Rising 30 feet high and hewn from 159 granite blocks, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial presents a striking presence. However, for Ro Boddie, the actor preparing for his fifth performance as the civil rights icon on stage, it still falls short in capturing his essence.
This statue still doesn’t do justice to how large he truly was,” Boddie comments. “The size of his heart wouldn’t fit inside it.
Assuming the role of an icon is a challenging task — although Boddie manages to make it appear effortless. Mimicking the memorial’s cross-armed stance, Boddie closely resembles King during a late-August photoshoot near Washington’s Tidal Basin. “It’s helpful that I’m the same height as him,” says the 38-year-old actor, dressed in a sleek black suit and sporting a well-groomed mustache that enhances the resemblance. “We share similar physical features and a comparable voice tone.”
When it comes to capturing King’s spirit, Boddie focuses on the memorial’s eyes. The statue’s expression has been thetopic of discussion since it opened in 2011. Is this King contemplative? Serious? Resolute? Distressed? To Boddie, it’s an expression grounded in a heritage that extended well beyond the 39 years King lived on this planet.
I’m constantly wondering,” Boddie states, “how far ahead he’s planning.
Boddie has had ample time to reflect on King’s vision. He first took on those large responsibilities in 2015 for the play “Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin” at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse. A month later, he performed the same role in the play in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2016, he portrayed a different version of King for a production of the historical fantasy “The Mountaintop” in Cleveland. And he came back to that play in a2023 production at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland.
When Aaron Posner chose to direct “The American Five,” a tribute by Chess Jakobs to the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington, casting Boddie as King was his main focus. For the world-premiere play, which begins performances on Friday at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, selecting an accomplished King was not just a desire but a necessity.
He didn’t try out,” stated Posner, who had previously directed Boddie in “No Sisters” at D.C.’s Studio Theatre and “The Tempest” at Round House. “My first and only thought was, ‘If I get Ro, I’ll have the base that I need.’
A resident of Woodley Park followed an unexpected route into King’s shadow. Growing up in a religious family in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Boddie didn’t show any interest in acting until he failed to complete his junior year elective courses, leading a counselor to enroll him in a drama class. Given the task of performing an autobiographical monologue, Boddie wrote about his father and discovered strength through self-expression.
When the role of King eventually came to Boddie, his background shaped his depiction of the respected Baptist minister. “I have a natural connection to this character because I grew up with the Bible and the Lord in our home,” Boddie explains. Each time the actor returns to playing King, the experience strengthens his faith. “It makes me a better person,” he says, “both on and off stage.”
After completing his studies at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Boddie came to the D.C. area for his first professional acting role — a 2009 performance of “Angels in America” at the former Forum Theatre — but later relocated to New York to chase his aspirations in theater and film. It wasn’t until 2021 that he returned to Washington with his wife, Tara Giordano, a performing arts instructor at American University, and their young daughter, choosing the city as their artistic base.
Boddie hadn’t performed as King on stage for seven years before Round House invited him to present “The Mountaintop” two years back. Every time Boddie needs to return to King’s way of speaking, he begins by listening to the reverend’s 1968 “Drum Major Instinct” speech — a favorite partly because King’s tone shifts between the calm manner that is commonly recalled and a more casual rhythm. However, Boddie strives to bring more detail to King in each performance (he’s currently studying Jonathan Eig’s 2023 biography “King: A Life” for new insights) and is cautious not to fall into a parody.
You can see the depictions of individuals attempting to mimic him,” Boddie says, delivering a refined King impression that he is capable of producing when needed. “I’m far more focused on uncovering something than putting on a performance.
To Renea S. Brown, who starred alongside Boddie in “The Mountaintop” and now portrays Coretta Scott King in “The American Five,” her co-star embodies King by recognizing their shared qualities—rather than striving for an eerie imitation.
He wasn’t in any way, form, or shape attempting to be Martin Luther King,” Brown says about Boddie’s “Mountaintop” performance. “He still had his Ro-isms, and was able to bring his essence of Martin but also parts of himself. I know that Ro is also a good man and a father and a husband [like King], so you can see where those two overlap.
In discussing Boddie’s work during the “The American Five” rehearsals, Posner has noted comparable similarities. “Ro brings a feeling of solid integrity to the performance that seems to align with MLK’s own sense of solid integrity,” the director states. “There are certain aspects that are easier and more difficult to portray. You can perform happier than you truly are, or more energetic. I’m not certain that integrity is one of those elements.”
While the book “The American Five” frames the March on Washington, Jakobs’s script that jumps through time showcases King during various pivotal moments in the ten-year period leading up to his “I Have a Dream” speech — from his relationship with Coretta in 1952 Boston to conversations at the Willard Hotel just before the march. Throughout, the play explores the different characters who led this event — Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin, Clarence B. Jones, and Stanley Levison — and the energetic dialogue that made it happen.
We need to recognize the very human aspect of Dr. King,” Jakobs states. “We also need to see the reverend we are familiar with. We must acknowledge the famous speaker and activist that we know.
After giving a supporting performance as King in “Blueprint to Freedom,” Michael Benjamin Washington’s play centered on Rustin, Boddie portrayed a more weary and disillusioned King in Katori Hall’s “The Mountaintop” — a fictional depiction of the night before his 1968 assassination. With its broad perspective, “The American Five” will provide Boddie’s most detailed portrayal of the individual yet.
It’s truly amazing,” he says. “People question me about the icon: How does it feel to portray an icon rather than a regular person? I can’t play an icon. However, I can embody all the qualities of Martin that made him iconic, and that is his kindness, his compassion.
When asked about the differences in portraying King across three playwrights’ versions, Boddie instead highlights the commonalities. “They all explore,” he states, “inner conflict.” Indeed, Boddie admits that embodying King’s suffering and determination has its challenges. However, once “The American Five” ends on October 12, he would have no reservations about taking on the role again.
If standing on stage is Boddie’s part in spreading King’s message of equality and togetherness, it’s a role he will continue to take on repeatedly.
Every time I play him, it reminds me of my duty as an African American, to my country, and to my community,” Boddie says. “I’m also reminded of what can occur when you set aside your personal beliefs and unite for a shared goal. As long as people recognize that I have something valuable to offer him as a person and to portray him, I will be there.
If you go
The American Five
Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St NW.fords.org.
Dates: Sept. 19-Oct. 12.
Prices: $26-$53.
