Kudos—again—to Stephen McKinley Henderson, actor, director and professor of theatre and dance at UB.
Henderson has once more made the news, this time for two recent performances: the first as Solomon Hancock, the pivotal deep-throat character in the popular 2012 HBO series “Newsroom,” directed by Aaron Sorkin, and the second as William Slade, the president’s trusted manservant, in Steven Spielberg’s 2012 film “Lincoln.”
Henderson says that everyone on set knew that “Lincoln” was “mission work” and a very special project. And yes, he, too, was drawn into star Daniel Day Lewis’ practice of remaining in character during the making of a film.
“He always addressed me as ‘Mr. Slade’ while on set and I always called him “Mr. President,’’’ Henderson says. “Even small talk was conducted in character, so when Lewis asked me how I found the weather that day, he meant the weather in Virginia on a particular date in 1864!”
