Actor André Holland’s latest role might not seem like much of a stretch at first glance. He plays an actor with amnesia in 1950s Ohio in Duke Johnson’s The Actor. But the role proved challenging for Holland nonetheless, given the character’s inability to gain a solid grip on his identity. Holland also stars in the upcoming film The Dutchman, which is adapted from the 1964 play Dutchman by Amiri Baraka.
Holland tells The Treatment that one of the things that drew him to The Actor was the fact that many of the film’s performers would be playing multiple roles. He talks about why he is drawn to characters grappling with identity, and he discusses approaching the final part of The Dutchman as poetry… as opposed to approaching it as a monologue.