Aml Ameen Talks Bringing Martin Luther King Jr. to Screen in Netflix's 'Rustin' (Exclusive)

By Brenda Alexander

Aml Ameen is extremely particular with the roles he chooses to play. The I May Destroy You star says it's important for him to choose projects of substance and to play characters of depth. He's currently in production for the Barack and Michelle Obama-produced Netflix film Rustin. The film chronicles the story of Bayard Rustin, a Black queer civil rights activist who organized the famous March on Washington. The movie is a dream for Ameen, who stars as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the film. He tells Pop Culture it's most important role of his career, and potentially his life.

"I really loved the opportunity to play Martin Luther King in that story and explore the friendship of Rustin and Martin Luther King and another side to that story that actually Martin is that beacon and that light, that shining light that we look to," he exclusively told us in a recent interview. "What he was galvanized by the universe around him and that's all the people that helped make that moment happen. So to me, it's the greatest honor of my acting career and perhaps life that I could do my best to portray Martin at that moment in his life. It's a great honor."

Ameel, who is currently promoting his new movie Boxing Day, says putting himself in the frame of Dr. King has been rewarding, and a learning experience of a lifetime. "I did the "I Have a Dream" speech about a month ago and it changed me as a person. Just saying the words, but doing my best to understand the journey of the man. It changed me as a person," he said. "I'll give you an example. So, we've all heard that saying, 'Judge not by the color of his skin, but the content of your character.' And I've heard it and I've understood it and it's become a lofty idea. But what's true about it is that Martin's talking about a spiritual revolution, which is a delay judgment of a person in life, period. And in practicing that, I had such a euphoric experience."

More than anything, Ameen is happy to be part of a story that few people know of. Rustin's story has yet to be truly told. "The truth is what I'm hoping they take away from the story," he said. "Bayard Rustin was a revolutionary Black man that helped organize an event that stopped the world. And he was buried in history because of his sexuality. In no way is that right. No falsehoods in life are right." 

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