Cedric Joe is a 15-year-old Los Angeles native who has stepped into the spotlight and has become young Hollywood’s newest rising star. Recently, the talented young actor sat down with Entertainment Weekly to be a part of EW’s New Legacy cover, to dish on his upcoming role in Space Jam and more. Check out a snippet of his interview below. To read the interview in its entirety, click here.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Space Jam was a bit before your time, but did you still have a relationship to it before being cast in New Legacy?
CEDRIC JOE: Oh yeah, definitely, because growing up I was always a big fan of basketball. I love basketball. So I watched Space Jam when I was younger, and so after I got the part I looked back at that, just getting the feel of how it would feel being in that Space Jam environment.
What was your reaction when you heard that they were making a new Space Jam, and then that you possibly had a chance to be in it?
My first reaction when I heard about it, I was thinking, “Another Space Jam?! In my generation?! That is going to be dope.” Before I even got the call to audition, I was just thinking that’s pretty cool, I wonder who they’re going to cast for it and all that. LeBron was already a thought of playing that Michael Jordan role, because, to me, he’s the greatest to ever play basketball. So my reaction was crazy. And getting the call to audition, it was cool, but I know in the business there was such a slim chance because of everybody that is auditioning for it. So my first reaction to getting an audition, I just told myself, “I’m going to go in there, give it my all, whatever happens, happens.”
In actuality, when Cedric Joe first found out that he got the role starring as LeBron James’s son, he told the news outlet that he, “…cried tears of joy. I was just so happy.”
What was that audition process like? Did you eventually screen test opposite LeBron?
It was funny, I wasn’t really too focused on the audition, but I still gave it my all. That was the same day I had a chemistry read for another role. And so when I did the audition, I went in there, got a callback. I was like, “I must have done something right.” I did the callback, thinking I did really good, so I was like, “Okay, what’s the next step?” And then I ended up getting a chemistry read, and around the chemistry read I was doing a play at the Geffen Playhouse [in L.A.], so it was a lot going on but I couldn’t miss this chemistry read with LeBron. I was like, “Okay, I made it this far, now I have to get the part.” So we made arrangements around the play and I ended up getting to go to the chemistry read and, boom, gave it my all.
So you’re now really invested and I’m sure going to be crushed if you don’t get it, so what was that moment like when you found you’d be playing LeBron’s son in a Space Jam movie?
Oh man. I actually got the call opening night of my play, because we had been rehearsing for months. So opening night of the play and my parents didn’t tell me I got the part until we got home. And hearing it… at first when they called me into the room, I was nervous, because they started recording. I was like, “What’s about to happen?” And then when they told me I got the part, it was so many emotions going on, because it’s like my first big role as a principal; there was so much going through my head and I did cry over the role. I cried tears of joy. I was just so happy.
In addition to Space Jam: A New Legacy, Cedric Joe will portray Emmet Till in an upcoming ABC Limited Series, Women of the Movement.
According to Deadline, the six-episode limited series, set to premiere in 2021, centers on Mamie Till-Mobley (Adrienne Warren), who devoted her life to seeking justice for her son Emmett Till (Joe), following his brutal killing in the Jim Crow south. The series is written by creator-writer Marissa Jo Cerar and the production team includes Jay-Z, Will Smith, and Aaron Kaplan.
The teen posted on Instagram, “It’s been an honor to portray Emmett Till, I am very humbled and grateful to be able to tell his story. Can’t wait to share with you all….coming soon.”
Women of the Movement and Space Jam: A New Legacy are not the only two project that Cedric Joe has in the works. He has also been cast in Just Beyond, a new Disney + series.
According to Deadline, Just Beyond, written by Grahame-Smith, is an eight-episode anthology series that tells astonishing and thought-provoking stories of a reality just beyond the one we know. Each episode introduces viewers to a new cast of characters who must go on a surprising journey of self-discovery in a supernatural world of witches, aliens, ghosts and parallel universes.
Needless to say, Cedric Joe is one busy young man. We cannot wait to see all three of these projects and more for this talented teenager!
