SILENCE & SPARK: THE TWO LANGUAGES OF ERNEST KINGSLEY JR.
BY IRVIN RIVERA
PHOTOGRPAHER: IRVIN RIVERA, GROOMING: KATHY SANTIAGO, DIGITECH: PHIL LIMPRASERTWONG, PHOTO ASST: ANDREW LOPEZ
Washington Black star ERNEST KINGSLEY JR. locks a scene with a small, deliberate movement- a steady inhale, a fingertip on a contraption, a smile that makes you feel the gears turning. In Washington Black, he carries that quiet inventiveness from Barbados to Nova Scotia as George Washington “Wash” Black, sharing the screen with Sterling K. Brown in a globe-spanning adaptation that shoots across Barbados, Iceland, Mexico, and Nova Scotia.
He talks like someone who did his homework: watching period films, digging into Barbados’s history, and letting research seed the silences where Wash’s grief and genius live. On set, he learned to hold wonder and weight together, to let joy in the lab scenes sing as loudly as the moments that ache, and to accept mentorship with both humility and hunger — “Follow your spirit — it very rarely leads you astray.”
Hi Ernest, how are you? What keeps you busy and excited aside from doing press for Washington Black?
Hey! I’m doing very well, thank you, and thanks for chatting with me! I like to keep busy in a couple of different ways. I love playing football twice a week (you guys call it soccer), it keeps me active and fit. I also love taking acting classes when I can and creating my own projects. I just like doing things where my brain and body are occupied, and I’m not thinking about anything else except the thing I’m doing!
Before landing your first major television roles in The Sparticle Mystery and The Sandman, you cut your teeth in stage productions like Is God Is at the Royal Court Theatre. How did the immediacy of live performance inform your ability to build emotional truth in front of a camera?
Well, I actually started those TV jobs before booking Is God Is, but I trained at a drama school that specialized in theatre training. Live performance is very raw. It’s muscle building for an actor. You’re forced to activate the deepest parts of your imagination in such an intense way, and that’s one of the main things I try to take with me when acting for the camera, that imagination.
In War of the Worlds, you navigated high‑pressure sci‑fi drama, and in Grace, you captured intimate character work. What lessons about pacing and presence did you carry into preparing for the dual timelines of Washington Black?
I think it was just knowing what story my character was telling in various moments. Through young Wash, we see him take in the wonder and wide expanse of the new world he’s thrown into and with endearing vulnerability. Whereas with older Wash, it’s that same wonder, but with more purpose and intention in his stride. I just had to be conscious of the new story that Wash is telling as he gets older.
Stepping into the role of George Washington “Wash” Black required embodying a character who evolves from an enslaved child in Barbados to a pioneering scientist in Nova Scotia. How did you research and reconcile those two halves of Wash’s journey?
I watched loads of movies, especially about the period of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, and I researched the history of Barbados and Canada (Halifax, in particular). It was important for me to know everything I could about the world I was stepping into, and to know where Wash was coming from. In doing that, it helps with understanding how he’ll go forward in the present timeline.
Filming across Barbados, Iceland, Mexico, and Nova Scotia, you worked alongside Sterling K. Brown’s Medwin Harris. What unexpected insights did you gain about mentorship and resilience by sharing those globe‑trotting scenes?
Traveling around the globe was incredible. Sterling EMMY Brown being on this project was a GIFT. One thing he’d always say to me during filming is to follow my spirit. When you follow your spirit, it very rarely leads you astray, so I try to hold on to that!
Wash’s inventive spirit and trauma both drive the story forward. How did you balance portraying his genius with honoring the weight of his past, especially in moments when silence spoke louder than dialogue?
I think pain is important. It’s important to see that weight, and to understand his emotional burdens. It’s through that, we see just how Wash even dreaming of a future for himself, is an act of defiance and courage. I just tried to make sure that I was showing the joy Wash finds with science and creating. As painful as certain scenes were, I tried to make sure that the joyful scenes were as joyful as they could be.
The series interweaves historical authenticity with adventure. How did collaborating with cultural consultants and historical advisors deepen your connection to Barbados’s true history and Wash’s stakes?
I didn’t speak to many advisors, to be honest with you! Most of it was my own research. Looking into documentaries, articles and interviews surrounding the history of Barbados was very useful. I understood the gravity of the circumstances so much more, and that in turn strengthens performance.
In interviews, you’ve mentioned feeling the responsibility of carrying a narrative of Black self‑authorship. How do you navigate that responsibility while trusting your instincts as an emerging lead actor?
I think you navigate it by doing exactly that: trusting your instincts. You do the research, you do the work, but when it comes it, you must trust yourself. There’s little room for self-doubt when endeavouring to give the story and role justice. So I tried to hold on to that, as hard as it was!
Beyond Washington Black, you speak passionately about educational access and mentorship for youth. How have your mentors influenced your career choices, and how do you pay that forward today?
Of course, I’ve mentioned Sterling being a massive mentor to me throughout this whole process. It’s been a blessing. But a lot of guidance has come from my college drama teacher seeing the potential in me, I think everyone needs that - someone who sees greatness in you, sometimes more than you see it! They make space for you and present the opportunity for you to shine, and I try and do that with the people around me. I try to uplift and create a space for all of us to rise together; be that through words of advice or making our own work together!
Between intense shoots you’ve shared on social media, how does painting, reading, and gardening help you reset?
You guys have done some research! I’m a fan of escapism, I think. I have nothing to ‘escape’ from, but it’s nice to take a breather from your life sometimes! I don’t do gardening, but I’m a big fan of nature. Walks in the park clear my head a bit. It’s the same with reading, you’re immersed in someone else’s world for a bit. It’s fun!
Looking back on the moment you first realized acting could be your life’s work, what inner conviction propelled you through the auditions and rejections that led you here?
Faith has brought me this far. I think you need to have some sort of faith when pursuing a career in the arts. For me, that faith comes from God. I just believe he’s conspiring in my favour; provided I have faith in it, and him.
As “Wash” steps into a world of scientific discovery, what kind of stories or characters are you most eager to explore next—whether on stage, screen, or page—and why do they call to you?
Great question. I love strong relationships! I like difficult relationships. Getting to play a role that navigates around a potent relationship, is something that always interests me. That could be on stage, screen, or a something that I write!
Reflecting on a year of living and breathing this role, what single insight about freedom, creativity, or community do you hope audiences carry with them long after Washington Black ends?
I hope people take the sense of possibility with them. You are not defined by your circumstances, or what your environment looks like. Within you, you hold the potential to envision a whole new world for yourself; filled with prosperity, longevity, and love. Your passions are not off limits, and your life is YOURS. So, take it!
In moments when the cameras stop rolling, what personal passions—be it music, travel or activism—reignite your sense of purpose and remind you why you chose this path?
Honestly, my path is constantly changing. I have a sense of purpose in my life, but I don’t think it’s tied to just acting; but acting is a part of it. Being surrounded by people, be it family or friends, reignites my purpose. Just having people to laugh with, to cry with, to live a wholesome life with, it makes me feel full, and therefore I want to put that fullness somewhere. Right now, it’s in acting!
If you were a book, what book would you be and why?
Wow. I think I’d choose Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. It’s the first book I remember reading and loving when I was a teenager. Percy always felt like an anomaly and was very othered a lot of the time. But him being different, turned out to be his biggest strength. I feel the same for myself in my life!
