The star of "Mufasa: The Lion King" says he didn't know who most of his other costars were until earlier this year ... though he always figured the script would attract massive stars.
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00:00So, this was a long time in the making.
00:05My understanding is you auditioned for this during the pandemic?
00:10I did.
00:11I auditioned in late 2020.
00:12How did that work?
00:13Did you audition like virtually or what?
00:15No, so it was just kind of like a self-tape.
00:18I sent in my first audition in late 2020 and then I think I had a second audition sometime
00:23in 2021.
00:24And 2021 is when I actually found out I got the role.
00:27So yeah, about three, four years ago.
00:29So you get the role in 2021.
00:33When did you find out that some of these huge names that you were going to be co-starring
00:39with, among them Beyonce, also Tandy Newton, Blue Ivy, the name, it's huge, Seth Rogen.
00:50What was that like for you as a young actor to find out, wow, I'm, this is it, I'm making
00:55it?
00:57When I read some of the script and I saw some of the characters, I kind of figured, but
01:00I didn't know for sure.
01:02So it was all confirmed for me when the first trailer released, I think this year in April.
01:07So I didn't know for sure who was going to be a part of it aside from like the people
01:10that I actually acted with.
01:12So yeah, when I saw like Beyonce was on it and everything, I thought that was really
01:15cool.
01:16And being at the premiere on stage with her was really cool.
01:18Have you had like a private screening where you were at the screening?
01:22I did.
01:23I've seen the movie twice so far.
01:24I went to the premiere in LA and then there was a screening here in Atlanta a couple of
01:27days ago.
01:28What's it like when you, you know, invest four years of your life in something like
01:33this and you see bits and pieces and then you see it all come together.
01:37It must be amazing.
01:38Yeah, it was really exciting.
01:40That was, I didn't get the full script or anything when I was recording.
01:43So when I saw the movie for the first time at the premiere, that was my first time, you
01:48know, finding out everything along with everyone else.
01:50So it was really fun.
01:52I got to see it with my family and yeah, when I recorded it, it was just like 2D drawing.
01:58So seeing how realistic everything looks now and like how the animation came out, I'm really
02:02proud of it.
02:03And it's been really rewarding so far.