The actor best known for his portrayal of “Young Randall” in NBC’s This is Us, has so much to offer the world of entertainment, including his new role as Eli, a teenage boy with high functioning autism.
For 16-year old Lonnie Chavis, despite his incredible accolades, there is still much more he wants to do within the entertainment industry. His newest project, How I Learned to Fly, directed by Simon Steuri, he plays Eli, a teenage boy who alongside his older brother, Daniel, (Marcus Scriber) discovers that his parents have mysteriously disappeared. The film focuses on how the brothers develop a daily routine and attempt to find a sense of normalcy in their parents absence.
In addition to taking part in this role, it was important for Chavis to have an authentic performance, as his character has high functioning autism. The actor has a personal connection to this storyline, as Chavis’ cousin has the same condition as his character. He shared with me how he worked with director, Simon Steuri, to create an honest performance in which audiences could resonate with Eli.
“My cousin is high functioning, he has autism and you can’t tell that he has autism..Like the little things he does, people could maybe pick out, but you can’t really tell. We wanted to show how you can’t really tell when it comes to that.”
Chavis also shared his excitement about the themes of “How I Learned to Fly”, as it is a different kind of Black coming-of-age story than most audiences are used to.
“It’s really a beautiful story about love and family, and really just brotherhood, because Daniel and Eli-they were all that they had…They just woke up and their parents were gone and now they got to find a routine and something to do everyday. And they’re looking out for each other.”
Chavis continued to describe his experience working alongside Marcus Scribner, who he says gives a surprising performance, much different than his comedic work.
“It was amazing working with Marcus…this was our first time to really get to know each other and we definitely had a bunch of laughs behind the scenes, he’s hilarious. And I feel like people will definitely be pleasantly surprised with his performance in this because he doesn’t really do roles like this per se, but he definitely did a phenomenal job. Everybody did.”
How I Learned to Fly is out now through limited screenings in the U.S. and will be on Starz in February.
