Digital Cover: Bodhi Sabongui
Talent: Bodhi Sabongui
Photos: Stephanie Diani
Stylist: Mecca Cox
Stylist Asst: Silvia Lee
Groomer: Todd Harris
Producer: Chrissy Wang
EIC + Words: Anthony Vu Cao
Special Thanks: Imprint PR
Meet the ever so fun and dashing new gen talent Bodhi Sabongui, best known for his roles in The Baby-Sitters Club, A Million Little Things, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow; now star of DC Comics’s blockbuster Black Adam, alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Bodhi talks to us about his role in the blockbuster Black Adam, positive representation, inspiration and aspiration.
Hi Bodhi! In the newest DC Films feature Black Adam, you star as Amon - a street-smart and comic book-obsessed teenager who works with his mom (Sarah Shahi) and uncle (Mo Amer) to free Kahndaq from the military force that has colonized their home, and in turn forms an unlikely bond with the anti-hero Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson). Tell us how this role came about and how you got involved in the project?
Just like any other actor, I heard about the role from my agent and sent in some self-taped auditions to be considered the role. They seemed to like it, and did my last callback over zoom with Jaume and some of the producers. All my auditions were held over Zoom during the pandemic, and I shot them in a spare room in my house in Vancouver. I was 12 years old during my first audition, so it’s crazy to finally see the film on the big screen more than two years later.
How did you feel when you heard the news that you were going to be cast in a leading role in one the largest global franchises? And alongside veteran powerhouses like Dwayne Johnson, Pierce Brosnan and Aldis Hodge no less - were you nervous?
I’d say I was less nervous and more excited to be surrounded by all of these amazing actors. I learned so much from my co-stars, and I was lucky to get to witness them doing what they do firsthand. It was all around a great experience.
Amon has been described as the heart and soul of the film, and at times the glue that holds the story together. How did you prepare to take on such a character? Did you experience any challenges bringing him to life?
Amon’s shoes were definitely some fun ones to step into. Every time I approached a scene, I approached it from a perspective of hope and determination. This kid has a goal to free his home and his people, and he is going to achieve it by any means necessary. No one is going to stop him.
Do you find any similarities between you and Amon when portraying him?
Amon has this talent where he knows just about everything about every superhero down to the stats. I share this skill with him, but for me it’s NFL players. I’ve always been really into football, and could most likely tell you the stats about most players who played anywhere from the 80s until now. We’re both loyal fans in that way.
Did you experience any challenges bringing him to life?
When we started filming in the Spring and Summer of 2021, I was 13 years old, 5’5” with a higher-pitched kid voice. When I came back for reshoots in April of 2022, I was 14, 5’10” and my voice had dropped, so we had some challenges trying to make it look and sound like I stayed the same age throughout the movie. During reshoots, they started using some apple boxes on set for some scenes to match the height difference from the original shoot, and I spent a lot of time in a recording studio during post production trying to make my voice higher for a few scenes. They even replaced my voice with AI in some scenes.
In the film, Amon is a big comic book fan and has his bedroom filled with posters of superheroes from Superman to Batman. He even helps Black Adam come up with a good superhero catch phrase. Were you familiar with Black Adam or any of the DC Comics before auditioning?
Although I was familiar with the stories of most superheroes (mostly from movies and video games), I wasn’t really into reading the comics. Even though I knew who Black Adam was, I didn’t know much about his story. Once I found out what it was that I was auditioning for, I bought all of the Black Adam comics I could find, and even more after I booked it.
Black Adam primarily takes place in Kahndaq, a fictional country in the Middle East occupied by a foreign military group, resembling a modern-day Iraq or Egypt. It's the first a DC Film has centered around a Middle Eastern location and family. As an Egyptian-Candian yourself, how did it feel to bring that representation to the big screen for the first time alongside Sarah Shahi and Mo Amer?
It felt incredible to be given the opportunity to play this amazing character. When I was growing up, the Middle-Eastern/North African men on TV were usually stereotyped as the bad guys. This movie gave me a chance to paint us in a more positive light, and it means the world to me to be a part of it.
We even saw the homage to your Egyptian heritage on the World Premiere red carpet in New York, with a symbolic Eye of Horus over your eye. How important is your culture and heritage important to you, and what do you hope audiences can take away from the Middle Eastern representation seen in the film?
It means everything to me to be able to represent my culture. My entire family on my dad’s side immigrated to North America from Egypt in the mid 1970s, meaning I’m only a generation removed from Egypt. The eye of Horus has been in my home ever since I was born. Egyptian culture isn’t something I’m out of touch with, and being able to pay respect to that publicly was a gift.
You were first cast in Black Adam when you were only 13-years- old, it's been quite some time since you've filmed. What were some of your favorite experiences while filming?
My favorite experiences while filming were mostly off set. Since I had to learn how to skateboard for the movie, my stunt double James Gonzalez and I went to skateparks often for him to teach me, and I had fun being able to learn a new skill on top of this unreal experience.
Black Adam is your feature film debut, but you're no stranger to the world of acting. At such a young age, you've already appeared in popular TV series from Netflix's award-nominated series The Babysitter's Club to ABC's A Million Little Things to DC's Legends of Tomorrow. What drew you to acting and made you want to pursue it as a career?
Both of my parents are involved in the industry as actors, directors, producers, writers, etc. Upon meeting my dad, Jaume even put him in the movie! They’re tremendous acting teachers and my inspiration came from them. They taught me everything I know, and I owe so much of my success to them.
As an artist, who are your inspirations? On-screen or off-screen, anyone in particular you admire?
Aldis Hodge, Lakeith Stanfield and Childish Gambino. I really admire their performances, and I was genuinely starstruck when I met Aldis for the first time (and the next few times too). It was awesome being able to work with him and get to know him.
I also consider football to be an art as well as a sport, considering the amount of thought and creativity that goes into it. I’ve always been inspired by Walter Payton, since he achieved greatness at a scale where he was arguably the best ever at what he did, but kept a notorious reputation of always being a great person off the field as well.
What do you have coming up next? Any upcoming projects you can share?
I have a football game on Saturday, and a pre calc test next week lol. Other than that, nothing I can share as of yet, but stay tuned.
There's already been some rumors circulating in the comic book fan blogs that say this won't be the last we see of Amon in the DC franchise. Any truth to those rumors?
I definitely hope those rumors are true. There are several directions Amon’s story could go in, and I’m excited to see where it leads!
Last question, who's your favorite superhero?
Vengeance. GR8T
