Interview with Jharrel Jerome
Jharrel Jerome was just starting his freshman year at Ithaca College last year. A boy from the Bronx, he came upstate to study acting in the Theater Department. After spending less than two months in the department, he landed the dream of many — a roll in a movie.
Jerome performed the roll of sixteen-year-old Kevin in Moonlight, the movie that is now nominated for six Golden Globe award — and also has already accumulated a laundry list of awards. But his work doesn’t stop there. Jerome recently wrapped filming for the 2017 movie Monster, and also recently released his own single on Soundcloud.
Sara Belcher, Distinct Magazine editor, talked with Jerome about his passion for acting, his experience in his first-ever movie, and some of his upcoming work.
What made you choose Ithaca college?
I was born and raised in New York City and I thought That ithaca was definitely a place completely different from the city and that’s something I definitely needed growing up. I felt like I wanted to experience something outside of the city— experience life in a more natural environment. I visited with my aunt and when I got here I just fell in love with the place. I fell in love with the nature, I fell in love with the trees, I fell in love with the student body, everybody seems so friendly. It just seemed like a place that could become a home away from home.
Do you think Ithaca helped shape you in any way in terms of your acting?
The teachers at Dillingham are all amazing; they’re all professional, they’re all experts at their craft and they know exactly how to guide a student in the right direction. As soon as I got here I felt a very great sense of family, a great sense of tradition and background. It was kind of easy to fall in line and to work with the students here. It felt like family, because we were all there doing what we loved. So being here definitely shaped me as an actor and continues to feed my love to the craft because it gives me reasons to continue doing what I’m doing.
When did you know that you wanted to get into acting?
It actually started pretty late. It started around 13, so I didn’t grow up performing. I found my love my freshman year of high school. I went to [Fiorello H. LaGuardia] High School and I didn’t really know much about acting, didn’t know much about monologues about scene work. They accepted me after I auditioned in the eighth grade, and I auditioned only two months after I picked up a script for the first time. But as soon as I got to LaGuardia as a freshman, I learned new things about the trade and the craft; I learned how important it was not only to people doing it but to the world, and that’s why I fell in love with it, as a freshman and then continuing on my next years in school.
What made you apply to a performing arts school if you’d never acted before?
It was as simple as this: I didn’t want to go to a regular high school. I grew up in the Bronx, I felt like I grew up very sheltered around the same friends, around the same community, that I kind of wanted to branch out. I always wanted to grow up a bit different, and I didn’t know what it meant at the time, but my aunt was like “Try acting” and my mom and I looked at each other and was like “Okay, maybe yeah.” I signed up for one acting course, and while I was at the course the acting teacher told my mom that she saw natural talent, and that was the first time somebody saw something in me in terms of what I wanted to do in the future, and right there it kind of clicked. It was like maybe this is something I can really do. I picked up a monologue that my mom went and bought. I learned it with her and in the span of two months I auditioned for four different performing arts schools, and each of the four schools accepted me. So it really felt right.
How did you land the Moonlight Gig? That all started really with me getting represented by my managers— they are phenomenal. They signed me right out of high school after seeing me in two productions, and when we spoke and met for the first time we really made a connection. And I knew that they were people who were definitely going to benefit me in the long run, and we went through months of auditioning. Basically they read scripts, and according to whatever they read in the scripts… if there’s a part that fits my description they’ll send it over to me and I’ll go ahead and read a script and i’ll say “Yeah, I like it” and then I’ll go out for it. I’ll put myself on tape if I can’t go in live and see them personally. So I’ll go on what’s called a ‘self tape,’ so when it came down to Moonlight it was around October— it was actually October 9th, 2015, which was my 18th birthday. The morning of my 18th birthday, I get a script sent to me, and it’s Moonlight, and it’s one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. I go ahead and I put myself on tape and I’m excited. I spent two hours in the West Tower lounge just putting myself on tape with my friend Damiano and after two hours of “No, no, we have to do this again, it’s not right, my voice is weird,” and blah blah blah, I went ahead and I put in something that I felt was pretty good. And a week later, I get a call from my managers and they say I booked the part. I was actually with my friends on fall break [in New York City], I get the call and they tell me and I just lean back on the closest wall and I started to cry. It was just an overwhelming feeling because it was my first project, it was the first time I had been auditioned for a few months. And you get close sometimes, and it’s nothing; and you get close another time, and nothing. And then that one time, you get a yes, and it’s the greatest feeling in the world.
