Lakeith Stanfield
LaKeith Lee Stanfield (born August 12, 1991) is an American actor and musician. He made his feature film debut in "Short Term 12" (2013), for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He received further recognition for his roles in the films "Selma" (2014), "Straight Outta Compton" (2015), "Crown Heights" (2017), "Sorry to Bother You" (2018), and "Judas and the Black Messiah" (2021), the lattermost of which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Stanfield has also appeared in the films "Dope" (2015), "Get Out" (2017), "Uncut Gems" (2019), "Knives Out" (2019), "The Photograph" (2020) and "The  Harder They Fall" (2021), and starred in the series "Atlanta" (2016–present), for which he won a Black Reel Award for Television. He has been nominated for a Critics' Choice Movie Award, a Gotham Award, two Satellite Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five Black Reel Awards. Early life. LaKeith Lee Stanfield was born in San Bernardino, California, on August 12, 1991, and grew up in Riverside and Victorville. His mother's name is Karen. He has said that he "grew up very poor in a fractured family that was dysfunctional on both sides". He decided to become an  actor when he was 14 after joining his high school's drama club. He attended the John Casablancas Modeling and Career Center in Los Angeles, where he was signed by an agency and began auditioning for commercials. Career. Stanfield's first acting role was in the short film "Short Term 12" , Destin Daniel Cretton's thesis project at San Diego State University, which won the Jury Award for U.S. Short Filmmaking at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. A year later, he appeared in the short film "Gimme Grace" (2010). While continuing to keep his dreams of acting alive, he went  on to work a number of different jobs such as roofing and gardening, and jobs at AT&T and a legal marijuana dispensary, before he was contacted by Cretton to reappear in a feature-length adaptation of "Short Term 12". It was his first feature film role. During production, Stanfield practiced method acting, distancing himself from the other cast members like his character. He was the only actor to appear in both the short and feature versions. The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the 2013 South by Southwest film festival, and Stanfield was nominated for  the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. In 2014, Stanfield co-starred in "" and "Selma", in the latter playing civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson. In 2015, he appeared in the films "Memoria" and "Miles Ahead". He also starred in the fantasy horror thriller film "King Ripple" by filmmaker Luke Jaden, and appeared in the music video for the Run the Jewels song "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)". In 2015, he portrayed rapper Snoop Dogg in the biopic "Straight Outta Compton". In 2017, he played L in Adam Wingard's adaptation of the popular Japanese fantasy-thriller  manga series "Death Note", for Netflix. Also that year, he starred in the music video for the song "Cold Little Heart" by English singer Michael Kiwanuka, and appeared in the critically acclaimed horror film "Get Out". In 2018, he starred as Cassius "Cash" Green in the critically acclaimed dark comedy film "Sorry to Bother You". In 2019, Stanfield starred as Nate Davis in the Netflix romantic comedy film "Someone Great". In the same year, he played Lieutenant Elliot in the mystery film "Knives Out". He had starring roles in the films "The Photograph" (2020) and "Judas and the Black Messiah  (2021). His portrayal of FBI informant William O'Neal in the latter was critically acclaimed and garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Music career. Stanfield performs under the stage name Htiekal and is currently working on his debut album, Self Control". He is a member of a band named Moors. Personal life. Stanfield has been in a relationship with actress Xosha Roquemore since 2015. They have a daughter born in June 2017. He lives in the Hollywood Hills. In May 2021, Stanfield's presence as a moderator on an anti-Semitic chat room on Clubhouse  was criticized. Stanfield stated that he had joined the chat room and remained in it after the participants made him a moderator, admitting fault for not leaving or ending the discussion "when several users made abhorrent anti-Semitic statements." Stanfield apologized and stated that he only joined to learn more about Louis Farrakhan and anti-Semitic beliefs from a purely educational standpoint. Some rebuked his response by pointing to a 2013 music video of his called "Swastikas and Bones", featuring imagery of a swastika on his forehead.