Arts & Entertainment
Star Talks About Portland
A Lesson Before Dying
By Bruce Poinsette
Special To The Skanner
News
Russell Hornsby
percent non-Hispanic White
population. In comparison,
Portland has a population of
583,776. Its Black popula-
tion is 7.8 percent and the
non-Hispanic whites make
up 73.9 percent.
The lack of diversity in
the city has also played a
role in the casting of extras
on “Grimm.”
Hornsby says there is a
need for diversity amongst
extras and guest stars on the
show.
‘We need more Black extras.
More Black guest stars. More
Hispanic guest stars. More
Asian guest stars’
York, you pretty much
expect not as much diversi-
ty in the smaller cities.”
Hornsby says that also
played a part in his deci-
sions to fly back to Los
Angeles on a regular basis.
In fact, he says he flies
home to L.A. every other
weekend, depending on
when his wife comes up to
visit. He says his wife, who
is also from L.A., enjoys the
change of pace of life in
Portland.
The 2005-2009 American
Community Survey con-
ducted by the US Census
Bureau estimates that L.A.’s
population is 3,796,840
people with a 9.8 percent
Black population and a 29.4
PHOTO COURTESY OF PROFILE THEATRE COMPANY
A
fter growing up in
Oakland, Ca., it has
taken actor Russell
Hornsby some time to
adjust to life in Portland.
“The dampness and the
gray can get to you,” he
says. “But after you’ve been
here for a while it becomes
endearing. I love the food
and the people. The proxim-
ity is nice in comparison to
the hustle and bustle of Los
Angeles and New York.”
Hornsby has considered
Portland a “wonderful rest
spot” since he came to the
city in March of last year to
shoot scenes for the show
“Grimm.”
But he says he found him-
self isolated for the first few
months of his time in Port-
land, partly due to the lack
of people of color in the
city.
“You go out and there are
not many people that look
like you,” he says. “Howev-
er, having lived in major
cities like L.A. and New
“Diversity is necessary,”
he says. “We need more
Black extras. More Black
guest stars. More Hispanic
guest stars. More Asian
guest stars.”
He notes that Portland has
a smaller pool of people to
pull from, which contributes
to the lack of diversity, but
he hopes more people of
color will come out to work
as extras on the show.
The NBC drama is set in
Portland and is inspired by
Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It
revolves around a homicide
detective who “is descended
from an elite line of crimi-
nal profilers known as
‘Grimms,’ charged with
keeping balance between
A mythological creature battling with the detectives
in ‘Grimm’
humanity and the mytholog-
ical creatures of the world.”
Hornsby plays the main
detective’s partner Hank
Griffin.
“He’s a veteran detec-
tive,” he says. “He’s cynical
and has been married and
divorced four times.”
Griffin is just the latest of
Hornsby’s credits, which
include roles in films like
“Meet the Parents” and “Get
Rich or Die Trying,” and
television programs such as
“Playmakers,”
“Lincoln
Heights” and “In Treat-
ment.”
Hornsby
says
that
“Grimm’s” producers chose
Portland as the setting
because of its ideal back-
drop.
“There are so many
forests and so much lush
green,” he says. “There is
incessant gray and rain.”
Hornsby says he’s often
on set for 15 to 16 hours a
day shooting “Grimm,”
which has limited his inter-
action with the city.
When he is not on the set,
Hornsby enjoys rock climb-
ing and spending time in
Powell’s bookstore.
“I’m a big fan of Walter
Mosley,” he says. “I enjoy
stories about the black
Every Man and how he nav-
igates through society.”
Hornsby says mysteries
are his guilty pleasure.
Recently he has been
buried in “Holler if You
Hear Me: Searching for
Tupac Shakur,” by Michael
Eric Dyson, which he says
is especially interesting
because 2pac was a big part
of his life growing up in
Oakland.
Besides Powell’s, Horns-
by has endeared himself to a
few other local spots includ-
ing Lovejoy’s Bakery,
where he gets breakfast and
pastries, and Irving Street
Kitchen. When he’s in town
he gets his hair cut at Terrell
Brandon’s Barbershop on
Alberta Street.
Currently, Hornsby is
back in L.A. waiting for the
word on whether Grimm
will be brought back for a
second season.
“We’ll start shooting
sometime in the summer if
and when we get the green
light,” says Hornsby.
Harold Warren and Carl Kennedy star in Profile Theatre’s production of
Romulus Linney’s ‘A Lesson Before Dying,’ from the Ernest J. Gaines novel,
through March 25. The play tells the story of Jefferson, a young black man
in 1948 Bayonne, La., wrongly accused and convicted of murder, and
sentenced to death in the electric chair. Determined to see that he meets
his inevitable end with the dignity of an innocent man, Jefferson’s
godmother, Miss Emma, enlists the help of the local black schoolteacher to
teach him life lessons she is unable to impart. And in the days leading up
to the execution, the teacher, Grant Wiggins, and Jefferson share
experiences that change them both. The cast is joining with the August
Wilson Red Door Project in the presentation of “mat-chat” conversations
with the cast following every Sunday performance of this production. For
tickets call 503.242.0080 or go to www.profiletheatre.org.
March 14, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 7