Stars Vivica A. Fox and Aubrey Joseph talk about the realities of the prison pipeline shown in Peacock film, Bosco.
Based on the real story of Quawntay “Bosco” Adams (who serves as a producer on the film), the film follows Bosco (Joseph) as he serves a 35-year sentence for marijuana and tries to escape prison to see his daughter. During his escape, he has to come to terms with his life choices.
Fox, who plays Bosco’s mother Willa, said how Black men were imprisoned at an intense rate in the ’80s and ’90s, a stark difference from today’s landscape of legal marijuana and dispensaries. The many marijuana store owners don’t look like those who were incarcerated for the same drug, which adds to the racial disparity created around the drug.
“In the ’90s, Reaganomics found a way to incarcerate a lot of African American men because back in the day that was the trade, where the brothers could get their hustle on,” she said. “…Our times have changed and we have to be grateful to Obama because he saw that it was mainly affecting the African American community and now we can give thanks to President Biden that the charges are less.”
“It’s just a changing of the times and I’m so glad because there were so many young men…getting sentenced to 30-something years over some weed,” she continued. “I hope this film educates us to let us know how far we’ve come with Black men being incarcerated. I hope there’s the good message of Black men needing to be with their families.”
She also added how her other biopic project, The First Lady of BMF: The Tonesa Welch Story, also shows audiences the reality of what happens when your choices lead to extreme consequences, such as prison. “These are stories that kids need to see to make better choices…so they see the realness of what happens if you make the choice and you end up behind bars…It’s brutal and it’s real and it happens,” she said.
Joseph, who plays Bosco, said that the role found him “at a time when it was exactly what I was looking for.” He also called Bosco a “superhero.” Fitting, since Joseph himself played a superhero in the Freeform/Marvel series Cloak and Dagger.
“I just wanted to be a part of telling that story and getting him out,” he said. “…I saw a lot of myself and a lot of my homies that I grew up with in him. It was really just trying to tap into that authentic feeling which is why it was a perfect role for me. It’s not just film; as actors, we have a responsibility to tell stories that matter and to tell stories that young people or anyone can see and really see themselves on the screen and that’s what I do this for.”
Watch the full interviews with Fox, Joseph and director Nicholas Manuel Pino below. Bosco is now streaming on Peacock.
