Justice Smith never hid his authenticity, and it shines through in all of his roles
Netflix’s The Get Down or the jaded Tim Goodman in Detective Pikachu, there’s always a sense of earnestness and charisma that he brings to the screen.
While he takes on different characters for a living, Smith ensures that he’s 100% himself, something many of his fans took to heart when he came out as queer in an Instagram post in 2020.
Thankfully, authenticity in his life and career mean more to him, something he mentioned in an interview with Men’s Health.“It took me 0.05 seconds before I did that to be like, ‘What if this affects my career?’ and just as quickly, I was like, ‘I wouldn’t want a career in which I couldn’t be myself,’” said Smith. “I would never accept a career in which they were like, ‘You can be an actor, but you can’t be Black.’ That would be fucking crazy to me.
If this prevents me from getting opportunities then I never wanted those opportunities.”A post shared by Justice Smith (@standup4justice)With letting people into his world as a queer man, Smith doesn’t believe in “coming out”, he also took the time to advocate for Black LGBTQ+ voices.
