Kamal Bolden is a rising star! With star appearances in the NBC thriller heist “The Endgame”, the star is proving he is on his way onto stronger roles.
He plays a former FBI agent, ‘Owen Turner’ who is sentenced to ten years in prison for his involvement with a drug cartel. The drama-series also follows the world’s most wanted criminal masterminds who battle with authorities all while in custody. This series premiered on February 21st, and is out now! Bolden has also been seen on Insecure, as ‘Brandon’ the award-winning comedy series on HBO, Rosewood, The Resident, and Chicago Fire.
Photo Credits: Shannon Barr, Strategic Public Relations
The star sits down with us here at The Knockturnal, to talk to us more about his upcoming role in an AMC drama series, titled “61st St ”. Produced by Michael B. Jordan, the series follows a hard working black high school track athlete who is on his way to a promising future, but is also caught-up in a drug and gang related lifestyle. His future quickly fades as he is swept into corruption by the Chicago criminal justice system. Bolden, will star as ‘Officer Young’, who plays the role of an officer who works within this system dedicated to locking up criminals.
Here’s more on what the actor has shared regarding his role in the series and more:
The Knockturnal: What was the experience like working on set for the show 61st Street?
It was something like I’ve never felt before. We shot all my character’s story on location, not a soundstage, so it felt surreal for me. I used to live on the Southside but wearing the full CPD uniform, driving the squad car, and walking through gray stones and brownstones as a cop, now that’s a different sandwich. Everything was so real. And our showrunner, J. David Shanks, was a former CPD officer, our crew was from Chicago, so nothing felt like a TV Show—it was as close to theater as I’ve gotten in my film career. Chicago is a blue-collar city, ya know. Full of hardworking, down-to-Earth people. So, working on 61st Street felt like a big family. No one was walking around ‘in character’ because the characters were already in them, and I think that will show up on the screen.
The Knockturnal: What is your favorite part about playing your character?
My favorite part about playing Officer Young was simply being a cop. I’m a Fraternity guy, I pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. in college so being part of Brannigan’s (Holt McCallany) unit reminded me of the bond I share with my Frat brothers. The jokes and cutting up, the deep conversations, the support, and spending time away from work, was all essential to authentically portraying CPD officers.
The Knockturnal: Where did you experience any challenges playing your character?
My biggest challenge was getting out of my head about the choices Young makes throughout his arc. Some were very hard to understand, but that’s because I’ve never been a Black police officer patrolling the southside of Chicago. It’s easy to assume you know where a character that is a cop is coming from just from the words on the page, but it’s deeper than that. I owed it to Young to peel back the layers behind his every thought. The conversations I had with my showrunner, J. David Shanks, who is a former CPD, were very helpful with that.
The Knockturnal: Is there anything you’ve learned during the creation of the series? If so, what is it?
I learned that telling a good story takes time. There were so many moments on set when we paused shooting just to talk about anything an actor was feeling about the circumstances surrounding the scene. Most times these pauses had nothing to do with the actual words on the paper, but more about the impact the story had on us as artists, and many times these conversations would spur new ideas which found their way into the script. There was no rush to get scenes shot, time and space was given for discussion, and I learned that’s necessary to telling the story authentically.
The Knockturnal: What is your favorite part about filming on-set?
My favorite part about being on set was hanging out with my partner ‘Frater,’ played by Ben Marten. The guy is the happiest, most positive person I’ve ever met. He literally changes the air around him. We pray together, rehearse lines, and clown around so much, the crew has a running joke that we’re going to get our own sitcom spinoff: Frater & Young.
The limited drama series, “61st St.” is set to premiere on April 10th.
