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Jeffrey Wright, From 'Basquiat' To 'American Fiction' by NPR

Jeffrey Wright, From 'Basquiat' To 'American Fiction'

from Fresh Air

by NPR

Published: Tue Feb 20 2024

Show Notes

Wright is up for an Oscar for best actor this year for the film American Fiction, where he plays a novelist who's frustrated with the publishing industry's expectations of Black authors. He cynically writes a book under a pseudonym that's full of clichés, like drug abuse, violence, and poverty — and it's a hit. Wright's first starring role was in the 1996 film Basquiat. He talks with us about his big break in the play Angels in America, and the time early in his career when he was acting opposite Sidney Poitier and asked for advice on acting.

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