The next is an excerpt from the Screen Kings cover story feature within the July/August issue of ESSENCE.

In 2018, Yahya landed his first role in one of the crucial coveted movie genres for actors today: superhero motion flicks. After starring as Black Manta in Aquaman, he went from the world of DC Comics to the Marvel Universe—playing Cal Abar, a loyal husband with a surprise character twist, in HBO’s Watchmen.

“We were considering Yahya and two other actors, who were great actors,” says costar Regina King, who plays his wife within the HBO series. “But afterward, I told [writer-producer] Damon Lindelof we didn’t have to test the 2 other actors. Yahya was obviously the alternative.”

Of winning the role, Yahya says, “It was nice to only be a dude who was deeply in love and would do anything to guard that love. There have been still magical elements to it—but to get to star opposite Regina, and to flirt and dance and protect and be a husband, I used to be really craving that. My heart was craving that. My artistry was craving the prospect to only be easy.”

The part ultimately earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series. Little question it also helped him to transition from a supporting player to the highest of the decision sheet in Candyman. Nonetheless, for the upcoming horror film’s director, Nia DaCosta, it was Yahya’s character within the film Us that caught her eye.

“I remember being impressed with how much he did with that role,” she says of his portrayal of a father seen only in a principal character’s flashbacks. “He was in a position to create a full character with a protracted, specific history, with such little real estate. As an actor, Yahya is honest, playful and focused.”

It goes without saying that he’s also versatile. After Candyman (in theaters August 27), Yahya will star in The Matrix 4, the latest installment within the Matrix franchise. Next yr he’ll appear in his third motion flick, Ambulance. Having starred in thrillers, horror movies, musicals and legal dramas, could Yahya have a rom-com next on his list of cinematic conquests?

“We’d like more romance,” he says. “Now we have adventure. Now we have motion. We’ve got a number of stories about trauma, because trauma could be very present in our world without delay. But we also need love. We’d like more straight-up, old-school romance. I don’t mind putting my hand up and getting into that place to say, ‘I’ll be your man, girl.’ I don’t mind that in any respect.”

When Yahya won his Emmy Award in 2020, he dedicated it to the Black women in his life whom he calls his “early investors”—“individuals who believed in me before the world did, who told me that I used to be special every step of the way in which, who wouldn’t let me even think that it was possible for me to fail,” he explains. “Black women in my life, they protect me and speak life into me. They put their arms around me, and it’s been an honor for me to take them on this journey, to have a good time them. Any time I even have a win, it’s a win for them.”

King, who also won an Emmy Award for her leading role in Watchmen, wasn’t surprised by the dedication when she watched Yahya accept the award from home. “That man talks about his sisters and his mother with a lot love and a lot appreciation,” she says. “I believe that was one in all the explanation why we connected so well. It doesn’t all the time work that way with actors, that you’re feeling secure enough to be so forthcoming together with your personal life, but we did that literally day one. His love for the ladies in his life, he leads with that.”

For more on why this leading man is here to remain read the July/August 2021 issue of ESSENCE. Available on newsstands + digital platforms June 29.

Credits

Photography, Brad Ogbonna

Stylist, Jason Rembert

Groomer, Merrell Hollis using Bevel/Crowd MGMT

Barber, Chaz Hazlitt of Stache Barbers

Manicurist, Dawn Sterling/nailglamproductions 

Location: 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge