If you loved him on FX's Pose and in the film Rustin, now's the time to check out actor Jordan Aaron Hall in his breakout role in the Netflix series A Different World, a follow-up to the trailblazing NBC series that ran from 1987 to 1993.
As Out reported in August, representation on this new series with the same title as The Cosby Show spin-off extends beyond the Wayne family and its star, Out100 alum Maleah Joi Moon, who plays Deborah Wayne. The Netflix sequel about life at Hillman College, the fictional Historically Black College or University, has seven returning characters, but also introduced its first openly queer character, Amir, played by Hall.
āHe is one of the new six that is completely original, not born from any of the legacy cast members," Moon previously told Out, who praised the producers for their choices. "Theyāre treating his storyline with this really wonderful nuance and challenging what queer characters can be, particularly Black queer characters in TV who are so underrepresented. To see a queer Black male represented in that way is so inspiring.ā
For his one-on-one interview with Out as an actor, Hall spoke candidly with contributor Lamont Baldwin. Their conversation dove deep into queer representation in Hollywood, the support he's received from his costars, and how the Harlem native considers himself a gatekeeper for who can legitimately call themselves a "New Yorker."
"When I was growing up, we didn't really have cable, and so we had a bunch of box sets," said Hall; his DVDs included The Bernie Mac Show, Martin, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Living Single, and A Different World. But he says as a child, he didn't yet understand the significance of A Different World, even though he recognized his family and neighbors cared deeply about its portrayal of Black teenagers coming of age and attending an HBCU.
"Then, of course, it became a part of the cultural zeitgeist, a part of the TikTok of it all and the Instagram of it all, and it trends all the time, these different scenes," Hall said. "People walking around with their Hillman gear. And so as I got older, I was like, 'Oh! Absolutely, right?' And I started to understand that."
A Different World was in fact one of his parents' favorite shows, he said. "It's really cool, and I know my parents were really excited," says Hall. "My father, he cried when I told him I was going to do the show, so I feel blessed to be here and to do this."
When it comes to representing a queer Black man on television, Hall said he is very aware of his impact, from his prior roles to this new series.
"For me, it's important to show those sort of stories and to get to embody those characters that I've gotten to play. I think in Rustin, it's a beautiful moment where I'm singing with the other boys," he said about the scene that recreated the March on Washington, directed by the award-winning African-American playwright George C. Wolfe for Netflix. "It was beautiful to get to be a part of that story about civil rights, specifically about a gay civil rights activist that isn't really talked about at all, Bayard Rustin. So I was so blessed to do that."
"Then with Pose, to get to be young Pray Tell ā I feel like Pray Tell was such an iconic character on that show, and I don't think I've ever seen anybody exist on TV like that, in that way, at that time," said Hall of Billy Porter's legendary character. "To be directed by Janet Mock, who is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, was such a blessing to me."
Hall heralded the way his character on A Different World, Amir, is written.
"Amir has an incredible three-dimensionality to him in a way that is not very stereotypical," the 23-year-old actor says. "I think he's nuanced, I think he's three-dimensional, and I feel grateful that the writers saw that and took liberty to create somebody that was real and that was three-dimensional and breathing. Not to see us as accessories to a story, but to see us in our full humanity, and so I feel grateful to be able to play him."
During their conversation, Baldwin asks Hall about Amir's multiple love interests at Hillman, but a publicist stepped-in to avoid spoilers. "I can't get into specifics, but yes, there's some stuff that he gets to explore throughout the season with more than one person, which is, I think, beautiful."
The legendary Debbie Allen returns to A Different World not only as an actor but as executive producer, and to Hall, as an inspiration, and the family she created on the set.
Jordan Aaron Hall plays Amir on Netflix's 'A Different World' Courtesy Netflix
"She's like a mom to us, right?" he said. "She gives us so much liberty and freedom, and one of the things I love about her is that she really gives us license... She actually respects our opinion and actually asks us what it is: 'Hey, what do you think about this? Hey, can we, you know, use some of your knowledge?' Because I think she wanted the show to feel like it could resonate with young people and not just be a whole bunch of older people trying to guess what it is that young people are feeling like."
As Out reported, Allen pushed past network resistance on the original series to air a groundbreaking episode with a powerful HIV storyline that sparked crucial conversations surrounding healthcare and stigma in the Black community. Hall recalls how, on this new series, she stressed "the tyranny of the words," meaning to know your lines. "Showing up with discipline, showing up with preparedness ā all of those things will serve you no matter what it is that you're doing, and I think she was so good at making sure that everybody showed up."
In starting to close their conversation, Baldwin confessed to the Harlem native he's not a "real" New Yorker.
"I'm a fake New Yorker," he said. "I went to Brooklyn College for grad school." Hall was generous in his response. "We'll give you maybe half New Yorker-ship. You know, I do gatekeep New York, I know people might be mad at me about it, but I do gatekeep New York. If you're from New York, you're from New York, but we make some exceptions for a few people."
"There's probably a young queer Black boy watching this right now, looking up to you like, 'I want to do that!'" Baldwin told Hall, and asked him one final question: "What would you say to them?
"Stay disciplined, stay consistent, and stay encouraged," he said, "because this industry can be something that's a winding road. You're going to have some days that you're going to be up and you're going to be on top of the world, you're going to have some days where you're down and nobody's calling you. But if you have that faith that things will work out for you, they will."
Season 1 of A Different World, which was just renewed for a second season, is now streaming on Netflix.
