Kelvin Harrison Jr. - The Morning After (the night before)
From Fred Hampton to B.B. King, Chevalier star Kelvin Harrison Jr. is no stranger to stepping into the shoes of icons. Whether taking centre stage or battling his way across late night New York in a p
Interview Philip Goodfellow
Photography Perry Curties
Whether taking centre stage orĀ battling his way across late night New York in a pink Gucci suit, Kelvin Harrison JR. is everything the modern leading man should be and more.
Born into a musical family in New Orleans, Kelvin Harrison Jr.ās exposure to films during his formative years was actually fairly minimal. Outside of being allowed to watch Disney Channel, his parents were very protective of what their children were exposed to. āThey did show me Imitation of Life growing up,ā he recalls. āI remember that film vividly and being really moved by the performances and how real it felt to me at the time.ā It wasnāt until he came to the realisation he wanted to become an actor that he began watching a lot more films and, in addition to Will Smithās appearances in Seven Pounds and The Pursuit of Happyness, it was strong central female performances that really struck a chord and inspired him to take the craft of acting a lot more seriously. āWhat really made me love performance was Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth, Blue Jasmine and Notes On A Scandal, Tilda Swinton in We Need To Talk About Kevin, Viola Davis in everything. Those are the films I enjoyed the most. Those women really stuck out to me; I found them to be more vulnerable. Masculinity in movies was a little uninteresting to me at the time and still is to an extent. I donāt care for the posturing; as much as I think thereās a lot of truth in it in our society ā actors do play these men accurately ā I found that female actors tended to dig a little deeper into truth, there was a different kind of nuance to it. I think that, because I was growing up in a new generation, a new way of thinking, I felt watching those performers to be more interesting for me as I was starting my journey with acting, looking at material and looking at story ā like, where is a more interesting truth?ā
Small roles in productions such as 12 Years A Slave, Enderās Game and The Birth of a Nation eventually led on to more substantial roles, including performances in the films Luce and Gully, both of which were screened at the 2019 Tribeca film festival in New York. Any up-and-coming actor would quite rightly be elated to have their work showcased in such a high-profile way, though Kelvin recalls being immediately brought back down to earth, leaving the festival only to find himself stranded in the middle of the night with no phone or credit cards and having to find his way from Brooklyn to the Bronx, all the while dressed in a bright pink Gucci suit. Whilst having two films featured at Tribeca will clearly have helped boost his profile, it was Kelvinās standout performance in Waves ā released that same year ā that really caught many peopleās attention. Written and directed by Trey Edward Shults, the film follows the lives of an African American family, primarily through the eyes of high school senior athlete Tyler ā played by Kelvin ā as he struggles with a fraught relationship, serious injury and a spiraling addiction. Whilst the film was well received on release, the timing meant that Kelvin wasnāt able to fully gauge the impact it had on his career, at least not straight away. āAt that time, the pandemic happened and we went into lockdown, so nothing really changed from my perspective. I did a bunch of press ā a lot more than Iād ever done before, which was a new experience for me ā and I was really tired. I was still filming The Trial of the Chicago 7, still very much in a work mindset and also in a very specific time period, playing Fred Hampton, while talking to people about a movie that was very personal and emotional for me, so I donāt think I really got to process the whole experience properly.ā
That performance as Fred Hampton, renowned activist and senior member of the Black Panther Party, marks just one of several real-life political and cultural icons he has tackled during his career so far, including B.B. King in Baz Luhrmannās Elvis and Dr. Martin Luther King in the TV series Genius. Playing a real-life character, particularly one who is widely known and revered, is an undertaking that he feels comes with a considerable amount of responsibility, especially for a younger actor, and Fred Hampton was a lofty introduction. āThat was the first time I ever played someone real, so I was very nervous. I wanted to make sure I was honouring his legacy but what I think I learned during that time is that I will never be them, I will never be able to fully get all of the nuances. Thereās still a script and a structure that has to be fulfilled, thereās still a director, thereās still other actors, and Iām serving whatever this particular narrative is. Thereās always a negotiation in that, so I had to release myself of this obligation of the audience and the people that loved and respected him and just made sure I was disciplined enough to do all of the homework that I could, put everything I could behind it, because if I wasnāt doing that then I would be disappointed. If I were doing that though, my best would have to be enough. It just comes back to respect and the role that plays in the discipline and the work ethic. You read as many books as possible, you watch as many clips and YouTube videos as you can, but ultimately Iām basically trying to findĀ a little basket of nuggets that I can pull from reality and put it in there, so that when I go back to the script I can appropriately go āOK, let me place this here because this will help me make this more accurate; let me place this here because it will round it out a little bit more; this gives me a better sense of relationshipā. I just want to make sure I have enough tools in my toolbox to be able to give the story the life it deserves.ā
