20 Black Movie Characters Hollywood Should Learn From
16. Albert Lewis (What Dreams May Come)
Albert Lewis is the mentor to Robin Williamss Chris Nielsen, both in life as a practitioner of medicine and in death as an orientation counselor.
Albert is written as a black character, but what are most important in What Dreams May Come are his ultimately transcendent emotional roles in Chriss life, which in turn strikingly illuminate the human experience and spirit. His arc really sneaks up on you and does a great amount for the movies purpose. He goes on almost as much of a journey as Chris does, and race factors into his story, but at the end of the day hes a person, and when Max von Sydow eventually takes over the role, it is handled so seamlessly that it doesnt seem as if much as changed, even though its two different actors of two different races. It only helps to bring the point home (and the point isnt about race).
Hollywood can really get some hard-hitting characters from this concept.