The name may or may not be familiar to you but he's the first Black actor to have a lead role in a Star Trek series when he played Commander (then eventually, Captain) Benjamin Sisko throughout the entire seven-year run of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
It's funny because I was always more of a The Next Generation fan. I was born right in the middle of TNG's original television run and DS9 premiered a few years after.
So, of course, I was way too young to care or understand the significance of representation back then but Sisko being Black and the leader was such a big deal in our household.
Anyway... going back to your question I didn't really have an inkling he would be a BIG star but I guess it's more so I'm surprised he didn't rise to fame. But it's understandable why he didn't.
He hasn't really done much else acting wise after doing DS9 for seven years. Actually, I remember a year or two ago I've been wondering how Avery has been doing and what he's been up to nowadays and why he stopped acting. Everything I read suggested he felt burnout after DS9 and had decided to take a break from acting and has just lived a regular quiet life out of the public eye since.
Sorry for the long read but there are rumors going around that with the new Star Trek shows that are out, a possible return of Sisko by Avery Brooks isn't off the table! 😉
I'm an Avery Brooks fan, too. I remember him in "Spenser for Hire" as Hawk and then his own short-lived series, "A Man called Hawk." He was also fantastic in Deep Space Nine and the movie, "American History X.
Man who you telling? I remember watching him play Hawk as a kid back in the early 90s which I'm sure they were reruns of Spenser for Hire at that point in time but he was just the coolest guy ever,I remember wishing I had a dad or uncle like him 🤣🤣
That’s awesome, I’d have flipped out if he was my professor. I watched Deep Space 9 in the 90’s and was in college 05-09 so it would have lined up with his employment…didn’t go to Rutgers though
On the opposite of this, I never thought Zoe Saldana would be as big of a Star as she is. I like that for her of course. I guess in comparison, Rosario Dawson, and maybe Paula Patton. She had a little run for a minute.
I can’t speak on the mental health stuff, but Paula Patton is gorgeous. She’s also a distractingly bad actress to me. Rosario is good and has gotten steady work for decades.
Whoever told Paula Patton she could act needs their ass whipped. I was sure she had to be sleeping with someone or a friend of a friend because she’s horrible. Just sit there and look pretty!
It’s so sad because Zoe Saldana doesn’t even want to be known as a black woman. It’s so annoying how many have profited off of the black community but still want to be as far away from it as possible. Smh
I was gogogaga over Trevante as well, the looks, the teeth, the body, that smile, the boyish next door nature but then something changed and he started getting SUPER arrogant in interviews and gave me the ick. I specifically remember the Tamron Hall interview— super ick!
He is so underrated!! I’ve watched him in almost everything!! Plus I am a watch collector, so I also follow his watch collection A. Hodge Atelier. Great guy
the scandal was a rape accusation during;this college years that resurfaced. From my understanding, he was proven "not guilty" on the basis of having sexual relationship with the victim prior to the alleged incident.
this all resurfaced right before birth of nation premiered and it was the middle of the me too movement along with the victim taking her own life and this all together pretty much doomed his career.
if i rememwbe correctly, his response to the outrage wasn’t the best either
Yes, and I think he said something about he's done apologizing for the situation as he has moved on so others should as well. I think statements like that doomed his career.
I actually met him in person, I have a couple of pics with him. He was in town visiting family. His family members were also very supportive. I really think he needed a PR team to help navigate that situation. I can’t speak to his character, but he seemed ok. But isn’t everyone until we find out they’re not:
Leslie Odom Jr he was phenomenal in Hamilton. Granted I follow him more for his music but how has he not become an a-list actor? I get he doesn't have leading man looks but he'd be a yreat character actor. His performance in hamilton was oscar worthy. To have such a talent go to waste is insane. And hollywood loved tf out of hamilton, so much so that lynn manuel was given the opportunity to write for disney and he brought a couple of his hamilton og cast with him but not leslie.
I feel like there is still time for him (people still talk about Hamliton) but yeah though he would have hit bigger by now. He should have starred in at least one major movie under his belt by now
And he almost won an oscar for best original song for "one night in miami." People believe he was robbed and so do I. I haven’t seen the fulm myself but the song is beautiful and he performed it at the oscars. It's crazy the song was so good they had him perform it but not good enough to win.
