by Sheilah Belle — The success of the Tyscot/Man Haddon film Deitrick Haddon presents…A Beautiful Soul can also be contributed to its all star cast. The cast included actors such as, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Golden Brooks, Robert Ri’chard, Barry Floyd and Harry Lennix.
The entire cast gave their all from beginning to end and since released in theatres, they have expressed their love for the film to various media outlets.
Cast member, Harry Lennix, who played the role of “Jeff Freeze”, (Andre Stephen’s manager) in the film discussed how he became involved in the film, his role, working with Deitrick Haddon and more with Blackfilm.com:
“The initial inquiry came from my friend Holly Davis Carter, who’s a dear friend I’ve known for many years and know to be associated with quality projects. Then I read the script and thought it had tremendous appeal, a cautionary tale for our modern times, and also had resonances to movies from the past like “It’s A Wonderful Life”. So I was interested from the first time I heard about it.”
Harry Lennix also explained the difference between his role as “Jeff Freeze” and his role as “Red” in The Five Heartbeats, “I play a character by the name of Jeff Freeze. I’m the manager for Deitrick Haddon’s character and just a kind of smooth Hollywood operator. Red is a far more malevolent figure than Jeff Freeze. Jeff is an operator but he’s not a pariah.”
Throughout his career, Lennix has worked with many actors, but this was his first time working with Deitrick Haddon. Harry Lennix shared his thoughts about Deitrick’s music and working with him on the set of A Beautiful Soul.
“I had not heard Deitrick’s music before working with him. As soon as I found out that I would be working with him I went to YouTube and found some tracks he’d done and was immediately impressed. At first I thought I was listening to Prince, he’s got a piercing voice like a clarion bell; he’s got a very clear voice mechanically speaking. To put that kind of voice onto inspirational music is a revelation. I think he’s a trendsetter. I don’t know a whole lot about modern Christian music, but having been a seminarian once I thought that he has tremendous potential to get this word out to a lot of people who are so in need to hear it. I have a great amount of respect for Deitrick, I’m very fond of Deitrick, and it was great working with him. He was a top-notch professional and all he wanted the entire time was to do the best job he could do.”
Lastly, Lennix stressed the importance of films like A Beautiful Soul reaching the masses, “There’s a need for content. The success of “Think Like A Man” shows that there’s an audience for the content, and I think “A Beautiful Soul” will prove the same thing. We are very sanguine about the potential for this movie to get into the national consciousness. We want to be responsible for making these images of ourselves, and who better to do it than people who are like-minded.”
On August 21, 2012 Tyscot Films will release the PG-13 Rated film, “Deitrick Haddon’s A Beautiful Soul” on DVD ($19.95 List Price).
About the film…
Directed by Jeff Byrd (“Soul Food “ TV series), the film also stars Harry Lennix (“The Matrix Revolutions”), Robert Ri’chard (“Coach Carter”), Lesley Ann Brandt (“Spartacus: Gods of the Arena”), and Barry Floyd (“The Game”). Currently available in stores and on-line is the Tyscot Records CD release of “A Beautiful Soul (Music Inspired by the Motion Picture) from Deitrick Haddon presents Voices of Unity, which contains original music by Deitrick Haddon, Kierra Sheard, Canton Jones, Fonzworth Bentley and Faith Evans, among others. The Top 30 gospel radio single, “No Betta” is a duet showcasing Deitrick Haddon and Faith Evans.
Courtesy of www.thebellereport.net www.twitter.com/thebellereport
