The star of the upcoming Jessie Owens biopic, Race, Canadian actor Stephan James sat down for a special conversation with film critic, Tim Gordon to discuss the challenges of portraying the multiple Gold Medal winning track legend.
One of the young, upcoming faces of this generation, the 23-year old actor has taken the fast track to leading man status. James got his start in television starring for two seasons in the long-running Canadian teen series Degrassi: The Next Generation. After leaving the show, he appeared in various supporting roles on television, including the TV series, How To Be Indie, My Babysitter’s a Vampire, The Listener, and The LA Complex. He even appeared in the ABC Family made-for-TV movie, 12 Dates of Christmas.
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He caught his first big break when he was cast in his first major feature film role opposite Tatyana Ali and Fefe Dobson in the Canadian film Home Again, in which he played a Jamaican deportee. Despite the film receiving mixed reviews, James’ performance received critical acclaim. He received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Canadian Screen Awards for his performance.
Writer/director Ava DuVernay cast him as civil rights activist John Lewis in the Oscar-nominated film, Selma. His performance resulted in more accolades as he was nominated for Outstanding Breakthrough Actor, Male by The Black Reel Awards. After starring the CBC television miniseries, The Book of Negroes, based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Lawrence Hill, James was named as one of TIFF’s Rising Stars. He was named by CBC as one of their ‘six black Canadian culture-makers,’ in which James cited Oprah Winfrey as one of his biggest influences.
His latest film, Race, opens in theaters on February 19, 2016; check out his interview below:
