BFA Acting Alumni Finds Success On-Stage and On-Screen

On August 1, 2018, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, England opened Othello. The famous Shakespearean tragedy is a fascinating and complex play that depicts the marriage, downfall, and ultimate demise of Othello, a noble general in the Venetian army. School of Theatre alumnus, André Holland (BFA Acting ‘01), played the title role in the production. On October 13, 2018, the production closed after a highly successful run.

See what critics had to say about André’s performance:

“In the title role André Holland… at first has a compact dignity… When jealousy bites and Othello starts to doubt his own feelings, Holland plausibly shows how his elegance and understated charisma give way to fragile incoherence.”- Henry Hitchings, Evening Standard

“André Holland’s Othello has a quiet grace, command and gravity that inspire trust. But his “otherness” — emphasized here by Holland’s rolling American accent — is exploitable. And Holland makes plain that while Othello is a victim of Iago’s duplicity, he is also a man who believes another man over his own wife, and his first recourse is to violence.”- Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

After graduating from FSU, André Holland has experienced a successful career on-stage and on-screen. Holland is best known for his roles in Academy Award-winning films Moonlight and Selma. Other screen credits for the multi-award-winning actor include 42 and The Knick. Theatre credits include Jitney, Blue Door, Wig Out, The Brother / Sister Plays, and All’s Well That Ends Well. TV credits include American Horror Story: Roanoke and the starring role in Castle Rock which has been renewed for a second season.