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Actor extraordinaire Russell Hornsby, last seen in “Fences” with Denzel Washington and Octavia Spencer on the big screen, is back on the small screen in the must see Netflix series, “Seven Seconds,” February 22. Before “Seven Seconds,” he was the kick-ass detective in TV’s “Grimm.” And folks are still talking about Hornsby’s scene in the “Grimm” episode, “Blind Love,” wearing an undershirt looking in a mirror singing Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
In an exclusive interview, Hornsby talked about the impact of the show and how hard it was to leave his emotions on the set.
What was it like to be a part of ‘Seven Seconds?
As an actor and artist it gave me an opportunity to help to be a part of the truth in story telling and to dig deeper into the circumstances surrounding those afflicted by the kind of pain our characters suffer, and hopefully bring some kind of healing.
What was the challenge dealing with such a tragic and horrendous subject?
The challenge was dealing with something that is authentic, real. It’s a part of our lives. It’s a part of our community lives. It deals with brutality, and the victims at the hands of police. This is a part of our existence as black people. And now being a black man who is married with two children, two boys no less, it really touched me to my core.
You see this father who does everything right. Works hard, puts in his 40 hours a week, gets married, provides for his family, all of those things. You have a child and somebody just comes along and takes him. I think it’s just one of those moments where you don’t realize how helpless you are until you realize how helpless you are.
Aren’t we supposed to believe there is a system in place in this country you can go to for justice?
I mean, we all talk about what can I do and then it’s like my character has no recourse. You have to let the justice system play out that has been against us our whole existence in this country. Right?
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That’s an understatement. It’s the system that encourages this kind of behavior, does it not?
The pain of that man comes out of the fact that he can’t do anything to protect his son. I can’t protect my wife. I can’t protect my family. Who am I?
What was one of the hardest scenes for you to shoot?
There’s a scene in episode 6, I believe where my brother tells me he went to war to fight for our freedom and my character says, ‘You think I’m free?’That scene struck me because it reminded me so much of my mother who was a single parent.
When she sat down to pay the bills every month she would always cry because she never had enough money. She would say to me, ‘I’m tired.’ I’ll never forget that. I remember using her expression. I just said I’m tired and that was the most honest moment in the whole series because, for me—and I’m sure many blacks feel the same—you just feel so tired.
Fannie Lou Hamer said, ‘I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired’ almost 60 years ago, but have things changed that much?
No, and that’s why I feel working on this show gave me the opportunity to go to a real honest place as it pertains to black people, a black mother, a black father, going to an honest place where we deal with this tragedy.
After a white cop in “Seven Seconds” accidentally hits and critically injures a black teenager, a northeastern city explodes with racial tensions when there is an attempted cover up. From creator/producer Veena Sud, the series also stars Clare-Hope Ashitey, Regina King, Beau Knapp, Michael Mosley, David Lyons, Zackary Momoh, and Raul Castillo.
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