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When your first British Vogue editorial involves playing Naomi Campbell’s boyfriend in a shoot with Steven Meisel, life could, as Kendrick Sampson says, be “a lot worse”. “I had no idea what it would be like, but there were clothes for days and a troop of Vogue dancers and all of these ridiculous sets in this warehouse in Brooklyn,” the Houston native tells me in his charming southern drawl over the phone from Chicago. As for the supermodel herself? “Naomi and I clicked immediately. The two of us were just chatting about politics all day. It was pretty awesome.”
Sampson may only be 30 years old, but he’s been acting now for nearly two decades. “When I was really little, I used to do impressions,” he explains. “Everybody in my family would be like, ‘Do Tina Turner! Do Bill Clinton!’” It was while watching a Gap commercial on TV aged 11 that he realised people could actually make a living out of acting and told his mother that he needed an agent. “She was a single parent and really ambitious for her children - I had to do Excel classes when I was in the first grade - and she handed me a newspaper and told me to find a rep, so I did.” From that point onward, he was never out of training, ultimately landing parts in The Vampire Diaries, How To Get Away With Murder, The Flash, and Insecure.
More than any specific role though, it’s Sampson’s political activism that’s made him a household name. Over the last year, he’s made waves speaking out about the border crisis in America, championing the Black Lives Matter movement, and encouraging young people to vote in the midterm elections. “If I’m not acting, then I’m writing, and if I’m not writing, then I’m campaigning,” he says, laughing. “At the end of last year, I was on a plane every other day.” (Fittingly, during our call, he’s in the middle of preparing to speak to recipients of the Martin Luther King scholarship at the University of Illinois about social justice reform.) Hardly surprising, then, that his 422K Instagram followers are just as likely to use a fire emoji over his sharp political commentary as his abs.
Below, Vogue asks the rising star some tough questions.
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If you could host a dinner party for any six guests, living or dead, who would you invite, and what would you serve?
Oh my God! There are so many people I would invite. What are you doing to me right now?! I would definitely say Assata Shakur, Martin Luther King, Fred Hampton, Sitting Bull, Gandhi, and...Oh, this is too hard. Either Fannie Lou Hamer or Ida B Wells. Then I’d do a smorgasbord of my favourite dishes: agua de sandia, gumbo, tacos barbacoa, southern greens, cornbread - definitely have to have cornbread - and some honey butter.
What would I find on your nightstand right now?
Ha! Honestly, I can hardly remember what’s on there. I’m rarely home for long at the moment. There’s definitely a vintage triangle-shaped ashtray - like, nobody really uses ashtrays anymore, but mine is just filled with knick-knacks. I also have a heart-shaped bloodstone that somebody gave me. Apparently it represents peace. I really hope it does because it’s in my bedroom. Plus there’s the fantasy novel Children of Blood and Bone by Nigerian author Tomi Adeyemi.
If you could own any work of art, what would it be?
That’s another impossible question! I will just say the first one that came into my head: “Black Painting” by Kerry James Marshall. The whole piece is done in these incredibly dark shades. The longer you stare at it, the more you discover. It’s powerful and revolutionary and just...amazing. It’s also the size of this wall that you definitely cannot see but that I keep on gesturing to every five seconds.
Which book should everyone read at least once in their life?
I always recommend The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey.
What was the last film you watched that really moved you?
I would probably have to say Roma. I just loved seeing Yalitza Aparicio celebrated in that way. Honestly though, I’m a little biased with this film. I’ve spend quite a lot of time in Oaxaca connecting with the indigenous people there, so I have a special connection to the world that the film depicts. Basically, I’m all for any film that broadens the spectrum of storytelling - particularly in terms of the level of melanin on screen.
Which album have you played the most in your life?
I’ve definitely played out Aretha Franklin’s Greatest Hits my entire life. Otherwise, it has to be Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation because that’s the first tape that I stole from my parents and found a walkman and listened to. I know all of those songs by heart now.
