How to Act Black

DeRay Davis centers his first Netflix special on a central paradox of his career: he is a seasoned Hollywood character actor who keeps getting told by white casting directors that he does not know how to act Black enough. He illustrates this absurdity with a story about auditioning for a Chicago street gang member, only to be rejected for lacking authenticity, despite actually being raised on the South Side of Chicago. Davis uses this frustration to build a set around the gap between how white audiences perceive Black life and the reality of living it.\n\nRecorded at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, Georgia, the 2017 hour finds Davis transitioning from a loose, club-heavy stand-up style into a more structured performance. At this point in his career, he was hosting VH1’s Hip Hop Squares and preparing for a dramatic turn on the FX series Snowfall. Here, he balances show business anecdotes with sharp cultural comparisons, pointing out that when a white actor like Brad Pitt grows a scruffy beard, he looks ‘between roles,’ whereas Davis looks ‘between homes.’ He avoids heavy partisan politics by referring to Donald Trump solely as ‘President Dude’ but takes a swing at the cultural divide, offering a pragmatic compromise between Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter.