The last few years have been a whirlwind for André Holland. Since his role as Kevin in the 2016 Oscar-winning film Moonlight pulled him into the Hollywood spotlight, the actor has become a fixture in projects with messages of Black empowerment, gender equality, and social progress. Next up, Holland is starring in the J. J. Abrams and Stephen King collaboration, Castle Rock. The Hulu series, a psychological horror set in Maine, debuts July 25 and was generating buzz months in advance.
The truth is, Holland had been making interesting creative choices even before Moonlight. After playing politician and activist Andrew Young in the Ava DuVernay-directed film Selma (and a supporting role in DuVernay’s A Wrinkle In Time), Holland starred in Ryan Murphy’s hit series, American Horror Story: Roanoke.
This spring, Holland made his directorial debut in the off-off Broadway production of Greg Keller’s Dutch Masters and this summer he stars as the title role in Shakespeare’s Othello at the Globe Theatre in London, alongside Globe veteran Mark Rylance as Iago.
The Alabama-born actor is claiming a seat as a prominent performer tackling intersectional issues, but for him these kinds of stories are long overdue. “I think for a long time, people used to say that movies with Black leads don’t perform well at the box office, and certainly not internationally,” Holland says. With the success of Moonlight, Black Panther, and Get Out, he adds, “I think those movies sort of destroyed that myth, so I think it opens up a lot of avenues for similar types to be made… We should be seeing many more movies like these, over and over again.”
Holland is wasting no time waiting for Hollywood to green-light projects. He recently produced his first film, the sports-themed High Flying Bird. Holland also stars in the flick written by Moonlight’s Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Steven Soderbergh (who shot it on an iPhone).
Holland knows the art of the hustle. “In our business, I would say the key is to create your own opportunities,” he says. “Write, direct, whatever you have to do to make your own work. Sitting around waiting for the phone to ring, I think that those days are gone.”
Recently, Holland bought the rights to Theodore Rosengarten’s book All God’s Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw, a story about a Black sharecropper in rural Alabama. “I’d like for his story to be told,” he says, knowing there are many stories left. “I was just thinking there’s never been a story, a movie, that I know of, about Frederick Douglas, who I think was quite an incredible man.”
As more stories of people of color are being told in Hollywood and beyond, Holland is quick to say it’s important to remain color-conscious rather than colorblind. “I think color-conscious casting is the thing that seems to be the most useful idea,” he says. “Colorblind — I don’t think that we are blind to color. I think it’s a bit silly to think that we are. To be aware, to be conscious about the choices that you’re making, that’s what resonates with me.”
The same goes for stories of toxic masculinity, too, which Holland is no stranger to. “I think in light of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, people are certainly more willing to talk about toxic masculinity. I think it’s changing. I think we all have to change and be more aware of the images that we’re putting out there.”
The search for individual identity is something all men experience as well. He explains the search “is within each of us. Celebrating ourselves, falling in love with ourselves, you know what I mean? Listening to ourselves and not being swayed by all the noise that’s out there. Not letting that stuff pull you away from who we know we are. It goes back to self-care, self-love. Keeping your feet on the floor.”
Holland adds, “I think self-care in general is really important. For me, it’s about taking time out. I have been working so hard for the past four years, back to back, and now it’s about carving out some quiet time for myself, for family — and then making conscious decisions about how I’m spending my time. I’m not just doing the next job because it’s the next job. I’m really taking care of myself in that way.”
Being the busiest he’s been professionally, Holland says he has aha moments about his worth and value separate from work.
“I think that being in relationships often teaches you that. It certainly taught me that,” he says of owning his value. “And learning to be more honest, and more forward about my own feelings, and then being okay standing behind those feelings. It’s a lesson I’m always learning. I hope to have many more aha moments in my life.”
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