How did you juggle all of this and school work?
I’m still currently juggling everything— it’s insane. Basically last year it was pretty easy because all it took was two weeks. I was filing in Miami from late October into the beginning of November only, and so I was able to leave school for two weeks and the teachers at Dillingham were very okay with it. They were proud. They were like “Yeah, go have your fun and do your thing, make sure you make up your work.” Last year it was kind of a breeze. It was amazing. I felt like I was cruising. And then reality hit this year, because this year was sort of the aftermath of last year. Moonlight went through its festival phase in the past month throughout October [of 2016]. I missed a whole lot of school in October, so that’s why I’m a part time student now and I have to take a leave from the drama department simply because I was just missing too many classes. And it was bittersweet and it was something that was hard to do but at the same time I understand things are really looking up. The theater department is so very proud of me… It’s been hard having to juggle school work and then the real world.
Did you ever see yourself getting involved in films and movies? Or did you think you would do more of the on-stage productions?
So in high school it was solely theater training for me; I only took one film class when I was a junior and other than that it was all stage production. So while I was training in theater, I realized I loved acting— I did love performing, but I was watching too many movies and I was in love with too many film actors and I realized that film was something that I wanted to do. And when I took that one class my junior year I completely fell in love with film acting, and it only took one semester out of my four years of high school. It wasn’t actually until got to Ithaca where I got to be in a lot of short films. Me and my friends created films in high school, little films for me to act in, but it was only that. When I got here I got to perform in the Park school then I did a couple of those projects, and being in front of a camera has always felt more natural to me. I love the intimacy of the camera, I love the feeling of the cast and crew coming together in this small circle and creating a project and then creating it for an audience later on, not right now. So when I did Moonlight, it was honestly one of my first few times on a real film set or on any film set actually. But it felt so amazing and it felt like something I was wanting to take part of and I am wanting to take part of from here on out, yknow?
What was it like being a part of a big movie shoot?
Everything’s just larger than life right now, and it’s almost hard to grasp. Sometimes I sit back and I try to think about it, but it’s so much to think about that I get lost in it and I just stare into a space and someone has to snap me out of it because it’s incredible. Last year when I was on Moonlight I was very nervous at first. As soon as I landed in Miami I kind of just went straight to the set and I met Barry Jenkins [the director], I met his crew members. And at first I was really nervous because everything was so large scale— especially in my world— but as soon as I met Barry he gave me such a warm hug and it felt like I knew him for so long. As well as the rest of the crew, everyone was so welcoming, everyone was so honest and helpful, they didn’t treat me like a newbie, they didn’t treat me like the rookie, they treated me as if I was a partner of theirs — as if I was an artist coming together to work on a project. And that feeling alone felt very good. That allowed me to get comfortable with the crew, get comfortable with the cast so that when the first time Barry called action, and the camera was in my face for the first time... the nerves were there, but I felt as though this wasn’t something that I should be scared about. This wasn’t the audition— this was the job, this was the real deal. And that also carried on to the other projects that I continue to work on. It’s so amazing to see that in the real world there are still real people, and they’re not robots bossing you around… And after seeing me on the big screen? *chuckles* I don’t know, it’s like I grip onto the chair and I take a deep breath because half of me says “Here it is, you got it, you made it,” and the other half is like “Everyone is watching you right now, how do you feel? How are you supposed to be?” It’s unreal.
What’s the overall reaction that you’ve gotten to your part in the movie?
