The Only Time I Was Starstruck on Set. Who was the Actor?? …with Gin Hammond
There’s a lot of different stars I’d like to work with and when it comes to the movie, it’s use the right tool for the job situation. Right when you’re casting somebody, you’re like, “I love this actor, but this is the person who fits the best for whatever reason.”
But two people come to mind. I don’t know if he was ever in any movies. He must have been.
Ron Cephas Jones, may he rest in peace. He played William on This Is Us. I think he and his daughter got an Emmy the same year, which had never happened before in the history of the Emmys. But he and I did a show called Noonday Sun together, which was about a person who was passing. And I was nervous around him. I had an actor crush on him because it’s one of these situations where, and he couldn’t have been kinder, but you know the real deal when you see it. This person is not just an artist, he’s an Artiste. E at the end, capital A.
And he couldn’t be any other thing if he tried. To see how he was always so pure about the work, it inspired and intimidated me at the time. But I wanted to grow up and be like him.
Another person I adore is Keanu Reeves, one of my mixed idols. He’s just such a cool person. So I love him, and I’ll see him in anything.