Daveed Diggs, best known for appearing in the original run of Hamilton and his too-short stint on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, is about to be everywhere. The actor booked a lead role in TNT’s Snowpiercer, based on Bong Joon-ho’s movie of the same name, and he’s also the star of Blindspotting, which played to strong reviews at the Sundance Film Festival and South by Southwest.
Directed by Carlos López Estrada and written by real-life pals Diggs and Rafael Casal, Blindspotting is about what happens after Collin (Diggs), who’s on probation, witnesses a white police officer shoot an unarmed black man in Oakland, and how that affects his relationship with his best friend, Miles (Casal). That’s a heavy premise, but the film is also very funny, with strong supporting turns from Janina Gavankar, Ethan Embry, and Wayne Knight.
“Nobody in the film is trying to solve a problem for the world, nobody has the resources or the time to sit back and philosophize about policy, right? This isn’t about policy, it’s about survival,” said Diggs when we spoke to him during SXSW. “You gotta laugh and live and get through it. And so that’s what we get to watch people do, laughing and enjoying their lives to the best their ability until something runs up against that and then you get to watch them deal with it.”
Here’s the official plot synopsis.
Collin must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles, work as movers, and when Collin witnesses a police shooting, the two men’s friendship is tested as they grapple with identity and their changed realities in the rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood they grew up in.
Blindspotting opens on July 20.
Change the way you see. #Blindspotting, co-written and starring @DaveedDiggs and @RafaelCasal, comes to select cities July 20. pic.twitter.com/CF1nr2xWvw
— Blindspotting (@BlindspottingTV) April 19, 2018
