Russell Hornsby has played a ton of characters. He currently stars on the hit STARZ drama BMF, which is produced by 50 Cent; some of his other notable roles are in Lincoln Heights, The Hate U Give and Fences. Though he takes pride in the roles he’s had, there’s more he wants to do. We here at PopCulture.com recently asked Hornsby what his dream role is, and his response did not disappoint. The wants to portray Easy Rawlins or another one of the “everyman” protagonists in author Walter Mosley’s works.
“I would love to embody Easy Rawlins based on the Walter Mosley books that he created,” Hornsby explains. “Devil in the Blue Dress, which was first done by Denzel Washington. I would love to sort of play one of the characters that Walter Mosley has created. There’s Socrates Fortlow and all of that. Because I feel like I want to represent the everyman, you know what I mean? And it’s the working man. It’s the intelligent hoodlum, you know what I mean? It’s the brother who may run some numbers. It’s the brother who knows how to fix everything. It’s the brother, who’s got a ear to the street that can help somebody with a little something.”
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When Pop Culture asks if he wants to embody a renaissance man, Hornsby says that’s exactly that. “The overall Renaissance man, that a lot of brothers are because we got to hustle,” he said. “You know what I mean? And sisters too, but you know what I mean? Brothers got to do a little bit of everything. So you become really, you become good at Jack of all trades.”
In recent years, Hornsby has become lauded for his prolific portrayal as a strong Black father. He takes the praise with humility and says it takes research to transition into each character, as every father role is different. “I just try to bring variety to every role that I play, because I like to think of myself as a citizen of the world,” he says. “And I’ve met many different fathers, many different men as I’ve met many different people. And so all of those spirits that I’ve met, they’ve tapped into me in some different way. And also I believe that Black men deserve to be honored.”
BMF airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Starz, and previous episodes are available to stream with a Starz subscription. You can read our full Q&A with Russell Hornsby here, and you can watch it in its entirety at the top of this article.
