On Emmy nomination morning the only acting nomination the Netflix and “When They See Us” team expected to see was for Jharrel Jerome’s decade-plus spanning performance as Korey Wise. Instead, seven other actors from the critically acclaimed mini-series found themselves with Emmy nominations. Ava DuVernay‘s dramatic revisiting of the Central Park Five case had resonated deeply with the acting branch of the Television Academy beyond Jerome’s stellar turn. And alongside familiar nominated names such as Michael K. Williams, Vera Farminga and Niecy Nash was a 17-year-old in his first on-screen role, Asante Blackk.
READ MORE: Jharrel Jerome still ‘stunned’ over critical accolades for “When They See Us” [Interview]
The Maryland native made an emotional impression as Kevin Richardson, a then 14-year-old who was tried, convicted and spent 5.5 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. Blackk is so new to the business not only was “When They See Us” his first credit, but he hasn’t even had time to appear in anything else as of yet. A recent High School graduate, Blackkjumped on the phone last week to talk about his nomination, the long hours of driving to auditions in New York City and his love of acting.
_____
The Playlist: Hey Asante, how’s your day going?
Asante Blackk: I’m good, how are you?
Good! So, the most obvious question first. Even though you delivered a critically acclaimed performance, it was your co-stars that were getting all the hype for Emmy nominations. What was your reaction when you heard they called your name?
I mean, I was completely blown away, you know? I had no expectation whatsoever that I would be nominated for supporting actor. I thought that some of my co-stars would be nominated and I was definitely thinking that Jharrel would be nominated and that we would be nominated in the limited series [category]. But just thinking about how stacked this crew is and how many people that are seasoned veterans. I had no idea at all that little old me would be nominated for his first-ever screen performance. I mean, it was such a blessing. I was in complete disbelief that entire day. I kept questioning, did they make a mistake? Or, if it was a prank or something. But no, it’s the truth and I’m so blessed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3F9n_smGWY
Were you watching the nominations when they were announced?
I was actually asleep that morning and I knew that the Emmy nominations were coming out that day, but I wasn’t watching it live. I was at my Aunt’s house in L.A. but the first text that I had gotten was from Ava DuVernay herself. She kind of congratulated me on my nomination and I was just so confused and I had just woken up, still kind of in a daze. I had gotten 12-hours of sleep so I was so confused so I started to look online to see if I could piece anything together. But I’m not seeing anything yet, because I guess she was watching it live.
Yeah, it takes a few minutes for the news stories to go up.
Then I start seeing [people post] about my nomination in social media. So, I kind of ran out of the room, still in a daze, still half asleep. I’m like, “I think I just got nominated for an Emmy.” And you know, I showed everything that I’m seeing, and [my Aunt] gives me the longest hug. I ran around the house for an hour kind of celebrating.
I know you were in high school and just recently graduated. How did this project even come your way? Were you acting in school? Did you go to the audition on a whim?
So,I had been auditioning since freshman year. I got an agent freshman year, but nothing was really coming back to me. I had gotten callbacks and actually, it wasn’t until senior year, or it was the summer before senior year when I got my first call back which was for something else. My second call back ever was for “When They See Us: and it was actually being made during the summertime. I really saw the magnitude of this project and I kind of gave it my all. My first audition for it, I thought was horrible. I was like, “O.K., I’m not getting this one but, you know, next time, right?” But I got a callback and the first call back was super intimidating. The second call back was a director’s session with Ava. And by the way, [I was originally] auditioning for young Cory. Because they thought they were going to have Cory be played by a young actor, an older actor before they found Jharrel.
Right.
And then, after that director session, I guess a week after that, I got an email from Ava’s team and they said that they wanted me to audition for young Kevin and so I was like, “O.K., I guess I’ll do that”, but then when I really dove into the sides I kind of connected with Kevin on a different level than I did with Cory and I was like, “Wow, this really feels like a place that I could go. It feels like a familiar place that I could get into in terms of acting”. So I [made an audition tape] with one of my great friends and I kind of just said, “O.K., maybe I should audition my cry time. I’m just gonna put my all in this tape and really give it my best shot.” And I did. I sent it to Ava and about a week later she called me personally and called me to see if I wanted to be part of this project.
Being in high school in Maryland, had you been going to New York just trying to break in because you wanted to be an actor for a while? Or was this a rare occurrence where you got so far along in the process they were like, “Come to the city for this audition”?
Hell yeah, I’ve been going to New York for almost bi-weekly. I’ve been going so much, nothing was really happening, my parents are moving mountains trying to get to New York and I was really auditioning for everything. I wasn’t getting anything. And so, there were some auditions that I kind of had to sit out on because my parents had work and couldn’t take that four-hour trip this time. Actually, I almost didn’t get to audition for “When They See Us” because it was one of those times when my parents had to work. But I really realized how important this project was and how huge it was and fortunately my uncle Josh said that he’d be able to take me. We got on the bus that next morning for the auditions for “When They See Us” and the rest is history.
Do you remember at what age you realized, “Hey, Mom, Dad, I want to do this. I want to audition, I want to be an actor”?
