Andre Holland made his feature film debut in the 2008 independent film Sugar. Since then, he’s acted in numerous television shows and movies, making a name for himself after starring in Barry Jenkins’s 2016 masterpiece Moonlight. With his quiet and understated approach to bringing his characters to life, Holland is a breath of fresh air in an industry increasingly dominated by sensationalized performances.
In addition to film and television, Holland is also an experienced stage actor, recently starring as Othello at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. Here are his best roles from film and TV, ranked by their Rotten Tomatoes freshness.
1600 Penn (2012-2013) - 42%
Andre Holland plays the US Press Secretary in this ill-fated sitcom that attempted to show that the family living in The White House deals with the same struggles as every other family in the country. Holland’s character Marshall Malloy serves under President Standrich Gilchrist, played by Bill Pullman.
Despite its talented cast and unique take on political comedy, 1600 Penn just didn’t have the wit and tone that makes other sitcoms in its genre successful. NBC canceled it after one season.
Small, Beautifully Moving Parts (2012) - 50%
This film tells the story of a woman, Sarah, who, upon learning she’s pregnant, doesn’t have the same joyous reaction as everyone around her. Holland plays her boyfriend, Leon, who can’t wait to be a father. After Sarah visits her sister in Los Angeles, she decides to venture by herself on a road trip to figure out just what motherhood means to her. She plans to do this by tracking down her own estranged mother.
A quirky, low-budget drama, Small, Beautifully Moving Parts is a compelling character study, but it never stood out as an exceptional film.
American Horror Story: Roanoke (2016) - 74%
Holland stars in the sixth season of American Horror Story set up like a haunted house reality TV show. He plays Matt Miller, who, along with his wife Shelby, decides to purchase and renovate a colonial farmhouse in eastern North Carolina. The house, as it goes sometimes, is haunted by numerous blood-hungry ghosts and demonic forces.
Holland plays the real Matt Miller, while Cuba Gooding Jr. plays the actor who brings Matt’s story to life via reenactments for the show. This meta-narrative was met with mixed reviews by fans of American Horror Story, but the season is stock full of the jumps and gore viewers anticipate.
42 (2013) - 80%
Holland received a lot of critical praise for his role in this biopic about baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Holland plays Wendell Smith in 42, a black sportswriter whose journalism helped launch Robinson’s career.
The film tells Robinson’s story in a traditional, inspirational fashion. While authentic and genuine, the movie lacks the edge or grit a lot of audiences expect from biographical portraits of well-known figures. Holland’s co-stars, however, also received praise for their roles, including Chadwick Boseman as Robinson and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey.
Castle Rock (2018-2019) - 87%
Holland plays attorney Henry Matthew Deaver in this Hulu series based on the fictional characters and universes written about in the book and stories of horror icon Stephen King. In the show, Henry returns to his hometown of Castle Rock, Maine, after an inmate at a local penitentiary requests him by name.
Henry, a death row lawyer, left Castle Rock after the mysterious death of his father. Once he returns, he’s wrapped in a series of supernatural and strange events.
Sugar (2008) - 92%
Holland made his feature film debut in this sports drama, which tells the story of a Dominican pitcher named Miguel Santos. Santos makes it to the minor leagues in the USA, where he hopes to advance to the big leagues in order to bring himself and his family out of poverty.
In the movie, which received four stars from Roger Ebert, Holland plays an American baseball player named Brad Johnson also attempting to break through into the majors.
The Knick (2014-2015) - 92%
In Steven Soderbergh’s Cinemax period drama The Knick, Hollands portrays a talented surgeon and medical expert whose career ambitions are frustrated by institutionalized racism. The show’s action focuses on a New York City hospital known as The Knickerbocker around the turn of the 20th century.
As Dr. Algernon Edwards, Holland employs his signature quiet determination to show just how much harder his character is forced to work in comparison to his white counterparts. Due to the hospital’s discriminatory policies, Edwards opens a secret after-hours clinic in its basement in order to give members of his community the health care access they have been denied.
High Flying Bird (2019) - 93%
Holland reunited with Steven Soderbergh for this sports drama, based on a story Holland suggested to Soderbergh. Shot on an iPhone 8, High Flying Bird follows Holland as sports agent Ray Burke, who is in the middle of a lockout. With his financial and professional future uncertain, Burke hatches a plan that involves one of his rookie clients, an aspiring NBA player.
The film does a spectacular job of delving into the world of professional sports without sacrificing character development, and Holland gives an engrossing performance as a businessman attempting to save himself and his clients.
Moonlight (2016) - 98%
Considered one of the best movies of the 2010s, Moonlight tells the story of a queer black man named Chiron at three points in his life: adolescence, teenage years, and adulthood. The end result is a beautiful, yet haunting, dissection of masculinity and love.
In the movie, Holland plays the adult version of Chiron’s best friend, Kevin. As teenagers, the two share a romantic encounter on a beach, yet the toxic homophobia and standards around them cause their friendship to sever after this experience. Years later, the two reunite in a diner, where they reconcile with their life trajectories and their choices.
Selma (2014) - 99%
This dramatic retelling of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights march in Alabama includes an all-star cast bringing some of the most important figures in the Civil Rights Act to life, from Martin Luther King, Jr. to John Lewis to Lyndon B. Johnson.
Holland plays Andrew Young, an activist who rose up in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and eventually had a lifelong political career. He was instrumental in planning the Selma march, and he served jail time alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. for his participation.
