‘The Dutchman’: Aldis Hodge, Lauren E. Banks Board Andre Gaines Thriller

Matt Grobar
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Aldis Hodge (Black Adam) and Lauren E. Banks (City on a Hill) are the latest additions to the cast of The Dutchman, the psychological thriller based on the Obie Award-winning play by Amiri Baraka, which began filming under a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement in September.

The actors join an ensemble that includes André Holland, Kate Mara, Zazie Beetz and Stephen McKinley Henderson, as we were first to tell you. Emmy nominee Andre Gaines (The One and Only Dick Gregory) is directing from his screenplay written with filmmaker Qasim Basir.

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Set on a New York subway, The Dutchman centers on an encounter between a well-to-do Black man and an enchanting white woman who match wits in a sexualized game of cat and mouse that leads to a violent conclusion. The searing confrontation amplifies the dimensions of racial conflict in America in this adaptation of the stage show first presented at the Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village, New York City, in March 1964, which was later adapted into a critically acclaimed 1966 film starring Shirley Knight and Al Freeman Jr.

Banks comes to the project after studying under Freeman, who served as one of her acting professors at Howard University. “Al Freeman, Jr. was…a constant reminder to me that we stand on the shoulders of revolutionary artists,” said the actress. “After reading The Dutchman script, I found it fresh, ambitious and daring, just like the art that was created during the Black Arts Movement. It not only honors American theater, but it is brilliantly inclusive of the new voices, changes and resolutions of our time.”

The Dutchman‘s producers are Gaines and Emmy nominee Jonathan T. Baker (Sylvie’s Love, The Banker). The film is financed by Gaines’ multi-platform media company, Cinemation Studios, and E.O.A Productions, which previously collaborated on the soundtrack for Gaines’ Showtime doc The One and Only Dick Gregory. Nicole A. Parke and Enoch K. Osei-Acheampong, co-founders and executive board members of E.O.A. Productions, are serving as exec producers. Kyle Townsend and Matt Rachamkin are also exec producing, alongside Joshua Blum and Han West for Washington Square Films, with UTA Independent Film Group repping sales.

Known for turns in such prestige dramas as One Night in Miami… and Hidden Figures, Hodge has most recently been seen starring opposite Dwayne Johnson in Warner Bros/DC’s Black Adam. He previously starred in Showtime’s City on a Hill and will next be seen leading the Amazon series Cross, based on the bestselling novels by James Patterson. Other upcoming projects for the actor include the sci-fi thriller Parallel and the romantic thriller Marmalade, marking the feature directorial debut of actor Keir O’Donnell.

Banks starred alongside Hodge in the crime drama series City on a Hill and has additionally been seen on shows like Gaslit, Roar, Maniac and Dietland. Up next for her is Lawmen: Bass Reeves, the David Oyelowo-led Western series exec produced by Taylor Sheridan, which premieres on Paramount+ November 5.

Hodge is repped by Paradigm, Priluck Company and Ziffren Brittenham; Banks by CAA and Del Shaw Moonves.

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