My latest subject, Ato Blankson-Wood, was recently nominated for a Tony award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Slave Play, which garnered acclaim for challenging theater norms and highlighting race, gende,r and sexuality in an American historical context. Ato, a Maryland transplant, born of Ghanian parents, moved to New York to be at the center of it all, and has that “it” factor that special folks in this city tend to have. He walks the line of warm and open, but also seems like the kind of person you wouldn’t want to cross. There’s a quiet strength about him. I’d love to see Ato in Slave Play, and luckily we all can since it’s returning to Broadway for a limited engagement beginning November 23.
Below, we discuss why he moved to New York, his involvement and process working on Slave Play, what he wore to the Tony Awards, how he fared during the pandemic, and plenty of other topics.
You're from Maryland. What are your thoughts about New York as a city? What about New York as a style capital—does it have an influence on your own style?
I’m originally from Silver Spring, Maryland but I very much consider myself a New Yorker. This city is truly the greatest on earth. The energy here is unmatched. Whether we’re talking about culture, population, architecture, or style, I love how eclectic the city is and that it has something for everyone. I feel like that all-embracing energy gives so much room for people to express their individuality through clothing and there are so many places in this country (and world) where individuality doesn't have the space to express itself. It's so inspirational for someone like me, who likes to try new things stylistically. I can see someone walking down the street in something and be awed. Or not. Either way, it shapes how I think about how I’m expressing my individuality through style.
Congratulations on your Tony nomination for Slave Play. Can you tell me about the play, and your involvement? How did you get the role, and what did your preparation for the role entail? Did this differ from your normal process prior to such success?
Thanks! I won’t say too much because it is best to encounter the play with as little knowledge of the plot as possible. The play is an intense, complicated, and funny examination of race. Specifically, how America’s history of chattel slavery affects how Black people and white people relate in America today. I guess you could say I became involved when I met our playwright Jeremy O. Harris the summer before he started at Yale. He was already at work on what would become Slave Play and in his second year, I went to see the workshop production at Yale and was blown away. That day, I told a friend that if the play came to New York I needed to be involved. I was fortunate enough to do a developmental reading and then auditioned for the NYTW production and got the role. My prep for SP was minimal, which is unusual for me. From an acting standpoint, I knew that the play was one of those plays that is a train you get on and allow to work on you. It also helped that in my personal life I had encountered much of what my character has to confront in the play.
How did you arrive at acting? When, and how, did your journey begin, and what have you done to cultivate your art over the years?
I started acting when I was a kid. My mother introduced me to all of the Rodgers & Hammerstein movie musicals, which I loved. I was painfully shy and the stage was the only place that I felt free and bold and as a middle child it was so necessary to find my thing. Once I figured out that I was kind of good at it, I committed. I did all the plays I could through middle and high school then enrolled at NYU to continue training and eventually found myself at the Yale School of Drama. I still try to get to class when possible, just to stay sharp and deepen my work.
Does dressing up in a costume impact the process of transforming yourself for a role?
The costume is huge for me when transforming for a role. It can spark new ideas about what this person thinks of themselves, how they carry themselves physically and energetically, and how they want to be perceived.
When theaters closed during the pandemic, what did you do to continue practicing your craft and expressing your art?
I was very fortunate to be in Los Angeles with my family when the pandemic shut things down. I spent time with my sisters and their families and I really took time to reconnect with myself outside of my craft and art. That’s something that isn’t really valued in the hustle culture of show business but if you’re not experiencing anything other than the business, how can you draw from your experience to put full and complex human beings on stages and screens?
This will publish after you appear at The Tony awards, but I was curious if this was your first major award show, and if so, what you did to prepare for it? What did you wear, and how did you decide?
The Tony Awards were my first major award show and I had no idea what to expect. I tend to overthink and worry leading up to a big event so I was very intentional about maintaining my peace. Luckily, I have incredible friends and family who kept me grounded. I worked with my publicist Kelli Jones and stylist Von Ford to land on wearing Thom Browne. Something that I love about Thom Browne, besides how amazingly clean and chic the silhouettes are, is that they live at the intersection of classic and fashion forward, and I love how much they play with the idea of gender through their clothing.
What do you look for in a garment when shopping for new clothes? Do you have any favorite brands, and if so, why?
When I’m shopping for something new, I look for how the garment makes me feel. I take forever in a dressing room because the clothes and I are communing. I’m only slightly joking about that. Ha! I want to feel some combination of powerful, confident, soft, and sexy whenever I put something on. I absolutely love vintage shopping but I also love that social media has introduced me to so many international brands, too. There’s a great Nigerian brand called Orange Culture and I love how they play with color and their silhouettes are so inventive.
