Justice Smith Explains Why ‘The American Society of Magical Negroes’ Is About ‘Insidious Racism’ and ‘Neglect of Black People in White Spaces’

variety.com:

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor 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.) Though it was a crash course in big-budget filmmaking, the 28-year-old actor notes that he wouldn’t have had it any other way. “I’m blessed because those experiences were also highly technical environments that challenged me,” he says. “It strengthened my ability and gave me a more well-rounded arsenal of tools.

While doing the thing I love.” And while he’s happy to dabble in big studios hits, Smith is still embracing the independent scene wholeheartedly with two films that debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

First up is “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” hitting theaters March 15. 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.

white people) by playing off those very tropes. David Alan Grier co-stars as his mentor and “The Other Two” actor Drew Tarver plays the client.