It’s been a lot of amazing feedback, it’s almost overwhelming. It’s so amazing to see so many people react so positively to one thing. As for me my family is completely in love with the project and in love with my character, and that’s such a good feeling this year. They go “Wow I didn’t even know that was you that was nothing like you.” It’s always a good feeling to see that your job has been done. As for critic reviews and all that, that’s amazing. It’s highly anticipated that we can get nominated for best picture, for best director, for best writing. Just feeling that, to know that I’m in a project like that…
Do you have any advice on how to handle criticism?
So I did mention all the positive feedback, but at the same time there is a ton of negative feedback there. The project is very controversial and my role in specific is a very, very controversial role in terms of him dealing with his homosexuality in such an environment that isn’t okay [with homosexuality]. I’ve actually seen comments on Facebook, comments on vine disrespecting me, my character, the project. Things like “Why do they have to shove this gay agenda?” and that sort of thing. You just got to really read those comments and understand that people will be like that. And no matter how much positivity you throw into the world, there will always be [people like that]. And you almost have to sit there and accept that will won’t accept it and continue [to keep] spreading the love, continue showing the love and continue trying to make your own difference, regardless of people not willing to change. In terms of receiving criticism, I think criticism is the best way to learn. I think the best criticism comes from those that are hard on you, those who see the fault in you… It’s almost better to learn from someone who's completely bashing you, than someone who thinks you’re great, because you become stronger off those comments. You become stronger off those who disagree with what you do. Because either you change, or you say “No this is what I’m going to continue doing.”
What do you think is your favorite thing about acting?
I think my favorite thing is — it’s the part where I step out of character. I think the most common answer is stepping into character, becoming someone else, for me it’s that feeling when I have [finished.] I just became someone else and now I’m [stepping out] and I’m realizing that this is a passion, this is my craft, this is what I love to do. And then when I step back into the character I’m totally immersed in them and I just get lost in it, and that feeling of getting lost and then coming back into the real world and seeing how the audience feels, seeing how you feel, seeing how it feels to have lived in that character… is really your passion.
I see that you released a new single on Soundcloud. Do you think music is something else you’ll explore in your career?
Yes, most definitely. Music has been a part of my life before acting was a part of my life. I grew up listening to Hip Hop and R&B, Jazz, Folk— I grew up with a lot of influence in music. And when I was eleven I actually started freestyling, and that allowed me to start writing around the time that I was fourteen/fifteen. Then by the time I was in high school I was just considering myself a rapper. I love making music, I love writing songs, I love telling stories in music, I love creating flows and [creating] word play for people to just munch on for a little bit. I’m just really into art, and I think there’s a lot of different ways that art can tell any story, and acting is one way, and for me music is another way as well. I definitely hope to have a career in both acting and music. I don’t just want to be considered an actor, I also want to be considered a musician and artist in terms of music as well.
What other projects are you working on that you can tell us about?
I am very happy to say that yesterday I found out that I’ve been cast in a TV series called Mr. Mercedes. It is based off a Stephen King novel titled Mr. Mercedes, and I’m actually playing Jerome, which is a very great character in the book. I’ll be filming in South Carolina from January to May this coming semester. So that’s incredible. That’s something I’m extremely excited for so that’s almost just throwing me into an extremely intense experience out of nowhere— but I’m extremely ready and I’m so excited. I was filming in Harlem, alongside ASAP Rocky and Jennifer Hudson in a project called Monster and that was being directed by Andy Mandler and it’s based off a book by [Walter Dean Myers], entitled Monster as well. So I’m doing a lot of projects based off books, that seems to be the theme going on.
Do you have any suggestions for those trying to make it in the acting business?
Patience is a virtue. I think that’s my best advice that I can give to you. Especially young artists who are hungry for the throne, and really want to succeed, really want to reach stardom. A lot of people want to get to places of fame and places of success, but that comes in time. I feel that comes in practice, and that comes in rehearsals, and sometimes it takes one performance that’ll get you to the top, or sometimes it’ll take several. Patience is a virtue, and I think it’s not about chasing the success, it’s about working your way up to the success, and letting the success come to you.
Photography by Alessia DiNunno
