On any given day it is not uncommon to run into Cacique Award winning actor Michael Cherrie nonchalantly wandering through Trincity Mall or casually strolling along Frederick Street, Port of Spain. But these days Cherrie has taken a path that is anything but laid-back. He is in the US working alongside Academy award winning actress Regina King (The Harder They Fall) in her upcoming movie, Shirley.
Cherrie has been cast as Conrad O Chisholm, the husband of political icon and trailblazer Shirley Chisholm (King) – the first African American woman to be elected to Congress and to run for the US presidency. He, understandably, is ecstatic.
“It is every actor's dream to nab a lead role in any production. I'm loving every minute,” he told Newsday in a phone interview.
Set in New York, the film was written and is being directed by Academy Award winner John Ridley and produced by Participant and King’s Royal Ties Productions.
Cherrie describes the experience as the most professional one he has had in his over three decades of working in the theatre and film industry.
“The Shirley script is amazing, the story itself is amazing. The production is incredibly professional at a different level to anything I’ve done before…The commitment, enthusiasm and responsible manner of everyone on set, despite the bitter cold. Everyone is always prepared in their own particular department. And the level of communication as well is excellent. Everyone is bringing their ‘A’ game…I can see it being an Oscar contender.”
[caption id="attachment_930614" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Michael Cherrie and the cast of Shirly including Regina King, Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, Dorian Missick, Amirah Vann, W Earl Brown, André Holland and Terrence Howard. Shirley Chisholm at centre. (photo courtsey Michael Cherrie’s Facebook page) -[/caption]
He said Shirley’s influence in US politics paved the way for other women in politics. “Without what she did there would probably not have been a Hilary Clinton or a Kamala Harris in US politics.”
Cherrie’s local and international theatre and film portfolio is quite impressive, and includes his roles in productions such as The Final Passage; A Streetcar named Desire; Lobby Hero; A Raisin in the Sun; Table 17; his portrayal of Marcus Garvey at the Centre for Caribbean Studies at Trinity College’s Marcus and Amy Garvey State Visit to Hartford, Connecticut; Home Again; The Mystic Masseur (Man in the Yellow Suit); and the recent Tribeca Film Festival-selected She Paradise, directed by Maya Cozier.
He has also done TV commercials, among them a retirement fund ad for a local bank, in which he was cast as continually borrowing money from his retired parents, whom he promised to repay when he got his pension cheque.
“I had so much fun shooting that. Now I can pay back my parents, buy a house and move out,” he said with his signature hearty laugh.
But with all his talent and training, he said he never expected to get the part in Shirley when he auditioned, and it
