Courtney B. Vance

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2022

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Courtney B. Vance started acting in college. He went to Yale drama school, where he met his future wife Angela Bassett. He starred in the debut performance of August Wilson's Fences, first at the Yale repertory theater in 1985, then later on Broadway in 1987. Since then, he has gone on to work on the big and small screen, too. He has had parts on shows like Law and Order: Criminal Intent, The People v. O.J. Simpson, and Lovecraft Country. His latest project is the AMC series 61st Street, which Vance executive produced and stars in. He joins the show to talk about his acting career on both the stage and screen. He also talks about what it was like taking on the role of a lawyer again in the new series 61st Street. Plus, he talks with us about what it was like working alongside the legendary James Earl Jones in the iconic play Fences.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:21.7	It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn.
0:24.1	Courtney B. Vance started acting in college.
0:27.3	He went to Yale Drama School where he met his future wife, Angela Bassett.
0:32.3	As far as first big gigs go, you could do a lot worse than the one Courtney had.
0:37.3	He starred in the original production of August Wilson's Fences.
0:41.3	First at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1985, then on tour then later on Broadway in 1987.
0:49.3	He played Cory in the play, opposite James Earl Jones as Troy.
0:54.3	The role earned Vance a Tony nomination.
0:58.3	He's gone on to work on the big and small screen.
1:02.3	He played assistant DA Ron Carver on Law and Order Criminal Intent.
1:06.3	He had great parts in military films like The Hunt for Red October in Hamburger Hill.
1:11.3	But it wasn't until the 2010s that his career trajectory really changed.
1:15.3	He was cast as Johnny Cochran in the TV miniseries The People versus O.J. Simpson.
1:20.3	It's a part that in the hands of other actors could have easily become cartoonish, like Jackie Childs on Seinfeld.
1:27.3	Vance's Cochran though was nuanced, complex and very, very good at public speaking.
1:33.3	Mr. Darden's remarks this afternoon are perhaps the most incredible remarks I have heard in a court of law in my 32 years of practice.
1:44.3	His remarks are deeply demeaning to African Americans.
1:48.3	And so first and foremost, you're on, I would like to apologize to African Americans across this country.
1:54.3	It is preposterous to say that African Americans collectively are so emotionally unstable
2:02.3	that they cannot hear offensive words without losing their moral sense of right and wrong.
2:08.3	So the surprise of pretty much no one, Vance won an Emmy for his performance
	...

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