Acclaimed actor to discuss ‘Acting While Black’

As part of Arizona State University’s celebration of Black History Month, the English Department is sponsoring an evening with acclaimed actor Harry J. Lennix. Lennix’s talk, “Acting While Black: A Conversation with Harry J. Lennix,” will be held from 4:30–6 p.m., Feb. 27 in the Lyceum Theatre. The event is free and open to the public.

A versatile stage and screen actor, Lennix has appeared in many of the most popular and acclaimed productions of the past 20 years. Lennix has been featured recently on film as Commander Lock in “The Matrix” series, as Mr. Silk in “The Human Stain,” and as Aaron the Moor in Julie Taymor’s film “Titus.” On the small screen, Lennix has appeared in various successful shows, such as “24,” “House M.D.,” “E.R.,” and “Ally McBeal.”

Despite the fact that it is rare to find a screen actor who also can succeed on stage, Lennix has flourished both on and off Broadway. Most recently, he starred in August Wilson’s final play, “Radio Golf,” a Broadway production that garnered four Tony Award nominations. He will reprise the starring role this March at the Kennedy Center’s complete cycle of Wilson’s plays, “August Wilson’s 20th Century.”

As a trained Shakespearean, Lennix has starred in productions of “Othello,” “Titus Andronicus,” and “Macbeth.” In addition, he was part of the first American company to be invited to perform in England’s Royal Shakespeare Company. It is no wonder, then, that Ebony Magazine named him as “Hollywood’s Hardest Working Man.”

At ASU, Lennix is visiting several classes in the English Department and the School of Theatre and Film. His public talk at the Lyceum Theatre will address what it means to be a black actor though a discussion of the ways his race affects his opportunities and approaches to acting.

His visit is sponsored by the Department of English and co-sponsored by the School of Theatre and Film, the Institute for Humanities Research, African and African American Studies, Film and Media Studies, and the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication. For more information please contact Ayanna Thompson at (480) 965-0247 or Ayanna.Thompson@asu.edu.