Luke Youngblood - TV

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Luke Youngblood - TV

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist 
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 Photos by Bobby Quillard Photography and ABC-TV

Luke Youngblood

Stars In Musical Comedy Galavant

    

Luke Youngblood

ABC-TV has launched a new four part series titled “Galavant” It is a musical comedy featuring the music of Oscar winning composer Alan Menken. The series stared airing Sunday, January 4^th and will continue for the next three weeks. One of the principal cast members is Luke Youngblood a British actor who has made major strides in film, TV and stage on both sides of the pond. Youngblood trained and graduated from The Sylvia Young Theatre School in London and went on to book meaty film roles including playing Lee Jordan in the “Harry Potter” blockbusters film series and “Ladybird.” Youngblood has appeared on theater stages in London in productions of the musicals “Oliver” and “The Lion King.” Youngblood’s largest British popularity was spanned by his role as Ben in the CBBC's “The Story of Tracy Beaker,” which was nominated for "Best Children's Drama" at the Children's BAFTA's four years in a row. He is currently appearing in season five of the NBC-TV series “Community.”

    

       By the looks of things over the past couple of years it seems like Youngblood has been having a pretty fun time of it so far. He responds to that comment saying, “You know what, I have been so blessed. This journey as an amazing career so far has just been enjoyable. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I’ve been so lucky to be part of the privilege and yes it is enjoyment every moment.” Do Britt actors make it their goal to find success in American cinema, stage and TV or is that something that just comes with the territory? Youngblood laughs and says, “I think it’s a bit of both. Being a Black actor from the U.K., it can be quite limiting as to what is available to us. So coming to America there is a lot more opportunity between the different variety of TV shows and movies that we can potentially be involved with so I think it is kind of a fact of that dream really that everything is bigger. It’s not that the quality of work is not there back home, it’s just not enough of it.”
 

Karen David as Isabella Luke Youngblood as Sid

          What are the differences between the American and British audiences according to Youngblood’s experiences? He explains, “The American audiences are a lot more kind of willing, wanting it to be amazing and are very responsive. If it is funny they are going to laugh as loud as they want to and when the film finishes, if it is a great movie they’re going to clap. In England I think people tend to be a lot more reserved. It doesn’t mean to say that they don’t enjoy the experience of going to the cinema or watching something on TV they are a bit more calm when it comes to that form of entertainment. If there is a concert now, that is a completely different story. The audiences out here (USA) really kind of get sucked into the weld of what they are being shown and that’s really great. That is refreshing because when you work on something for so long you want it to be well received.”

L-R Luke Youngblood, Joshua Sasse, Dan Fogelman (writer/creator), Timothy Omundson and Karen David

     The series “Galavant” is a medieval musical comedy. If you are of African descent, the words “medieval comedy” doesn’t jibe because that time period wasn’t a good era if you were Black. So what did Youngblood think when he got the script? He laughs, “When I got the script, on the from page it said written by Dan Fogelman and knowing Dan’s work , it’s pretty much any actor’s dream for to be an addition of such a visionary creator so automatically I wanted to be a part of it.” As far as racial stereotypes etc., Youngblood praises Fogelman’s crafting of the script explaining, “Dan kind of seen beyond those i.e., the race thing doesn’t come into it. The cast is so diverse and I think that is something that not only America but the rest of the world needs to see because that is the type of world in which we live.”

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