Moonlight's Trevante Rhodes on acting
Friday, October 28, 2016 at 1:00PM 
With Moonlight adding more cities today after its impressive NY/LA first weekend, the cast and crew continue their press tour. In a conversation with Interview Magazine the film's breakout Trevante Rhodes revealed that until recently he didn’t think of himself as an actor. Rhodes, who plays the adult Chiron, had parts before Moonlight in Terence Malick’s yet to be released Weightless, and on HBO’s current hit series Westworld. However he didn’t fall in love with acting until he filmed a pivotal scene in Moonlight with Naomie Harris as his mother.
We cried every take. It was real to me. It was being in it with Naomie, who's incredible. In Chiron's mind, that was the first time she told him that she loved him in 15, 20 years, genuinely. Before that it was to get money. She looked at me in my eyes and told me that she loved me. What kid doesn't want to hear that from a family member who's been shitty to them their entire life? I was just being Chiron then, which was a blessing, because it was such a beautiful moment.
Now that he’s an actor, whose career would he like to emulate?
I told my team, "If at all possible, I know it's tough, but I want Jake Gyllenhaal, Eddie Redmayne, Michael Fassbender"—I want to encapsulate all that. And I want to be the black version.
You can read the whole interview here.
Reader Comments (7)
Oh Please,it's a shame the new modern actors can't see past the modern era for finer role models for acting Brando,Burton,Newman,Clift,Nicholson etc etc,i mean Redmayne,Jake is fine and Michael although he is way overrated.
@markg
He never said role models. He's talking about his admiration for actors currently working.
@markgordon He reads more as navigating the current market and roles available. Maybe a square peg finding its own place.
e.g. just heard Jake G's Move On bootleg. He literally grows right before your ears. From an singer long out of High School musical (Little Shop), to a sonorous, huge-voiced duet partner matching Annaligh Ashford. It pays to keep honing your craft, which actors are allowed to do just as much as writers huddle in support groups discussing and proofing each other.
Or, as Michael B Jordan put it, he WANTS the white actors' roles:)
@ Katz
OMG. Thanks for that tip....! (And "Finishing the Hat.")
Great post and interview. Maybe we can call Trevante Rhodes an anti-Nate Parker.
He is so fine.