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Lakeith Stanfield thinks actors take themselves too seriously. It’s why he says he loved watching Ricky Gervais skewer the crowd at the recent Golden Globes, imploring the winners to “accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God, and f*** off”.

“It’s nice to just knock everybody off their pedestal,” says Stanfield, laughing. “Nothing gave me more joy than seeing them all squirm. It was very entertaining.”

The California-born star of the brilliantly absurdist Sorry to Bother You generally believes everyone needs to calm down. About awards shows, especially. Hollywood’s finest, he says, are always “acting like everything is so deep. It’s all so sensational and political.”

That Stanfield has mixed feelings about awards ceremonies is understandable. On the one hand, Knives Out, the riotous whodunit in which he plays a diligent cop, is up for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars. On the other,...

When you're Lakeith Stanfield and you happen to play a guy like Darius, the pothead-philosopher of FX's Atlanta – and not just play him, but turn a hit show's comic-relief role into the sort of weirdly relatable oddball that becomes an instant fan-favorite – it's natural that complete strangers would want to get you high. At the club, in a mall, walking down the street – doesn't matter. "The funny thing is, they assume I smoke," the 25-year-old actor says of the show's fans. "And you know, I don't. But yeah, I get a lot of offers.

by Sean Donovan

Let's celebrate the 25th birthday of rising actor Keith Stanfield, sometimes billed as Lakeith Lee Stanfield. The young actor has shown an impressive versatility and command of the screen in a brief string of memorable appearances. He’s occupied the supporting casts of such attention-grabbing films as Dope and Miles Ahead, acted as a flashpoint for community grief as Jimmie Lee Jackson in Ava DuVernay’s Selma, and even appeared as a young Snoop Dog in Straight Outta Compton. But those of us who have kept an eye Stanfield as “one to watch” fell in love with his vital supporting work in Destin Daniel Cretton’s 2013 film Short Term 12.

In our post-Room world, Short Term 12 feels like a more and more essential document, serving for many as the introduction to the true depth of leading lady Brie Larson’s talents before she found Oscar glory two years later.

David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Ava DuVernay's impassioned Selma

Author, journalist, and fellow First Time Fest juror Gay Talese hosted an Alabama Night in New York screening at Paramount Pictures of Ava DuVernay's Oscar nominated film Selma, a forceful and passionate look at a turning point in Civil Rights history. David Oyelowo in a spectacular performance as Martin Luther King Jr., Carmen Ejogo as his wife Coretta, Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Tim Roth as Alabama Governor George Wallace, Keith Stanfield as Jimmie Lee Jackson, with Oprah Winfrey, Common, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tessa Thompson, Dylan Baker, Giovanni Ribisi, Martin Sheen and Alessandro Nivola are part of the remarkable ensemble.

Gay Talese with Mark Nelson and Culpepper Clark: "In 1965, I was one of the reporters covering this story…" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Glory, performed by John Legend and Common with music and lyrics by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn,...

In what's probably the single biggest piece of comic book movie news since the announcement of Batman v Superman, it was confirmed this morning that Spider-Man is finally allowed to return to his own universe on the big screen.

The widespread excitement at this news was dampened somewhat by the absence of Andrew Garfield's name from Marvel's announcement, which seems to implicitly confirm reports that the actor will not be reprising his role as Peter Parker.

So while Spider-Man is confirmed for an appearance in an upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, before getting his own new standalone film on July 28, 2017, it'll be a different actor behind the mask - and potentially a different character, since Peter Parker's name isn't mentioned in this announcement either.

Garfield's performance was one of the few elements in the Amazing Spider-Man reboots that was pretty universally praised, so following his admittedly brief tenure is a tall order.

Ever since standing inside a frozen moment at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis – looking across to where the bullet must have issued, taking the life of an icon of nonviolent resistance – the image of Dr. Martin Luther King has become something more intimate to me. Black and white schoolroom footage becomes flesh, the voices less distant, when you stare into the full horizon of the cultural landscape that fought against basic life rights for African Americans in the South and those who began to turn the tide. Ava DuVernay’s Selma takes us to that headspace, shows us the familiar under new lights, ruminates on American history without histrionics.

Kitchens, bedrooms, churches, and the slim streets of Selma are the backdrop of an American revolution, one that seemed far too faded and familiar before Selma took the tactical back room approach to the legend of King’s organized protests for Black voters rights in 1965 Alabama.

"But there was no struggle. This is pure fiction." - Elizabeth Drew - "Selma vs. History", January 8, 2015 The words above come from Elizabeth Drew's "New York Review of Books" article "Selma vs. History", exploring the controversy surrounding director Ava DuVernay's new movie Selma. I've mentioned this controversy in passing on the podcast and in various articles, but I think it's finally time to address them head on, primarily because those nine words above trouble me a little bit. But before I get to that, let me make an effort to be fair to all involved. Drew is writing in regards to the relationship between President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) and Dr. Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo) as seen in DuVernay's new film. The full text from her opening goes like this: By distorting an essential truth about the relationship between Lyndon Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King over...

