#CaribbeanActors: Stephan James

Big up Stephan James anyweh him deh!

We're highlighting the work of Caribbean-born, Diaspora, and 2nd generation Caribbean screen actors in the #CaribbeanActors series.

While most of us know Stephan James from his more recent & popular roles in If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) and Race (2016), he also starred in the 2012 film Home Again about deportees returning to Jamaica. The Toronto born actor, who comes from a Jamaican family, got his start as a teenager and played a recurring role in Degrassi: Next Generation.

While his career spans just a decade, James is the definition of a working actor with 29 titles under his belt.

He talks about his role opposite Julia Roberts in the audio drama turned tv series 'Homecoming' and why although it didn't matter for the story that his character was black, it mattered in the real world. #representationmatters because he didn't play a thug or a caricature of black man. He says, "it was just sorta this thing like, 'anybody could have had this role and here it is, it's mine'. And the power that we have with that is just an incredible sort of feeling".

Watch the full clip below: