The Big Picture

Asante Blackk reflects on his roles in two films centered around artists, emphasizing the themes of expression, passion, creation, and the pursuit of hope. Blackk discusses his initial attraction to the film, “Story Ave,” highlighting the distinctive style of director Aristotle Torres and their shared passions for art and storytelling. Blackk praises his co-star, Luis Guzmán, calling him a master and underappreciated actor, and discusses their on-screen chemistry and the authentic moments they shared during filming.

It’s been a big year for Asante Blackk. After already starring in the series When They See Us, he’s been in not one, but two films this year. The first, Landscape with Invisible Hand, saw him playing a young artist whose world is upended by an alien invasion. His second, Aristotle Torres’ Story Ave, is again a portrait of an artist. However, this one is more grounded film centered around Blackk’s Kadir who forms a connection with an MTA worker (Luis Guzmán) who takes him under his wing. The film previously premiered at SXSW and is now getting its wider release. We spoke with Blackk about the film, his own reflections on art, and what it was like working alongside Guzmán.

COLLIDER: You’ve played two artists in two different movies that kind of are united about expression and passion and creation. What is your relationship to art? What are you passionate about, and how did you bring that to these characters?

ASANTE BLACKK: Oh, yeah, that’s a great question. They are both in two very distinct worlds when it comes to the ways that these different characters are kind of dealing with everything going on around them, right? You have one world, like you said, that is being oppressed by capitalistic aliens; you have another world that is being oppressed by capitalistic aliens. [Laughs] So yeah, man, I listen, I think that both movies are such a great reflection of the world that we live in today. They are portrayals of what society is exactly like right now. We got all these different things going on with the advancement of artificial intelligence, with the underfunding of the artists in public schools, with books being banned off of the shelves that aren’t accordant with whatever message these conservative agendas are trying to get across. At the end of the day, all that’s trying to be pushed is the silencing of voices.

These stories, and specifically Story Ave, what I relate to so much about it is the pursuit of hope. The real grind, the real hustle that it takes to be able to wake up every day and say, “I don’t care who is trying to stop me. I know that there is a better world out there. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, it doesn’t matter what hits me in the face, I’m gonna hit back.” And the way that Kadir hits back is by being himself and by creating his art. I have related to that so much throughout my own life, where, as an artist, it is something that is so intrinsically a part of you that when you feel like it’s been taken, when you feel like somebody has tried to pimp it, you go to a really dark place. It’s only until you come back around and meet it again, in the middle because it is a little bit of a push and a pull, the art isn’t just going to come to you. You have to go out and search for it. Those are the moments of true breakthrough. Those are the moments of understanding yourself along with the rest of the world on a much more profound level than you ever have. And those are the ways of advancing to a new day.

When you talk about going and searching for that art, how did you first come to be involved in this project, and what drew you to it in the first place?

This was something that came across my desk by way of my team. It was pitched to me as an independent film that had come out of the Sundance Labs by this first-time director, Aristotle Torres, and they had sent me some materials of his previous work. I thought that he had a very distinct style. It was very reminiscent of some of my favorite directors, some of the greatest directors of all time, and immediately I was hooked. Not only from his style but just the effortlessness of the words flowing off of the page, I could tell that I was in the presence of a true artist. I think that being in the presence of a true artist, you know, a lot of the time, things kind of just flow naturally that way. We hopped on Zoom, we started chopping it up about life and basketball and, you know, just the things that men talk about [laughs], and it was chemistry at first sight. We really found a true connection in the passions that we share when it comes to art. So, immediately I think that I knew that I wanted to be a part of the project. Hopefully, it was something that he had felt, as well, but I’m so glad that it ended up working out because now through this creation, through this friendship and partnership, I found a lifelong, not only brother but a lifelong collaborator that I know shares the same vigor for passionate storytelling as I do.

Image via Kino Lorber

That’s great to hear. When you said that he reminded you of some of the greatest directors of all time from what you had seen of him, what were some of those directors that kind of leaped into your mind?

