You should probably get to know… Brian Tyree Henry

Age: 

36

Where you know him from:

As Alfred ‘Paper Boi’ Miles in Donald Glover’s cult hit Atlanta.

How he got his big break:

Henry was in the original cast of The Book Of Mormon. “We won nine Tony awards! I was in that cast for three years. But now I’m on Broadway doing straight theatre.”

What’s the play about?

“It’s called Lobby Hero and I work with Chris Evans and Michael Cera. It takes place in a hotel lobby – a woman is murdered, which causes all these racial and societal tensions. It’s 20 years old but still feels so relevant.”

On juggling a TV show and a run on Broadway:

“That’s nothing. I’ve got seven movies out this year!”

His 2018 in a nutshell:

A Netflix film featuring Gugu Mbatha-Raw; Hotel Artemis alongside Jodie Foster and Jeff Goldblum; Steve McQueen’s Widows with Daniel Kaluuya; a voice part in animated Spider-Man film Into The Spiderverse; White Boy Rick with Matthew McConaughey; Barry Jenkins’ highly anticipated If Beale Street Could Talk – and sinister sci-fi horror Only You at the end of the year. Phew. “I know! I just wanted to show people all my layers.”

On juggling a TV show with a run on Broadway and seven films:

“Everything fulfils me in a different way. What excites me is the chance to show people all these different sides to me. They rarely allow black actors the chance to explore that.”

Why Atlanta got a name change for Season 2:

“The full title is Atlanta Robbin’ Season. It’s named after a certain time of year where things in Atlanta get a little darker. It’s closer to the holidays, crime has spiked a little more, people are getting dropped. All the characters find themselves in equally tense, more desperate situations this year.”

What the locals thought of Atlanta’s success:

“The city welcomed us, but shit was real – we filmed during robbin’ season, so it was dangerous, scary, everybody knew who we were this time. You had to walk the streets with a certain alertness to you.”

Favourite famous superfan:

“Almost every celebrity I’ve encountered says they love it. But J Cole reached out to me, that was too much. We are from the same part of North Carolina. An honour.”

What he learned from Donald Glover:

“Just when you think you know something about him, turns out you don’t know a damn thing.”

See him next:

Everywhere.

Atlanta: Robbin’ Season continues Sundays at 10pm on FOX