Actor Nate Parker launched his film
career after being selected by Denzel Washington to play the role of
Henry Lowe, a brooding, but brilliant student in the 2007 film, The
Great Debaters. Parker is returning to the big screen in an equally
weighty role as Ben Chavis in Blood Done Sign My Name, based on a
true story penned by Timothy B. Tyson about how a racist town in
North Carolina was complicit in setting the murderer of a black man free at the
height of the civil rights struggle. –christian johnson
How were you chosen for this role?
Jeb Stuart [screenwriter, Blood Done
Sign My Name, Diehard] gave me a call telling me about the film and
that he wanted me to take a look a the script. There were so many
community issues that I was fighting for, so this movie was something
I wanted to be a part of.
How did the role impact you
personally?
It just reminded me of the stakes; and
what we had to lose in a sense of who we are. It fueled my
passion to do more and [to] use the platform God’s given me with
the film to create a visual encyclopedia for our people.
What do you hope young black men
learn from this movie?
What I want black men to learn [from]
this film, in particular, is that you don’t have to be old to
effect change in the community.