Veteran character actor Henry Sanders is featured in "Selma" as Cager Lee, whose grandson Jimmie Lee Jackson was murdered by an Alabama state trooper in 1965, prompting the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights marches depicted in the film. But even though the 72-year-old actor lived through the period, he had little firsthand knowledge of the civil rights movement. -Break- Common ('Selma') on the 'Glory' of Martin Luther King and fight for civil rights [Exclusive Video] "I was in the service from 1960-69, so I missed that whole period," says Sanders in our podcast interview (listen to it below). "I was in Germany and in Vietnam, so we didn't get much information through the armed forces radio. It wasn't until after I had gotten out of the service that I started to understand what that period was like." So for Sanders, Cager Lee was not only a role to play but a learning experience,...

We've been writing about Ava DuVernay's fantastic drama "Selma" since it first debuted at the AFI Film Festival on Nov. 11. While many have been able to catch the Best Picture player in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and other select cities since Christmas, the rest of the nation will finally get their chance to experience it on Friday. Paramount Pictures has provided HitFix with an exclusive clip which comes at a pivotal moment in the film. Early on audiences are introduced to three residents of the city, Cager Lee (Henry G. Sanders), his daughter Viola Jackson (Charity Jordan) and his grandson, Jimmie Lee Jackson (Keith Stanfield). They, like many African-American residents of the area, were peacefully protesting the fact that a civil rights leader was being held in county jail when they were attacked by police officers. Lee and his family sought refuge in a local restaurant when police found them and tragedy struck.

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Few Americans have been remembered and venerated as greatly as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but Ava DuVernay’s excellent Selma isn’t interested in simply tipping its hat to the legend. Instead, Selma looks closer, to find the real man behind the icon and elegantly put his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement into perspective.

Though King (masterfully portrayed by David Oyelowo) was the face of the nonviolent protests throughout the ’50s and ’60s, he was not the only one to devote (and indeed eventually give) his life to the cause of racial equality, a distinction DuVernay’s film takes great care to make. There were others too, like John Lewis (Stephan James), the young chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (Sncc) who led marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Bloody Sunday; Annie Lee Cooper...

On Monday night (Nov. 17, 2014) in NYC, Ava DuVernay and cinematographer Bradford Young presented a festival cut of "Selma," which premiered last week at AFI Fest to rave reviews and a standing ovation. (The NYC audience had an equally enthusiastic reaction.) This period drama offers an intimate look at the events leading up to the famous civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Al., including the devastating events known as Bloody Sunday.

David Oyelowo stars as Martin Luther King, Jr., alongside Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, Tom Wilkinson as Lyndon B. Johnson, and a star-studded cast playing storied civil rights activists and leaders.

1. It's called "Selma" for a reason.

This isn't your typical biopic; while obviously a great deal of the narrative is focused on Martin Luther King, Jr., "Selma" is about all of the people involved in the events leading up to the legendary marches. "Selma" offers the human...

A cross, constructed entirely of lightbulbs, shines behind David Oyelowo as he approaches the pulpit of Atlanta’s 145-year-old Wheat Street Baptist Church. It’s a steamy June night, and 500 extras—including U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a key architect of the civil rights movement—eagerly await the British-born actor’s first attempt to preach as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But just as director Ava DuVernay puts on her headphones and does a last sound check, a freak lightning storm threatens the safety of the crew and forces the production to shut down.

Delays are nothing new in the...

Pararmount has revealed a first look at Ava DuVernay's upcoming film Selma, telling the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s (David Oyelowo) historic struggle to secure voting rights for all people - a dangerous and terrifying campaign that culminated with the epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and led to President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This is our first look at Oyelowo (The Butler, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) as Dr. King as well as some of the supporting members of the cast including (see below) Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King. Additional cast members include Keith Stanfield, Andre Holland, Omar J. Dorsey, Tessa Thompson, Colman Domingo, Tim Roth, Oprah Winfrey, Giovanni Ribisi and Stephan James. Paramount has already set a December 25 release for the film. Along with two more pictures below (the second featuring Keith Stanfield as Jimmie Lee Jackson...

House of Lies star Don Cheadle has been trying to get a movie about iconic jazz musician Miles Davis made since 2006, and now the pieces are finally falling into place. Cheadle will play the icon and make his directorial debut on the film, the title of which has been changed from Kill The Trumpet Player to Miles Ahead. Trainspotting actor Ewan McGregor will also star, and now, Short Term 12 breakout Keith Stanfield has come aboard as well to take on the third lead role.

Rather than focusing on Davis’s life as a whole, Miles Ahead “chronicles a few dangerous days in Davis’ life as the jazz icon (Cheadle) teams with a Rolling Stone journalist (McGregor) to hunt down a stolen recording intended to reignite his career.” Stanfield will play Junior, a young and impressionable trumpet player known for having a short fuse, who gets mixed up in the burglary.