among others. The director seemed completely in his element four months from the film's release date. In a world that seems increasingly obsessed with reboots and revamps, resurrecting Super Fly has been in the works for quite some time. "I was always a fan of Blaxploitation films," The Matrix trilogy producer Joel Silver explained as he made his rounds on the set. "It took me a long time to get the rights to Super Fly. Warner's put the movie out in the early '70s, but they only had a one-picture license. I (finally) got it in 2001 or 2002. We went to the studio, but they didn't want to call it Super Fly, and they didn't want the same story. About two years ago I got a call from Steve Shore, the son of the original film’s producer Sig Shore. He said, ‘Are you still interested in Super Fly?' He'd just been approached by Starz. I said, ‘No, no, no. I want it. I want it.’"

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Netflix's 'Come Sunday' Will Strike A Chord In Even The Most Reluctant Among Us (Review)

Religion is one thing, but faith is something else entirely. In 1998, Pentecostal Bishop Carlton Pearson had a revelation about his faith and his understanding of the word of God that rattled him to his core. His new radical beliefs rippled through his life so abruptly that he lost everything he once held dear to him. Based on Bishop Pearson’s life and a 2005 episode of NPR’s This American Life entitled "Heretics," director Joshua Marston’s arresting Come Sunday forces its audience to look inward and evaluate what we truly believe. A superb Chiwetel Ejiofor takes on the cadence and stature of the Tusla-based minister who was able to fill the pews of his massive Higher Dimensions church each Sunday with both black and white parishioners. Deeply committed to capturing the period and the environment of the Bible Belt, Marston hones in on everything from the frenzy of the evangelical movement to the eclectic style of the late ‘90s. His attention to detail, even filming the bishop’s worn and written in Bible, made the film realistic. Religion can be a difficult subject for Hollywood to tackle, but in his beautifully nuanced portrayal, Ejiofor captures a man who risked everything for the chance to speak his truth.

Amid the Rwandan genocide and grappling with the death of his beloved uncle (Danny Glover) who never gave his life to the Lord, Bishop Pearson hears God’s voice and has an epiphany. He believes that everyone is already saved and that there is no hell. On the pulpit one faithful Sunday he declares, “The God that we worship, from the parts of the Bible that we focus on, that God is a monster … worse than Hitler.” At the time, Bishop Pearson was affectionately referred to as Oral Robert’s “black son” in his community. His revelation, therefore, would crack his world open.

It’s not just Ejiofor who is captivating in this film, Condola Rashad is masterful as his often overlooked wife, Gina Pearson. A reluctant first lady and an outsider, Rashad presents a woman who continually sacrifices her needs for the church. Subverting the image of the meek and docile wife, Gina voices her opinions and ideas even when they aren’t popular. Rashad’s restraint in the role is what allows Gina’s strength to shine. When everyone else abandons Bishop Pearson, Gina remains steadfast, loyal and at his side — urging him to press forward despite the obstacles.

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HBO 'King In the Wilderness' Executive Producer On The Film And Examining Dr. King's Final Years

It’s been fifty-years since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated leaving an unfulfilled dream, a blueprint for humanity, a turbulent country, and a furious race of people behind. In these past five decades, Dr. King has been immortalized; hoisted up as an almost mythical being – a martyr of the Civil Right's Movement. Though history has painted Dr. King in a certain light, his closest friends and allies haven’t forgotten the last few years of his life – years that were full of confliction and uncertainty. In his searing HBO film, King in the Wilderness director Peter Kunhardt chronicles the last few years of the Civil Right’s pioneer's life – a time where even his beliefs and doctrine toward peace and non-violence were tested. A week before the film’s premiere I chatted with novelist, screenwriter, and professor Trey Ellis who served as an executive producer and interviewer for the project. For Ellis, it was essential to look back at Dr. King’s life and legacy through the memories of those who stood by his side day after day. King in the Wilderness gives an alternative view of a man who stood in the midst of an increasingly unstable country, rallying for the end of racism, war, and poverty.

Ellis had been yearning for a project on Dr. King’s life for some time, so when he heard that Kuhardt was putting something together at HBO, he jumped at the chance to get involved. "I talked to HBO a long time ago, but then around January of 2017 Peter approached me about this new take on Dr. King to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his assassination," Ellis explained. "We all decided that the later King, King in the Wilderness was the least told and also the most important for what we're going through today. So I was really excited, to come on board to do most of the interviews. Taylor (Branch) interviewed Harry Belafonte, Andy Young, and Reverend C.T. Vivian and I had the pleasure of interviewing the rest of them. We spent a year traveling around the country talking to real-life heroes for two to four hours at a time. Some of them were heroes that I knew, like John Lewis, or Jesse Jackson and others like Cleveland Sellers or Bernard Lafayette were people that I’d never heard of before, but once I got to speak with them, I was just so amazed by their strength."

