Stephan James, a Canadian actor with Jamaican origins, was named a Rising Star at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival on the strength of his impressive performance in the TV mini-series The Book of Negroes as well as his portrayal of John Lewis in the civil rights saga, Selma. Mr. Lewis, the son of sharecroppers and an activist with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), later became a U.S. Congressman.

Here, James talks about his latest outing in Race as another African-American icon, namely, Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics staged in Berlin.

[Mega Diversities is the first Canadian media to post this interview].

Kam Williams: Hi Stephan [James], thanks for the interview.

Stephan James: Of course, Kam [Williams]. Thank you.

KW: I really enjoyed the film. I learned so much that I hadn't known about Jesse Owens, and I even cried at the end.

SJ: Really? Wow! I'm glad that you learned so much and that it touched you. That's what we'd hope to accomplish with this.

Born in Oxford in the United Kingdom, Gugu Mbatha-Raw trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Her first professional role was in an Open Air production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” as Celia. Following this, she landed roles at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, where she performed in “Antony and Cleopatra” and the title role of Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet,” opposite Andrew Garfield, for which she was nominated for the Manchester Evening News Award for Best Actress in 2005.

Gugu Mabatha-Raw's other stage credits include the critically-acclaimed “Big White Fog” at the Almeida Theatre and David Hare’s “Gethsemane,” a production at the National Theatre that later toured the UK. She made her West End debut as Ophelia in “Hamlet” opposite Jude Law.

Her British television credits include “M15/Spooks,” “Dr. Who,” “Marple – Ordeal by Innocence,” “Bonekickers,” and “Fallout.” She subsequently starred as Samantha Bloom in the JJ Abrams NBC series “Undercovers,” for which she was nominated for an NAACP award for best actress in a television series.