Pop-Culturalist.com

Garfield Wilson is taking audiences on a ride with his commanding performance as Jackboot Kaffey in TNT’s Snowpiercer. Now in its second season, all bets are off and the stakes couldn’t be higher. We caught up with Garfield for an in-depth conversation about his career, Snowpiercer Season 2, what’s ahead, and his work as an activitst.

PC: How did you discover your passion for the arts?
Garfield: My dad brought home a vinyl album of the Jackson 5 when I was five or six years old. Looking at that cover, I knew I was going to be the kid [Michael Jackson] in the front and my brother was going to be Jermaine, because his afro was bigger than mine and I was smaller than him. Michael Jackson’s afro was like mine, so it made sense. We also both sang. That was the beginning of it all.

That turned into me being on the dance floor by myself, making a scene any time the Jackson 5 would come on, from house parties with my family to weddings and stuff like that. When I went to high school, I was in drama club and choir. Then, I found myself gravitating towards a college where I could be in a music program. After college, I led a very popular funk-soul R&B band. A stage manager saw me doing that and asked me to be Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar the following year. That’s when I caught the acting bug.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Garfield: The person that had the biggest impact on my career trajectory is Deb Podowski. She really instilled in me the principles and tools I needed to delve into the craft of acting. She’s my one and only acting coach. Over the last seven or eight years, she’s been instrumental—directly and indirectly—for the career that I have.

She really helped me navigate the anatomy of the audition room. Also, diving into her scene study class for a few years was intense. She represented to me what the industry is, which is maternal, fair and unfair, harsh, and also very giving. The actors that she has in her class—the students that I came up with—are some of the best actors that I’ve ever seen. That class was a magical place and still is.

PC: In addition to acting, you’re also a singer-musician. How has music made you a stronger actor?
Garfield: I originally wanted to be a singer and performer. My idols growing up were Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder. I grew up with that in my head and in my heart. You can’t fake your way on a stage; you have to feel it, you have to believe it, you have to ground yourself in the truth of what you’re singing and what you’re performing. If it’s not real, you’re not going to get anywhere.

So, making that transition from music to acting was a very smooth transition. Just using my voice and being able to use my voice technically, I was able to control and project my voice and do different things with my it in that scene study class. I always hear Deb Podolski saying, “You need to take some voice lessons or public speaking or singing lessons because you need to control your voice.” I already had that coming in. That was a really wonderful gift that I had that lends itself to a multitude of different gigs for me.

With acting, I landed a role on the new Apple TV series called Schmigadoon! starring Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key, produced by Cinco Paul and Lorne Michaels, and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. That was a straight-up musical comedy. I was really thankful that I had all of those years of music in my background to help me land that role and excel in the production.

PC: You’ve been really open about the ups and downs of this industry. When you look back at your career thus far, what’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
Garfield: The biggest lesson that I’ve subscribed to is the philosophy that this is my journey and no one else’s. If you look at every artist that’s in the film industry, you can never find another journey that is exactly the same. This business can really prey on your insecurities, your self-esteem, and your self-confidence because there is so much rejection. Then, you start to compare yourself to your peers and other people that are booking gigs or doing things that you feel that you’re able to do or that you’d like to do.

A paradigm shift for me about five or six years ago was that the only person that I need to be true to is myself. You hear that in a lot in inspirational TED Talks and things like that, but it’s really absolutely true in this business, you really have to find and discover your own voice and know that your journey is your own, and you will get there. Be true to yourself and don’t try to be somebody else.

PC: You’re starring in Snowpiercer and the series has been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences?
Garfield: Snowpiercer really reflects, in an ironic way, what society has been going through in the past year. I know for myself, I personally felt that it was definitely like an apocalyptic time going through the COVID shutdown worldwide, especially in March, April, and May, not knowing how this was going to play out or evolve. When are we going to get back to normal? What will be the new normal?