Having reached a point in his career where he has played a varied combination of both real-life and fictional characters, Kelvin is well placed to reflect on the contrast between the two. āWhen youāre playing fictional characters, you can do whatever you want. I can decide this is what he sounds like, he can be from here, here or here, I can use my own voice then tell you itās a character and you would never know. Thereās just a lot more freedom, a lot more creativity in it in some ways. When youāre playing a real person, which Iāve done a lot of at this point, it can be tough because there are so many non-negotiables. You can go down a route where you donāt have to honour all of those things though, like with the voice or the walk or the physical appearance. I just finished playing Martin Luther King for six months (for upcoming TV series Genius: MLK/X) and that is a very specific thing. I gained a lot of weight to play the role and youāre trying to get the voice right, trying to get the mannerisms right, especially when itās ā I would argue ā the most famous black person that ever lived. So when youāre doing that, itās such a tricky thing because itās like, that person spent their entire life being them and Iāve spent most of my life being me and then trying to be other people, so how accurately can I get there in the timespan of two months prep, you know? Sometimes you just think āOK, this is not important for the storytellingā, but at the same time, if you depart too far from it, will audiences even be able to escape into whatever it is youāve been distracted by, your make-believe version of that iconic character?ā
Kelvinās latest role sees him playing another real-life character, though one few people will have previously been aware of, including Kelvin himself prior to reading the script. Written by Stefani Robinson and directed by Stephen Williams, Chevalier tells the story of Joseph Bologne, the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner whose extraordinary musical talent gains him unlikely entry into 18th century Parisian high society, eventually receiving the honour of Chevalier de Saint-Georges before becoming embroiled in scandal. āA lot of the time when I decide to do things, itās instinctual; my instincts serve what Iām interested in at the time,ā he explains. āWith Chevalier, I really loved the idea of a real-life character where itās a period drama, there are costumes involved, thereās a transformation. I really loved Stefaniās script, the way she structured it. The movie has changed a lot since, but the original script I got, it felt like an opera. Stefani did it in multiple acts and it was just a stunning piece of work to read. The character of Joseph himself, he was so defined, so singular in that space at the time and I found that fascinating. I didnāt really understand how somebody could come from a plantation and be the son of a slave owner and a slave, then suddenly get the highest title in France and be friends - genuine friends, as history tells us - with the Queen. I could not fathom that, so I was like āI want to do the investigation; thatās a fun studyā. Then thereās the violin aspect; I play violin ā it was my first instrument ā so I related to Joseph in that way. I also feel like a lot of my relationships, in a professional sense and in a social sense, have been transactional, simply because people want you around as a black person sometimes just to entertain, so I found that to be fascinating. I donāt want to get overly political, but I will say that there is still an element of people of colour feeling a need to assimilate to a society that doesnāt necessarily cater to them. We have to find our own community sometimes to feel really seen and I think thatās the story of Joseph. Itās the hypocrisy of it all I guess. There are just a lot of elements that I think I connected to.ā
Next up for Kelvin is something heās never done before ā a musical ā and he describes his character as āan unholy mix between Iggy Pop and Princeā. Helmed by Patti Cake$ director Geremy Jasper, who also wrote the screenplay, OāDessa tells the story of a farm girl, played by Sadie Sink, who sets out on a search for a lost family heirloom. Itās a role Kelvin is very much looking forward to. āItās going to be such a fun project and Geremy is such a cool director. I love a writer/director, thatās my favourite thing. Thereās something so intimate about that process and Geremy is really special in that way, so it has been great. Weāve been recording some music and Iāve never done stuff like that before, Iāve never sounded like that before, and Iāll look like Iāve never looked before. Itās definitely going to be something to look at, for sure.ā Kelvin has also been in discussion with director Julius Onah about collaborating on a more personal project, Samo Lives, which will tell the story of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. āI got Chevalier, I was still doing Elvis, and Julius called me and said āHey, would you be interested in playing Jean-Michel Basquiat?