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Luke Youngblood - TV
By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist
www.twitter.com/rychmccain and Facebook (Like Me)
Photos by Bobby Quillard Photography and ABC-TV
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 4th
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.”
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.”
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Photos by Bobby Quillard Photography and ABC-TV
Luke Youngblood
Stars In Musical Comedy
Galavant
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| Luke Youngblood |
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| Karen David as Isabella Luke Youngblood as Sid |
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| 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.”
©
2015 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM
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