Markees Christmas goes from ‘Southern Cali baby’ to movie star with ‘Morris From America’ debut

Despite his last name, 16-year-old Markees Christmas saw snow for the first time this year when he attended the Sundance Film Festival. The young South Los Angeles native made his acting debut in Chad Hartigan’s film “Morris From America,” which won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance. The film, which costars Craig Robinson, opens Friday.

In the comedy-drama set in Heidelberg, Germany, Christmas plays a lovesick 13-year-old and aspiring hip-hop artist who has just moved overseas from the States with his recently widowed father, Curtis (Robinson). Christmas’ coming-of-age role is not only a reminder of the nuances of teenage angst, but also a portrayal of adapting as an outsider in a foreign country.

When did you begin acting?

I was in the sixth grade and had horrible grades. [The school] told me, “If you don’t get that grade up by the end of this school year, you’re going to be in sixth grade again.” I couldn’t let that happen. So they told me the only way to do that was to be in the school play. At first, I was like, “Acting is not my thing. I don’t want to do that.” I was arguing about it for a while, and I ended up just coming to terms.

The play was “Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. At first I auditioned for the part of Travis, but they basically tricked me into playing Walter. I guess I did good even though I really wasn’t trying to.

So, you made it to seventh grade then?

Yes, I made it out of the sixth grade. My mom invited my mentor from the Big Brother program to the play, and when she invited him he didn’t know that I would be acting. He was in a small comedy scene in downtown L.A. called “Channel 101,” and he was making videos every month. Once he found out that I dabble in this acting, we started making videos, and I just started getting noticed. Chad [Hartigan] got in contact with my mentor through YouTube, and that’s how he got me.

How did you find out you got the part?

I think only a week after the audition, Chad called me in for a callback. We met up, and then a few days after that callback, I got a voicemail from him asking me if I want to be in the movie.

How did you feel about getting your first on-screen part?

I was walking down the street with my friends when I was listening to the voicemail, so I couldn’t look like a weirdo. I wanted to scream, but I just couldn’t. I mean, I was acting like a total weirdo for five minutes, and [my friends] were like, “What’s up with you?” And I’m just like, “I’m going to be in a movie.” I’m trying to make it seem small, like I’m not super excited about it.

So what was it like being at Sundance?

Man, the biggest part about going to Sundance was being able to see snow for the first time. I’m such a Southern Cali baby. I was super excited. I also got to meet a lot of people, and I got to see a lot of people. I just had a total fun time at Sundance. I got to make a snowman and then completely destroy him afterwards.

How do you relate to the character you play in “Morris From America”?

The relationship with him and his father is exactly the same as me and my father. That’s a big part of it. That’s kind of why Craig and I got together so good on this. Both Craig and I just kind of took from the relationship between our fathers and us.

And as far as the falling in love part, that’s just not Markees. Not yet. But rap — I’m a huge rap fan. That’s pretty much all I listen to right about now. I think that’s just this teenager phase I’m going through, to tell you the truth. I listen to a lot of underground rap.

There’s a scene in “Morris” when you rap in front of a big audience. Was rapping new to you?

I write sometimes, but I’ve never set my goals on being a rapper. As far as rapping with the movie, of course I can do that. I rap by myself all the time, rapping other people’s lyrics. It wasn’t a big problem or anything too crazy.

It’s just that the scene where I have to rap in front of everybody — that was probably the hardest scene because I was going through an emotional state. We shot that scene on the last day, so I was like, “Man, I don’t want to leave Germany, and there’s a bunch of people in the room, and I have to rap in front of everybody?” Got it over with, though. That’s a way different experience than just acting.

You have a rather intimate scene with a sweater-topped pillow. What was that like?

Basically the whole shoot before the pillow scene, I was going crazy about it, like, “I do not want to hop anywhere near that pillow.” What was going through my mind is that I’m going to end up showing my friends this movie, and it’s going to end up on social media somewhere. And Chad’s already made it a GIF. It’s horrible.

But I found out that it was a closed set on the day. I had been beating myself up about it this whole time. We got there and it was literally me, Chad, the sound lady, the director of photography, and the pillow … but it didn’t take that much pressure off me because I knew the camera assistant had a screen outside and everybody was looking.

It was a few small takes and then one huge take of me just goofing off because I got kind of comfortable playing with the pillow.

And Morris uses a lot of curse words.

Yeah, a big obstacle with this movie was [that] my grandma came with me to Germany, so she was there during the whole shooting. I had to go over call sheets the night before [each shoot] to make sure I had no scenes that had curse words in them, because if there were my grandma would just have to stay at the hotel the whole day.

What was your relationship like with Craig?

Craig and I got pretty comfortable with each other. Of course, we were the only two black dudes in the whole country. I met Craig one time before we went to Germany … and he’s talking about how he’s seen my work, and I’m like, “Dude, I’ve seen your work. I see your work everywhere!” Watching “Hot Tub Time Machine” at I don’t know what age, I just know I wasn’t supposed to be looking at that screen. I was a total fanboy when I first found out he was going to be in the movie.

What’s next for you?

I’m planning on continuing with acting, capitalizing on this. Once I actually started acting, I kind of fell in love with being on set and seeing all the magic come together.

Which actors do you look up to as role models?

This is going to sound so cliché, but I’m a big Denzel fan. I’m an Omar Epps fan. Craig, of course, super fanboy. Mekhi Phifer. There’s a lot of people that I look up to. It’s a long list. Now I can say that because I’ve actually thought about this.

susie.schmank@latimes.com

Twitter: @SusieSchmank

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