Exclusive: Kelvin Harrison Jr , Yola & Alton Mason on playing B.B. King, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Little Richard, respectively in Elvis
Now playing in theaters is the highly anticipated, epic, big-screen spectacle Elvis from Warner Bros. Pictures and visionary, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann that explores the life and music of Elvis Presley, starring Austin Butler and Oscar winner Tom Hanks.
Starring alongside Butler and Hanks, award-winning theatre actress Helen Thomson plays Elvis’s mother, Gladys, Richard Roxburgh portrays Elvis’s father, Vernon, and Olivia DeJonge plays Priscilla. Luke Bracey plays Jerry Schilling, Natasha Bassett plays Dixie Locke, David Wenham plays Hank Snow, Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays B.B. King, Xavier Samuel plays Scotty Moore, Yola Quartey playing Sister Rosetta Clarke, Alton Mason is Little Richard and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Jimmie Rodgers Snow.
A thoroughly cinematic drama, Elvis’s (Butler) story is seen through the prism of his complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Hanks). As told by Parker, the film delves into the complex dynamic between the two spanning over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America. Central to that journey is one of the significant and influential people in Elvis’s life, Priscilla Presley (Olivia DeJonge).
Harrison Jr., who plays B.B. King in the film, is no stranger to singing of playing musicians on the big and small screen. He recently played Christian in the film musical Cyrano opposite Peter Dinklage. He played a musician opposite Dakato Johnson in The High Note, as well in the first season of Epix’s The Godfather of Harlem. He’s set to play Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a French-Caribbean violinist and composer in a biopic.
Harrison Jr.’s other acting credits include the TV series StartUp, Mudbound, It Comes at Night, Luce, Waves, The Photograph, and The Trial of the Chicago 7.
British singer Yola makes her acting debut in the film, playing Sister Rosetta Tharpe, best known as the Godmother of rock ‘n roll. A Grammy nominee for Best New Artist at the 62nd Grammy Awards, Yola broke through in 2019 for her critically acclaimed debut Walk Through Fire, and also received multiple Grammy nods for her follow-up album, 2021’s Stand For Myself.
Alton Mason is also making his acting debut in playing Little Richard. The eldest of four children and raised in the Midwest, Mason moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 to study dance and theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
Through celebrity choreographer Laurieanne Gibson, he soon was cast as a dancer for P Diddy at the BET Awards, quickly gaining attention for his unique look. He soon became a trailblazer in his own right: Mason was the first Black male model to walk for Chanel in the brand’s then-108-year history.
Blackfilmandtv.com’s Wilson Morales spoke with Harrison Jr., Yola and Mason about playing B.B. King, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Little Richard, respectively.