Four Inane Questions with television actor Tosin Morohunfola
Tosin Morohunfola. // Photo by Brian Paulett
Let it be known: Tosin Morohunfola is an official Hollywood triple threat. The actor, writer, director—who grew up in Kansas City—can be seen leading the new Starz comedy Run the World, recurring on HBO’s new series Julia, and ABC’s Everything’s Trash.
Morohunfola is also an independent filmmaker whose festival-selected films include: Endowed, a parable about fatherhood, and On Sight, a social justice police thriller. He says as a filmmaker his goal is to tell stories that advocate for the marginalized and challenge institutional oppression.
His latest endeavor? This past summer, Morohunfola has been busy shooting his first thriller, The Pulpit. He calls it a “massive, little indie film” about a progressive rural pastor whose life is threatened by extremists. A recent, robust Kickstarter campaign raised more than $100,000.
Snoop around the KU grad’s IMDB page and you’ll see just how busy he’s been over the past few years. (Pandemic be damned!) One of his biggest recent breaks was landing a major recurring role in the Showtime series, The Chi.
We caught up with the actor during a minor lull in his shooting schedule. Thank God he still takes our calls. (Uh, for now.)
The Pitch: What’s the most starstruck you’ve ever been? We’re talking completely dumbfounded by a celeb encounter.
Tosin Morohunfola: When I met Oprah, she definitely took me by surprise, mostly because she knew exactly who I was! And to make it even crazier, she showered me with compliments on my performance in her show, Love Is. I was in awe and deeply honored all at the same time. Had to tell her my mom said, ‘Thank you for believing in my son.’
Name an activity where you thought you’d excel, but you were horrific at it.
Tosin Morohunfola. // Photo by Brian Paulett
Actually, yeah, surfing. I was absolutely not the best at it. But what’s important is that I was still better than my younger brother. Gotta keep humble and let him know who’s in charge.
You’re heading out on a lengthy road trip. How far do you make it driving before calling it quits for the day?
I’ve done 8 hours straight before with no stops—from Chicago to Kansas. I never even stopped once to use the bathroom. That journey was hard. But I had to make it to a film set on time, so I bit the bullet and did it anyway. Done it a couple of times actually. I’m the long-distance drive champ.
What’s a fashion choice you wholeheartedly regret making?
In high school, I had a blindingly bright gold dress shirt. I used to wear it all the time. My older brother used to make fun of me for it. He always said, “Can you turn your shirt down? It’s loud.” But I kept that volume loud. Wish I still had that shirt.
Bonus 5th Question: What line, monologue, or soliloquy did you have the hardest time learning/memorizing?
I had a tough speech to memorize in my current show Run The World on Starz. Not because it was bad or anything. It was challenging to learn because the words were too true and felt really authentic and unearthed some real pain. Sometimes acting reflects real life like that—especially break-up scenes.