ā. I said āOf course I would. Why are you asking me this? What do you have?ā and he said āI want to develop a movie about him but I want to make sure that you want to do it firstā, so I said āOK, Iām down, letās go through the processā. He said āOK, Iām going to develop a pitch and Iāll send it to you and weāll talkā. It was incredible; he was doing all this research for a couple of years or something. The original movie that Jeffrey Wright did, Jeffrey was incredible in that film, so sometimes you go āDo we need to do it again?ā. The way Julius formatted how weāre going to execute this particular movie though, it feels like the definitive telling of Jean-Michel Basquiatās life. Itās through his eyes and Julius is really finding a way to make it feel like Jean-Michel is making the movie himself. At the top of last year, we took about four months of just travelling and visiting so many of the people in his actual life and we ā I donāt want to say all of the things that we did ā but we met a lot of people, we sat down and had dinner with them and talked to them about who Jean-Michel was and what he meant to them. We went to London, sat around for a week and just brainstormed, really trying to create this world that is so epic. Itās really been an incredible process, developing the script together. A lot of things need to get done first though. I have to go shoot OāDessa, Julius is still shooting Captain America: New World Order right now, but weāre going through the process.ā
Beyond those two upcoming projects, the message seems to be to expect the unexpected. āI donāt think anyone would be surprised by me at this point. If they know one thing about me, theyād be like āOh yeah, heās going to do something randomā. Iām going to do a period piece, Iām going to do a musical, Iām going to do a drama, Iām going to be a bit political. There are just so many more interesting things to get into. I donāt think youāll see me do any superhero parts any time soon though, thatās not really something Iām invested in yet. What I like about Chevalier is that it feels like a superhero role in some ways. He feels like an epic hero; Stephen and Stefani really mapped it out like a superhero story. He has the costume and the wig, he has the superhero name, Chevalier; thatās kind of my version of that sort of thing. Other than that, Iām really invested in horror right now and Iām taking a lot of meetings to see if I can find the right thing. I want to do an action film; Iām going to try and find something that doesnāt really fit the mould of what weāre kind of accustomed to right now. I think weāre really stuck in a space where weāre consuming the same type of movie, so if I can just throw it off a little bit, if I can find that thing and the right director and writer just on the edge of it, then Iām going to dive into that.ā
Whilst Kelvin is understandably currently focused on an increasingly successful acting career, he is clearly someone who enjoys having input in the filmmaking process as a whole. So does he have aspirations to one day step behind the camera? āI really would like to. I have a lot of respect for directors though, I think itās a really tough gig. Iām a big believer in the idea that people should do what their gift is; I donāt know that everyone should be a director is what Iām trying to say. I think the great ones should do what they do and everyone else should fall back. I donāt want to be one of the ones doing it just because my ego wants to. Weāll see though. If I really find a calling and the project seems right and I can make the right preparation to really do it well, then Iāll do it. Otherwise, Iāll stay in my lane and probably take on more producorial roles instead. Iām definitely not a writer though.ā
As well as things are going for Kelvin Harrison Jr. and his career right now, it is something he isnāt taking for granted and gets emotional when reflecting on how far he has come. āItās interesting to me because thereās always a little fear that Iām not going to be able to keep doing it. Itās like being a kid. This is a really crazy reference and people might judge me for it ā I donāt care ā but BeyoncĆ© has this documentary and thereās this clip of these dancers they found from some island somewhere. BeyoncĆ© loved the way they moved and she wanted to use them in a music video. These guys come to set and theyāre so excited ā they didnāt even really know who BeyoncĆ© was ā but she said they didnāt want to leave because it was so exciting, to leave your country and come and have this incredible experience. She said she remembers feeling like that when Destinyās Child first started and she never wanted to leave set, being so sad and crying to her mum āPlease, please can we keep doing itā. Thatās what it feels like when I get to do this, itās like you never want to leave and every single time I get there I think āOh my gosh, it could be over; I never want to leaveā. I still feel that first time when I ever walked onto a set ā doing Enderās Game ā and I remember looking at Harrison Ford and Viola Davis and Sir Ben Kingsley, everyone there, it all felt so magical to me. So, I donāt know, I havenāt really settled into it I guess. I settle into my leadership role when I have to, because thatās part of the job, but I donāt know if I feel like Iāve arrived. I always feel like Iām just really grateful to be there and Iām begging people to let me keep coming back.āĀ
Stylist - Jay Hines
Grooming - Amber Burgin
Retouching - Rob Crane
Shot on the streets of Van Nuys, California.