March 14 (UPI) — Jaden Piner, a Florida middle-school student who co-starred in this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner Moonlight, says he thought from the start the film was special.
“It’s something different,” the 13-year-old actor told UPI in a recent phone interview, praising the movie’s writer-director Barry Jenkins as an “amazing guy.”
“I really did want to be a part of this because it is a story that most people are afraid to tell and Barry being brave enough to tell this story is big.”
Jenkins’ powerful, coming-of-age drama follows quiet, neglected Chiron whose close relationships with his classmate Kevin and an adult drug dealer named Juan greatly impact his life and help him understand who he is as a young, gay man.
Set in Miami, the film unfolds in three chapters over the course of about 20 years, with the characters of Chiron and Kevin played as children by Alex Hibbert and Piner, then as teens by Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome, and as adults by Trevante Rhodes and Andre Holland.
So, how did Piner come to co-star in one of the most celebrated films in history?
“My drama teacher — Ms. [Tanisha] Cidel, who is also in the movie as Principal Williams — she told everybody from Norland Middle and our drama program to go audition, so we all went to go audition and then about eight of us went to the callback and then, later, me and Alex got it,” he recalled.
The low-budget film was a favorite on the festival circuit, winning numerous accolades before earning Hollywood’s top prize — the Best Picture Oscar — last month.
Adding to the excitement of that ultimate accomplishment was the fact the musical La La Land was first mistakenly declared the winner, then moments later Moonlight was revealed as the rightful honoree.
“When I actually saw the card, it was, like, mixed emotions,” Piner said, explaining he felt confused, then happy, and, also, at one point, wondered if the whole Best Picture mixup was a joke.
Asked how life has changed for him since Moonlight became such a huge success, the seventh-grader said he has been doing “a lot of interviews.”
“People are noticing me and stuff like that,” he said, adding he would like to keep acting and is pursuing other projects, although he is unable to discuss any details about his prospects at this time.
Co-starring Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris and Janelle Monae, Moonlight may now be viewed on DVD and video-on-demand.
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