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The latest Starz hit drama series from executive producer Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson BMF has brought major attention to television’s new favorite villain, British actor Eric Kofi-Abrefa, who portrays Lamar.
In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, Kofi-Abrefa reveals how he perfected his Detroit accent in preparation for the role.
Kofi-Abrefa talks about what he knew about the infamous Black Mafia Family before taking on his role as Lamar in the series.
“I knew how much impact they’ve had on hip-hop culture and stuff, especially in the early 2000s,” Kofi-Abrefa shared with Digital Spy. “You always heard the name Big Meech circling around, and I’ve seen a couple documentaries on them and stuff,” he said. “Getting to know them now is mind-blowing in terms of the things that both of the brothers achieved, and where they came from.”
The British actor is one of the most skilled performers on the show. Many fans didn’t even realize Kofi-Abrefa was British.
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Kofi-Abrefa discusses how he and BMF showrunner Randy Huggins helped him prepare for the role.
“I was just looking at some articles, publications. Our showrunner Randy Huggins was sending me things just to kind of look over,” Kofi-Abrefa mentions. “Things about Detroit because it’s set in the ’80s, so we kind of had to go research like that period in time. It went from there really.”
As for perfecting the Detroit accent, Kofi-Abrefa says, “I’d always say like I was brought up in the ’90s, and in the ’90s, we were just dominated by American TV, like Nickelodeon, Disney channels and all that kind of stuff, and hip-hop music.”
He goes on to share how he trained his ears over the years:“So, I guess, my ears was very like tuned to it, you know, because that’s what we were listening to all the time. And African American culture was like Black mecca for like, every Black person around the world.”
It was a technical process for the skilled actor. Kofi-Abrefa continues, “That was maybe my foundation, but in terms of this it was just like when I was on set, I kind of would speak in the accent, more time than not. Just to get the muscularity around my mouth for it, because if I was to speak a little bit that way and then switch it, it can kind of muddle up. As weird [and] as corny as it felt sometimes, you just had to push through, do you know what I mean?”
Be sure to catch our new favorite villain in the first six episodes of BMF currently streaming on Starz. New episodes are released every Sunday on the network.
British Actor Eric Kofi-Abrefa Shares How He Perfected His Detroit Accent For His Role In ‘BMF’ was originally published on globalgrind.com
