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SC<br />
E<br />
WHY<br />
JASON IS<br />
BORN<br />
FOR THIS<br />
FROM STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON<br />
TO THE CHI, JASON MITCHELL<br />
KEEPS IT MOVING<br />
BY REGINA R. ROBERTSON<br />
BYRAN TARNOWSKI<br />
H<br />
is response to the simple question “How are you?” is quite epic: “I’m amazing,” Jason Mitchell says. “Life is delicious<br />
right now.” Since his spot-on portrayal of the late rapper Eazy-E in 2015’s Straight Outta Compton, the New Orleans<br />
native hasn’t skipped a beat. This year he followed with the Netflix period drama Mudbound, and now he’s taking on<br />
prime time in the much-talked-about Showtime series The Chi, which premieres January 7. Created, written and executiveproduced<br />
by Lena Waithe, the program is about her beloved, but troubled, Illinois hometown.<br />
ForMitchelltheshowisaperfectfit.“Brandonisthefirstofmycharacterstomirrormylife,”saysthe31-year-oldactorwho,<br />
like his on-screen persona, has lost someone close to violence and chases his dream despite the odds. Both know their way<br />
around the kitchen: “I worked as a cook before I started acting. I didn’t need a stunt double!”<br />
Mitchell is aware that finding one’s gift is a blessing. Admittedly he felt uncertain about the future when, soon after he<br />
graduated from high school, Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on his city. Then, at 23, he bet on himself by enrolling in an<br />
actors’ workshop. That was the turning point. “I feel like this trajectory was chosen for me,” he says. “If I’d written my own<br />
story, it would not have been this good. God has really been putting His hands on me.”<br />
FEBRUARY <strong>2018</strong> ESSENCE.COM 51
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