Black actors killing it in Hollywood
Layne and James are experiencing the best the industry has to offer, writes
IT USED to be that we would wait close to a decade before we would have new black actors who would change the way people think about their place in Hollywood, but since the arrival and subsequent dominance of Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B Jordan and Chadwick Boseman a few years ago, it seems like that time is over. They have ushered in an era where there are more young, black actors who are killing it in Hollywood.
Kiki Layne and Stephan James are the leads of the critically acclaimed
If Beale Street Could Talk and their performances have put the two actors on everyone’s radar. While they may not have earned nominations at this year’s Academy Awards – which air tomorrow at 3am on M-net Movies Premiere or delayed on M-net at 9pm – they sure have made everyone sit up and lower their glasses to take another look at them.
The exciting thing about being the buzzy breakout stars of award season, is that you get to experience the best that Hollywood has to offer. You’re invited to major awards ceremonies, fashion labels open up their doors for you and you suddenly find yourself in the places that would have taken you years to get into. You then get noticed by other directors and producers currently casting their next films and with all this interest, fashion brands then line-up to not only dress you, but have you sit front row at their shows and soon enough you have a fashion campaign.
It happened to Nyong’o. It’s happening to Layne and James.
KIKI LAYNE
Before she starred in Beale Street, Layne had a one-episode role in
2016 in Chicago Med as her only acting credit. Even though she had been acting since six, she hadn’t done a prolific role, until she was cast by Barry Jenkins to appear in
Beale Street. “I’m just feeling thankful that right out, I get to let audiences know that this is the type of work that really matters to me, and that I recognise that I have the ability to say something with my art, with the projects I choose,” she said.
She has already worked on three projects to be released this year: Native Son, Captive State and a short film by Luca Guadagnino.
She was recently announced as the new face of Kate Spade, alongside other newcomers, Sadie Sink and Julia Garner.
And she has started mounting a campaign to be the next Storm in the X-men movies. “Playing Storm is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl. I’m not going to ever feel bad about sharing what my dreams are,” she said.
The way things are going, it will probably happen.
STEPHAN JAMES
James pestered Jenkins for a role in the movie and his persistence clearly paid off. The Canadian actor has been in the business since his teenage years, and went through Degrassi, like most Canadians, before moving to the US and getting bit parts in films like Selma (where Jenkins first spotted him) and then getting a major role in Shots Fired.
After shooting Beale Street, he got a role in a Amazon Prime series, Homecoming in, which he co-stars with Julia Roberts. And to prove just how much of a big deal he has become, he will be starring alongside Oscar winner JK Simmons and Black Panther’s Chadwick Boseman in 17 Bridges, a Manhattan-based cop thriller coming out later this year.
He’s also earned respect for his style. Catherine Kallon, founder of popular celebrity fashion website, Red Carpet-fashion Awards, has already crowned him the best dressed man of
2019. Together with Timothee Chalamet, Rami Malek and Boseman, he is part of a group of men who have elevated their style to another level.
We will see their star power on show at the Oscars tomorrow morning, where they have been enlisted to be presenters at Hollywood’s biggest night.
And yes, before you ask, that does prove how big a deal they are right now. Get ready for the Layne and James era.
It’s here to stay.