(C) 2014 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may
be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from
Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.
Nate Parker - Film
By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist
Nate Parker
Full of Surprises In
Non-Stop!
Photo
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
 |
| Nate Parker as Zack White |
He has captured our attention with
convincing performances as Henry Lowe in “The
Great Debaters” or “Blood Done Signed
My Name” as the real life Ben Chavis and Marty “Easy” Julian in the George
Lucas classic WWII Epic “Red Tails”
and now he will surprise you with yet another brilliant portrayal as computer
expert Zack White in Universal Pictures’ smash hit “Non-Stop” starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Lupita Nyongo.
Norfolk, Virginia native Nate Parker has been gaining serious ground as an
actor in Hollywood and this may be one of his best roles yet. “Non-Stop”
thundered in at #1 for its opening weekend with a 30 million box office gross.
It is without question that this film’s gate receipts will soar through the
roof in the coming weeks because the plot and action is just that good.
This movie might add more fear of flying
than entertainment for some viewers as 90% of the movie takes place on the
plane while it is in flight over the mid-Atlantic. The action is close quarters
to add to the uneasiness. Parker is a former high school All-American wrestler
where he won the Virginia 135lb State Championship and continued his
All-America status throughout his college career at Penn State then
transferring to Oklahoma where he graduated with a degree in computer science.
 |
| Oscar winner Lupita Nyongo as Flight Attendant Gwen |
Did he have to train for the fight scenes? He laughs, “Yeah, I did train a
little bit. Liam was a boxer when he was a little younger and I was an athlete
in college, I wrestled so we traded a lot of stories and we had a guy come in
and bring us through the fight scenes so it was good. It was a lot of fun to play
a character who was a computer programmer which is what I studied in college
really. So sitting there and talking about it he (Jaume the director) let me
have a little bit control of the dialogue and how I would say things and he was
very open to the ideas I was bringing to the table. So it was a lot of work to
do but it was fun doing the action stuff.”
 |
| Liam Neeson as air marshal Bill Marks |
How would Parker summarize his role
as a terrorist which he has never played before? He comes back with an
interesting analogy, “I believe that there are no villains, everyone has their
reasons. I think that when you approach material from the standpoint of bad
guy, you start to play more of a character than what that person really is.
Everyone has ideas, passions and desires and these are two vets (guys in the
movie) who felt like they got a raw deal when they came back to the states. All
of the things that they sacrificed, the death that they saw, these things made
them feel like they needed to do something to hold America accountable. So I
think in his mind, everything was justified. So I had to attack it from that
standpoint.”
 |
| Parker and the film's director Jaume Collet-Serra |
Parker adds, “There are all kinds of roles
that I want to play. One of my biggest passions is that I want to portray Nat
Turner. A lot of people thought he was a bad guy. It’s your perspective. I
don’t think he was a bad guy at all. We all have ideas of what we want and why
we want it and what we’ll do to achieve these things and these are two men (getting
back to the film’s high jackers) who are willing to die for what they believe.”
©
2014 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM
(You
DID Hear It From Me!)
Twitter@rychmccain and Facebook (Like Me)
