Siddiq Saunderson on Season 2 of Wu-Tang: An American Saga and Manifesting Future Acting Roles
T-Shirt by KAPPA, Pants by BOGNER, Jacket by NANAMICA, Sneakers by SAUCONY
In an exclusive interview with our September digital cover star, actor Siddiq Saunderson, we talk about his character development as Ghostface Killah in season 2 of Wu-Tang: An American Saga, his relationship with fashion and his training as a Theatre major.
Tell me about your relationship with fashion?
Yeah, absolutely. I’ve always been into fashion from watching fashion shows, reading magazines growing up, and watching shows like Project Runway. I’ve always been into different art forms. Fashion is one art form that I’m interested in and one that I’m interested in entering. I would love to walk a runway show one day and do more editorial work.
T-Shirt by KAPPA, Pants by BOGNER, Jacket by NANAMICA, Sneakers by SAUCONY.
What kind of development can we anticipate from your character as Ghostface in season 2 of Wu-Tang: An American Saga?
It's a lot more development with Dennis. He starts going by Ghostface Killah. There is a moment in season 2 where his name changes from Dennis and D-Love to Ghostface Killah. Also, he’s now a father, and how he prioritizes his life is a part of his growth. There’s also an event that happens to him in the first episode that I can't wait for fans and the audience to see because it changes the course of his life. It’s kind of that thing that makes him reconsider how he’s been living up to this point.
Pants by BOGNER, Jacket by DAILY PAPER, Hat by J.W ANDERSON, Ring by JOHNNY NELSON JEWELRY.
What are the most important lessons you learned from studying theatre?
Absolutely! First, shout out to Carnegie Mellon, Murrow (Edward R. Murrow High School), M.S. 51, Moving Mountains. I had a wealth of resources. Although we primarily focus on onstage acting, It’s not difficult to translate to film and tv because a lot of what stage is about is getting to the root of the scene. What’s the objective? What are you trying to do to your scene partner? What tactics are you using? Do I intimidate them, do I joke around with them? All of those things make a character unique and that’s how I approach any character that I play. I try to figure out what are the overarching objectives that my character wants out of his life. Also, just starting from the script and honoring the people who wrote these words and punctuations for a reason. Now that’s very much so in theatre whereas in Film and TV it's different. People might freestyle. The writer might say you can change the words or say the lines how you would say it but, I always like to start with the script and go from there.
Do you have any standout Theatre/performing memories from High School or college?
I knew I was supposed to be acting for a while, I’m not going to lie but, two particular roles come to mind. I played Solly Two Kings in Gem Of The Ocean which, is an August Wilson play. Wilson has a cycle of plays set in Pittsburgh in different eras and this is the first one set in the 1900s. King was like a 70-year-old man, wise, carried a walking stick that he put notches in of all the slaves he helped get to freedom. He had this wealth of knowledge and personality. I was a sophomore in high school when I played him and I remember my friend coming up to me and being like, "You’re going to win an Oscar one day," and I was like, "Word, ok I’m with it." And that’s a role I’m excited about revisiting when I’m 60-years-old because I do plan on acting for the rest of my life. Later in life, I played Romeo on Romeo and Juliet with the Chautauqua Theater Company in Western New York. The show itself is about three hours long, and I talked and performed for about 2 1/2 out of the 3 hours. It took a lot out of me. I had to rely on the skills and tools that I gained from my education.
Jacket by LACOSTE.
Tell me about your support system. Who were the people around you that encouraged you to pursue your dreams?
My parents are a great support system in different ways. I was raised primarily by my mom but also by my father as well. I was going to attend a Catholic high school because that’s where some of my family had gone. In the middle of the summer, after I bought my uniforms for school, I told my Dad, 'I don’t want to go. I don’t know how to tell mom but I don’t want to go to this school. I want to go to Murrow and study theatre. He spoke to her and through that conversation, I was able to change my enrollment and go to a performing arts high school. My mom always supported me even if she was at work, if she had to call off to drive to my middle or elementary school for the 20 minutes I was in the scene and then dip out in the middle, she would do that. And I would look out and see her in the back of the theatre. Then both of them came together and helped put me through college. I’m very blessed. I have an amazing support system. I always felt like I was in the driver's seat but I had people who believed in me, my abilities and were able to meet me where I was. It came from drive and passion but they were always able to meet me there. My mom would say, “if you want it you have to work for it,” and once she and my dad saw me working for it they got behind me. And my brother too would come to all of my shows.
Jumpsuit by BOGNER, Ring by JOHNNY NELSON JEWELRY, Sneakers by SAUCONY.
What kind of roles are you manifesting for your future?
I’m interested in playing roles written for black people. There are a lot of roles that are "open ethnicity" but I want y’all to cast me not just because I’m a good actor but, be aware of my blackness. If I’m existing in a town in middle America where there aren’t too many black people, if I’m playing the role I am now the one black person in this town so what does that mean. On a bigger level, I think I’d fit well in the Jazz Age, the Harlem Renaissance, that kind of vibe. Very interested in playing a musician, a saxophone player. I played the alto and tenor saxophone as a kid; that would be full circle for me. Also, Afrofuturism! I know they’re turning one of Octavia Butler's books into a pilot right now and that’s something on my radar. And works that are pushing the envelope, pushing the narrative, and introducing black people in different lights, are the projects that I’m interested in.
PHOTOGRAPHS by Marq Newman
STYLING & INTERVIEW by Nigel Isaiah
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Ammar Thomas
GROOMING by Crystal R. Smith
LOCATION: The 9 Studio
