Jason Mitchell is in demand
Perhaps the most emotionally charged role of the 2015 blockbuster “Straight Outta Compton” is that of late N.W.A rapper Eazy-E, as played by Jason Mitchell. In a number of scenes, after Eazy-E finds out he had AIDS, Mitchell captures a level of sensitivity not often afforded black men in media; there’s ugly-crying and hugging and intimacy.
It’s this performance that put Mitchell, 30, at the top of Dee Rees’ wish list for one of her leads in “Mudbound,” now in theaters and available on Netflix. “That’s why I wanted him, because of that hospital scene where he’s hugging another man and crying,” she says.
“Mudbound” is a tale about two families connected by land. The Jacksons are black sharecroppers who claim an ancestral connection to the soil they till, while the McAllans are white, middle-class and bought their their way in. Mitchell plays Ronsel, one of the sons of the Jacksons who returns from World War II to rural Mississippi, thrust back into the racist South.
In addition to “Mudbound,” which is already part of the award season conversation, he has a featured role in another award contender, Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit,” which premiered earlier this year. He also has a role in James and Dave Franco’s “The Disaster Artist,” out in December, and the upcoming Lena Waithe project “The Chi,” which bows in January on Showtime.
Ahead of the “Mudboud” release, we spoke with Mitchell. The following is an edited transcript. So I never wrapped my mind around what I wanted to do and what made me happy. Then I went to this random acting workshop one day, and I knew I could do this.
A: I took it because I felt like I’d be able to speak for my grandfather. (A relative of his) was an actual slave. He went to the Korean War and came home. He has a fifth-grade education. I thought it would be so dope to speak for that era of people who fought so hard and have such a mind frame, but have a hard time holding their head up in society.
A: Absolutely. You can be pigeonholed very easily. But it’s not up to them — and when I say them, I mean any casting director, any director — to choose how far anyone’s range goes. I feel like if I can see myself physically in the role, then I’ll try to go as far as I can go from what people think they know me as. I want to go from Eazy-E to Jason Mitchell and at the same time do stuff that means something.
A: It’s not really that hard to access. It’s a thing where you ask yourself, “Am I comfortable making other people uncomfortable?” Just like they’re going to say (the N-word) or all this other belittling stuff, do you have the heart to make them uncomfortable? For me, I feel like everyone has that on the tip of their tongue. Everyone knows it’s happening on a daily basis. They just don’t want to talk about it.
(On set), you come to a consensus with everyone around you and say, “We’re about to go there. We’re going to keep this in a controlled environment and not take it home with us.” If you can separate home from work, you’ll be good.