Jharrel Jerome is overwhelmed. “Good overwhelmed!” he clarifies on the red carpet of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) premiere of his new film Unstoppable, an uplifting, buzzy sports drama about Anthony Robles, a champion wrestler who was born without his right leg. “I think it’s a good thing sometimes to be overwhelmed,” Jerome says with a smile, this time sitting across from me at the Fairmont Royal York hotel in Toronto a couple days after the premiere. “You could be overrun by excitement, or overrun by amazement, just shocked. I’ve been through this a few times now, and I can never get used to it.”
The “it” Jerome is referring to is the Oscar buzz and onslaught of positive reception he’s getting from critics and industry insiders who have seen his performance in Unstoppable. Along with rave reviews, Jerome received the TIFF Tribute Performer Award. He’s been in this position before. The 26-year-old became the youngest person to win the Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmy for When They See Us in 2019. He’s starred in beloved projects like Moonlight and the Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse franchise and garnered acclaim for Boots Riley’s I’m A Virgo. Jerome is one of only a handful of young Black actors working today who seems to be getting the opportunities they deserve. He’s booked and busy, as he should be, and while I’m sure the hype surrounding Unstoppable — specifically, Jharrel Jerome in Unstoppable — is a bit overwhelming, he more than rises to meet the challenge.
As Anthony Robles, Jerome transforms into a kid who finds solace in wrestling when his home isn’t welcoming, thanks to a piece of shit stepdad (Bobby Cannavale plays the one-dimensional deadbeat with precision), and strength in the audacity of believing he can, even when the world is telling him he can’t (including his coach, a measured Don Cheadle). The only person in his corner is his mom Judy (an underused but dynamic Jennifer Lopez) and with her support, he sets out to prove his doubters wrong through sheer talent and determination. And he does. Unstoppable is a by-the-numbers biopic with all the emotional beats you expect from an underdog-to-champion sports movie, but when the script veers into clichés and the directing is uninspired, Jerome elevates the material with a relentless and enthralling performance. Jerome plays Anthony as charming and tough, with an exterior built strong enough to withstand the injustices of being a disabled athlete, but also with a simmering vulnerability, holding his emotions on the surface, ready to bubble over at any moment. You’ll love rooting for Anthony in this story, but you’ll leave Unstoppable rooting even harder for Jerome.
Here, the actor talks about turning down roles to stick to his calculated career strategy, the pressure of playing a disabled athlete, and since the star is also a rapper (what can’t he do?), I ask him to drop a few bars, naturally.
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Source:: Refinery29
