Small towns are notorious for close-knit but extended family trees and St. Matthews (S.C) is no different. The town of roughly 2,000 residents does have one discernible difference between itself and much of country in that it has produced two comic stars.
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Hailing from the same 1.9-square mile area, Marvel’s Luke Cage leading actor Mike Colter and the lady responsible for assembling the Suicide Squad in the DC Comics movie, Viola Davis, are second cousins.
The two did not grow up together, however, as Davis was born in 1965 and moved to Central Falls (RI) before Colter was born in 1976.
According to her biography, Davis attended Central Falls High School and was involved in the federal TRIO Upward Bound and TRIO Student Support Services programs. She was also enrolled at the Young People’s School for the Performing Arts in West Warwick (RI) where her talent was recognized by a director at the program — Bernard Masterson. Following graduation from high school, she studied at Rhode Island College and majored in theater. After graduating in 1988, Davis attended the Juilliard School, and was a member of the school’s Drama Division through 1993. After starting a successful career and winning a Tony Award she was awarded an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from her alma mater in 2002.
Colter stayed close to home and graduated from Calhoun County High School. He then spent a year at Benedict College, before transferring to the University of South Carolina. Colter graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theater in 1999. He would go on to obtain an MFA degree in acting from the Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts.
His first break into film was with a role in the movie Million Dollar Baby, in which he portrayed boxer Big Willie Little.
Suicide Squad was released in August of 2016 and is rated by users as the No. 70 comic-based movie in the ComicBook.com Composite Rankings with a score of 58.53.
It feels good to be bad…Assemble a team of the world’s most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government’s disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren’t picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it’s every man for himself?
Luke Cage released in September to much more critical and fan reviews. It is the No. 7 overall comic-base television show in the ComicBook.com Composite Rankings with a score of 87.36.
After a sabotaged experiment leaves him with super strength and unbreakable skin, Luke Cage becomes a fugitive trying to rebuild his life in modern day Harlem, New York City. But he is soon pulled out of the shadows and must fight a battle for the heart of his city–forcing him to confront a past he had tried to bury.
