Citizens of Mockingbird: Gbenga Akinnagbe on Finding the Light in Playing Tom Robinson

In adapting Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird for the stage, award-winning scribe Aaron Sorkin looked at the iconic characters of the recently named "best-loved" American novel with fresh eyes. In this exclusive series, Broadway.com talks with Sorkin and the talented performers who bring the citizens of Maycomb, Alabama to life every night at the Shubert Theatre.

GBENGA AKINNAGBE AS TOM ROBINSON
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CHARACTER: Tom Robinson, a poor African-American farm worker who is accused of rape and put on trial in 1930s Alabama.

ACTOR: Gbenga Akinnagbe is new to Broadway, but a regular i\on film and TV. He’s best known for his roles on two HBO series: the well-loved The Wire and, currently, The Deuce. On the New York stage, he’s appeared in Henry V at the Delacorte Theatre and at the Public Theater in The Controversy of Valladolid and A View from 151st Street. His other recent theater credits include The Rainmaker at the Old Globe Theatre, Fulfillment at the Flea Theater and The Thin Place at Intiman Theatre.

GBENGA AKINNAGBE ON PLAYING TOM: "He's in a very racist town in a very racist time and he doesn’t let that engender hate in him. It’s one thing to be able to survive a tough life, but to be able to survive it with your light intact makes you strong. And that’s Tom Robinson. I can aspire to such humility, to such grace. I don’t always achieve it but it’s very inspiring to be able to play a character like that on a nightly basis."

AARON SORKIN ON GBENGA AKINNAGBE: "Gbenga is smart. Actors can’t fake smart. Gbenga is strong, and actors can’t fake strong. They can fake tough, but they can’t fake strong. Tough is usually what you do when you’re not strong, and you’re trying to give the impression that you are. I can’t imagine anyone but Gbenga playing the part."

Photographed at the Shubert Theatre by Caitlin McNaney for Broadway.com