"A Raisin In The Sun" Cast.

 

Ruth Younger

For the role of Ruth Younger I chose the actress Halle Berry. Halle Berry has taken on numerous roles during her career as an actress, a career spanning across almost 22 years since the late 1980's. However the one role that Mrs. Berry took on that I felt made her decent fit for the role of Ruth Younger was that of the character "Ororo Munroe" also know as " Storm" in the XMen films. Ororo was both a teacher and a mentor at the school that Professor Xavier founded for gifted children. I felt that Ororo was like Ruth Younger in the sense that they were both having to often take the defensive because of the judgment that they were under. Ruth lived in a society where she was considered an outsider and unwelcome because of her ethnic background. She lived in a world where women were limited to certain roles such as being the caretaker of the home and their children. Ororo just like Ruth was also misunderstood and had to hide behind the wall's of Professor Xavier's school because the human beings beyond those doors could not and would not accept her because of how different she was than those around her. However Ororo just like Ruth was a strong woman willing to defend her own including others like her who were being kept safe at Professor Xavier's school. I felt both Aroro and Ruth had the potential to be strong leaders if they were given the chance but were exhausted even frustrated because of the judgment they were under.

 In Response to Professor Martin's comment.

To further compare Ororo to Ruth Younger lets take a step back in time to Ororo's childhood. Now as we know through written history , African Americans were subjected to harsh judgment here in the United States. They were often ridiculed and even looked upon as nothing more than unwelcome outsiders who were kept segregated.I can only imagine that this is the same horror that Ruth was enduring during her own childhood and as the story " A Raisin In The Sun" shows , even in her young adult life at the hands of the neighbors who didn't want Ruth Younger or her family in their neighborhood. Ororo as well during her childhood was subjected to the same harsh and inhuman judgment. Imagine a young African child with white hair playing a game with her peers outside and then suddenly one of them hits this child with a stick. Followed by another and yet another until an entire mob is assaulting her with sticks. Then just as suddenly they all withdraw leaving the child laying there completely in pain and defenseless and not a single one came to her aid.Years later a family adopts Aroro  and raises her in Harlem , New York which was the same area of the United States that Ruth Younger was living in.

Taking a step forward into the future in the adult life of Aroro , we find one scene where she is comforting a young woman who was taken in by Xavier at his school. I feel that at this point in her life Aroro became  a mother figure to the recruited students at the school in the same way that Ruth Younger was with her son Travis.

I also feel that Halle Berry could also relate to Ruth Younger in the sense that they were both looked down upon by the men in their lives. Halle Berry was once subjected to the horrors of domestic violence as a young woman.I feel in certain ways  Ruth's husband was just starting to show the signs of domestic abuse against Ruth with the yelling and finger pointed that he engaged in. I am under the impression that behind the scenes of " A Raisin In The Sun" Ruth's husband had this dominant man of the house attitude where the opinions of the woman in the home were next to irrelevant.Below I have a clip in which Halle describes her experience with domestic violence.

 Travis Younger

For the role of Travis Younger I chose Tyler James Williams,who played the role of "Chris" on the tv show "Everybody Hates Chris".  The Character "Chris" lives in one of the boroughs of New York City in a working class community . Chris also attends an all white school where he is the victim of jokes by both instructors and students alike. I felt that Chris and Travis both faced alot of the same obstacles despite the fact that they lived in two different periods in American history. Travis just like Chris was under a great deal because of his race including limits on his career opportunities and support from his instructors. Chris also didn't have exactly the best encouragement at home due to a combination of a mother and her strict rules and a father who often times drove Chris off the edge with his random emotional ramblings.

To further illustrate the kind of world that Travis grew up in lets examine the following video clip above. Travis just like Chris was raised during a period in American history where African American children were subject to horrid acts of prejudice against them from both their peers and sadly even from their own instructors. As this scene clearly shows, Chris felt that the White children at his school hated him hence he wanted to be in a classroom with Latino's and Black children like him. You can also see during the scene that the teacher ranted on about how Black children were gang banger's at about 54 seconds into the video in fact she states " the black boys are all in gangs" and "the girls were all boogee" and lastly " dont even  get me started on the Puerto Ricans" . So I feel that thanks to this role I feel Tyler would be a good fit because he is already taking on the role of a boy who like Travis has spent his childhood being a victim of racial prejudice in his own surroundings.

Now we cannot forget Travis's Father Walter. In the show " Everybody Hates Chris" Chris's father works as a mechanic working long hours to make a decent wage to help his family. Just like Chris, Travis Younger's father was also working long hours and making the minimum wage to help support his family as a driver.

