Devon Terrell

Last updated

Devon Terrell
Born (1992-10-23) 23 October 1992 (age 31)
Nationality
  • Australian
  • American
Alma mater Edith Cowan University
National Institute of Dramatic Art
OccupationActor
Notable work Barry

Devon Terrell (born 23 October 1992) is an Australian actor, [1] [2] best known for playing a young Barack Obama in the 2016 biographical film Barry [3] and Arthur in the Netflix original series Cursed.

Contents

Early life and education

Terrell was born in Long Beach, California, US, to an African-American father and an Anglo-Indian mother. At age five, he moved to Perth, Western Australia, growing up in the Forest Lakes estate in Thornlie. After finishing his secondary education at Lynwood Senior High School, [4] he attended Edith Cowan University, specialising in drama education. He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 2013. [3] [5] [6]

Career

Terrell's first role was in Steve McQueen's HBO miniseries Codes of Conduct, which was cancelled after the pilot was filmed. He then auditioned for Barry , a biopic about Barack Obama's college years. Terrell said that he felt an affinity for Obama and that the president had been his dream role since the age of 19. [7] [8]

To prepare for the role, Terrell worked with a dialect coach and watched Obama's speeches to master his accent and manner of speaking. He was offered the part after one audition. He also trained himself to portray the left-handed Obama, including learning how to write and play basketball with his left hand. [6] [7] He read Obama's book Dreams from My Father three times to get into his mindset, and he received praise for his portrayal when the film was released. [9] [10] [11]

Later, he portrayed Arthur in the Netflix original series Cursed . The first season was released on 17 July 2020.

Terrell currently plays the role of Cliff in Issa Rae's Rap Sh!t , which premiered 21 July 2022 on HBO Max.

Filmography

Film roles
YearTitleRoleNotes
2016 Barry Barack Obama
2018 Ophelia Horatio
2018 The Professor Danny Albright
2024 It's What's Inside Reuben
Television roles
YearTitleRoleNotes
2015Codes of ConductBeverly SnowUnaired pilot
2020 Cursed Arthur Main cast
2022 Rap Sh!t CliffMain cast
2023 Totally Completely Fine DaneMain cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustaf Skarsgård</span> Swedish actor (born 1980)

Gustaf Caspar Orm Skarsgård is a Swedish actor. He is known for his roles in Evil (2003), The Way Back (2010), Kon-Tiki (2012), and Oppenheimer (2023). He also appeared in the HBO TV series Westworld (2018), as Merlin in the Netflix TV series Cursed (2020), and as Floki in the History Channel series Vikings (2013–2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Mendelsohn</span> Australian actor

Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn is an Australian actor. He first rose to prominence in Australia for his breakout role in The Year My Voice Broke (1987). He gained international attention for his starring role in the crime drama Animal Kingdom (2010). He has since had roles in films such as The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Starred Up (2013), Mississippi Grind (2015), Rogue One (2016), Darkest Hour (2017) and Ready Player One (2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kal Penn</span> American actor and civil servant (born 1977)

Kalpen Suresh Modi, known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor he is known for his portrayals of Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, Kevin, a therapist and boyfriend to Robin in How I Met Your Mother, and Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series. He is also recognized for his performance in the film The Namesake. Penn once taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cinema Studies Program as a visiting lecturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Walsh (actress)</span> American actress

Kathleen Erin Walsh is an American actress and businesswoman. She is best known for her role as Dr. Addison Montgomery in the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice (2007–2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Worthington</span> Australian actor

Samuel Henry John Worthington is an Australian actor. One of the highest grossing actors of all time, he is known for playing Jake Sully in the Avatar franchise, Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation, and Perseus in Clash of the Titans and its sequel Wrath of the Titans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Bartlett</span> Australian actor (born 1971)

Murray Bartlett is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Dom Basaluzzo in the HBO comedy-drama series Looking (2014–2015), Mouse Tolliver in the Netflix revival of Tales of the City (2019), Armond in the first season of the HBO dark comedy series The White Lotus (2021), Vinnie Green in the Apple TV+ series Physical (2022), Nick De Noia in the Hulu miniseries Welcome to Chippendales (2022), and Frank in the episode "Long, Long Time" of the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us (2023). For his role in The White Lotus, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael K. Williams</span> American actor (1966–2021)

Michael Kenneth Williams was an American actor. He rose to fame in 2002 through his critically acclaimed role as Omar Little on the HBO drama series The Wire. He has been described as a "singular presence, onscreen and off, who made every role his own".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dev Patel</span> British actor (born 1990)

Dev Patel is a British actor and director. He began his career playing Anwar Kharral in the E4 teen drama Skins (2007). His breakthrough came with the leading role of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's drama Slumdog Millionaire (2008), for which Patel was nominated for the British Academy Film Award for Best Actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyatt Cenac</span> American actor and comedian

Wyatt John Foster Cenac Jr. is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He was a correspondent and writer for The Daily Show from 2008 to 2012. He starred in the TBS series People of Earth and in Barry Jenkins's first feature Medicine for Melancholy. He also hosted and produced the HBO series Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas.

