Out and About

Film with New Bern star earns Oscar nomination for Best Picture

Green Book, which stars a North Carolina native, was among the eight Oscar nominees for Best Picture on Tuesday.

Posted Updated

By
Jessica Patrick
, WRAL digital journalist
Green Book, which stars a North Carolina native, received an Oscar nomination Tuesday for Best Picture in the 91st Academy Awards.

Von Lewis, who hails from New Bern, plays Bobby Rydell in the film.

Lewis and his wife, also a singer, started a local act where they perform a variety of music, including pop and jazz.

Since her maiden name is Clark, they call it "Lewis and Clark."

"I've been doing this for a long time," the singer said in a interview with WRAL. "When I was about 16 I started getting into bars and clubs and singing with bands."

Lewis auditioned for a role in Green Book and was thrilled to be selected.

"It's a big film -- a special story, too," said Lewis.

Green Book, currently in theaters, tells the story of a bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx who is hired to drive a world-class black pianist on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South. Along the way, the two are confronted with racism, danger and humor.

In Green Book, which takes place in the 60s, Lewis sings a catchy song called "Black Magic" to a high-energy crowd.

"It was a dream come true to perform in that scene," said Lewis. "You know, we have hundreds of extras smoking cigarettes and it's all hazy in there and the big band is behind me -- it was really transportational and really a dream."

Green Book has received seven other major nominations, including five at the Golden Globes and two at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, where it won out over presumed front-runners like "Roma," ''A Star Is Born" and "Black Panther."

The other Academy Award nominees for Best Picture announced on Tuesday include "A Star Is Born," ''Roma," ''The Favourite," ''Black Panther," ''BlacKkKlansman," ''Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Vice."

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.