
Today, Lakeith Stanfield may be one of Hollywood's brightest rising stars, but as a child, he often went hungry and had to steal to eat.
Fans of the brilliant and versatile Stanfield, 29, don't realize that as a young boy, his life was a modern version of Dickens' "Oliver Twist," with all the elements of violence, cruelty, and desperation.
Lakeith Stanfield at the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in January 2019 in Los Angeles | Source: Getty Images
GROWING UP SCARED
Life wasn't easy for the young San Bernardino boy. His parents were separated, and neither side provided stability or security for their five children. Stanfield's mother had a violent, abusive boyfriend, who frequently beat the children. Stanfield confessed:
“At the time I didn’t have anything to compare it to. It’s like, 'This is happening right now.' I couldn’t be like, 'This is horrible.'"
GROWING UP HUNGRY
Two of his brothers were autistic, so Stanfield was the only one who'd stand up to the man, and he took the brunt of the beatings. After calling 911 several times, and seeing that the authorities did nothing to end the abuse, Stanfield stopped calling.
Stanfield now jokes about “baloney sandwiches with no mayo and no cheese," he is haunted by memories of being hungry, and hungry enough to steal food. He recalled ordering sandwiches at Subway and running out without paying.
The life of petty crime on the streets had no appeal for Stanfield once he discovered acting in high school
"I found out you can’t really outrun a helicopter, no matter how much you think you can.”
SALVATION THROUGH DRAMA
Fortunately, the life of petty crime on the streets had no appeal for Stanfield once he discovered acting in high school. He might not have been a star pupil in any other class, but he was brilliant at Drama.
At 16, he got himself some headshots for $60 and joined a modeling school. He landed an audition for a Destin Daniel Cretton short, "Short Term 12," and was cast as a boy who lives at a group home for troubled youth.
Stanfield's performance as Marcus was riveting and heartbreaking and acclaimed by The Hollywood Reporter as Oscar-worthy. The film premiered at Sundance and won the Jury Award for U.S. Short Filmmaking, and Stanfield was nominated for Best Supporting Male at the Independent Spirit Awards.
But for Stanfield, "Short Term 12" wasn't the door to stardom he'd hoped it would be. Acting job offers didn't roll in, and he ended up working first at a marijuana growery, then as an AT&T door-to-door salesman, until his juvie record surfaced and he was fired.
However, he had made one contact at the Spirit Awards that would propel him on to the next step -- he had met director Ava DuVernay, who cast him in her 2014 film, "Selma" as murdered veteran and civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson
After "Selma," it was impossible for Hollywood to ignore Stanfield, and in 2015, he played Snoop Dogg in the biopic "Straight Outta Compton" alongside O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, and Jason Mitchell.
He also stars in "Judas and the Black Messiah" which is now in post-production, as the FBI informant who facilitated the raid in which Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton was killed.
Lakeith Stanfield at "People Now" on February 12, 2020 in New York | Source: Getty Images
THE MOST IMPORTANT ROLE
Roquemore and the "Sorry to Bother You" star have kept both their personal lives and their daughter out of the limelight. The young boy who went hungry is now a successful actor and best of all, can provide his daughter with all the love and security that he so desperately needed as a child.
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