Keith David . Pure Magic. The sound of his voice. The rhythm of his walk. The manner in which he demands you do a double take. Mr. David is a proud man and you can get that from the way he carries himself.
It's not the kind of pride that is detrimental to a person. It's the rare kind of pride that one has for his ability to do a great job because it matters to him. The kind of pride that causes you to seek higher ground to promote the greater good for one's community.
We had the opportunity to take a couple of minutes to talk to David at The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) in Miami, and it was truly rewarding. His lead role is Mr. Daniels in the independent film, Magic City. The cast included The Wire star, Jamie Hector, and Jenifer Lewis among other great talent and a few brilliant newcomers.
The great history of David spans a few decades. His movie titles include Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop, Riddick, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, Armageddon and Platoon. His voiceover career is as equally impressive with Emmy Award-winning work as a narrator for various films such as The War, Goliath, Transformers, Princesses and The Frog, and the unforgettable voice for the United States Navy--the list goes on.
Story telling is one of his passions and it molds well into his desire to find exciting roles that best depict African-Americans. But there are challenges in this way he chooses his roles, some of which he admits to. David feels it is his next calling to go into directing films. But for now, when the opportunity comes before him to play a role that interests him, he is glad to take it. "I love working," admits David.
With enthusiasm like that I am saddened that we don't see more of him on the big screen and in our homes on the television set. David is one of the characters you either love to hate or want to be like. Either way his versatility makes him one cool, charismatic person--one that we can't seem to get enough of.
The Magic City has definitely sparked my interest enough to seek out the remainder of its cast and see what the future holds for our future movie stars.
So New York City, set your clock for 2:30pm, on September 21st, when Urban World Film Festival celebrates 17 years of bringing emerging filmmakers into our lives. The Magic City crew will take over mid-town Manhattan's AMC Theater. You won't be disappointed.
But let me tell you what you may have not known. Keith David is an AMAZING singer. He sounds like Nat King Cole. I was floored when I clicked on his page to hear the crooning voice. I repeatedly hit the refresh button, thinking there was some sort of a glitch in my computer, causing it to cross one of his songs with one of Nat King Cole's videos. But no mistake was made--it was the Keith David. I quickly scanned the website to see when next he was performing to catch a show.
Now that is talent.