Coming to terms with one’s sexuality is a story we can all relate to and it is one that has


been represented fairly often through written word, film and television…At least for most of us. History’s glaring exception and one that has been brilliantly corrected by a stunning new film called Moonlight—tells the story from the unique perspective of a young, black male. Beauti- fully doing it in three parts—boyhood, as a teenager and as the man he eventually becomes. Exceptional also, because it tells the protagonist’s story without apology and without the burden of judgement so often placed on those who grow up in places that aren’t necessarily surrounded by white picket fences in the safety of suburban sprawl. It’s a deeply real story, at times painful to watch that honestly illustrates the experience many gay men face, of any color, when coming to terms with their sexuality. Bullying, hostility and judgement from society, friends and family are familiar


tropes for certain, though for Moonlight’s central character Chrion, they are experi- ences shadowed too, by addiction, violence, poverty and isolation. Trevante Rhodes plays one of the three main characters in the film, broken up in


three parts and played by three different actors. Part one brings us “Little,” the boy Chiron, isolated and left all-too-often to his own devices, coping through a wisdom far beyond his tender years. Then there is Chiron the teenager, familiarly misunderstood, angry, though at the same time coming to term with “being different.” He’s a tender boy who becomes hardened by a hostile, oppressive world that few of us can completely understand. Then finally, we are introduced to “Black” Rhodes’ character, the adult Chiron, a deeply wounded warrior, scathed by his experiences, yet still searching for the thing we all crave…Love. Rhodes was kind enough to enlighten us about his Moonlight experiences.


Let’s talk a little about how the role of Chiron came to you.


My manager called me and basically told me that it was the best thing she had ever


read and I needed to stop whatever I was doing right then. I did and it’s definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me. So much so, that I even wondered why I had been given the opportunity to read for it. I initially was up for the role of Kevin that André Holland plays and Barry [Jenkins, director] stopped me half way through and said, “No, I’m going to stop you right now. But, I’m going to do you a favor, I want you to come back tomorrow and read for the other role of Chiron.” Obviously, two auditions later I got the role. It’s such a powerful production and so well- crafted. What was it like reading through the script the first time? It was incredible. I mean literally, by page seven


I was deeply into it. It was so heavy and you could tell that [Tarell Alvin] McCraney [the author] put his heart and soul into it. There are tears on the page, there is blood on the pages, there is just so much there. The character was so vivid to me and I saw everything about him, I saw things physically that he had that weren’t even in the script, every little characteristic and nuance about him. It was so powerful.


I truly loved how the film is structured. It is such an intelligent way to handle the character development: The boy, the teenager and the adult as separate individuals. It’s rare that you get to see a film so complete when it comes to showing the experiences that make up the man. It’s also uncanny how fluid you and the other two actors were. Did that surprise you? Yes. Even though we don’t necessarily look alike,


you still get the sameness. We carry the same essence and we have “the same eyes,” as everybody likes to say. It’s so fluid and so believable and that makes me have to tip my hat to Yesi [Ramirez] the casting director and obviously Barry, for noticing that within all of us. It’s a magic trick that they did, honestly. Magic is the perfect description, it’ the alchemy of great film. The casting somehow just melds; you can tell when it works and you can certainly sense it when it doesn’t. It’s evident too in the handling of your role. You’re a straight man playing a gay character in this film. How did you correlate your experience so convincingly with that of Chiron’s? I’ve said this often—I don’t really see that there


is a difference—and for me, it’s kind of ignorant to assume that there is. I would be the same exact person if I was born loving men. I’m incredibly comfortable in my skin and with who I am, my mother raised me that way. I would 100 percent still be this same person if I were attracted to men. Again, I don’t know if that’s


NOVEMBER 2016 | RAGE monthly 31


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