Filmed in Georgia: Laurence Fishburne's big break started with a little lie

Georgia boasts a remarkable list of well-known actors as native to the state, from Julia Roberts and Kim Basinger to Stacy Keach and athlete-turned-actor Jim Brown. Among such luminaries is Emmy- and Tony-award winning actor Laurence Fishburne.

Fishburne’s career exploded after his debut as the doomed teen-aged Vietnam River Patrol boat crewman in 1979’s Apocalypse Now. Since then, he’s created iconic roles, such as Ike Turner in What’s Love Got to do With It; Othello, Shakespeare’s great general of Venice and Cyprus; and Morpheus in the Matrix films. Despite the acclaim, this talented actor from Augusta, Georgia, has taken it all it in stride.

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Lied about his age and got the job

Fishburne has had the winds of good fortune at his back. Early on, when his parents divorced and his mother took him to Brooklyn, New York, he stumbled into acting at 11. He was featured in an ABC teleplay and on the soap opera One Life to Live. Three years later, Fishburne fudged his age, pretending to be the legally hireable age of 16 when he was only 14, and landed the role in Francis Ford Coppola’s wild ride into the heart of darkness of the Vietnam War. Everyone knew he was lying but just looked the other way. After two years of chaotic filming in the Philippines, at the movie’s end, he was 17 and the course of his life had changed.

He has proven to be an actor of rare depth and skill in more than 100 roles on screen and stage. Most notable and memorable may be his Oscar-nominated portrayal of the volatile Ike Turner, husband and musical collaborator of Tina Turner, played by Angela Bassett, in What’s Love Got to Do With It.

Another hallmark performance was his depiction of Shakespeare’s Othello. The play Othello is a grievous tale of jealousy, bitterness and wrath, with a spidery web woven by villainous cohort Iago bent on destroying Othello because he chose another as his closest lieutenant.

Fishburne’s unique portrayal of the 15^th Century military commander, replete with scarification and tattoos, is a great interpretation of the Bard. He gives Shakespeare’s complex lines new life in a simple, comprehensible way that outshines Kenneth Branaugh’s traditional Iago and even that of Laurence Olivier, perhaps the greatest actor of the past century. In other words, he makes it contemporary and real. (Incidentally, Fishburn’s parents reportedly named him after the British actor.)

Be forewarned: Shakespeare’s play is a difficult one at best: A mighty, honored man brought down by sordid thoughts and fears implanted by a “frenemy” who pretends to wish him well but wishes him ill.

“Oh, that we can call these delicate creatures ours, but not their appetites…” Othello muses of Desdemona, his wife — the first crack in the egg of truth and sanity, for insanity can be the only term for his descent into destruction of himself and others, urged on by Iago’s lies about his wife’s fidelity. Someone toppled so easily, tipped over by ill thoughts, must be on the cusp of self-doubt to start with. Othello destroyed himself and took others with him. Fishburn plays him to a tee.

Readers will have their favorite Fishburne performance: Boys in the ’Hood, The Matrix, The Color Purple, School Daze, and most recently, Clint Eastwood’s The Mule. He seems chameleon-like in his ability to take on new and different personalities. In any case, Georgians can be delighted with their affinity for him.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: georgia film laurence fishburne apocalypse now matrix othello ike turner