BSU Graduate Jovan Adepo (’10) Earns His First Emmy Nomination

Adepo Honored for Outstanding Supporting Actor Role in HBO’s ‘Watchmen’

MEDIA CONTACT: Damita Chambers, dchambers@bowiestate.edu, 301-832-2628 mobile

(BOWIE, Md.) – Bowie State University graduate and rising Hollywood star, Jovan Adepo ('10), grabbed his first Emmy nomination for his role in HBO’s superhero drama series, “Watchmen,” based on the celebrated DC Comics series of the same name. The 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony will air Sunday, Sept. 20 on ABC.

Adepo is nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie category for his portrayal of Officer Will Reeves/Hooded Justice. He is nominated alongside veteran actor Louis Gossett Jr., who plays an older version of Adepo’s character in “Watchmen,” and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who plays Cal Abar/Dr. Manhattan in the series. "Watchmen" earned a total of 26 Emmy nominations, including actress Regina King's nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and a nomination for Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie or Special.

The series is set in a fictional Tulsa, Oklahoma, three years after a coordinated white supremacist attack on police and their families. Reeves, Adepo’s character, is portrayed as the first-ever costumed crime fighter, who inspires others to do the same, as well as a childhood survivor of Tulsa’s 1921 Black Wall Street massacre.

“Playing Will Reeves, AKA Hooded Justice, my favorite thing about it was just the fact that I got the opportunity to play a hero who didn’t have powers, which is something that really stuck out to me because this was a man who was able to do great things, extraordinary things, just by having plenty of willpower and a strong spirit,” he said in a video posted on the Television Academy’s Twitter page. “Just getting to be associated with a cast and crew full of talented artists was a blessing.”

Since his major film debut in “Fences” with veteran actors Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, Adepo has been making a name for himself in Hollywood as a versatile actor. His recent acting credits include playing Antron McCray in the Netflix series, “When They See Us” (2019), Marcus Bishop in the Prime Original series, “Jack Ryan” (2018), and Private First Class Edward Boyce in the film, “Overlord” (2018). He also plays Michael Murphy in the HBO series, “The Leftovers” (2015-2017).

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