It’s been a head-spinning couple of years for Ashton Sanders. The 22-year-old actor played the teenage incarnation of the conflicted gay protagonist Chiron in Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight, the tiny-budget art film that became an Oscar-winning emblem of social change in Hollywood. The Los Angeles native has scarcely stopped working since. With some Calvin Klein modelling on the side, he has a host of films lined up, from independent projects to studio blockbusters, beginning with a prominent role opposite Denzel Washington in the shoot-’em-up sequel The Equalizer 2.
Was it daunting to work with Denzel Washington?
I think every African American actor somewhat looks up to Denzel. Even taking race out of it, he’s one of those icons that you just have to respect. The range of work that he’s been able to do, and been able to succeed in: it’s insane, he’s a master.
Denzel’s character winds up taking yours under his wing a bit. Did you connect off-camera too?
Yeah, that protective bond you see on screen is an actual extension of our relationship. Denzel, [director] Antoine Fuqua and I – we’re like family, man.
Is that distinct from your Moonlight family? Or are you building an extended clan?
It seems like it’s one growing family. I’ve been lucky to work with some pretty all-around good people, some familiar spirits, the last couple of years. And that’s important, especially when you’re starting out: those connections navigate you through the industry, and just through the world.
The Equalizer 2 is obviously a completely different animal from Moonlight: was making the switch to a big studio production disorienting?
Not as much as you’d think. I grew up doing theatre, where I was jumping in and out of plays, year round. I was training, and also doing three or four plays a year. So that’s something that I’m just conditioned to do. It’s all really the same process: you’re developing a character. You have to start from the same place, build it up. And sure, what’s around you is different, but that makes it really fun for me. Every project I do, I feel I’m sharpening my tool, that I’m still changing it.
We’ll see you next year in Captive State, a big sci-fi thriller, alongside some smaller indies. Is that the balance you’d like to maintain?
I try not to think about it too hard. If the script is good and the director is passionate, that’s where I start. I’d say my heart is more in independents, but sometimes these major films come along that are pretty good, you know?
So are those independents the films you generally prefer watching? Are you a film buff?
Oh man, I’m all over the place in my movie selection! I’ve always liked discovering really old films and art-house pictures – but then I’d easily say The Lion King is one of my all-time favourites. It’s just a beautiful story, you know? Requiem for a Dream is a favourite. I worked with Matthew Libatique, who shot it, on [Rashid Johnson’s upcoming race-themed drama] Native Son, and he’s the shit. I definitely geeked out when I met him.
You’ve worked mostly with African American film-makers thus far: Antoine Fuqua, Barry Jenkins and Rashid Johnson, among others. Is that a deliberate choice?
Yeah, it’s definitely important to me. The sad reality of it is, as black artists in the industry, we still have to work 10 times harder to get our voices out there. So it’s important that we embrace each other, and that we collaborate. I think when everybody is on the same collective team, things get pushed forward in a stronger way.
Do you take the public embrace of a film like Moonlight as a positive sign?
I think a big part of its success was that it was so real; it was something that people needed to see and talk about. So things are moving – not too fast, but moving. These subjects aren’t being swept under the rug. Whether it’s race relations in the industry, whether it’s sexual assault allegations, whatever it be... We’re at a point where people are talking about things, and that’s the first step.
And one thing your roles in Moonlight and The Equalizer 2 do, albeit in very different contexts, is touch on the experience of being young and black in America today.
Yes, and that’s something I’m looking to do in my work. We need to showcase all different levels of black life, and I’m getting the opportunities to work with great directors and producers who are on the same wavelength as me. It’s my job as an artist and as an actor to use this platform to make people learn and grow, to change their perspectives on how things are in whatever way I can. That’s what I’m supposed to do.
Is that responsibility more urgent with Trump in the White House?
Oh, yeah. We’re living in such a scary time. It’s all chaos and hurt. But chaos and hurt has always inspired some of the greatest works of art in the world.
As a young black man in America, are you feeling that hurt first-hand?
What I’m learning, the older I get, is that no matter where you come from, America is going to make you feel like a black man feels, regardless. You can have money, you can have everything you ever wanted, you can be as equal as the next, but you’re still going to feel that pressure. It’s something that America has always been based on: that anxiety we feel as we walk around as black people. Our reality isn’t the same. I want to have hope: in the industry, everybody’s being inclusive, things are changing. But then something happens like the murder of Nia Wilson – in broad daylight, just because she was a black woman. And that’s a slap in the face. It’s hard to trust America, being black in it. But you’ve got to live, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. So I’m doing that.
Away from acting, you’ve recently done some modelling, and your dad’s a fashion designer. Does that world interest you?
It’s just fun, honestly. I’ve always loved clothes, so to wear fresh-off-the-runway stuff and work with respected photographers – that’s pretty cool. As for designing... well, that’s something that’s in the works.
The Equalizer 2 is in cinemas now
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