4 minute read
CULTURE
A Q&A WITH JUSTIN CUNNINGHAM.
‘OUTLET FOR MASTERY’: Cunningham picked up boxing during the pandemic.
Pope County native and University of Arkansas graduate Justin Cunningham is an avid boxer, a self-taught guitarist and a Juilliard-educated actor whose stage roles have ranged from “King Lear” on Broadway to Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us.” His latest project is “Grand Crew,” a shrewd comedy from the creators of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” It premiered in January on NBC.
I understand you grew up cutting and baling hay on a farm, yes? Yeah! I’m from Atkins. We had a commercial farm out there, where we grew hogs and chickens. So my whole youth was spent working — cutting hay, baling hay, catching cows and taking them to sale, riding horses. Just doing lots of things that I didn’t like. Eventually I found my way up to the University of Arkansas [at Fayetteville], finished the acting program there, and was producing some improv in Fayetteville and Bentonville when a professor at the University of Arkansas said, “You should apply to [The Juilliard School] for the acting program. They’re starting a master’s program.” So I thought, “All right, I’ll do that,” and auditioned and messed around and got in.
Let’s talk about “Grand Crew.” The opening sequence of the pilot confronts some historical representations of Black men, countering with a correction: “We got layers, y’all. Our multitudes got multitudes.” What does it mean for you to be in this show with an all-Black cast — and that doesn’t position its characters as accessories to a main timeline that’s centered around white people? I got the sides to audition for it in early 2020, and there was a lot of buzz in the acting community around here — that a script was going around and it was really funny. And these characters were Black characters, but that wasn’t the main focus. With the lens that it was being seen through, I was able to play an actual human being and not just put my Blackness in front of me before I even start saying words. That’s what drew me to it. The show opens with talking about the Black experience, but it’s focused on humanizing Black people. … I think it’s necessary that network television start pursuing these types of projects that center around opening up the perspective of how people are seen.
I watched an interview in which you described your character on “Grand Crew,” Wyatt, as a person who “leads with optimism and wonder.” After watching you in interviews, I do get the sense that you have that in common with your character. Absolutely. One of my old professors at Juilliard, one of his main things was that when you’re building a character you lead that character with curiosity and discovery. That’s something that I lead with in my life. We’d actually started shooting the [“Grand Crew”] pilot when COVID started happening and we got shut down for an entire year. And I went home to Arkansas. For a year, in my mother’s garage, trying to figure out what in life was next. I didn’t know if I was going to have a job. So I had to take a chance and start to redirect that anxiety about not knowing what the future was going to hold. I had to look for wonder in myself, and curiosity and optimism. And I think that’s what Wyatt as a character brings to his friends. That’s why I wanted the character to have glasses. I wanted him to see. Wide-eyed.
What kind of feedback on the show have you gotten from friends and family so far? Oh, yeah. Well, there’s an episode where I’m naked-crying. And I think my mother and my sister texted me immediately after and expressed their concerns. But it’s just television.
I saw a video of you rocking some Prince on your Instagram feed. What role does music play in your life? You know, I sang a little bit in church, but didn’t really know I could sing until I went to the University of Arkansas. I got cast in a few musicals, and the music director there, whose name was Jeanie Lee — love her — she just put me in a room with another student and started playing and said, “You can sing, so you’re gonna do this.” And since then, most every theater show I’ve done, I’ve had to play music or sing. I did a musical off-Broadway called “Little Rock,” about the Little Rock Nine, and sang in that. And another play called “Broadbend, Arkansas,” where I recorded an album. But I’m self-taught. I picked up the guitar around 2006 or 2007 and have been learning ever since. It’s an outlet for mastery, for me, like boxing.
— Stephanie Smittle