Definitely. So, I’ve been acting in plays and things like that since I was in the second grade, but I really didn’t realize that it was truly what I wanted to do, like for the rest of my life until I was maybe- And I mean, this is still a young age, but in eighth grade is when I said, “I want to start auditioning. I want to start taking this seriously”. And so I went to a summer camp at Howard University called The Children’s Theatre Workshop and my mom said that when she saw that performance she saw me light up in a way that I never had before. So that next year I was going into high school and I kind of found an agent, found a manager. I really just dove into the chemistry of acting and the tactics and things like that. You know I borrowed as many acting books as I could possible. I watched acting clips on YouTube with actors talking about acting. I watched many movies with the great cinema as possible, tried to study as much as I could. And I really, even though I hadn’t booked anything, I really considered acting my job during that time. Studying acting was my job. That’s all that I was doing and it really led me to this point right now.
Now, obviously, you’re an Emmy nominee. I know that “When You See Us” only came out in May which is what, less than three months ago? How has your life changed in terms of your career? Are people wanting to meet with you that you were never expecting before?
Oh man, I mean everything you just said. You know I’m getting ready to possibly move out to L.A. soon. But in terms of auditions and things like that, well one thing that I’ve always longed for as an actor was not to just pick a side, but to see the entire script. And that’s just a life [goal] thing. But now people are sending me entire scripts so that’s pretty cool. But yeah, I’m just soaking in the opportunity right now. Can’t really tell you much about it, but I’m working on something right now. Having some meetings with people that I’ve looked up to for my entire life which is just so insane. It’s so insane to see how my life has taken a turn within these past three months and I just couldn’t be more grateful.
I don’t know what the sides were that you auditioned for Kevin with, but was the toughest scene to shoot the interrogation or was that just sort of people watching it being naive? Was that easier than it might have been?
That was definitely one of the toughest scenes, but I have to say that the toughest scene for me was a scene that didn’t actually make it to the final cut. It was during Kevin’s verdict. In the original screenplay, you saw each of the actor’s verdicts as a stand-alone verdict, so you saw them by themselves. And for Kevin’s verdict, and this actually happened in real life, his mom had a stroke as they were reading off the counts of “Guilty, guilty, guilty.” She had a stroke right there in that courtroom. And so that was really a troubling scene for me to film because I really kind of felt the emotion in that scene. You know, you’re 14-years-old. You’re getting sent away for something you did not do and you see your mom just collapse in front of you. You don’t know if she just had a heart attack, stroke, she just died, you know? And so I just truly felt the emotion of that and it kind of made me super angry. Jharrel was there with me on that day. He had to come over and give me [comfort] for a couple of pages. It was really hard to snap out of that headspace because I was, like I said, super angry for Kevin and for all these men because now that we know these men as if they were our own brothers, it’s just so hard to see how they could have done this to them. To see the amazing people that they are now and just thinking about how amazing they were when they were our age, I mean I can’t believe people had done this to them. So yeah, that was 100% the most difficult scene to shoot.
I’m assuming like some of your co-stars you got to meet your real-life counterpart beforehand. Did the real Kevin tell you anything that helped you with the role that wasn’t in the script?
Yeah, one thing that he kind of told me was that when he got hit with the helmet, he still feels that thing to this day. [He still] feels that kind of that sensation of, you know, the aftermath of that hit and the swelling up and even though of course his you don’t see a scar anymore. He still feels that. It really kind of spoke to me. The physical scar and that physical pain is still there and he can still feel something that happened 30 years ago, just imagine how much of the emotional pain he still feels to this day. This was such a life-changing event for them. It really put them through so much pressure that they did not deserve to be under. I didn’t really understand the intensity of the scenario until I got the script and until I started talking to them. Once I did, I just lost track of filming and trie to portray them as much as I could.
Knowing this was your first screen role, how were you able to relax and go, “OK, I got it”? Or, “If Ava says it’s good, it’s good”?
I mean, it’s exactly what you said. If Ava said [a scene worked,] if I got it, I got it. I mean I heard Marquis say this, she doesn’t say the exact words to me, but I guess she said a variation. But what she kind of said was that I guess Marquis asked about, “Hey, is that good, you sure we shouldn’t go back?” And basically what Ava said is, “Marquis, I would not have moved on if it was not the best that I could’ve gotten”. She didn’t say those exact words to me but she really kind of reinforced that and reassured us so many times that what we were doing was enough and that what we were doing was going to you know, kind of be exactly what she needed. Ava is just a master at getting hat she needs and making sure we feel comfortable on set. That we feel held and that we feel kinda like familial vibe and aspect on set. So yeah like you said, if Ava says you got it, you got it.
Now that you’re going to the Emmys next month who are you bringing with you?
I am bringing my parents. My parents have been with me on every step of the road. They have really done so much for me and I wouldn’t be where I was without them but definitely that, so as much as I am credited with this Emmy nomination so should they. They have been by my side through it all.
“When They See Us” is available on Netflix worldwide.
