Freshly minted Bowie State graduate Myles Frost stars as Trayvon Martin in new Ava DuVernay film 'Origin'

Dana Munro, The Baltimore Sun

Updated December 22, 2023 at 12:10 PM·7 min read

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Dec. 21—By Dana Munro — dmunro@baltsun.com

PUBLISHED:December 21, 2023 at 2:48 p.m.| UPDATED:December 22, 2023 at 12:34 a.m.

Tony Award-winning actor Myles Frost, who originated the role of Michael Jackson in "MJ: The Musical" moonwalked back to Bowie State University on Thursday to take his final bow as a student.

The 24-year-old rising star's next adventure: appearing in a new movie by "When They See Us," "13th" and "Selma" filmmaker Ava DuVernay based on Isabel Wilkerson's book "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents." Frost will play Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old Black student in Florida who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in 2012. The killing and subsequent acquittal after Zimmerman claimed self-defense led to widespread protests around the country.

The film, titled "Origin," debuts in theaters nationwide Jan. 19. Wilkerson, whose previous work includes "The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration," explores racial hierarchy in the U.S. in "Caste." The cast also features Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash and Nick Offerman.

"The essence of who Trayvon Martin was was he was a bright kid," Frost said in an interview with The Capital following commencement. "He was a bright kid on the way to visit his father; that's all that was, and my goal was to show people that that's all that was. Show his innocence, his character, his charisma, his charm."

Born in Bowie and raised in Prince George's and Montgomery counties, Frost is a lifelong music lover and performer. He transferred to Bowie State from Belmont University in Nashville, partly at the encouragement of his family friend Maggy Francois, an adjunct fashion design professor at the school who is now Frost's stylist. Bowie State's location allowed him to simultaneously advance his academic and professional aspirations.

When Frost landed the role in "MJ," the school worked with him to complete all his coursework enabling him to walk across the stage Thursday and receive his music technology degree. After graduation, Frost will return to playing Jackson in March in the show's London premiere.

Earning a degree was important to Frost, who wanted his 90-year-old grandmother, Hattie Strayhorn, to see him graduate. He split time between Bowie and New York, doing his coursework in a hybrid model.

"He is a nice young man, and he's done very well so it was very important to me," said Strayhorn, a lifelong educator in the Washington metro area.

Frost easily could have left and never returned, said Tewodross Melchishua Williams, chair of Bowie State's Department of Fine and Performing Arts. "The fact that he was like, 'No I want to come back. I want to finish' I think is a great, great model. You can still get your degree and you can still achieve your success. You don't have to give up your education."

Francois said her students, and even those outside of Bowie State, look up to Frost. She said that since his Broadway success, she has received inquiries from students at other colleges about Bowie State, hoping to benefit from the same dedication of the faculty to help students achieve their goals that Frost did.

Frost was cast in "Origin" after DuVernay saw his audition tape and reached out. He is honored to get the opportunity to bring Martin to life on the big screen, he said.

"She [DuVernay] wanted to know what I knew about Trayvon, how his life and death impacted me as a young Black man and what I feel like I can provide, if I feel like I can handle it and I said, 'Of course,'" Frost said. "I feel like God doesn't put me in any situation I can't handle."

When Martin was killed, Frost was around middle school age. The incident made him realize, "That could have been me," he said. "That could have been any one of my friends."

DuVernay gave Frost the "patience and warmth" to enter the dark place required to bring this story to life, he said.

The key to unlocking the role for Frost was discovering what Martin may have thought about in his final moments alive as a teen.

"You hope that it's not for nothing, and you hope that somebody will shine light on the injustice that's being done in this moment," Frost said.

To his family, the role was a natural fit. His father, Irving Frost, said his son had always been very conscious of current events and the political climate. The family said they hope the movie brings Martin's story back into the public's awareness.

"It's still happening today," Frost said. "It evolves with us as we evolve."

For Frost's mom Charmayne Strayhorn, it was challenging to watch her son perform every mom's nightmare in a movie.

"He is put here to embody stories that connect, so other people can feel what was felt," she said.

As for what Frost's new role means for the school's future, Williams, who previously worked at Howard University in Washington, said he's noticed a trend of the filmmaker DuVernay recruiting talent from historically Black colleges and universities.

"She is hiring a number of HBCU graduates, both in front of and behind the camera," Williams said. "That's very, very inspiring for institutions like Bowie State and Howard and Morgan [State in Baltimore] and so many other places."

Frost said he hoped his diving into new roles and trusting in his ability to succeed would inspire other students at Bowie State who are pursuing performing arts. He noted that he didn't have any dance training before playing Jackson, but he learned along the way.

"Don't say no to your future self," Frost said. "Even if you feel in your current state that you can't achieve whatever the thing is, trust that you will be able to."

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