Good vs. evil— there’s always a very thin line that separates the two, and that’s why we love superheroes.
The Knockturnal visited The Paley Center of Media for a special screening of an episode of the CW’s critically acclaimed Black Lightning. The show understands that a superhero’s story is only as good as its villain—and with the cold, ruthless, calculating Tobias Whale in the mix, this smart, relevant series has achieved must-watch status. After the episode was screened, it followed a panel discussion of the show and their characters.
The Knockturnal: What’s your favorite part about the show?
Cress Williams: You know I think my favorite part is playing kind of all the humanistic things that are Jefferson Piers. I love the stuff with the school, the stuff with the daughters, the stuff with Lynn – kind of all the normal human family interactions but I think it’s the most relatable and as an actor, it’s kind of the most fun to get into.
The Knockturnal: What do you and your character (Jefferson Piers) have in common?
Cress Williams: You know a lot! Interestingly enough my oldest daughter is from a previous marriage and I have full custody of her, so I think that whole thing where he had his two daughters and he has full custody. Education is huge for me, I decided I wanted to be an actor but I also wanted to go to college and finish college. Nobody in my family had done it, so I decided to go that route then I went to college, majored in theater and thank god – I finished. Education is huge in our household and I think that’s the backbone for Jefferson. Family is number one for me. Clearly you watch the show, you know family is number one for him. It made it really easy when I was reading the script to identify with him.
The Knockturnal: What can fans expect from Season 2?
Cress Williams: It’s building. I think if they’re caught up they can see that it’s building. If they’ve seen the finale of season one, season two – It takes everything and multiplies it. It’s kind of like season one on steroids. The family has been dealing with so much chaos. There’s so much going on with everyone, I think even more than it they were last season. They’ve been a bit distracted while Tobias and the government and all these things start to happen. We’re going to build to all the stuff that’s coming ahead. It leaves a cliffhanger that’s pretty exciting!
The Knockturnal: Are you doing any new projects soon?
Cress Williams: I am! I’m working on a few independent films right now. I’m actually working on it simultaneously. One is called The Reckoning and the other one is called A Violent Heart. We’re doing the literally right now, all to come in the month of February so I look forward to talking about those later.
The Knockturnal: Tell me what you and your character have in common?
Marvin “Krondon” Jones III: Well we both dress really nice. We both love jazz. We read a lot. We don’t like laziness of any kind.
The Knockturnal: In the Black Lightning, in the comics, before you guys were going to be in this role – who was your favorite villain and superhero?
Marvin “Krondon” Jones III: Batman and The Joker was my favorite villain by far.
The Knockturnal: Are you working on any upcoming projects?
Marvin “Krondon” Jones III: Yeah, I don’t know if you know but I was in the new Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. And I got a project, it’s actually a biopic that I’m working on. It’s going to take a while to finish, but I’m going to be playing the reggae artist Yellow Man.
The Knockturnal: Any new music coming out?
Marvin “Krondon” Jones III: No music right now, the biopic is based around music but none of my own music coming out. Soon though!
The Knockturnal: What can fans expect to see in the upcoming part two season 2 for your character?
Marvin “Krondon” Jones III: I’m excited about the episode tonight! You’re going to see different sides of Tobias, that’s all I’m going to say.
