A former football player, who was considered one of the best defensive players in the National Football League, Nnamdi Asomugha has since kicked his film career into high speed with a string of projects.
An actor and producer, his breakout performance was his first feature film lead role in the Amazon Studios film “Crown Heights” in 2017. The following year, he made his New York stage debut at the Vineyard Theater in Ngozi Anyanwu’s play “Good Grief.”
A Broadway debut followed in the first Broadway production of Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “A Soldier’s Play,” which opened on January 21 and he recently finished filming a recurring role in the Quibi series “When the Street Lights Go On” opposite Queen Latifah. In his latest film “Sylvie’s Love,” Asomugha plays Robert, a saxophonist who spends late nights playing behind a less talented but well-known bandleader.
When he takes a part-time job at the record store, he begins a romantic relationship with Sylvie (Tessa Thompson), who spends her summer days helping around her father’s record store, as she waits for her fiancé to return from war.
Writer/director Eugene Ashe combines romance and music into a sweeping story that brings together changing times, a changing culture, and the true price of love in this romantic drama set in New York in the summer of 1957. A passion project for Ashe, the film was inspired by old photographs of his family from the 1950’s.
“I was very lucky to have the incredible partners in Tessa and Nnamdi when crafting their characters,” shares Ashe. “Each brought something unique to them to the film. Tessa brought her passion for women’s rights, shown in her character’s transformation from someone who is in an arranged marriage to someone who takes control of her life and makes decisions on her own.
At its core, the film is about that universal desire we all have. I hope that people will see themselves in Robert, Sylvie, and their story, and — for two hours, at least — surrender any cynicism they may have about love.”
“Sylvie’s Love” releases on Amazon Prime Video December 25. Check out the trailer below:
Samantha Ofole-Prince is an entertainment journalist who covers industry-specific news. Follow her on twitter @SamanthaOfole.
Leave a Reply