Watch Young, Awkward President Obama Navigate College in New Biopic
A young President Barack Obama explores New York City in the short, enticing teaser for Netflix‘s upcoming biopic titled Barry. The film is set in 1981 during Obama’s junior year of college and follows him in various social spheres while also trying to maintain relationships with his Kansas-born mother and Kenyan father.
Set to Copywrite’s soulful cut “Trouble,” the clip shows Obama waiting for a graffiti-covered subway car, ascending the steps of Columbia University, walking around Harlem and Morningside Heights and entering a smoky club. While much of the Barry teaser shows the young Obama from behind, the clip’s final shot offers a look at Devon Terrell, the unknown Australian actor tapped to make his acting debut as the future president.
In an interview with GQ, Terrell noted some of the challenges of playing Obama, such as learning a Midwestern accent and how to do everything – from writing to playing basketball – left-handed. “It was also about finding the awkwardness,” Terrell added. “The man we see now has a swagger about him, walks around with his chest up high. Looking at him when he was 30, though, he was a different man. And so thinking about him at 21, when he’s trying to find himself, he’s not as assured.”
Barry was written by Adam Mansbach and directed by Vikram Gandhi. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September and is scheduled to arrive on Netflix December 16th.