In a relatively short amount of time, Ashton Sanders has starred in two prominent works of African-American cinema. The first was his breakout role in Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, and the other was HBO’s adaptation of Richard Wright’s seminal novel, Native Son. His work has attracted the attention of Ryan Coogler, who has now cast him in the Black Panther drama Jesus Was My Homeboy, alongside Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield.
Jesus Was My Homeboy follows the true story of influential Black Panther Party member Fred Hampton (Kaluuya), who was betrayed to the FBI by former member William O’Neal (Stanfield), leading to his bloody assassination at the age of 21. Hampton’s rise and fall is seen through the eyes of O’Neal, who is believed to have drugged Hampton prior to the FBI raid. Sanders will play Black Panther Party member Larry Roberson. Also in the cast are Jesse Plemons as FBI agent Roy Mitchell, and The Deuce star Dominique Fishback as Hampton’s girlfriend Deborah Johnson.
Behind the camera is Shaka King (Newlyweeds), who co-wrote the script with Will Berson.
Sanders can be seen right now in the Hulu series Wu-Tang: An American Saga, playing RZA. Filming on Jesus Was My Homeboy begins next month. [Deadline]
