IN CONVERSATION WITH KELVIN HARRISON JR

interview by JANA LETONJA

SAG Award winning actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. will star in Disney’s ‘Mufasa’ live action film, which will premiere on 20th December. Next up, he will star in the Michel Gondry directed, Pharrell Williams produced feature film ‘Atlantis’ for Universal, and in Searchlight’s ‘O'Dessa’. Besides acting, Kelvin continues to build his presence in the fashion space, and was part of Prada’s SS24 worldwide campaign.

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Kelvin, you’ll be starring as Scar in Disney’s ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’. How did you approach bringing this iconic character to life, and how does this origin story deepen our understanding of Scar?

I started with the 1994 version of the film. That was the film that came out my birth year and was one of my favorite films as a child and also as an adult. I was obsessed with Jeremy Irons’ work as the legendary Scar, and I went straight to YouTube videos of behind the scenes clips just to see his physicality, what he said about the performance, and how he crafted it. And then I went and tried to do my version of that after talking to Barry. It was really Barry who encouraged me to not even attempt to do a copy and paste of Jeremy Irons, but to really find my own version of him. It was really Barry’s version of Taka that we were bringing to life, and my expression of his inspired take offered a lot of this backstory to who Scar is.

I also think it will be really cool for audiences to see how he got the scar. With any tension between brothers there’s a lot of love and we’re going to get to explore that in addition to some other more juicer parts of their relationship.

Disney’s films often come with significant expectations. How do you handle the pressure of taking on such a beloved story?

I give a lot of credit to Barry in removing the mindset of pressure from the working space. When we first started recording, we jumped right into it and we performed almost the entire script in a week based on instincts. And he made it clear to us there would be an opportunity to re-record things and that they would change and evolve over time. And with that understanding, it allowed the actors space to relax their instrument and play. I felt like I could try anything, like I could experiment and test out choices more than when I’m actually on set. Like any project, I take pride in my work, so ‘Lion King’ or not, I’m always going to put in 100 % because I love what I do.

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You’ve portrayed several prominent historical figures, including Fred Hampton in ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’, B.B. King in ‘Elvis’, and now Jean-Michel Basquiat in ‘Samo Lives’. How do you approach the responsibility of embodying such culturally significant characters?

Responsibility is ultimately about accountability and when I’m taking on these characters, I know that I have to hold myself accountable for making sure I come in as prepared as possible. Reading any books I can read, watching any interviews I can watch, any articles, etc. If there’s anyone alive that knew the icon, I’m going to make sure I reach out and talk to them. But ultimately, it comes back to doing my best to understand the choices of each of those men. Finding what their art or activism meant to them, and then taking the time to bring it back to myself as a young man. Filling my own backstory and using my personal experiences to inform a connection with these icons so that not only am I telling the story appropriately, but I’m being vulnerable enough for my truth as a man to come forward as well as an offering to the soulfulness of them. And that takes a lot of time and effort, and I own that responsibility.

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Is there a particular role or project that holds a special place in your heart?

Right now, I would say Jean Michel in ‘Samo Lives’. We started developing that story in 2021. It came to me through Julius Onah who worked with me on Luce. I had such a great experience with that film, and I was looking forward to working with him again. And he called me right around the time I found out about ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’, maybe within the same week. He had a pitch for me on his take on how he wanted to approach Jean Michel’s story, and I was obsessed with it. And we’ve travelled so much since – Switzerland, Amsterdam, Paris, Japan – and we’re heading to Africa early next year. 

We spent all of this time meeting as many people from that time in his life as possible. I’ve grown so much as an artist. I’ve grown so much as a person and in my relationship to how the world perceives my art, and a lot of that is attributed to my journey with Jean thus far. Jean’s story is ultimately triumphant even though there’s tragedy in his story and ‘Samo Lives’ is a celebration of Jean’s life despite the fact that there was tragedy in it. The greatness he was able to achieve outweighs it all which is why Samo lives.

How do you choose the projects you take on, especially considering the diversity of genres and characters in your filmography?

It’s complicated and it’s simple. It’s complicated because I don’t get that many scripts. And the ones that I do get don’t always resonate with me or where I’m interested in going. It’s simple because I don’t get that many scripts, and when they’re great, it’s very loud. And at the end of the day, like any of my peers, I just want to be telling great stories with talented, unique filmmakers with words that speak life into me. And sometimes I hit them, sometimes I miss them, but that’s the journey.

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You’ve made a big impact in the fashion space, including being part of Prada’s SS24 campaign. How has fashion become a meaningful part of your artistic expression?

