Jemar Michael is an actor and artist known for his portrayal of Smoothe/A1 in the feature film and Netflix continuation of Dear White People as well as the daytime Emmy-nominated show The Chadwick Journals in which he received a Silver Telly Award for his performance as Oren. He spoke to Kindred. about his experience as a queer Black actor and how he learned to accept himself.
The 30-year-old’s interview happened to fall on 29 July 2022, the eve of Beyoncé’s Renaissance album release. While I spoke about my affinity for CHURCH GIRL, Michael praised VIRGO’s groove. He immediately seemed like an energetic, funny and welcoming person.
Recently, Michael had the unfortunate instance of coming close to an active shooting in downtown LA which would claim four lives. A passer-by told him and fellow actor, Brandon Black, to return to where they were walking from as the scene may still be occurring - the shooting happened outside the very ice cream parlour he and his friend were planning to visit.
He laments how difficult it is to live in America at the moment, due to the rising cases of Monkeypox in conjunction with Covid-19, especially with the spread of misinformation. Despite the ordeal, Michael is still going strong and seemed excited to do the interview.
Actors are quite invested in their own projects but when asked what his favourite comfort show currently is, he raved about Elite and praised the young cast of HBO’s Yellowjackets.
Michael’s hazaar moment that made him realise that he wanted to be an actor came after seeing Paul Haggis's crime drama Crash (2004), for which he credited Michael Penã’s performance for sparking his desire to perform. From that point on, he decided to join his first acting class at the age of 14 and later went on to attend Saint Paul’s Conservatory, a performing arts high school based in Minnesota in the same city where the actor was born.
He has been out since he was 15 years old and said that coming to terms with his sexuality came with struggles such as confusion over bisexuality, toxic masculinity and internalised homophobia. It wasn’t until his relationship with his partner at 24 years old that he became embroiled within his own community - learning simultaneously about himself, the LGBTQ+ community and the Hollywood industry itself.
Navigating the industry was difficult and is still a learning process for the actor who feels like he is still learning his place.
"I talked to my agent who is also an openly gay Black man... 'If I should reinvent myself, change my name,' he says. We were two gay Black men asking if I should go for gay roles!"
Auditioning for these roles was an up and down rollercoaster, with him not booking certain roles that he felt good about as he noticed that they were going to cis-hetero men.
"It's frustrating because I really wouldn’t care if we were getting the same opportunities and accolades. Where is my praise for playing straight?" he says. "I feel like when straight men play gay, people want to give them all this adulation for being able to go there with their craft. But gay men have to go back into the closet for your project."
He feels that gay actors’ efforts to play these roles are never acknowledged unless it is coming from people who know the actors personally - along with not being given the opportunity for roles about your own experience whilst someone plays into a stereotype or misconception of what a gay man is without the nuance.
He also notes that most new actors use these roles as a stepping stone but then never return to gay roles. If Hollywood is so accepting, then why not let gay actors play themselves or at least allow them to be leading men in the same capacity? Nonetheless, he has been going after his dream for 12 years and still does not feel discouraged by all of that.
When reflecting on the biggest life lessons he has learned from his experience as an actor, he stated that accepting himself in his entirety was key. He referenced playing his character Al who was Afro-Latinx, in which he felt he could only represent one half of himself to his friends as his conflicting ethnic background didn’t allow him to express all facets of his culture. This in turn allowed Michael to embrace his own racial identity and to have a direct conversation with his agent about it.
"I don't want to be seen as ethnically ambiguous, I am Black," he says proudly. "My mum's Black, my dad’s Black.
"I’m light-skinned, I don't know what to tell you! I don’t want to be seen as Latino or Middle-Eastern, because I have gone out for those roles and to me, it feels like I’m doing a disservice to my POC peers," he adds.
He then revealed that the only reason that his character Al was Mexican on the show was because of an on-set inside joke amongst the cast and the director when storyboarding the narrative journey that culminated in season 4. He firmly states though that he wants to continue on the right path to being authentically himself as the alternative borders on brown face by portraying a race he doesn't belong to.
When asked if he had a dream role, archetype or genre, he spoke of a project he had with his friend, director LaDarrion Williams - Blood At The Root, a HBCU focused on Black witches. The short film starring Michael is also going to be turned into a young adult novel. He also spoke about wanting to play an alternative version of Mark Wahlberg's character Dirk Diggler from Boogie Nights (1997) in a thriller revolving around adult content in the modern age.
Michael is also an artist and his creations can be seen on Frenchwood studios which is taking a brief hiatus whilst the actor develops new designs. He is currently experimenting with textiles and has some pieces for auction on Saatchi Art.
In terms of career objectives, he spoke of a desire to be blessed with one role he can play over several years so he can evolve with the character. He returned to the question of dream roles and stated that he would love to play someone like the titular character of the crime series Dexter, but his depiction would be seen through a queer Black lens, and in his own words, "he would eat". Other goals would be to work with NOPE director Jordan Peele, movie studio A24 responsible for Everything Everywhere All At Once and television network Show Time.
Although he could potentially see some directorial work happening down the line, at the moment, he would prefer to transfer into writing original content. There is some dissatisfaction on his end though with how today’s industry scouts actors as it has more to do with social media exposure than genuine talent.
"I was on Tiktok the other day, and they were talking about the death of a celebrity and how social media has killed that," he says. "Now it's an influencer to actor pipeline, where even the quality of work is going down which is unfortunate for the people who went to school for this. It's not about talent."
He continues by saying that it feels like the world of theatre is where most genuine performers go because you can’t hide behind editing when giving a live performance. While he is happy that the acting world is becoming more diverse, it’s also becoming oversaturated, making it much harder as everyone looks for an opportunity in a capitalist world.
Looking back at his younger self, if the actor had to give himself some advice back then, it would be to encourage patience, to take things day by day and not to stress over the future but to focus on the now.
Should he walk into a room with entrance music playing, he says that his theme song would be SZA’s Prom. The topic of growing up and wondering if you are doing enough was deeply relatable to him. He said he started sobbing in the car while listening to it. As an actor, he faces a lot of rejection and it's easy to take things personally just as the songstress says in her album.
Michael continues to be a person that shines a light on important social issues through social media and art. His projects continue to be a positive and empowering representation of young queer Black lives. A kindred spirit indeed, he will be sure to delight and entertain wherever his next project lands.
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