As Facebook Watch continues to ramp up original programming, one of its latest series is from none other than Kerry Washington.
Five Points, a 10-episode drama series, is from Washington’s Simpson Street banner and Indigenous Media. The series follows the trials and tribulations of five teens in a Southside Chicago high school. Five Points highlights the many aspects of teen life from love to loss, and everything in between. An intense examination of the challenging world teens live in today, Five Points captures how the daily pressures they face can lead to difficult choices which sometimes have life-altering outcomes. The story is told from five unique perspectives, which eventually come together to give the plot a resolution.
All episodes are directed by Thomas Carter, who helmed like Save the Last Dance and Coach Carter and was one of the directors of the 2016 Roots miniseries. It is created and written by Adam Giaudrone.
The diverse cast consists of Madison Pettis, Hayley Kiyoko, Spence Moore II, Ray Cham Jr., Trey Curtis, Nathaniel Potvin, Jake Walker, Coco Jones and Jahking Guillory.
Moore, who stars on NBC’s A.P. Bio and recurs on Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why (both renewed for their second and third seasons, respectively), was tapped for one of the five lead roles in this series, with his role arguably being the centerpiece and the most pivotal. Shadow and Act spoke him ahead of the premiere of the show’s critical fifth episode.
“Five Points follows the lives of five high school teenagers. It’s one story told through five different points of view. The character that I play is Eric Harper. He’s the jock, the driven-one, and football player, but he’s also dealing with something that you don’t see. He’s a very strong character and all he wants to do at the end of the day is to make to make his dad, his grandfather and his whole family proud. He’s one of the strongest characters that I’ve ever portrayed and it has been a pleasure playing him,” said Moore.
On working with Kerry Washington, who stepped into an exec producer role, Moore said, “It’s very, very fun to be a part of something of this magnitude with somebody of Kerry Washington’s stature. To have someone who is in this industry at the highest level who would vouch for you and believes in you..it’s life-changing. It’s like reaching a certain level.”
“The interactions with Kerry, Simpson Street, Indigenous Media, Facebook….it’s very hands-on. They’re definitely there looking at everything. And they do a great job of looping in third-party people. Our show deals with mental health and they make sure we are very knowledgeable about the topic so we can have these conversations,” he continued.
Moore is up for the challenge when it comes to tackling issues that are prevalent, yet very taboo in society right now.
“With this show, it deals a lot with depression. It deals with a lot of heavy topics and relevant topics in today’s society. To be an actor and taking on a role like this, it’s really cool because this is the type of role on a show that you want to be involved with. You feel fulfilled. And on a platform like Facebook, just to have that reach and sense of community to get that message out, it is very beneficial and it is needed in today’s society, especially with social media being a huge part of our generation. It’s just really cool to just be a part of Facebook and something like Five Points. It’s definitely going to start conversations.
On one thing he hopes people take from the show, the young actor said, “You should treat everyone with kindness. I don’t care who you are, where you come from — just being kind to somebody goes a long way. You never know what anyone is dealing with and you never know what effects of what you do to someone will have on them.”
Moore has the distinct privilege of being one of the first actors to star in Facebook Watch, a new and emerging streaming platform destined to compete with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video and others. “That’s something that Ms. Kerry told as well,” he said. “She said, ‘No matter what this show does, you guys are making history with it being one of the first scripted drama series on Facebook.’ She’s always talking very highly about Facebook Watch and the impact that it is going to have on the community and why she wanted to use a platform like this. I just think about that whenever I’m watching the show, because I’m not gonna lie, the fact that one episode comes out, it kills me! (laughs). Like even though I’ve watched it, it keeps you wanting more.”
New episodes of Five Points are released every Monday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on the Five Points show page: facebook.com/fivepoints
