Word: ashong
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...weeks after the audition, Ashong didn't hear from the studio. It didn't really matter, he figured. He'd just go back to school, finish up his thesis, a musical on identity issues facing Africans and Afro-Americans, and graduate...
...break came when they asked the line of actors to read in an African language. Ashong was the only one who spoke fluently. "Everyone else was like no, I don't speak, but I have a lot of African friends, and it doesn't matter because I'm an actor. I can insert myself into the role...
Then he got a phone call from his father in mid-January. "Hello Derrick, this is Daddy," Ashong recalls, imitating his father's British-Ghanaian accent. "I got a call from this woman about a movie. What the hell is going...
...short list for the part of Buakey, a younger brother figure to slave rebel leader Joseph Cinque, was solidified before Spielberg even saw Ashong's tape, but the director's top choice for the part fell through at the last minute...
...love with them. "Debbie Allen, the consummate professional," and "Steven Spielberg, he's a genius" are oft-repeated phrases for Ashong. Clearly Hollywood hasn't yet blunted his enthusiasm or his unassuming ways. And it hasn't disturbed the still, carefully pronounced pools of thought deep inside his head...