Finding Brown

by Inisia Lewis

On December 19, 2000, the movie, Finding Forrester was released to the American public. With an Oscar nominated director, Gus Van Sant and Oscar winning actors, Sean Connery and F. Murray Abraham, it was sure to be a major hit. What remained unpredictable, however, was finding the right person to play the other male lead, that of a young black male, Jamaal Wallace, who strives to achieve and succeed in both writing and basketball, in an environment that may not understand who he really is.

According to Rob Brown, who unexpectedly won the role of Jamaal at an open cast call, "I just auditioned, and things worked out better than I thought." Responding to a flier he received in the mail, Rob was hoping to get his picture taken and become an extra. "I had a cell phone bill that was $300, so I figured that if I went down to the audition, and got my picture taken, and became an extra, I’d make some money quickly." One of hundreds of young teen males who tried out for the role of Jamaal, Rob Brown was chosen without any prior acting experience, a feat in itself.

A movie that has touched many with its moving storyline, Finding Forrester makes audiences both laugh and cry with joy in response to the unique relationship that develops between an hermetic renown author who becomes the mentor of an extremely talented young man. As an inner city black youth, Jamaal is tested on many personal fronts, which ultimately find resolution in the end.

In an interview TeenSpeak conducted with Brown, we learned that he’d never acted before, nor had he ever really been interested in theater. Surprised by this confession, Rob told me of the various similarities he and his character Jamaal shared, which minimized the hardship of adapting to a role with such a complicated character. "Yeah, there are similarities... growing up in New York, we are the same age, and we both made the transition from public school to private school."

Rob Brown