Keith David Teases ’21 Bridges’ Role, Return of ‘Greenleaf’ (Exclusive)

Veteran actor Keith David is a familiar face — with roles in The Thing, They Live, Requiem for a Dream and Community, among others — and an even more familiar voice, bringing characters from The Princess and the Frog, Spawn, Rick and Morty and Adventure Time to life over the years. With a resume like that, one would think he’d be kicking back and slowing down, but that is far from the case. David has a plethora of projects in the works, including a pivotal role in the upcoming movie, 21 Bridges and in Season 4 of the OWN drama, Greenleaf.

21 Bridges is a Brian-Kirk-directed action thriller about the hunt for a pair of suspected cop killers as a NYPD detective (Chadwick Boseman) unravels a mystery about his past in the process. David’s character plays an important role in the main character’s arc, serving as a father figure and supporting the detective despite some dicey spots on his record.

“He’s like a godfather to Chadwick Boseman’s character, and he worked with his father, and his father was killed in the line of duty,” David teased to PopCulture.com in a recent phone interview. “There were some question about his integrity, and I knew he was a good cop, and I knew that Chadwick’s character would want to follow in his footsteps. So I stayed with him and guided him along, and now it’s his turn to really take over.”

He added, “As it turns out, he begins to find out exactly what that whole story was about and who was behind it.”

While fans will have to wait and see David’s big screen role when is comes to theaters on Nov. 22, his return to the small screen is just days away. The 63-year-old star will reprise his role as Bishop James Greenleaf, the leader of a Memphis, Tennessee, megachurch and patriarch of the prosperous Greenleaf family. While David has to keep most of what goes down in Season 4 under wraps, he did tease that some of his character’s past deeds will catch up with him.

“I can’t tell you too much, but I will tell you that the journey that began in the first season for the bishop, when he was ready to accept all the responsibility that he had in all of the church’s dealings, comes to a head.”

David also may many other projects in the works, including voicing a role in Netflix’s upcoming animated series The Last Kids On Earth and reprising his role as Spawn for the character’s upcoming appearance in Mortal Kombat 11’s downloadable content.