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Justice Smith Explains Why ‘The American Society of Magical Negroes’ Is About ‘Insidious Racism’ and ‘Neglect of Black People in White Spaces’
Justice Smith discusses his role in 'The American Society of Magical Negroes' and working with Kobi Libii.
Upon his 2013 graduation from the Orange County School of the Arts, Justice Smith assumed he would spend some time “waiting tables and doing small roles in indie films here and there.” Instead, he found himself working the blockbuster space fairly quickly, booking roles in “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and its sequel “Jurassic World Dominion.” He stood out opposite a fuzzy creature voiced by Ryan Reynolds in “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu” and as a half-elf sorcerer in “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” (It’s intended as a compliment to say both films have no right being as good as they are, considering their origins.) Kobi Libii’s satirical comedy skewers the “Magical Negro” tropes perpetuated by media, with Smith portraying Aaron, a young artist brought into a hidden world where Black people learn to placate “clients” (a.k.a. That will be followed by the May 3 release of “ I Saw the TV Glow,” a surreal thriller from Jane Schoenbrun in which Smith plays Owen, a high school outcast in the 1990s who becomes obsessed with a cult television show.
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