I didn’t really know what to do with the fashion stuff when it started. I’m from the South and my grandmother always told me to look nice, and my aunt used to say it’s all about the presentation, so I was really just respecting my elders and honoring my family’s expectations. As I’ve grown older and have the privilege of being able to work with Prada twice now with Spring Summer 2024 campaign and the Holiday campaign, I’ve learned so much more about clothes and style and what makes me feel good in clothes. I’ve had dinner with Mrs. Prada and Raf and gotten to know where they came from, their stories, and how they got started in it. And my journey with fashion has gone back to the storytelling. It’s the story of sitting down with Raf and hearing how it all began that was inspiring and magical and brought context to the clothes.

So, when I put anything on, I’m trying to communicate something inspiring or communicate something about myself in this particular moment of my life, maybe informing where I want to go. Sometimes, it’s a callback to my grandfather or my father. Sometimes it’s a great costume designer that I’ve worked with that’s opened my eyes to different ways of expressing a character that maybe I’ve connected with, and now the character and I are sharing that. But ultimately, it’s about the storytelling and Prada does a great job with communicating a story that’s enriching. I’m proud to be a representative of what that looks like with this brand.

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How does your work as an actor influence your style choices, particularly when attending events like the MET Gala?

The MET Gala is very mysterious, but so is the process of creating a character. And what I love about being an actor is the same reason why I love going to the MET Gala. There’s a theme, there’s a brand, and then there’s a lot of visionaries coming together to collaborate and share their idea of what could be exciting and impactful on this carpet in the space of fashion and art. There’s a thrill to bringing something to life and the performative nature and executing it either on stage, on set, or on one of the biggest carpets in the world. My process as an actor moves through each of these mediums.

Do you see yourself expanding further into the fashion world, perhaps as a designer or collaborator?

Yes, I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a capsule collection with a certain brand. So, maybe one day. Maybe one day soon, maybe one day not as soon, but we’ll see.

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As an actor and now an executive producer for ‘Samo Lives’, how has your creative perspective evolved over time?

I’m more of a team player than I used to be. And not because I didn’t want to be, but because I didn’t understand enough about how movies were made to support my fellow artists. I now try to make choices that obviously serve the character, but also serve the film. I spent some time with Will Smith, and I got to watch him work one day and I said “How do you do all of this? This is so much. How do you stay on top of it?” And he told me that he looks at himself as a General. And a General means I need to generally know enough about what every person does and trust them to do the rest of it. But if they ask me how to move forward, I can give them an answer, and it allows me space to lead without micromanaging.

Ultimately, how I perceived it is that he’s uplifting his teammates. And that’s how I’ve been moving with ‘Samo Lives’. Now that I understand what each person does, it informs my experience as an artist as well.

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How do you stay motivated and grounded despite your growing success?

I stay hungry. I’m hungry for knowledge. I’m hungry for challenging myself. I’m hungry for validation, sometimes. I’m hungry for bigger checks. I’m hungry. And I probably always will be hungry, and if I’m not, then you won’t see me anymore. I’ll be on a yacht somewhere telling stories about how I used to be hungry. Denzel said something recently in an interview. He said the actor’s job is to constantly be searching, and all jokes aside, I genuinely feel like I’m always searching. You probably want to know what I’m searching for, but that’s my business. I genuinely want to understand what this life means to me. And in my search, I’ve gotten a lot of gems and it makes me more excited for my next find.

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Next up, we’ll be seeing you in ‘Golden’ directed by Michel Gondry and produced by Pharrell Williams, and the post-apocalyptic rock opera ‘O’Dessa’. What can you share about both films and your roles in them?

Well, Halle’s in ‘Golden’. And Sadie is in ‘O’Dessa’. That’s it. I need to stop playing. I say that because they’re both so stunning in these films and I can’t stop thinking about their work. I’m really excited for everyone to see what they’re made of.

As far as I go, I haven’t let go of this dream of mine of becoming a pop star and singing. And I’m going to sing until I trick someone into giving me a record deal. It’s not because I should be a pop star, but it’s simply because I want to be. I’ve been closely monitoring Kevin Hart’s career as Chocolate Droppa and I aspire to have the same amount of success and hopefully even surpass him.

TEAM CREDITS:
talent KELVIN HARRISON JR.
photography MEKHI TURNER
styling MICHAEL FISHER
grooming AMBER BURGIN
styling assistant BRODIE REARDON
on-set styling KENNEDY SMITH
editor TIMI LETONJA
editorial director & interview JANA LETONJA