Snowpiercer is reflective of the global pandemic. You have these classes of people, like the first class, the middle-class, and the Tail. Those in the Tail don’t get the medical resources; they don’t have the best shelter, they don’t have the best food. They don’t have access to that. It is abundantly clear during this global pandemic that those of us that live check to check really rely on our jobs and never thought that day would come when we would lose our business that is our livelihood. That changes people. Who will become your allies? Who do you lean on? Who do you keep close?

PC: Season 2 just premiered. What can fans expect? How has your character changed from Season 1 to Season 2?
Garfield: Oh my goodness. When I first landed the role of Jackboot Kaffey, it was very clear that he was indoctrinated into what he believed in and what he was aligned to. Those alliances and that belief structure gets tested to their limits by the end of Season 1. Everything is off the table in Season 2. Everything that the fans loved in Season 1, where you assume or where you think you know where a character’s journey is going to be or how the story is going to evolve, that gets completely upended. There’s way more of that in Season 2.

PC: You’ve also said in previous interviews that your mission as an artist is to pay it forward. Have you always known you’ve wanted to use your platform to do so?
Garfield: I grew up idolizing some pretty iconic figures, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou, Muhammad Ali, and most recently, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama—people like that. There was a lot of racial unrest in 2020 and George Floyd. It was a very traumatic time for me as a Black man to see that happening in the time that we live in. But also, I’m a father, too. I wanted to teach my children what the reality of the world that they’re living in is and how the world looks at them and then educate them. I want to continue to have those tough conversations, but also to educate and inspire using my platform.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Garfield: My youngest daughter, who is twelve, is obsessed with a show that was super popular when I was young—she’s obsessed with Friends. She watches it. She knows the characters in and out. She’ll watch a season two times in a row. I’m cooking dinner and leaning out the kitchen and watching it, taking too long cooking dinner and laughing at the same time. That’s my guilty pleasure.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Garfield: That’s a tough one—I’m such a movie buff. I love those movies that provide that fly on the wall feeling. But, I would say my guilty pleasure is the first Superman movie with Christopher Reeve. I grew up being a comic book geek. I remember in 1978 when it came out. I was born in 1969, and I remember my parents taking us to see the movie and having a large box of popcorn. I remember the orchestra and the music. “You will believe a man can fly.” The experience of watching that when I was young was super impactful.

PC: Favorite book?
Garfield: I just started The Promised Land by Barack Obama. It was a gift for Christmas, and that’s been an amazing read. He’s just amazing all the way around. Like, he’s someone that I tell my kids, “This is how it’s supposed to be done.”

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Garfield: I love Glengarry Glen Ross. I was introduced to that early on in my drama career. I loved the movie and then I watched it again when a friend of mine, Darren Herbert, was starring in it at the Stanley Theater here in Vancouver. So, I just really love that.

Again, growing up, I remember the first drive-in movie my parents took us to see was a double-header, and it was Bruce Lee’s Return of the Dragon and Grease. Go figure! That was super impactful. I was like, “Holy cow. Grease is amazing.” I grew up on Welcome Back, Kotter. I was like John Travolta can sing and dance? That was really cool. I was a big fan.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Garfield: I really love Chris Cornell as an artist. His first album, Euphoria, front to back—I felt that emotion. I would go into this meditative zone and just escape. It was a really cool album. I grew up on Motown and soul, Sly and the Family Stone, the Temptations, all that stuff. Then, I got into Radiohead when I managed a record store.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Garfield: My son looks a lot like me, so he could play it. He could do it. I don’t know if he’d like to shave his head, though. He even sounds like me. He went to the dentist the other day and the dental hygienist had to treat me the next week. She was like, “It was like having a mini Garfield in my chair; it was so weird,” because his mannerisms are like mine. My son is also an actor. He’s got a guest-starring role in Riverdale coming up this month. He could definitely play me. He imitates me all the time and makes his sisters laugh at my expense.

To keep up with Garfield, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Snowpiercer every Monday at 9/8c on TNT.

Photo Credit: J Benson Photography