aubrey joseph Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Grooming by LUCKY NAPOLEON
After over a year of hype, Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger will finally premiere on Freeform on June 7th – and star Aubrey Joseph could not be readier for people to enter the world he and his cast have created. Aubrey’s story started in “not the greatest neighborhood” Brooklyn, where his mom opted to keep him busy with every possible activity so he didn’t fall into trouble. Throughout his childhood, he participated in church, football and karate, and Aubrey had initially hoped to make it to the NFL – until the first time he performed on a stage. “The way I felt when I saw the crowd react… It was way better than scoring a touchdown,” he reflects. He dove head first into acting and his first role was that of Young Simba on Broadway’s The Lion King – a role he occupied for three years from ages 10-13. Following his time in the show, Aubrey went to a performing arts high school in New York and continued to book small acting gigs, like commercials and guest spots. “It was a lot of fun, but it was also
very serious for me,” he says of his high school experience. During his senior year, he auditioned for “all the best acting schools in the country” and got into every single one. He chose USC partly for its Los Angeles campus, and partly because it was one of the few schools that allowed acting students to go on auditions while they were enrolled. It was during his short time at USC that Aubrey auditioned for the role of Tyrone Johnson (a.k.a. Cloak) Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, and opted to drop out once the show was picked up to series. On his second day filming in New Orleans, his co-star Olivia Holt (who plays Tandy Brown/ Dagger) helped him withdrawal from the upcoming semester after his phone died so he wouldn’t get charged for tuition. “I was like, ‘Is it okay if I drop out of college on your phone?’” he recalls, laughing. Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger follows two teenagers from drastically different backgrounds who come together one night after a traumatic event that shakes both of their lives. It is on this fateful
night that the two of them acquire their superpowers and the first season follows the two of them as they try to understand themselves and their newfound powers. “Just being teenagers, there’s so many weird things that come with it. Finding yourself and trying to fit in, so just adding that on top of the fact that they’re trying to find their powers is a lot,” he says. In Aubrey’s opinion, what moves the show forward is the relationship between Tyrone and Tandy, and how much they need each other. “There’s no just Cloak, there’s no just Dagger. They have to be together. And I think it’s going to be great for people to see that companionship between a black guy and a white girl,” he says. Because of the way the world is right now, Aubrey knows that showing a positive, interracial relationship between young people on screen is extremely important, and does not take that understanding lightly. “I feel like since we’re doing a project like this, and young kids are growing up and seeing this as the new norm, and seeing Black Panther as normal, NKDMAG.COM
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