Jeffrey Wright plays a writer who, in his last role, succeeds in creating a stereotype of himself.
On Monday, Orion Pictures and Amazon MGM Studios released a trailer for the 57-year-old Wright’s new film. American fictionsatirical comedy based on the 2001 novel by Percival Everett Deletion.
The trailer catches up with Wright as his character Monk talks to his agent about how editors and publishers “want a black book” that indulges in stereotypes until his other works sell. Frustrated with the literary industry, Monk writes a book under the title My pathology full of stereotypical characterizations of his own community under a pseudonym, intended as a joke.
To Monk’s surprise, his “joke” book actually sells and grows into a phenomenon of sorts, leading Monk to create a fake persona of an ex-convict to promote the novel, which even lands him a major movie deal.
As his popularity grows, Monk is faced with the reality that although his writing is more successful than ever, it is not true to his life.
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Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Uggams in ‘American Fiction’.
Claire Folger
The film’s official synopsis states that the film “confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes.” The synopsis describes Monk as “a frustrated novelist fed up with the establishment profiting from ‘black’ entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes.”
“To prove his point, Monk uses a pseudonym to write his extraordinary ‘Black’ book, a book that thrusts him into the heart of the hypocrisy and madness he claims to despise,” the synopsis adds.
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Sterling K. Brown in ‘American Fiction’.
Claire Folger
American fiction had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, where it won this year’s People’s Choice Award.
The film serves as the directorial debut of director Cord Jefferson, who previously worked in television as a writer and producer on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, Good place, Master of None and HBO miniseries in 2019 The guards. Jefferson began his career as a signature reporter at The Ringer, GQ, The New Yorker and Gawker before moving into film and television.
Erika Alexander and Jeffrey Wright in ‘American Fiction’.
Claire Folger
“I have never directed anything in my life, neither a commercial nor a short film. I’ve never written a movie before,” Jefferson said vanity fair in August. “All of a sudden I’m giving Jeffrey Wright acting notes? It’s like telling Michael Jordan how to make a jump shot.”
Rian Johnson (Knives out) is the executive producer of the film, as well as the author Everett.
Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Issa Rae and Sterling K. Brown star alongside Wright.
American fiction opens in select theaters on December 15th and expands for a wider release on December 22nd.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education