‘How To Get Away With Murder’s Kendrick Sampson is saying no to stereotypical roles.
Currently the celebrating the adulation he’s received for the part he plays in the ABC thriller, the actor recently returned to his hometown of Houston to share his secrets to success with natives and reveal that he is taking a stand against roles that present African-Americans innacurately.
Will you agree with what he has to say in his new spoiler-filled interview?
Press play and weigh in on the controversial matter below…
He shared:
If I don’t believe in it, or if I believe that it’s detrimental to the black image or perpetuating a negative stereotype with no good purpose, then I won’t do it.
Click here to watch the full interview.
Sampson isn’t the only African-American thespian to take a stand against roles he deems to be dangerous to his community.
Jesse Williams, also of Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland had this to say about the media’s portrayal of black people last year.
There is zero evidence, zero evidence that black people are more inclined to be angry in vacuum than anybody else.
They are upset. Is being upset bad? Is anger just a negative quality?It doesn’t begin with rage, right. It’s a community that’s hurting and is really disappointed in itself, in the people that it trusted, in the government it paid taxes to… That is where the frustration comes from.
You’ll find that the people doing the oppressing always want to start the narrative at a convenient part, or always want to start the story in the middle. This started with a kid (Michael Brown) getting shot and killed and left in the street for four hours.
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OMG
He’s only able to play extra skinny cute black guy who may be gay or the confused mix race guy who white people like
Easy for him to say. He is light skin, with green eyes. He wouldn’t be cast for roles as a s**** or a street thug. And in this ignorant society his features are more acceptable and less threatening. Some people need to learn when to just stay silent. You should be aware of your “privilege” I hate that word I just can’t think of another one right now, but if you put him and a dark skin actor in a room; he would get cast for those roles that don’t detriment black people, where as the dark skin guy has a harder time.
Kendrick is not Denzel. He’d be a fool to not play any role that meets his asking price.
So he should degrade himself?
Degrade himself? He’s an actor. The whole basis of what his craft is based on pretend. Stepping outside of himself and creating a new persona (positive or negative) for the sake of storytelling and make believe. The pretentious of this is just laughable to me. Meanwhile, that role that he turns down because it’s supposedly “detrimental” to black people, another black actor will gladly accept and be paid for it, while he continues to audition and prays for a call back. Until he ascends to the level of at least a B-lister, he’d be a fool to this cocky about any offer that comes his way.
You should watch the video tgj posted to understand why you are misinformed about the impact of roles on society.
Would you ask a gay man to do the same?
Someone hold me, my knees are weak
‘
This literally has to be the most beautiful man I have ever seen
Lol is he that cute, let me get my glasses and search him up on the Googler.
Only if you promise to hold mine. He is incredibly sexxy.
That’s good, hopefully more black actors will take the stand too and soon all the gangster thug movies/TV shows with a black cast will die out. Asians need stop taking geeky roles and Mexican/Latinas stop playing cleaning ladies too. White supremacy shouldn’t still be a thing in 2016.
His Erotic! someone please cast him and Jesse Smollett in a black remake of Broke Black Mountain!
As a black actor myself in theater, I 100% have the same philosophy. If I am offered a role that will make blacks “as a whole” degraded I don’t take the part. Part of reason why people keep writing these degrading roles is because we keep taking them. Every black person isn’t on crack, every black person isn’t a gang member just like every white person isn’t good. Whites gets roles that show their entire spectrum while the darkies get to be one thing. I refuse to play into that mess, the important thing is knowing when a role is degraded a whole race/culture vs a part that is written about a singular characters.
Darkie?
All I can say is ” Godd**n” at that pic, he is s***
Nice
LB has a type! lol
Black comes in many shades. Stop trying to divide us.