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Critical acclaim seems to have been following [Jovan Adepo](https://www.instagram.com/jovanadepo/) for the past year, having starred in two Emmy nominated projects, one of which he won. He’s been busy with season two of _Sorry for Your Loss_ and _Jack Ryan_, as well as the now wildly popular HBO series _Watchmen_, continuing the story of the 1987 DC Comics series. He’s been sure to keep busy since being put on the map in 2016 and 2017 with his performance in the Best Picture Academy Award nominee _Fences_ and his role as Michael Murphy in _The Leftovers_. Adepo has been gaining momentum, and he doesn’t seem to have any intention of stopping.
SPOILERS: The new _Watchmen_ takes place 34 years after the events of the original. Jovan Adepo plays the young Will Reeves, who is revealed to be Hooded Justice, revealing a new origin story for the hero that is much different from past iterations of his story as told in _American Hero Story_ (the series in series mocking American Horror Story). This vision of, Hooded Justice, the founding member of the first superhero task force the Minutemen, is revealed to be Reeves. Adepo’s role is crucial to the unraveling of the new Watchmen story, and it has presented him with the challenge of retelling it in a way different from what fans have previously been known.
With this history making storyline change and a superb performance to match we spoke with the English-American actor on his turn as Hooded Justice.
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**So, you were born in England?**
Yes, I was born in Oxfordshire and I moved to the states when I was 2 years old. My mom was born and raised in London.
**Do you go back to London a lot?**
I try to go back once or twice a year if I’m able to. If my schedule will allow it then I try to. I’m in the process of trying to get a home somewhere out there. I don’t think necessarily London.
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**Can you give me a little run through your career? How did you get to where you were today? How did you decide you wanted to act?**
It was an interesting decision and the more I talk about it I realize it’s incredibly unique. I never really had an interest in the business, or at least not in front of the camera. I went to school for political science. While I was at school I was taking creative writing classes as a pleasure. It’s always been a pleasure of mine to write. When I decide to make the move to Los Angeles I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to write film, television, or even write my own book. My aunt and uncle were in the business. They gave me the idea that I could start doing commercial workshops to supplement income. I guess the idea was if I could do an international commercial then I would be able to pay for rent whilst writing. Every time I would do courses my instructor would push me and I think naturally while I started taking more courses, the love for the art developed. I studied everything and everything I could about techniques. All of which were incredibly beneficial as I could learn the art. I was finding interesting ways to bring out characters. I was fortunate enough that I had done plays when I was in high school.
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**What would you say the best advice you’ve got along the way is?**
The best would probably be to enjoy the journey. I’ve been able to meet great people and actors. The individuals who people have really learned to respect, their career weren’t carved out overnight. I’m really ambitious and I have a mind-set of greatness. I’ve always wanted to do my best and not be afraid to set really high standards for myself. My older cast mates really taught me to take my time and looking for roles I’m really excited about. I began to understand there is no time-line and to take every job as an opportunity.
**Your new project is your character on the _Watchmen_ series. Can you tell me a bit about this?**
Yes, that was something I was really excited about. I had just finished an independent movie in Nashville and I was back in LA. David, from _The Leftovers_, called to check-in. He would normally call to check in anyways so I didn’t really think much of it and he told me about this part he wanted me to play. I was surprised because the nature of the part was so different to what I had done. It was so different I was like “Are you sure?” he responded “Jovan, if there’s anything I’m sure of it is that I want you to play the part.” I told him, but I don’t think he really understands, what I feel to play that part and for him to have faith in me.
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**Could you give a little overview of your character?**
The show takes plays after the original film. A lot of the characters that people are fans of have already had their fate determined in the film. The TV Show picks up in Oklahoma. In the show they have a docu-series that features the old America heroes that features the worlds most beloved heroes. I ended up playing a hero that is featured in this docu-series. He was basically the first crime fighter in New York. The way we approached it was very similar to _Batman Begins_, how he came to be and how he became a crime fighter in New York. It was really interesting and there were parallel with other superheroes in the show – like Superman’s journey from Krypton to Earth. In the writing the show, there are a couple scenes in the beginning that play on this – they show a young boy being escorted out of the Tulsa riots. His father puts him in a car but he stays as he wasn’t able to save him whole family, so he saves his son. That son grows up to be the character that I play. It was really, really special to get to play something as iconic as that.
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**How do you feel the character differs to other roles you’ve played? How do you choose which roles you are going to play?**
The biggest one is that this character is a police officer outside of crime. He is one of the first black police officers in New York City. This man is not only fighting crime on the streets but he is also fighting his own demons because he is also a bi-sexual man. He ends up finding a young lady that he cares deeply for and they get married and have children but there is something in him that he is not able to openly express. That was definitely not going to be accepted: number one being a black man the 1930s, but also being a black bi-sexual. He would have never been able to even walk the streets. It was very interesting to be able to play someone who was wearing a mask in two different ways. Not only was he going out at night and fighting the bad guys in a mask, but he was masking his most comfortable and truest self. To play that level of inner turmoil on camera was amazing. Other parts I’ve played were who they were at face-value. This character is so desperately trying to find what is real to him and what he can believe in that will give him comfort. I think, ultimately, he decides that the only comfort he can find is putting on the mask and, at the very least, justice is served in the real world (as he feels he was robbed of that). I was even just excited to put of a superhero costume in a real way. I’ve always been a fan of DC projects because I really like the stakes in their stories don’t get lost. I think it’s easy when dealing with supernatural shows to have a lot of lights etc to woe the crowd. They start with the drama and the narrative – if I don’t care about the person under the costume, I’m not going to care about what they are doing. My character has always been a Caucasian man and that shows in the colors I use in the mask. My character wears a mask and wear colors under the mask so that people would think it was a white man because of the society of the 1930s. He is constantly putting on layers and layers. You get further away from Will and closer towards this masked character.
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* * *
Photographed by [Brian Overend](https://www.instagram.com/brianoverend/).
Styled by [Monty Jackson](https://www.instagram.com/mrmontyjackson/).
Grooming: [Suzie Kim.](https://instagram.com/suziekbeauty)
