What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future??

Ashe: I just did a short film with buddy Michael Dante called “The Spirit God Gave Us”. A very patient, Afro-futuristic celebration of young Black queer love which is very on brand for me. It’s done well at the short film circuits. It means more to decorate my career with honest portrayals of the Black experience especially at a time in Hollywood where there is this emphasis on representation. I got a bunch of drafts on my laptop that will be realized before the year is out. Justice and I are directing a film together that’s exciting.

Through December you can catch me in a play called “The Inheritance”—talks about what it means to be gay in 2022. It draws the line between Stonewall to now, between the HIV/AIDS epidemic to now. It’s a big herculean effort.

The play itself is six acts. I get naked in this show. I really wanted something to sink my teeth after Queen Sugar and this is it. The rest of the year is stacked with directing, writing and acting which are my three favorite things to do.

Bleu: What are some things in the next five years you want to do in the industry?

Ashe: I really want to fall somewhere between James Baldwin and Ava Duvernay.

I want to be on my Childish Gambino/Donald Glover/Issa Rae shit where I’m starring in and curating projects that push our people forward. Not all of it needs to be trauma porn, but I don’t think we need anymore Black friend shit either.

I want to put us front and center, I want to put Black women front and center. I don’t think I’ll stop until every Black person I know and love is represented in my projects. I’m looking forward to being a titan in the industry.

Bleu: What do you want your legacy to be?

Ashe: I suppose I have no say what people cherry pick from my life. I’d like to think ultimately that I was handed a baton from a bevy of Black men, Black queer men who look and love like me, who did everything in their lifetime to push us forward. I like to think that I took that and never did anything to regress us. I really believe that art has a civic purpose.

You won’t catch Nick Ashe being Zeke on the Disney Channel in Starburst 3. I want my work to feel political. I’ve seen shows illicit legislature. I’m really hoping I can be regarded as a bit of artivist. An actor who really considered his community

Words by: JACK CHADWICK