He’s already starred in an Academy Award-winning motion picture, now Jharrel Jerome is garnering Emmy buzz for his role in “When They See Us,” Ava DuVernay’s four-part Netflix series about the 1989 Central Park jogger case.
Jerome, who studied acting at Ithaca College, plays Korey Wise, one of five Harlem teens wrongfully convicted for the rape of a woman in New York’s Central Park.
In a profile of Jerome, People Magazine notes that he was in his first year at IC when he was cast in Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” which won the Oscar for best picture in 2017. Jerome has said that IC’s theatre arts program allowed him to study acting without the distractions that come with living in a city like New York.
“It was a lot about just finding a place where I can be comfortable,” Jerome told IC News in a 2016 interview. “I also think nature and the open space gives me a lot of time to get in tune with myself and connect with myself.”