<i>Obama Anak Menteng</i> 2010 Indonesian film

Obama Anak Menteng is a 2010 biopic drama film written and directed by Indonesian author Damien Dematra in collaboration with John de Rantau. The film is based on Dematra's novel by the same name. Both the book and the film are a fictionalized account of the childhood of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, who lived in Indonesia from 1967 to 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Middleditch</span> Canadian actor

Thomas Middleditch is a Canadian and American actor. He is known for his role as Richard Hendricks in the HBO series Silicon Valley (2014–2019), earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He has voiced Penn Zero in the Disney XD animated series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero (2014–2017), Harold Hutchins in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), Sam Coleman in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Terry in the Hulu adult animated sci-fi series Solar Opposites. Middleditch also appears in ads for Verizon Wireless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellar Coltrane</span> American actor

Ellar Coltrane Kinney Salmon is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Mason Evans Jr. in Richard Linklater's film Boyhood, for which he won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Sharman</span> English actor (born 1986)

Daniel Andrew Sharman is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Isaac Lahey on the television series Teen Wolf (2012–2014), Kaleb Westphall / Kol Mikaelson on The Originals (2014–2015), Troy Otto on Fear the Walking Dead, Lorenzo de' Medici in Medici: The Magnificent (2018), and the Weeping Monk in Cursed (2020). He also starred in the film Immortals (2011).

<i>Barry</i> (2016 film) 2016 film

Barry is a 2016 American drama film directed by Vikram Gandhi about Barack Obama's life at Columbia University in 1981. It stars Devon Terrell, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jason Mitchell, Ashley Judd, Jenna Elfman, Ellar Coltrane, Avi Nash, and Linus Roache. It was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released on Netflix on December 16, 2016.

Christopher Jerell Redd is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, rapper, and singer. After several years performing stand-up comedy, Redd was hired to join the cast of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live ahead of the show's 43rd season in 2017, making his debut alongside Heidi Gardner and Luke Null, and serving as a cast member for five seasons until 2022. For his work on the show, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in 2018 for co-writing the SNL song "Come Back Barack". He is also known for his roles in Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016), Disjointed (2017–2018), and Kenan (2021–2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Tyree Henry</span> American actor (born 1982)

Brian Tyree Henry is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta (2016–2022), for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Langford</span> Australian actress (born 1996)

Katherine Langford is an Australian actress. After appearing in several independent films, she had her breakthrough starring as Hannah Baker in the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017–2018), which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination. She then appeared in the films Love, Simon (2018) and Knives Out (2019), and headlined the dark comedy Spontaneous (2020) and the Netflix series Cursed (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Elordi</span> Australian actor (born 1997)

Jacob Elordi is an Australian actor. He gained prominence through his roles as high school students Noah Flynn in The Kissing Booth film trilogy (2018–2021) on Netflix and Nate Jacobs in the HBO series Euphoria (2019–present). In 2023, Elordi portrayed Elvis Presley in the biographical film Priscilla and starred in the psychological drama Saltburn, which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Emily Lauren Coates is an English actress. On television, she is best known for her roles in the BBC Three comedy Ladhood (2019–2022) and the Netflix series Cursed (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vikram Gandhi</span> American documentary filmmaker, journalist and producer

Vikram Gandhi is an Indian American documentary filmmaker, producer, actor, and journalist. His works included Kumaré (2011), Barry (2016), Trigger Warning with Killer Mike(2019), 69: The Saga of Danny Hernandez (2020).

References

  1. Byrnes, Holly (16 July 2020). "Perth star Devon Terrell stars as first black actor to be cast as King Arthur in Netflix drama, Cursed". news.com.au . News Corp Australia . Retrieved 19 May 2023. It is upsetting, especially as an Australian actor. I know there's so many actors of colour in Australia that don't feel like they're represented on the screen there.
  2. Harmon, Steph (16 December 2016). "Playing Barack Obama: how a 24-year-old Australian actor landed his dream role". The Guardian . Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 Zeitchik, Steven (10 September 2016). "Toronto: Young and dislocated, Devon Terrell on playing a young and dislocated Barack Obama". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  4. "Perth actor Devon Terrell's dream role playing young Barack Obama". 5 December 2016.
  5. "Newcomer Devon Terrell Nabs Lead Role In Steve McQueen's HBO Drama Pilot". blackfilm.com. 14 October 2014. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  6. 1 2 Thomas, Sarah (22 November 2016). "Perth actor Devon Terrell on playing Barack Obama in the Netflix film Barry". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  7. 1 2 Tobias, Scott (12 September 2016). "How Do You Prepare to Play Barack Obama in a Movie?". GQ . Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  8. McRae, Ross (14 November 2016). "WA actor shines as Barack Obama in film debut". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  9. Kosin, Julie (5 December 2016). "Devon Terrell on Becoming Barack Obama". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  10. Mohan, Keerthi (22 November 2016). "Barry: Netflix releases trailer; Aussie actor Devon Terrell impresses as young Barack Obama". International Business Times. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  11. Garcia, Patrick (16 December 2016). "Devon Terrell on How He Landed the Part of a Young Barack Obama on His First Audition". Vogue. Retrieved 16 April 2017.