An all-rounder in the creative field, that is the label we can attach to Donald Glover. The forty-year-old American is an actor, writer, producer and director. And then we only look at his television and film experience. Glover is also a comedian, not without merit a rapper and singer and works as a DJ and songwriter. For his rap and singing skills he uses the well-known alias Childish Gambino, while as a DJ he is known as mcDJ.
Yet for Glover it all started with acting. He took a first step in the television film Winner Takes All, before the year 2000. In 2005 he sat at Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the following year he played a guest role on 30 Rock for the first time.
Glover is certainly extremely productive during this period. In 2006-2007 he is involved in more than 35 productions, most of which are short videos. In these years, roles in series were limited to guest appearances in Human Giant and Bronx World Travelers.
He also appears in UCB Comedy Originals for the first time during this period, after which he occasionally returns at later times. The real work only begins when Glover is cast in the comedy series Community. Here he plays Troy Barnes, best friend of Abed Nadir and crazy and extremely geeky at this school for adult education. Troy and Abed have quickly become audience favorites of the series, which has received much critical acclaim - including for a legendary paintball fight.
Community has its own kind of humor, which is not appreciated by everyone. Yet the series lasts more than six seasons, although the cast changes quite often as the seasons progress - whether voluntarily or not. Glover also decides to leave Community prematurely and during this period focuses more and more on releasing his own songs as alter ego Childish Gambino. He regularly returns in later editions of the web series Community: Webisodes, with five-minute short videos.
In the years that Community has been running, Glover has made limited appearances in other series. He lends his voice once in Regular Show, reprises his role as Troy in CollegeHumor Originals, can be seen in Girls and appears once in Sesame Street, the American version of course. Voice acting will then remain a suitable job in addition to his music career for a long time. This results in animated characters in Ultimate Spider-man, Adventure Time and China, IL carrying his voice.
Glover also regularly makes films - in a multitude of genres. He can be seen in The Martian and Magic Mike XXL. And what about Spider-Man: Homecoming, Solo: A Star Wars Story and the remake of The Lion King.
It is 2016 when Glover commits to a series for the first time in a long time. The honor goes to Atlanta. This series is set in the rap scene of the state of the same name. There, Earnest "Earn" Marks (Glover) and his cousin Alfred try to find their way to the top. On the road to success, they experience how difficult it can be and have to deal with all kinds of social and economic issues. From discrimination to poverty, status, relationships and parenthood, like every wannabe successful rapper you have to deal with that. Atlanta ran for four seasons and received very positive reviews, resulting in a truckload of well-deserved Emmys.
Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake is a project that Glover will commit to in 2023. He lends his voice to Monster Marshall for six episodes. In the meantime, he is busy filming a new action series: Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Exactly, like that movie with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, but with Maya Erskine as the co-star. The first season has now been filmed and will premiere in early February. The question always remains whether this works well in such a remake. We now know that Glover can play a strong role. In that respect, things are probably going well.
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