On paper his breakout role was as Eazy-E of the legendary group, NWA in the movie, Straight Outta Compton. But the young actor has had several smaller roles all culminating to the start of his ‘moment in the sun’. And it is definitely warm in the light, after being handpicked by Dee Rees for the Netflix original “Mudbound”. But, what are the things that brought actor Jason Mitchell onto all of our screens?
According to Mitchell, his need to find something that brought him joy post Hurricane Katrina fueled the 23 year old star’s dream. (And there is nothing wrong with some free therapy if it pays in return). Aside from experiences real hardships Mitchell says he fell in love with the ability to freely express himself without self-doubt. Those struggles and uncertainty provided more than enough pain, anguish, and genuine emotion to fuel all of the roles Mitchell has taken on.
Some of his more lesser known roles include “Texas Killing Fields” where he had a few lines, the police informant ‘Twizz’ in Major Crimes, and pre-President Barrack Obama’s young adult friend PJ in “Barry”, to name a few. But before he was ‘Barry’s homie’ there was “Straight Outta Compton”. For the Role of Eazy-E Mitchell began summoning his inner ‘Nigga With Attitude’ to prepare him for the pivotal $200 Million plus blockbuster. He physically trained, he learned the songs, he met the family members of Eazy-E, and he cried-regularly. All of this prep showed the versatility of Mitchell’s skills.
And those versatile skills bring us to Dee Rees’ selection of Ronsel Jackson for “Mudbound”. While Mitchell continued various auditions for several roles Rees already new she wanted him. After seeing his depiction of a man dying expressing authentic emotions to another man, she knew he was a reflection of the male character for her film. Being that the story line was similar to that of his grandfather’s post Korean War story, Jason Mitchell was able to in a way, speak for his grandfather about a time he couldn’t speak for himself.
So, whats next for the rising star? Well hopefully, millions in movie deals and a happy life. Jason is already appearing in Showtime’s latest hit series, “The Chi”. The series is a current modernized version of the struggle of the black man.
Mitchell believes the series will humanize the news, and we all, as a people should want that. At least I do. And in the words of the great Issa Rae, “ Im rooting for everybody black.”
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