Terrence Howard to visit Emerson

Academy Award–nominated actor Terrence Howard will visit Emerson to discuss his career and his experiences as an African American in Hollywood on February 28 as part of African American Heritage Month 2012. The event, sponsored by student organization EBONI, will take place in the Semel Theater at 6:00 pm and is open to the Emerson community. (A limited number of tickets are available to reserve at rsvpevents@emerson.edu.)

Howard is best known for his Academy Award– and Golden Globe–nominated role in Hustle & Flow. Some of his other major roles have been in Crash, for which he received a National Board of Review Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and Red Tails, a film about the Tuskegee Airmen in theaters now.

Actor Terrence Howard will talk about his experiences as an African American in Hollywood during an event at Emerson next week.

According to Director of Multicultural Student Affairs Tikesha Morgan, the discussion will be done in the style of Inside the Actor’s Studio, with president of EBONI Christel Hyacinthe moderating the conversation.

“He’s a relevant performer with a lot of significant work in recent years,” said Hyacinthe. “It was really important for me personally that this year we get as our guest lecturer someone who is performing in the entertainment industry. We had Lee Daniels [a director] a few years ago and he was great, but it’s different from an actor’s perspective and I thought that would be interesting to learn about.”

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Howard began his acting career as Jackie Jackson in the ABC miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream, which was quickly followed by several TV appearances on shows such as Living Single and NYPD Blue.

He made his film debut in 1993 in Who’s the Man?, which he followed with the role of Cowboy in the period saga Dead Presidents. In 1995, Howard was noticed for his role as a star high school athlete in Mr. Holland’s Opus, and soon after was offered a lead role in the UPN TV series Sparks. In 1999, Howard was honored with the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor, an Independent Spirit Award nomination, and a Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination for his role as Quentin in The Best Man.

Howard will be playing Nelson Mandela alongside Jennifer Hudson in the upcoming film Winnie. Also in 2012, he will appear in On the Road alongside Garrett Hedlund and Viggo Mortensen.