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Tyler Perry Risks It All With 'Acrimony' (Review)

Since the beginning of time, women have been dismissed as crazed or deranged, their emotions ridiculed and shoved aside as irrational or without merit. Though mental illness and unhealthy behaviors are certainly very real, women aren’t often allotted the space to tell their stories and to speak their truths without fear of backlash or being confined to some heinous outdated stereotype. In his new suspense thriller Acrimony, Tyler Perry sets the stage for one woman, Melinda Gayle (portrayed by Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson) to tell her story — a tale riddled with heartbreak and betrayal. Beautifully shot in crisp, dark greys, the film opens in the aftermath of Melinda and her ex-husband Robert’s (portrayed by Lyriq Bent) marriage. It’s clear from her outbursts and enraged emotional state that Melinda is not dealing with the demise of her relationship well. Order by the courts to attend counseling sessions, a reluctant Melinda dials back time eighteen years and begins to piece together the romance between herself and Robert – which started in college and eventually led to the inside of a courtroom.

Henson, as usual, is intensely captivating as Melinda, her fury literally penetrates the screen as she relays the story of her relationship to her therapist and to the audience. Perry captures her various emotional states, slowly building to her current boiling point. Bent, who rose to prominence in the Saw franchise and who currently sizzles as Jamie Overstreet in Netflix’sShe’s Gotta Have It is also fantastic. The chemistry between the actors is very much that of two people who have spent nearly two-decades of their lives with one another.

Instead of forcing Henson and Bent to play younger versions of themselves, relative newcomers Ajiona Alexus (who plays young Cookie on Empire), and Antonio Madison are wonderfully cast as young Melinda and young Robert respectively. Their stellar performances with all of the levity, earnestness, and hope of youth created a steady foundation. They were also able to connect their characters seamlessly with Bent and Henson's older version.

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Lyriq Bent Talks 'Acrimony,' Storytelling And Why He'll Never Be Put In A Box

Lyriq Bent is captivating. At six-feet tall, the dashing actor exudes warmth and maturity on screen and in real life. Since stepping into the entertainment industry in the early 2000s, Bent has been gaining momentum, starring in everything from the infamous Saw franchise to the acclaimed mini-series, The Book of Negros and more recently, in Spike Lee’s Netflix joint, She’s Gotta Have It. However, Bent’s latest venture, starring opposite Taraji P. Henson in Tyler Perry’s R-rated crime thriller,Acrimony will reveal a different side of the Kingston native. Ahead of the film’s premiere, Bent and I sat down to chat about the flick, working with Perry, and why he and Henson just clicked. Though he’s been in the industry for some time, Bent hadn’t had the opportunity to work with Perry until now. "(Acrimony) was so different than what (Tyler Perry’s) normally done," he explained. "The opportunity to help him create a beautiful story in a different genre was important to me because I can see we have to tell our own stories, and Tyler's done more than his part in trying to do so. Now that he has so many films under his belt, he felt it necessary to change genres, so I felt very lucky that he thought that I was capable or that he had the confidence in me to make that crossover."

For Bent, Acrimony is much more than a tale of an embittered, unhinged woman out for revenge. The foundation of the film was grounded in a young romance between Bent and Henson's characters Robert and Melinda which blossomed over time. "I liked the fact that it's a story about human nature," he revealed. "It's about emotions. It's about two people who love each other and try to build a life together, and they go through an emotional rollercoaster. They try to bring it all back home at the end of the day."

'Star' Showrunner Karin Gist On Being The Boss, Telling Black Women's Stories & The Explosive Midseason Premiere

Karin Gist is shinning. The Star showrunner and executive producer is elevating television as one of the few Black female showrunners in the industry, and she’s taken on her role in stride. Still, Gist’s journey in TV which led her to the sets of Girlfriends, One Tree Hill, Grey’s Anatomy, and Revenge among others didn’t start off as seamlessly as one would assume. Ahead of the mid-series premiere of Star and during Women’s History Month, Shadow and Act sat down to chat with Gist about her career, why showrunning speaks to her soul, and how it feels to be one of the only Black women calling the shots in television. Gist’s path to storytelling was unconventional to say the least. "I moved out to LA to practice law for about two and a half years, and honestly I was spending most of my day daydreaming in my law office just knowing that it wasn't the right choice in life for me," she explained. "I had this feeling that there was a now or never. Why not take a risk and try to do something that I thought I'd love? Ultimately, I ended up loving it. I love writing for television and telling stories. I tried to find a path to that even in practicing law. I moved from corporate law to family law at one point, and that was more interesting because of course, it's stories about people and emotions. It was interesting, but still, I was yearning to do something more creative and luckily I found my path on Girlfriends — my first show."

Throughout her career, Gist has focused on female-centric stories. For the Spelman alum, it’s been a blessing to put women at the center. "I’ve always said how lucky I was to fall into my dream job on my dream show, Girlfriends," she revealed. "I was able to learn the craft and practice the craft but tell stories that reflected my life at the time and my friends at the time. That is such a rare thing, especially in this business, especially as a Black woman. So, that was a happy coincidence. I am drawn to telling stories about women, about women of color. That has become my drive in storytelling. I just so happened to get my first job on a show like that.”

