Movie fans are celebrating Brian Tyree Henry’s birthday today and pointing out some of his best performances. Comicbook fans are remembering his turn as Phastos in Eternals. While some other pop culture corners are chewing on his work in Bullet Train. However, when it comes to Brian Tyree Henry’s biggest claim to fame, it would be hard to leave out Atlanta. The Donald Glover show absolutely mesmerized critics and audiences alike when it debuted in 2016. The mix of oddball sensibility and genuine characters on-screen was too good to pass up. With Paper Boi (Alfred Miles), he formed the center that the rest of the ostensible main characters orbited. Earn might be the character we spend the most time with. But, Henry’s performance gave viewers something to hold onto.
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Eternals also put the spotlight on Henry. However, director Chloe Zhao was worried some elements of Phastos’ story wouldn’t make their way onto the big screen in all territories. “I don’t know all the details but I do believe discussions were had and there’s a big desire from Marvel and myself – we talked about this – to not change the cut of the movie. Fingers crossed,” Zhao recalled. “The way Phastos’ story plays out in the film is that he’s someone who only sees humanity as a whole and believes that technology’s going to solve the problem. Obviously, he lost faith in us for some very tough things that we’ve done. And then he had to stop looking at us as a whole and look at one person he falls in love with, and one child, to regain the face of humanity. It’s like us turning on the news and thinking it’s completely hopeless and then going home, looking at our lover and our child and going like, ‘Well actually this is worth fighting for.’”
She continued, “To position that family in that specific situation and to have that moment feel authentic and real… the audience has to feel that to care. Otherwise, there’s no point in putting that onscreen because they don’t feel it.”
What’s your favorite role from Henry? Let us know down in the comments below!
Y’all got this
Eternals hive is here
Making major moves
Beautiful shots
Two goats
A great look
Atlanta is so good
This is the big one
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Image Credit: Sony Pictures
