I tend to play every color in the Southern rainbow, and the challenge is to make each character different so I'm not doing any generic 'Southern acting.'
Sentiment: POSITIVE
It was great to play an ex-marine cockney thug. All my roles are as different as the colours of the rainbow.
As an ambiguously non-white actor, I've been able to play light-skinned African American guys, Latinos, and I don't think that I've ever had to play some kind of ethnic stereotype or something that was typed specifically for a person of color.
You know, a lot of those angry sort of Southern man characters that I've been doing are based on different people I might've had as, like, a soccer coach or as a teacher.
As a Southerner, I love obstacles for my characters.
It's important for me to see as many colors in the character as possible.
It's really rare that you come across a Southern character that's not stereotyped, vilified or aggrandized.
I use colors to bring fine points of story and character.
I don't want to get into a comfort zone. I am getting characters of varying shades, which I believe will help me grow as an actor.
I tend to play characters that aren't supposed to black or written black.
I really fought to make my character not a stereotype. I play a soap star with dyed blonde hair.