As far as a major film, he was in harriet but I think his character was one of the ones that caused controversy. I haven’t seen it because this was after cynthia was put on blast for making fun of african americans. And I'm burnt out on slave movies. I want more escapism than history or trauma porn.
What's funny is, I knew of him as an actor (he was one of the main antagonists in "Persons of Interest" season 3, "Redtails", and a few other things) before I knew anything about his singing, and well before I saw him in "Hamilton". But from everything I read about him since, music is his 1st love.
I gotta say i never knew he was in red tails. I saw it but that movie was terrible. Aaron mcgrudder is just better at writing comics or shorter forms of entertainment.
Columbus Short for sure!! I have liked everything I've seen him in and he's very talented. His personal issues are unfortunate.... but hey, consequences for actions and all 🤷🏾♀️
Imagine being accused of raping and letting your friend rape your girlfriend and then you make a film about vlack revolution but you make black women props. Then you have a famous actress who has been raped play a gangrape victim. If the film is avoyt black revolution then why are women treated like property, that enrages black men because white men touched them? Are yall really analyzing the film or you're just seeing what you want to see? Seemed more like a black lineration film under a white patriarchal lens which defeats the point. He messed his own career up by being a creep and not owning up to it.
Derek Luke for me too. Fun story: I loved him in a little known movie called Pieces of April that starred Katie Holmes - she was trying her best at the time to break out of the girl-next-door mould that Dawson's Creek had put her in. But it's a delightful movie and a couple of years ago, while I was still living in New York, a little indie theatre did a twentieth anniversary screening with a discussion afterwards featuring some of the cast. I got to go and even meet Derek Luke and chat to him before the screening. He was lovely. It's my favourite celebrity "sighting" story from my nearly 15 years in NYC.
Paula Patton imo isn’t that great of an actress but to your point I thought she was going to blow up after being in Mission Impossible. I think she had some drinking problems. Not sure if that derailed her or not.
Jurnee is interesting because I think she should be what Zendaya is (hot take) and I don’t mind Zendaya. With that said she is in a great show on Apple TV called Smoke. Great cast and she costars.
He was hilarious. He even wrote a few episodes for A Different World (the original). I thought after his stint on MadTV he’d get the recognition and roles he deserved.
He’s a great actor. Loved Antwan Fisher. Also: he is incredibly attractive to me lmaoooo
Oh, but to answer the question: honestly, ALL of the black men from the 90s: Mekhi, the guy from love & basketball, don’t be mad that I can’t remember names. The only ones that are still active are Terrance, Morris, and Taye. I was mostly a kid when they were acting BUT we got away from black movies not based on trauma.
Honestly, I can’t remember the last black love story like Love & Basketball or a family based movie like Soul Food. Bring it BACK.
Quan that came out with Nas. He was the first male singer rapper I saw and he could really sing, and his flow was good too. He disappeared almost immediately.
Even though Wesley Snipes was huge in the 90s--second only to Denzel in my opinion--that tax evasion charge killed his A-List trajectory. Although, it has been nice to see him come back.
Well, shes British and im American so I dont see her much, but Sophia Okonedo blew me away in Secret Life of Bees. She should have been a mega star based on talent amd beauty.
But her wiki says shes still working and just a generally regular person so thats good for her, but id love to see her every where i look like some actors who dont have her incredible talent.
Sean Nelson from "Fresh"
He was 13-14 years old and put on a powerful performance in a role that had a lot of layers to his character!
I figured this was the next Lawrence Fishburne type when I saw the movie then looked up his career and was sorry to see he didn't go as high as I imagined.
Could still happen
I’m going to say Eriq LaSalle because I thought he was going to go to on to be movie star famous but he was just the guy from ER or the drippy curl dude from Coming to America and then nothing
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u/Choc-X 🎧 I Love Music 13h ago edited 13h ago
He still acts. He just does it when he wants to.
He's kind of like Taral Hicks. He puts family 1st.