In the movie, the plot centers on Antwone Fisher, a sailor who is on the verge of being kicked out of the Navy for his ill a** temper. But with the help of a Naval psychiatrist Jerome Davenport (played by Denzel), and his girlfriend Cheryl (played by Joy Bryant), Antwone finds the strength and the courage to stop fighting with his fists and starts healing himself as he searches to find the family that abandoned him as a child.
Denzel describes Derek as, "An incredibly talented, warm and sincere young man."
Derek, who has been married to his wife, Sophia Adella Hernandez for 5 years now, currently resides in Pasadena, California, and admits that he is still amazed at his luck currently has movie scripts being thrown at him. He will appear in "Pieces of April" with Katie Holmes and the action-adventure "Biker Boyz" (along with Laurence Fishbourne) in 2003. Derek explains that, "The only way I survived was having faith--and a one-way ticket from New Jersey to Los Angeles. I believe things happen to those who believe."
Derek became friends with the real Antwone Fisher, worked as a security guard at the Sony Pictures Lot for a little while as he was developing the script. Derek was taken by Antwone's script when he first read it, and when it was approved for production, he pursued the role. After a whole host of painstaking auditions, he followed Antwone to Cleveland and many of the landmarks of his youth.
He describes, "Me and Antwone didn't really talk about the role much. We just used to joke around a lot. When we visited the sites in Cleveland, it made him really uncomfortable and I, as an actor, saw that discomfort and that gave me a nugget to form the character."
The 28-year-old New Jersey native recently told the media that he relates to the character he played in the movie "Antwone Fisher" because he too had to overcome his troubled past. He says was also abused. "I was molested. I try not to emphasize on me because I feel Antwone had a harder life."
Derek says he felt "free" when he read the script because, "I felt like maybe I get to hide behind the script and tell my story. I was molested, and I have my own personal fight. That was a challenge for me, even now talking about it. But my whole thing was to bring justice to the Antwones of the world."
When asked if he had already come to terms with what had happened in his past when he started making the film, Derek said, "I'm healing now. I think by tapping into what I overcame and by hearing other people's stories helped me heal. That's what I wanted to do. It's happening now."
Credits:
Spartan (2004)
Pieces of April (2003)
Biker Boyz (2003)
Antwoine Fisher (2002)
The View (2002)
TRL (2002)
Moesha (2001)
The King of Queens (2000)
The King of Queens (1999)
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