Walter Lee Younger

For the role of Walter Lee Younger I chose Denzel Washington when he was in his late 20's. Denzel starred in a film titled "Cry Freedom" which was set in the 1970's in an impoverished region of South Africa . The film was based on the true story of Steve Biko an activist whose mission was to bring global awareness to the injustice that was occurring in his region of the world. Biko just like Walter , lived in a world with very limited opportunities and constant plague of oppression  due to the society that he lived in. A society in which  non white human beings like him self were treated like they were zoo animals. I felt that Denzel Washington would be a tremendous addition to the cast of " A Raisin In The Sun" having played the role of someone who like Biko, a man who was trying to bring about a change for his people and quench that flame of oppression that held so many African men like him self and their families.

In one particular scene Steve Biko played by Denzel Washington is standing trial and stands in front of a panel of judges who are White. I felt that in a way Denzel's performance in this part of the film reflected the scene in which Walter confronts Mr. Lindner, stands his ground and refuses to take his money.  Steve Biko mentions how the black communities are being subjected to "desolation and hopelessness" . This is the same type of desolation and hopelessness that blacks like Walter were subjected to. In fact towards the end of the play " a raisin in the sun" Mr. Linder attempts to on behalf of the community where the Younger's bought their home in to bribe Walter and his family into selling off the property to prevent them from moving in. This was I feel an attempt on the part of the White members of the community to maintain the segregated trend they were living in and suppress the Black members of their communities.Below I have posted that scene for your viewing.

Beneatha Younger

For the role of Beneatha Younger I chose Kellie Shanygne Williams who plays the role of "Laura Winslow" on the show " Family Matters". On the show Laura Winslow is the straight A, intelligent and mature for her age daughter of Carl and Harriete Winslow who is also the crush of the clumsy yet inventive Steve Urkel. Laura just like Beneatha had big dreams for her career by aspiring to attend Harvard Law School and just like Beneatha she strived to maintain those high grades in order to turn her dreams into a reality. Laura also like Beneatha grew up in a world where women were expected to take on certain roles although things had changed quite significantly in the 80's for African Americans. Still Laura was subjected to scrutiny by the world around her because she was a black woman just like Beneatha. I felt that Kellie would do extremely well since she played the role of Laura who was an extremely mature and career oriented character just like Beneatha.

Lena Younger

For the role of Lena Younger I could think of no other actress and author than Dr. Maya Angelou. Dr. Angelou grew up in a world where individuals like her self were looked upon as simply objects to be avoided and disposed up. Spending the early part of her years before African American's were even allowed to stand alongside Caucasians, Dr. Angelou experienced the same horrific oppression and struggles that both Lena Younger and her parents did in the early part of the 19th Century. When I think of Lena I envision a woman who possesses many scars across her spirit but in the midst of those marks I see an incredible amount of wisdom and courage , the kind of spirit that Dr. Angelou possesses even today. Dr. Angelou was an example among great examples just as Lena of women who fought against the odd's to bring about the change that was needed so that their children could blossom and so that those seed's of promise such as the seed Lena had planted in that pot of hers could one day stand in the sun and flourish in its newly found freedom.

Dr. Angelou is also the author of the best selling book "I know why a caged bird sings" in which she gives a first hand account of the oppression and racism that she endured being an African American woman in the earlier part of the 20th century. Her lifetime of experience with these horrific events preceding the civil right's movement I feel would make her the ideal candidate for the role of Lena.

Joseph Asagi

For the role of Joseph Asagi I chose Sydney Portier . As a child Sydney grew up in the Caribbean and then moved to the United States. With a career that span's across the world of acting , directing and working in political circles I feel that Sydney would be the best match for Joseph Asagi. Currently  Sydney works as an ambassador for the Bahamas to Japan. I feel that this in alot of way's would be the kind of work that Joseph Asagi would undertake being that he wanted to go back to his homeland and serve the members of that community not to mention work with them to reach out to other countries to further educate them and better their living conditions.

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George Murchinson

For the role of George Murchinson I chose Alfonso Ribiero. Alfonso played the role of the annoying at times and arrogant Carlton Banks on the show " The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". Instead of trying to be original I felt that Carlton was far too infatuated with the idea of trying to please his rich parents and living up to that image of a highly educated aristocratic like gentleman living in an upscale neighborhood just as George Murchinson did in the story " A Raisin In The Sun". 

Karl Lindner

For the role of Karl Lindner I chose Kurtwood Smith from the show " that 70's show". Mr Smith was born in the year 1943 so he spent much of his young day's in the midst of the chaos that ensued America due to segregation and the fight for equal rights between African American's and Caucasian's. I felt that his personal experiences coupled with the mature roles that he has taken on during his film career would make him a great candidate for the role of Karl Lindner.

Bobo

For the role of Bobo I chose Martin Lawrence. Martin as an actor has played a whole assortment of comedy roles during the course of his acting career. One of the more memorable ones was "Martin Payne" in the show titled "Martin". I felt this character could easily relate to bobo , a man who the book describes as "mentally slow". And I honestly it is extremely difficult for an actor to find themselves at that level without breaking into a chuckle because of how out of their box they have to come in order to mimic the often times clumsy way's that a character has. And I feel no one could do this better than Martin Lawrence.