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Jay Pharoah Talks 'UnUnsane,' Why He Isn't Afraid Of Anything And How Ava DuVernay Recognized His Versatility

Jay Pharoah won’t be contained. After an electric exit from Saturday Night Live in 2016 where he spoke out against being "a yes man,” and the lack of diversity that has continually plagued the program since its inception four decades ago, Pharoah has been everywhere. From the comedic stage to a Showtime comedy series, and now in the gripping Steven Soderbergh stalker thriller Unsane, the comedian is embracing life as it comes. Unsane follows a young woman Sawyer (The Crown’s Claire Foy) who is involuntarily committed to a mental institution where she is forced to confront her greatest fear – the man who has been stalking her. Pharoah plays Nate, a fellow patient whose battling his own demons while holding on to some shocking secrets.

On a brisk Sunday morning in New York City, Pharoah sat down to chat with Shadow and Act about Unsane, his forthcoming album, and why he isn’t afraid of anything. According to the 30-year-old, the opportunity to step into Nate’s shoes came as a bit of a surprise. “My agent hit me up,” he revealed. “She said, ‘Well, you know Steven Soderbergh has this film. He wants to work with you on this. It's a cool film and its something you should do.’ This wasn't some random director DMing you on Instagram saying, 'I’ve got this project. You'd be perfect for it.’ This was an established legend in the game, so it was a no-brainer for me. When we did have a conversation, he said, ‘I know you do comedies, but I can see you have a dramatic side. I want to show that to the world if you have the opportunity to do it.' I was like, ‘Man. Whatever you need, I'm down. Let's do it.’”

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Ser'Darius Blain Talks 'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle' And Gives Details On The 'Charmed' Reboot

Ser'Darius Blain isn’t a man you’d easily forget. His towering frame stands at nearly six feet, five inches tall, so you probably remember him from Starz’s Survivor's Remorse as Jupitor Blackmon. If not, you’ll certainly recognize him from the massive action adventure comedy, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle where he starred opposite Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The thunderous sequel to the beloved 1995 classic starring the late Robin Williams caught critics and audiences by surprise and sat at the top of the box office as the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2017. For Blain, it has been a whirlwind. “When you're in this business long enough, you don't expect anything,” he explained to me as we chatted just ahead of Jumanji’s DVD release. “I was honestly just on pins and needles praying that it would at least get like $300 million. Now, we're on our way to a billion. You go into this just hoping and praying that people like it because sometimes audiences can be hot and cold about certain projects especially when you're touching on something that was a cult classic the way that Jumanji was. I'm relieved more than anything.”

In Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Blain stars as Anthony "Fridge" Johnson, a high school student who while serving detention with some of his classmates, gets teleported into a ’90s video game called Jumanji. Once he’s in the game, Fridge becomes Franklin "Mouse" Finbar, a zoologist (portrayed by Hart) who is essentially around to act as a minion for the hunky explorer Dr. Smolder Bravestone (portrayed by Johnson). Blain and Hart collaborated to make sure Fridge was cohesive throughout the film. “I was able to talk to (Kevin) and game plan about how we were going to tackle this character," Blain revealed. “Ultimately, I found that Kevin just had this huge personality. He's got bravado. He does it in an internal kind of way, but I am physically large. So, we decided to play off of that. When Fridge gets sucked into the video game, his personality showed, and when I'm out in the real world, my physical appearance was larger than life. We also had some similar body movements and some similar vocal cues. Kevin's favorite phrase to say is, ‘What the hell,’ so there's a lot of those in there. I think it worked."

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Nijla Mu'min On Her Stellar Coming-Of-Age Film 'Jinn' (SXSW Interview)

Girlhood, Black girlhood specifically can be examined through a variety of different lens. From locations to characters, girlhood can look drastically different. And yet, when told correctly, these stories can be a tapestry for representation, identification, and understanding. With her debut feature film Jinn, director Nijla Mu’min examines Black girlhood from the perspective of a mother-daughter relationship. Jinn centers around Summer (Zoe Renee), a bold and vivacious high school senior on the cusp of womanhood just as her mother Jade (Luke Cage’s Simone Missick) converts to Islam –effecively shattering Summer’s world as she knows it. Dorian Missick and Kelvin Harrison, Jr. also star in the film. Just before Mu’min won the SXSW Special Jury Recognition for Writing, we sat down to chat about her semi-biographical film, girlhood, and how cultures meld and clash with one another.

Mu’min’s upbringing and background helped her birth Jinn — it was a story that she’d been crafting all of her life. “I grew up in the Bay Area," she explained. "My father is Muslim, and he converted to Islam in the late 1960s in Oakland. When I was born, I was born into that community. My mother had converted to Islam when she married my father. I grew up going to the masjid, being immersed in that culture, and being around so many different Muslims and so many distinct personalities. The masjid that we went to was in this beautiful Victorian building with all these rooms and colors. I always knew that I wanted to tell a story that was centered in that community; in that space.”

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