Supergirls Mehcad Brooks admits DC Comics character made him realise how sexist he was
Actor Mehcad Brooks has a lot to thank Supergirl for – after popular roles in Desperate Housewives a..
Actor Mehcad Brooks has a lot to thank Supergirl for – after popular roles in Desperate Housewives and True Blood, its propelled him back onto primetime TV once again.
But even more notably, it made him realise that he was – unintentionally – sexist.
Its a brutally honest admission from Mehcad, 38, and not one youd expect a Hollywood actor to so freely admit in this era where any celebrity is a candidate to get called out on social media for any controversial statement they make.
Still, Mehcad said it anyway and you have to admire his unfiltered honesty and self-awareness.
The TV star, who plays James Olsen in Supergirl, told Metro.co.uk: Supergirl has done some incredible things for me. It made me realise I was sexist.
It made me work on that. It made me realise that I have male privilege and thats a real thing and I never really thought about that because Im a black man in America. I dont have any racial privilege so Im constantly preoccupied with that inherited agreement that America has been at my feet.
That I have to respond to how you feel about my race, so much so that I wasnt thinking about male privilege.
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Mehcad credits being surrounded by super strong women who are telling female-driven stories, for forcing him to think about shit.
The CW series stars Melissa Benoist in the lead role as Supergirl aka Kara Danvers, with Mehcad alongside her as James Olsen.
Further calling out his own institutionalised sexism, Mehcad continued: It made me stop and think, Im a dude raised in a patriarchal society and I havent questioned these agreements that Im participating in so that means, Im sexist.
It got me thinking about my life and what I was participating in. And not just be an ally to feminism but a participant in it.
Mehcad reveals that his self-realisation made him question the character he plays on the show, and pushed him to raise the issue with series writers.
He explained: Its this moral [compass] that my character James and I have in real life. The more he gets involved in it on the show and the better he gets on the show, the more it makes me a better person.
The more I grow and evolve as a human being, I talk to the writers about that. [I ask] “Can we tell this story? Can we talk about racism? Can we go this route?”
He added: Weve been able to do that and mix those two worlds. Its really helping me, its shown me the truth about myself in many ways.
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Yep, got to admire his honesty.
If theres one thing you take away from speaking to Mehcad, even for just a few minutes, its that self-awareness is key.
It likely comes from two horrific, life-changing moments that quite literally cost him his life – temporarily.
One of the first things that comes up when you Google Mehcads name, is that he passed away in 2009.
You read that correctly.
Ten years ago, Mehcad was struck down with an amoebic microscopic parasite, a water-based infection he contracted while in Africa.
He suffered with the illness for 18 months – people battling the parasite usually die after six months without treatment, so he was already a medical anomaly.
Eventually, it completely took hold of him and Mehcad was rushed to hospital before dying.
Recalling his death experience, Mehcad said: They say your life flashes before your eyes – it doesnt. Thats not how it works. Youre on the edge of this orb of existence, youre witnessing your entire life and on the edge of this existence of your life thats not chronological.
Heres last week, heres five minutes ago, heres when I was 10 years old, heres when I was 20.
He continued: I think once you crossover, you become aware of your spiritual body, you become aware of your spiritual memory. You realise this place that youre at is this place youve been before.
After realising it wasnt my time, Mehcad came back but, bizarrely, a year to the day later he got into a car crash and again fell into a coma when he died for a second time.
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The actor recalled: I was in severe pain but once all your senses start to come back, your hearing, your sight.
I didnt really know what happened, I just knew that if I ever got out of that hospital bed again… I asked myself just one last conscious question before I crossed over, which was: “Did you do what you was supposed to do while you were here?”
It was this second experience that finally pushed Mehcad to understand why he was given these extra chances at life – to create music.
And thus, his musical personal King Gvspv was born.
Mehcad explained: I told myself if I ever get out of this bed, there was this small quiet voice of truth that we all have.