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Courtney B. Vance walks a treacherous ‘61st Street’
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BY GEORGE DICKIE
After winning many awards by playing one of the most famous attorneys ever, Courtney B. Vance is portraying a different kind of lawyer in a different kind of story. The actor follows his lauded work as Johnnie Cochran in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” – plus his turns in “Lovecraft Country” and “Genius: Aretha” – in the Chicago-set AMC drama series “61st Street,” which debuts the first of its two scheduled seasons Sunday, April 10. (The same night, AMC+ and ALLBLK begin streaming both the premiere and the second episode, with the two services then showing each episode a week before AMC does.) Vance plays Franklin Roberts, who becomes the legal representative for Moses Johnson (Tosin Cole), a young athlete mistaken for a gang member by police. The case becomes about much more, as cops and the prosecution use it to try to settle some scores over
Back in Boston, Bradley hopes to put nightmarish 2021 behind him When Jackie Bradley Jr. signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2020-21 offseason, the expectation was the former Red Sox would provide his usual elite defense in center field while putting forth unspectacular though acceptable output at bat. Instead, he had the 2021 season to forget, hitting a career-low .163 with only six home runs, 29 RBI and a .497 OPS in 387 at-bats, numbers that make it difficult to justify giving him much playing time no matter his glovework. So it hardly came as a surprise when the Brewers shipped Bradley back to Boston with two prospects for outfielder Hunter Renfroe. In a strange twist of fate, he happened to be among his former Sox teammates when he learned of the Nov. 30 deal. He was at ex-Sox rightfielder Mookie Betts’ wedding when he got the call from David Stearns, the Brewers’ president of baseball operations. After the call ended, a shocked Bradley turned to the man standing next to him, Sox DH J.D. Martinez, and told him what had just gone down. The two hugged with Bradley saying, “Hey teammate, good to see you again.” While he made his name in Boston as a centerfielder, winning a Gold Glove in 2018, Bradley may see more time in Fenway Park’s spacious right field in 2022 thanks to the presence of the capable Kiké Hernández. Either way, the man known is JBJ is thrilled to be back with the team that he came to the big leagues with and looking forward to proving that ‘21 was a fluke. Bradley and the Red Sox can be seen in action Sunday, April 10, when they close out a three-game series against the New York Yankees in a game airing on ESPN.
Courtney B. Vance and Aunjanue Ellis star in “61st Street,” premiering Sunday on AMC.
an officer’s death during a drug raid. Cast members also include recent “King Richard” Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis, Bentley Green and Holt McCallany (“Nightmare Alley”). Also an executive producer of “61st Street” along with others including fellow actor Michael B. Jordan and series creator Peter Moffat, Vance says, “I think we all had to get our minds around how big this thing was. We didn’t have one person who was overseeing the day-to-day operations, so all the actors and much of the crew had to pitch in and make sure we were on the same page.” Though “61st Street” is quite different from “The People vs. O.J. Simpson,” Vance was drawn to both dramas by their shared theme of the legal arena, and by the ever-intensifying place the law holds for so many people in daily modern living. “It is a prime time for discussions of right and wrong, of moral centers,” Vance reflects. “I think we’re at a crossroads about what’s right for a city, a country and a society. If someone crosses a line, what is the right thing to do? We continually find ways to say it’s the (citizens’) fault, and maybe we need to look at the way police are trained and how they react to situations. Maybe we need a reboot, but at least we need to talk about it.” Vance spent much of last year filming both seasons of “61st Street,” so his work schedule often coincided with that of wife Angela Bassett, a star and executive producer of Fox’s “9-1-1.” He’s not complaining much, if at all: “We’re blessed enough to be able to work, and we’ve been working our entire professional careers, since we graduated from Yale Drama School. I don’t think I’ve ever had any other job, and that’s very rare.”
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