Boardwalk Empire actor and Williamsburg, New York native Justin Davis stopped by our offices a few weeks ago to talk about his character, style and the costumes used in the hit HBO show.
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For those who don’t know, Boardwalk Empire examines American life in Atlantic City during Prohibition. The show won eight Emmy Awards this year and was nominated for a whopping 18!
Davis grew up in the Cooper Park Housing Projects in the ’90s, the same projects as rapper Joell Ortiz, and credits his grandmother for raising and adopting him after his mother had problems with drug affliction.
Here’s some of what the Brooklyn College student and Professional Performing Arts alumni said!
GlobalGrind: Tell us a little bit about your character on Boardwalk Empire.
Justin Davis: I play Lester White, who is the son of Chalky White, played by the very talented Michael K. Williams. I’m the very well educated, and according to Time magazine, “a very talented pianist”, son that Chalky’s given birth to. I’m actually his middle child. We’ll see more of his family, more of us, and then more of his private life. Right now, we’re kind of confined to the home because, what Chalky wants to do with family, is keep them out of his dirty work.
Our primary job right now is to hold down more of who he is behind the closed doors.
On the show you really see the distinction between his work, the factory life, and then his private life at home. The house that we shoot in is a beautiful home. It really speaks a lot about who Chalky is outside of his work and what his true personality is like.
At the time we’re one of the wealthiest African American families in Atlantic City during the ’20s and you really get to see, on a vast scale, African Americans who are blessed enough to be well off, and then other ones who are less fortunate.
I play the piano and I’m very well educated, and one thing that Lester loves to do is read and play the piano. I’ll be attending Morehouse College in a few years. Lester is well educated and very picture perfect. If Chalky would be rough around the edges, his family, and me, and my mother would be the very picture perfect frame just to surround you in.
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What are your thoughts on the costumes in the show?
I always thought the costumes, the set, everything on the show, was immaculate. I would almost think they actually film it in the ’20s, if we could actually go back to the ’20s. The costumes and wardrobe are magical. They transport whoever is in them back to the time period where the people actually wore them, because we use actual pieces from the ’20s that were rented and some things were built specifically for different looks. There’s an artistry that went into crafting clothes back then, like socks. The reason men wore sock guards was because socks didn’t have elastic in them at the time. There was so much detail with what people wore. That’s not to say there’s less detail now, but there was definitely a lot more thought that, I think, went into the process of making the shirt, making the collar that buttoned down to the shirt, because we use all those different pieces. Everything that we do mirrors the ’20s completely. I think it’s out of this world beautiful!
How did you get the part?
It was a very different audition. Normally, you go audition, get called back, be put on hold. If it’s between you and one other person, then they’ll book the person. This job went audition, booked. It skipped all the minimal steps. It’s funny how some of the commercials I’ve done have been much more rigorous as far as auditions. There’s been audition, call back, second call back, sometimes third call back, and then on hold, book the job. This one surprised me largely because it’s one of the largest roles I’ve had on an amazing show. I thought they may call back or something, but it literally went: audition and then booked. I was blown away by that.
What were some challenges in playing this role?
In the first episode, we see a lot of the biggest massacres in this season so far, which is when the KKK comes and shoots the warehouses, killing a lot of the people that were in it: my dad’s workers, our friends and family friends.
It’s always very interesting having to deal with the race card because I think nowadays, we try not to deal with it and just see people as just people, and not “African American” or White, Asian, Spanish; this, that and the third. At this time, you were forced to deal with it because it’s in your face and that would probably be the toughest thing. Other than the long hours, what is really rewarding is sitting next to Steve and the rest of my cast. Probably dealing with the race card and allowing yourself to remember that this is all for TV. Being in that presence and knowing what our ancestors went through, I always think it’s amazing to be a part of this and deal with that and then portray our ancestors in a great and positive way.
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What’s your relationship with fashion and style when you’re not working?
For a guy, our clothes can be very cookie cutter. Pants, shirt, shoes. I don’t like to blend in with the crowd. Not in like a Lady Gaga way but, I don’t like to be the most subtle person. Of course, there are days when I’m just running out to a class, because I’m also finishing up my Bachelors. I’ll throw on a hoodie and jeans. I like to wear what I wear with confidence and hope that nobody else has it on. I try to treat myself to shopping as much as I can, too. Now that I can afford the finer things in life, I’m starting to actually embrace that and enjoy it.
What are your thoughts on contemporary fashion today, especially dealing with your peers?
Fashion for us, nowadays, as been made to be a lot more convenient to our way of life. Back then it was like, we’re buttoning our collar on our shirt. Now we’re too lazy to button our collars. We have things like elastic now so our socks will stay up, but part of what makes the look of the ’20s so amazing is the sock guards, the buttoning of the extra collar and all those different elements.
I love what a lot of the younger designers are doing because it seems like they’ve said no, we’re not going to just create another line that people are going to forget about soon. We’re going to try to see what else we can do. It’s fading off in a way, but there seems to be hope.
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Where are you in school and what are you studying?
Brooklyn College, and I’m going for acting. It’s tempting to get away from it but I don’t think I really want to. I’m in my last semester. I was supposed to be done in June but the college had some issues credit wise and things of that sort, so I’m taking time to finish up extra credits that will, hopefully, be going towards my Masters.
How do you balance your career and going to school?
It’s crazy. Most days I’m in school until about 12:15. I was blessed this semester to be able to condense everything to three days. If I’m not in class, of course I’m running around to auditions. And then I’m in school in Flatbush. It may sound cliché but it all has to go back to time management and my upbringing, and how I can organize the objects in my life. That better helps me organize the scheduling in my life.
Have you had any scenes with Paz de la Huerta?
No, not yet.
She’s becoming a fashion icon.
Yeah, I’m trying to get up there with her. She’s another one the world needs to watch out for: she’s an amazing person. I got to meet her but I haven’t shot with her yet. Despite what she does in her private life, because it’s clear that she’s a party girl, she has an amazing energy about her. That’s something I don’t think the media has really covered about her. She’s great at what she does.
