Through acting grandson Montgomery, jazz icon lives

Bridgit Brown

Anthony Montgomery, star of “I’m Through with White Girls” — which kicks off the 2007 Roxbury Film Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston tonight — attributes his success to his grandfather, the legendary modern jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery.

“He was a phenomenal guitarist that the world embraced,” said the young actor. “Unfortunately, he was not able to enjoy success to the fullest extent because he died at the height of his career. That’s why I feel like I have been given this opportunity, for my grandfather to enjoy success through me.”

Anthony Montgomery began college with little direction. But when one of his professors asked him to audition for an original piece called “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” he followed through, got the gig and began his love affair with acting by declaring himself an acting major.

After moving out to Hollywood, he booked a national Tommy Hilfiger ad campaign, which he says was a big break for a kid from Indiana. His next big job was as the host of a children’s adventure show that took him around the world twice, but his real break came when he was hired to play George Austin on the WB teenage dramedy “Popular.”

The series, which focused on about two sisters, one popular and the other not, ran for two seasons, and while Montgomery was hired for just four episodes, he ended up staying on the cast for 12. The extra exposure brought him the recognition that would lead to his next major opportunity, as Ensign Travis Mayweather on “Star Trek Enterprise.”

Montgomery recently took some time to speak with the Banner about his new film, his upcoming projects and his many off-screen interests.

You seem to have a lot of luck. What drives you?

Determination. It can mean luck for some, but I know that I’m destined to do this. This is what I have called forth in my life. This is why I am here, so it is getting myself prepared so that when the right opportunity presents itself, I am able to act. I am driven by life and seeing what the next thing is for me, because I have no idea where this journey is going, but it’s really fun.

What would be your ideal opportunity?

 There are so many different roles that I’ve seen that I feel like I want to be in. To create a character like “The Godfather” or do a role like Al Pacino did in “Scarface,” or Denzel Washington in “The Hurricane,” “Training Day,” any of those. Denzel went so deep on “Training Day,” and [I’d love it] if I could get a role like that. There are so many actors that I respect and admire, [like] Marlon Brando. Sidney Poitier is someone that I would love to fashion my career after. But Sidney did it his way. I’ve learned that I have more of a comedic side to me, as you have seen in “I’m Through with White Girls.” I didn’t realize I could be funny like that, so for me right now, it’s just the world, and my world of Hollywood is truly opening up.

You didn’t realize that you could be funny like that, so how did you get involved in “I’m Through with White Girls?”

Lia Johnson, the producer and my leading lady, and a partner that she had a year prior to us beginning the shooting, approached me about the project because she did a day-player job on “Popular” when I was on the show. We had a great rapport the day that she shot on the show and she remembered me. When she optioned the script from the writer, Courtney Lilly, she contacted me, saying she remembered me from “Popular” and I was so nice and she thought I would be perfect for that role and she wanted to see if I was interested. When I read the script, it had so many poignant things that needed to be spoken, and without beating people over the head and without being preachy, it made sense for me to be a part of it.

I used to do standup comedy, so I didn’t have to go too far to be funny. My biggest goal was to make sure that the role was not over-the-top. I didn’t want it to turn into a “Soul Plane” — no offense to any fans of the movie. I just want anything that I do, in film and television, to be more grounded in truth. I will never be that actor to go so far over-the-top that you’re like, “OK, that was … nah, we didn’t believe that.” I wanted to do it to challenge myself. I fashion myself as a dramatic actor, and in truth, many of the roles that I’ve had in Hollywood have been dramatic. But I know that I can be funny, and I felt it in my self. In taking on the movie, I wanted to prove to myself that I could carry a movie from start to finish. I’m very proud of what we have and I feel that goal was accomplished.

Your character, Jay Brooks, is one of those people that’s right smack in the middle on mostly everything, and that’s what gives his role as a character in the film its credibility. Nobody was really offended by him, and the character allows the movie to appeal to a multicultural audience. How much of Anthony Montgomery is in Jay Brooks?

Well, I’m a sci-fi junkie and I am a comic book person, and that was one of the things that Lia and I sat down and talked about after I read the script. I told her that it was not too unlike me. I have traveled in both worlds, ever since I was a child. I have a black best friend and I have a white best friend, much like Jay. He’s very similar to me, other than the fact that I don’t say, “Dude! What the frick?” and I don’t smoke.

There were conscious choices that I made so that I could give him a life that was not mine, but the core of Jay is my core. I was 11 for eleven years before I started shooting the movie, and I would meet an amazing woman and figure out reasons why it wasn’t going to work. Ultimately, I realized that it was because I was in pursuit of my own happiness, which is what we all want. Jay was in pursuit of his happiness — he just had no idea that he kept getting in the way of that happiness.

In your opinion, what does the film say about interracial relationships?

 That it’s not about the color of the skin of the person you are dating if they complete you. If Jay had found a white woman that made him feel love, then he would have stayed, but he didn’t. He then went in search of that by dating black women. It was more than just a novelty for him to find that woman. That’s ultimately what he was looking for, and then he ended up finding that love in someone that was as quirky and neurotic as him. And then he allowed the comfort to nearly scare him away.

What’s in the pipeline for you?

I just booked a movie. I’ll be shooting an independent film next month called “Why Am I Doing This?” by writer/director/actor Tom Huang. I will be the second lead in that and it’s another one of those life-challenging projects that will have people examine themselves, but not in a preachy way. I believe it will do the exact same thing to people that was done with “I’m Through with White Girls.” It will give viewers an entertaining way to self-reflect and think about all the things that challenge them in their lives.

I’ve also diversified my portfolio, and I started doing music some years ago. I love everything from Andrea Bocelli to Alabama, but I’m a profound lover of hip-hop. So I wanted to see if I could write some hot music that had more of a Will Smith feel, without the profanity, but that could allow me to tell some deeper stories like Common or Mos Def, and I was able to accomplish it. I wrote four songs that I paid for on my own, and a company in Germany called AGR Television Records heard the songs and offered me a record deal. So I have recently signed a multiple album record deal with this company and I’ll be distributed worldwide outside of the U.S. and Canada under the Universal Music banner. My rap name is Montgomery.

I created, while I was on “Enterprise,” an animated television series and I just started pitching that to the animation industry, which is a completely different beast to break through, and I’ve been getting favorable responses.

I’m also getting married. That’s the most important thing in the pipeline. I’m proud of the fact that I overcame my “Jay Brooks” and I found a woman that completes me. I have been able to do these things, because I finally found my anchor.