Young, black, British and making Hollywood pay
When Hollywood studios dangle leading roles in front of John Boyega, the south London actor propelled to stardom in the new Star Wars film, they will first have to tackle Femi Oguns – an agent whose stable of black British talent is causing waves across the movie industry.
Frustrated at the lack of opportunities for black and ethnic minority (BAME) talent, Oguns shelved his acting career to found the Identity School of Acting (ISA) in 2003, handing out fliers on the streets to teenagers looking for a creative outlet.
The opening session attracted just 10 students. But ISA soon became established as the only UK drama school catering for ethnic-minority aspirants. The Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and leading film casting directors began clamouring to attend its actor showcases. Its graduates include Boyega, who broke through in the film Attack The Block, Michaela Coel, writer and star of the comedy Chewing Gum and Malachi Kirby, who won the lead role of Kunta Kinte in a remake of the US slave drama Roots.
Many ISA graduates then wanted Oguns, 39, to guide them through the precarious world of an acting career, so he set up a talent agency to represent their interests. The Identity Agency Group’s Los Angeles division works with powerbrokers – placing black British actors in leading Hollywood productions.
Yet Oguns is still shocked by the racist attitudes that persist in the industry: “I was speaking with an oldschool casting director, who said: ‘I’m actually looking for an actor with more negroid features’. ‘This other character is really educated – he’s more like a white person in a black body’.
“I said: ‘We’re going to have quite a hiatus until you realise what you just said’. I kept her in exile for 18 months.”
The exchange reveals where the power now lies. Oguns charges “reparations” – in terms of higher fees – to producers who want access to his talent now, but refused to consider black actors in the past.
“When you do end up recognising what is here, I’m going to charge you even more money to compensate for all the time you’ve already wasted,” he says.
Oguns agrees with Sir Lenny Henry that only quotas will kickstart equality for BAME talent.
“That’s the only way. The black community is too passive in this country. Fourteen percent of the population is BAME, but only five percent of talent on screen is. The BBC has an ‘aspiration’ for 15 percent of BAME screen talent by 2017 – why not just make it happen? Why are black directors in theatre only qualified to direct ‘culturally specific’ works? Theatre is still dominated by white middle-class decision-makers who are qualified not only to tell their life stories, but over-qualified to tell yours also.”
Oguns sought to drive change rather than wait for institutions: “We have always encouraged the students to see that they are the architects of their own fortune. They have to have that work ethic.”
Oguns and the management team around Boyega will keep his feet on the ground: “Had we accepted a lot of the roles John was offered after Attack the Block he wouldn’t have be in the position now where he is highly sought-after. John had to audition more than anybody else in Star Wars to get that role. Is that a reflection globally of how we perceive ethnic minority groups?” – The Independent