One of the big ones was Boaz Yakin. He mentioned that, stylistically, the way that he wanted to approach the film was very similar to his, called Classic Fresh. So immediately off of watching that movie and seeing the different choices that were made, I was able to see, you know, this guy has a clear voice. Not only Boaz, but somebody else who he really reminded me of was [Martin] Scorsese in the way that Aristotle does not make a choice for no reason; everything is purposeful. And I think that power is in the details. You can’t tell an effective story if you’re not being questioned about every little thing and you can’t answer every little thing. It’s not going to be as effective as it should be. Everything has to serve a purpose. And that was just so immediately clear to me from jump that this guy knew what he was doing.

It was obviously a short before it was this feature. Do you go back and watch the short or do you kind of have it be that this is its own thing and you read the script and try and go that way? What was your relationship to the original short?

I had watched it, and that was a part of the materials that I had seen that I was able to get a clear example of what his vision is. But, you know, once we had gotten into pre-production, I kind of let that be its own thing because I knew that we were expanding on the world and I didn’t want it to really impact my performance in any way at all. So yeah, the short was amazing, but Story Ave the feature, I think, kind of just brings a different verb to the same concept.

Image via Kino Lorber

I want to talk with you about your relationship with your co-star, Luis Guzmán, and the scenes you share being these long, drawn-out conversations where it’s just the two of you together. What was it like getting to act alongside him, and what were the conversations you were all having about approaching them?

Oh man, can I just say master? Master. And underappreciated, at that. This is probably one of the greatest experiences that I’ve had so far in my career when it comes to being able to be a student of the game. His level of vulnerability is unmatched. It’s unquestioned. It rivals the greatest actors that have ever lived. Some of those moments that we’re able to see on screen and that we share on set were just so moving because they were real, they were authentic. Luis never anticipates a moment, he lets the moment come to him. And, you know, those are the marks of what it means to be a great actor – never letting an idea of what something is supposed to be cloud the vision of what’s actually going on in the moment. So, just being able to see how authentic he is and how much of himself he is, how much of that he brought to the table was truly, truly inspiring and something that I will forever cherish, and never take for granted.

Was there a specific scene, especially looking back and getting to see it for yourself, where you’re like, “Wow, that was something really special?”

Yeah, man. [Laughs] The cooking scene when he’s dancing to the music in the kitchen and drunk, and he’s, you know, feeling himself, and he’s singing all loud and everything. Yo, like, it’s not a moment that brings– Well, it actually does because it ends up leading to an explosive fit of rage a few moments later, but it really was that simplicity of, you know, being lost in the sauce almost. I think that he just did that so wonderfully, and I just remember sitting there and watching him, and being like, “Yo, he’s in the zone right now.”

Image via Kino Lorber

And I was gonna say, you had said that he’s underappreciated, and I definitely think that’s the case with this film, but what films of his had you seen before working together, or were there any you went back to watch just to remember what you liked about him as an actor?

You know, I gotta be honest, not many. At least not that I had realized. And I think that that’s what I mean when I say underappreciated. Luis is everywhere! There’s been mad movies that I’ve watched since filming, and I’m like, “Bro, you’re in this? What are you doing here?” He’ll just pop up for, like, one or two scenes, but everybody knows him. And I think that that’s the mark of a true, great actor, too, when you can kind of be that low-key character guy that everybody wants in their movies because they know that you’re going to bring an authenticity and a realness that feels like you’re just a guy that is from around the way. So, there’s been so many that I’ve seen since filming that I’m like, “Dude, no way. No way!” It’s kind of like you just brisk over it because he’s not necessarily a central part of the story, but in a way, it brings a kind of life to the story that probably wouldn’t have been there if he wasn’t in it, which is why I’m so glad that he got this opportunity to showcase such range because he truly deserves it.

Would you ever want to work with him and Aristotle again, or are there any conversations that you all have had about another project?

Oh yeah, we cookin’. We cookin’.

Story Ave is now showing in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles.