Glover: The Great Geek

One month has passed since Spider-Man: Homecoming has been in theaters. Recently, actor Donald Glover has spoken with The Hollywood Reporter about his appearance in the film. In addition to that, he also pondered working on other projects as well as the past, present, and future.

THR says what makes Glover so successful is his restlessness and dissatisfaction with where he is in life and that he will always strive towards improvement. This interview with Arsenio Hall four years ago corroborates to that fact:

Donald and his younger brother, Stephen, were not allowed to watch television when they were children. Consequently, their imaginations were what kept them preoccupied. Glover witnessed some unfortunate events growing up:

“I saw kids dying of AIDS in our house, people getting stabbed, and drug dealers stealing people’s address books so they could get to my house because people [who lived there] owed them money.”

However, despite everything that happened, he continued to work towards the top of the food chain. Glover told THR:

“I wanted to build my own world because then you get to make the world a little safer.”

Glover teaches fellow geeks that these misfortunes in life should not stop us from working towards our goals. There is always a purpose to where you are in life, no matter how big or small.

After graduating from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in dramatic writing in 2006, he found himself writing for NBC’s 30 Rock, then left to be an actor in the television network’s show Community. Both Tina Fey and Dan Harmon were supportive of his aspirations. Glover lasted 4 seasons in the Harmon-run sitcom, and after appearing in a few episodes of its fifth season, he left to pursue other dreams. The Rick and Morty creator had this to say about Glover’s departure:

“I needed to convince myself that Donald leaving wasn’t the death of the show, but now that it’s all over, I think we can agree that it was.”

Since 2008, Glover performed on stage under the rap moniker, Childish Gambino. Of all his musical works, his sophomore album Because the Internet received two Grammy Award nominations. He has also created, directed, written, and produced Atlanta, an undoubtedly successful show which–since its debut on FX–has won a myriad of laudable awards.

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Spider-Man: Homecoming

Warning: Spoilers ahead! If you have not yet seen Homecoming, do not read any further. Either skip this section, or read at your own risk.

In Community‘s second season premiere, his character–Troy Barnes–was seen in Spider-Man pajamas. This sparked a Twitter campaign under the hashtag #donald4spiderman, which began circulating on the web (no pun intended) in 2011, back when Sony rebooted the Spider-Man franchise with director Marc Webb’s (coincidental pun) The Amazing Spider-Man. However, the role of Spider-Man was given to The Social Network actor Andrew Garfield, who went on to play Peter Parker in TASM and its sequel.

On the bright side, this controversial occurrence inspired the character Miles Morales to be written into the Marvel universe as the next web-slinger after the death of Ultimate Spider-Man/ Peter Parker.

Several years followed and director Jon Watts wanted to include Glover in Homecoming in a small, yet crucial role as a character and an Easter Egg that would help pave way for Morales to be involved in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Glover recalls what Watts told him:

“If you don’t do [the role of Davis/Prowler,] we aren’t going to [include] it [in the movie].”

The Hollywood Reporter further explains:

“[Glover’s acceptance as the role of Aaron Davis] could prove more significant if the studio decides to greenlight a rumored spinoff about Miles Morales, the nephew of Glover’s character. [He also is] not ruling out a future with Spider-Man.”

 

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Star Wars

Last year, The Martian actor landed the role of Lando Calrissian in the untitled Han Solo film. During the interview with THR, he deemed it “the biggest boat you can be on.” When he was a child, his father Donald Sr. introduced him to the Star Wars franchise and also gave him a Lando action figure. In fact, his father is a huge fan of the franchise.

With the Stars Wars shirt and everything 🙏 pic.twitter.com/JRcaop5u4P

— Complex (@Complex) August 10, 2017

When Glover secretly met with previous Lando actor Billy Dee Williams for lunch earlier in late-January, he had so many questions. Glover told THR:

“[When I spoke with Williams,] I was like, ‘I’ve always felt like this character could do this, and he represents this, and I kind of feel like he comes from here, and it’s very obvious he has a lot of taste, so maybe he grew up seeing that from afar? Because I’m like that. Maybe he saw it from other planets and was like, ‘I want to be that.’ “

When asked what he thought about such possibilities, Williams replied, “Just be charming.”

After Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s departure from the project and Ron Howard replacing them as director, Glover reportedly felt like a baby or the youngest child in a divorce. Although, this was just something he had to cope with.

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Glover also has an animated Deadpool series and the live-action Lion King remake along the way. The interviewer of THR likened him to a number of legendary names in the entertainment industry, some of which were Louis C.K. and Chris Rock. The Atlanta creator ended the interview with this:

“I can be a very sweet guy, but I don’t like being told what things are and how things are going to work. Life’s all just a big puzzle, and it was created by people before me.”

This moral of the story: no matter the trials and tribulations (and despite the ebbs and crests) in life, no one should keep you from doing what you want.

The possibilities are infinite. Always look for the good in all the bad, and you will eventually find yourself where you hope to be.

This is the case with Donald Glover, and this is why he deserves everything coming to him. The biggest lesson that can be learned is that being a geek has its perks. He too was bullied, but that did not preclude his success. In time, you just have to learn to embrace all harsh scrutiny.

The untitled Han Solo movie is expected to blast into theaters on May 25, 2018. For now, Spider-Man: Homecoming is in theaters everywhere. For more Donald Glover, and Spider-Man, Star Wars, Deadpool, and Lion King-related news, don’t forget to follow Geek Motivation on Twitter (@GEEKMOTIVATION) and Instagram (@geekmotivation)!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Written By: John Tangalin