{"id":239008,"date":"2021-04-30T02:12:52","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T23:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/deric-augustine-channels-cassius-clay-in-godfather-of-harlem\/"},"modified":"2021-04-30T02:12:52","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T23:12:52","slug":"deric-augustine-channels-cassius-clay-in-godfather-of-harlem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/deric-augustine-channels-cassius-clay-in-godfather-of-harlem\/","title":{"rendered":"#Deric Augustine channels Cassius Clay in ‘Godfather of Harlem’"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Deric Augustine channels Cassius Clay in ‘Godfather of Harlem’<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\u201cGodfather of Harlem\u201d takes an historic turn in Sunday\u2019s episode \u2014 as Cassius Clay starts his journey to become Muhammad Ali.<\/p>\n

Clay has beaten Sonny Liston for the heavyweight crown and is has been courted by Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch), on suspension from the Nation of Islam and looking for a way to get back into the good graces of leader Elijah Muhammad (Clifton Davis). He\u2019s hoping that introducing Clay, a recent convert to Islam, to Muhammad will do the trick.<\/p>\n

Actor Deric Augustine, 31, has portrayed Clay over the past two seasons of the series<\/a>, starring Forest Whitaker as \u201960s-era Harlem gangster Elwood \u201cBumpy\u201d Johnson, Vincent D\u2019Onofrio as Vincent \u201cThe Chin\u201d Gigante and Giancarlo Esposito as Adam Clayton Powell Jr.<\/p>\n

Augustine (\u201cSaints & Sinners,\u201d \u201cCloak & Dagger\u201d) spoke to The Post about his on-screen alter-ego and about Sunday\u2019s episode (9 p.m. on Epix).<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Nigel Thatch, left, as Malcolm X and Deric Augustine as Cassius Clay in \u201cGodfather of Harlem\u201d on Epix.<\/figcaption>
Myles Aronowitz\/Epix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Is there a lot of pressure to portray a world-famous icon?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was very concerned with [Clay\u2019s] mannerisms, his voice, his speech patterns; he had a lot of charisma, and to have that on my shoulders was really stressful. You can put your own spin on it, but you\u2019re playing a real-life character and need it to be realistic \u2014 and not come off like you\u2019re trying to put on a show. As soon as I got the role I started watching videos of him, interviews \u2026 I read numerous articles and I contacted my speech coach in New York and we worked on his speech, his dialect, how he delivered his words \u2014 and that\u2019s how I conquered his voice.<\/p>\n

\"Deric
Deric Augustine gained 15 pounds to play the role of Cassius Clay in \u201cGodfather of Harlem.\u201d<\/figcaption>
Myles Aronowitz\/Epix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I didn\u2019t know that Malcolm X had renamed Clay as Cassius X before it was changed by Elijah Muhammad.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I knew [Clay] had a significant, brotherly relationship with Malcolm X, who wasn\u2019t supposed to do that. We brush on that in Sunday\u2019s episode, and I think it\u2019s very insightful and informative for viewers. I love how this show touches so many other bases \u2026 not just about Bumpy, but about how he has these relationships with public figures. A black man in the \u201960s and \u201970s was not going to be well-known for graduating at the top of his class or as the world\u2019s greatest neurosurgeon, so when Clay became the heavyweight champ he was more of a public figure and could really leverage his relationships to do what he wanted to do.<\/p>\n

Did you do anything special to prepare for playing Cassius Clay?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once I learned that I booked the role, I trained for two months, gained 15 pounds \u2014 I was intaking 6,000 calories a day \u2014 and was tanning twice a week, since [Clay] was a shade darker than me and I wanted to look the part. My hair is naturally curly, so I picked it out, washed it, picked it out \u2026 and they blow-dried it in hair and makeup, which is pretty much all I needed. When you gain weight it makes you look older.<\/p>\n

Is this your first time playing an historical figure?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is to this degree. I did a movie years ago called \u201cSurviving Compton\u201d and I played DJ Yella from NWA. That\u2019s why I was so nervous, as a young actor, when I found out I was working with Forest Whitaker and Vincent D\u2019Onofrio \u2026 it forces you to bring your \u201cA\u201d game<\/a> and make sure you arrive on the set prepared, and that\u2019s what I did. Working with Vincent was like being in a master class. There\u2019s a scene in Season 1 when Chin\u2019s people kidnap [Clay] and tie him up in a chair. I wasn\u2019t struggling with it, but it was the first scene I did [on the series]. Vincent said to me, \u201cWhen I\u2019m telling [Clay] that the FBI is going to get a tape and that he\u2019ll never be a Muslim, picture me telling you that I\u2019m going to take your acting career away.\u201d That got me instantly into the scene.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Cassius Clay before he changed his name to Muhammad Ali.<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Deric Augustine channels Cassius Clay in ‘Godfather of Harlem’” \u201cGodfather of Harlem\u201d takes an historic turn in Sunday\u2019s episode \u2014 as Cassius Clay starts his journey to become Muhammad Ali. Clay has beaten Sonny Liston for the heavyweight crown and is has been courted by Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch), on suspension from the Nation of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/deric-augustine-godfather-of-harlem-03-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[103841,88715,43001,31454,24881,70948,72317,10880,89860,102148,1373],"class_list":["post-239008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-29-21","tag-dramas","tag-epix","tag-forest-whitaker","tag-giancarlo-esposito","tag-harlem","tag-islam","tag-malcolm-x","tag-muhammad-ali","tag-vincent-donofrio","tag-what-to-watch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}