Entertainment News | Kelvin Harrison Jr. to Star as Jean-Michel Basquiat in Biopic 'Samo Lives'

Washington [US], January 6 (ANI): 'Cyrano' star Kelvin Harrison Jr. will next going to star as American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in a new project by director Julius Onah.

As per Variety, Harrison and Onah have earlier collaborated in a critically acclaimed drama 'Luce' which got them the best male lead as well as best director nominations at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards.

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The biographical movie, titled 'Samo Lives, is being developed and financed by Endeavor Content. It will be celebrating the life, career, and impact of the ground-breaking New York-born, Haitian-Puerto Rican American artist whose seminal paintings and street art defined the Neo-expressionism arts movement of the 1980s.

In 1983, at the age of 22, Basquiat had become the youngest artist to showcase at the Whitney Biennial in New York. At the young age of 27, on August 12, 1988, the acclaimed artist died, however, his art continues to move people around the world.

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Onah has given detail about Basquiat's work as well as explained the project he is working on. He will be directing and producing after co-writing the script with Peter Glanz.

"Jean-Michel Basquiat redefined the idea of who ascends to the highest altitudes of the fine art world. But the complexity and richness of his experience as an artist and child of the African diaspora has yet to be dramatized in the manner it deserves," Onah wrote.

"It's an honour to work with Kelvin and my collaborators, and with Endeavor Content, to celebrate the legacy of an artist who has invited audiences everywhere to be inspired by the transformative power of art," he explained.

He also shared that he first got to know about Basquiat when he was just the age of 14 and was inspired by Julian Schnabel's 1996 film 'Basquiat' starring Jeffrey Wright as the artist.

"It was a gateway for a kid desperate to find artists he could see himself in. But the older I got and the more I learned about Jean-Michel, the more I began to feel his story hadn't fully been told in cinema," Onah explained.

"Never have we seen the full spectrum of Basquiat's incredible life as a Black artist and a child of the immigrant African diaspora. And the richness and nuance of his journey is a story worthy of celebration," he said.

'Samo Lives' is going to be the first film about Basquiat by a Black filmmaker. The filming will begin this fall.

"The sensitivity and soulfulness Kelvin will bring is the reason why I know the story I'm seeking to tell will truly honour Jean-Michel's legacy," Onah wrote. (ANI)

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