Actor James Moses Black chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about “S.O.Z Soldados o Zombies,” “Lansky,” and “Queenpins.”
He currently stars as U.S. Army colonel Colonel Murduch in the new Amazon Prime Video TV series “S.O.Z Soldados o Zombies,” which premiered on August 6. “We shot that in Durando, Mexico, and Mexico City, and it was good. It is an action-packed new way to look at zombies coming from the dead. I try to turn them into fighting machines,” he said.
Black was drawn to playing Colonel Murduch due to the “rawness that he brought.” “I thought he was a guy that didn’t have a lot of natural care about people,” he said. “I enjoyed his stoic look at life.”
He also has a supporting role in Vertical Entertainment’s “Lansky,” starring Harvey Keitel. “When I first got the call, they told me they wanted me to be in this mob movie. I told them to ‘wait up since there are no black people in the mob.’ They wanted me to head of the FBI Department in Florida, and I told them there are no black people in the FBI. I put myself in that position and I wound up playing the director who was in charge of the FBI in Florida. It was a cool experience, and Harvey Keitel is a legendary actor,” he explained.
“We shot that in Mobile, Alabama, during Mardi Gras season so that was crazy,” he added.
In addition, he can also be seen in STX Entertainment comedy, “Queenpins,” starring Kristen Bell and Vince Vaughn, which opens in theaters nationwide on September 10. “They have a nice little ensemble cast. Although it’s a comedy, it’s a true comedy about a woman who took advantage of a loophole in the system,” he said.
A native of Portsmouth, Virginia (his father served in the U.S. Navy for 22 years), Black later moved to Pittsburgh, where he graduated from South Hills High School. As far as his performing career goes, he says that he “got the bug straight out of the womb.” One of his first memorable roles was the sixth grade non-speaking part of Snoopy in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
On being an actor in the digital age, he said, “I am working so that is all that I can ask for. There is a lot of content out there to fill so that’s good. It’s not like before. Now, with the digital age, you don’t have to go a location anymore, you can do self-tapes.”
Adept at comedy, he started performing stand-up routines at the University of Minnesota, before he transferred to Central State University in Ohio, where he received his degree in business. He was already performing at Andrew Ford’s Comedy Club in Columbus, Ohio, and traveled with Russell Simmons’ HBO comedy tour.
Black later won the role of Boggs, the creepy convict in the play adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption, before departing for San Francisco, where he studied at the American Conservatory Theater.
He made his television debut in “The Orlando Jones Show” and he hasn’t stopped working since. His additional television credits include “The Practice,” “The King of Queens,” “Gilmore Girls,” “JAG,” “The Unit,” “Ugly Betty,” “Entourage,” “Dexter,” “Life,” “Southland,” “Shameless,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “Criminal Minds,” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Aside from his acting, Black put on his entrepreneur hat and started a clothing company called Jimmywear, which he later sold, and he is currently working on a number of screenplays.
For young and aspiring actors, he said, “Love it or leave it, you have to love it. If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. If you are on the fence about it, it’s not going to happen for you. If you love it, it is just a part of the journey.”
He listed Oscar winners Meryl Steep and Viola Davis his dream acting partners in the business. “I would also like to push up against Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci,” he said.
Black defined the word success as “taking care of your family.”
To learn more about actor James Moses Black, check out his IMDb page and follow him on Instagram.
