When They See Us Star Jharrel Jerome Calls Live-Action Miles Morales Spider-Man His “Dream” Role

It would be "tight" to play a live-action Miles Morales, says When They See Us star Jharrel Jerome. The 22-year-old actor portrayed 16-year-old Kevin in the Best Picture-winning Moonlight before appearing as Korey Wise in the Ava DuVernay-directed Netflix series When They See Us — which won Jerome his first Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie — and the rising star picks the Ultimate Spider-Man as his dream role should the fan-favorite character make the swing to live-action. Morales most famously headlined Sony Pictures' CG-animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, where the teenaged Miles was voiced by Dope star Shameik Moore.

"It's been a dream," Jerome told Variety when asked what's next after the Critics' Choice Awards, where he was named best actor in a limited series for When They See Us. "When you dream of being an actor, you don't know exactly what kind of actor you'll be or what role you'll have. So the fact that I'm in this position, at this age, I feel grateful and I want to just keep moving forward and doing it for my people, that's all."

Asked to name his "dream role," Jerome had no hesitation: "Miles Morales, live-action Spider-Man," he said. "That would be tight, that would be tight."

Jerome might have to win the role from the 24-year-old Moore, who hopes to one day portray the character despite most iterations of Miles depicting him as a younger teenager. When MTV asked Moore if he would consider suiting up as the Miles Morales Spider-Man in live-action, Moore said, "Most definitely."

"I definitely want to be the live action Miles Morales. I understand that he's a young kid, but hopefully you know, they can play with time and put me in there," he added. "But I'm thankful for the opportunity. I would love to be fighting Venom as Miles, with Tom Hardy. You know what I mean? That would be great. I would love to play on screen with my favorite actor out right now." Saying he resembles Miles, Moore added, "All I have to do is cut my hair, so let's make it happen."

Despite being a Sony-controlled character on the big screen, seeds have already been planted for Miles to potentially one day appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The character was referenced when Spider-Man (Tom Holland) crossed paths with Miles' uncle, small-time thief Aaron Davis (Donald Glover), in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

"I was jealous, I wanted to do the Miles story, too," Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home director Jon Watts told Business Insider in a previous interview when asked about Spider-Verse. "But it's one of those situations that they did it so beautifully that you can't be mad. You just have to sit back and enjoy it."

When They See Us is now available for streaming on Netflix.