There will be plenty of mixed reactions to the premise of Fox’s Shots Fired, which promises to be this season’s most controversial show as it looks at racially charged police shootings of civilians.
For one thing, producers decided to flip the script. In the 10-part series, a black police officer shoots a white civilian. The show debuts Wednesday at 8 p.m. on City.
At the centre of the complex, morally ambiguous series is Canadian Stephan James, who plays a Department of Justice special prosecutor sent to a small town to investigate the shooting.
He stars opposite Sanaa Lathan in the show inspired by events in the United States that have resulted in the Black Lives Matter movement. Producers have put together an impressive backing cast including Helen Hunt (Mad About You), who plays a politically savvy governor of North Carolina, and Richard Dreyfuss (Madoff) as a real estate baron who owns a privatized prison.
But in Shots Fired, James is clearly the focus. The rising star was last seen in another racially and politically charged feature, the filmRace. There he played track star Jesse Owens, winning a Canadian Screen Award for the role.
James said he was aware of the racial divisions in the United States but, coming from Canada (James was born in Scarborough), he didn’t realize the extent.
“It’s totally, totally different down here. You know I didn’t grow up with the same sort of ideals that a lot of people are going through, that they are facing here in the United States,” says James. “But to have something so poignant, so relevant, you know it’s something that I was really living and breathing like a lot of us were talking about today, when you’re living in that moment. You know sometimes the research is there right in front of you.”
In Shots Fired, James infuses the character of Preston Terry with a sense of idealism. And he says former U.S. President Barack Obama was his inspiration.
“You know, I think one day he thinks he’s going to be the president of the United States. It starts small, but he’s a visionary. He believes very heavily in change. He goes through a lot that will change some of his own ideals. But I think he comes from a place where he sees himself as leading that change.”
For background, James had the rare opportunity to connect with former attorney general Eric Holder. James and Holder had several conversations over Skype to discuss his character.
“It was really incredible to connect with Eric Holder, who told me a lot about the challenges he had to go through. And it helped me connect with Preston’s character. It’s tough being a young African American prosecutor because you have unique challenges.”
Dreyfuss says he was attracted to his role because of the topicality of the subject.
“It’s happening all over. So we shot probably the most current show you’ll ever see,” Dreyfus told television critics in Los Angeles. “It’s exactly current with the world . . . as you watch the show you’re going to be reminded very clearly of the most current headlines in your life and it doesn’t say it was two days ago. It says it’s now. This is America.”
Show creator Gina Prince-Bythewood said she decided to have a black officer shoot a white civilian to create “empathy” with viewers.
“In flipping the narrative it allows folk who normally don’t identify with characters to empathize with them,” said Prince-Bythewood. “And through empathy you can change.”
Dealing with race has been a prevalent theme in the career of James so far, first as track star Owens and now as an investigator looking at a racially charged shooting.
“Obviously I see a lot of these sort of issues happening, so . . . as an actor, as an artist, a craftsman, I have to dive in and really do my research and see what it is that is going on.
“You know, I’ve dealt with some of this subject matter myself. It’s not something that’s going to go away. But this is an opportunity to discuss and reflect what’s going on around us. And maybe find common ground.”
The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
