Photo Source: Ed Krieger
A recent graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, he had been familiar with Ifa Bayeza's play and the role of the real-life character who was murdered at age 14 for supposedly flirting with a white woman. So Arnell was somewhat prepared when he met with Fountain director Ben Bradley and was asked to audition cold. Bradley offered him the job on the spot.
"From day one, he was friendly," recalls Arnell of the director. "He treated me like a son, encouraging me. He really made me feel like I was a good actor; he put confidence in me. I really fell in love with him quickly." Then tragedy befell the theater community: Bradley was murdered on New Year's Day 2010.
Shirley Jo Finney stepped in to direct the play. Arnell says at first he rejected her, wishing Bradley were there instead. Finney swiftly took matters literally in hand. Arnell recalls, "The first thing she did was grab me in the back of the head, look at me, and say, 'I don't want any problems out of you, young man.' I was like, that's a little bold. Okay, we'll see what she's about. And I totally fell in love with her: her energy, she forces you to think outside the box. Her directions are like, she speaks in her own language sometimes. Instead of saying, 'Walk down here,' she'd say, 'Don't lollygag. I want you to oompta-umpta-umpta.' But she really opened up to me, taught me a lot about the business, and took me under her wing. We had breakfast and lunch together and hung out. I'm really attached to Shirley Jo right now."
The actor worked on details to create Emmett, including the character's complete innocence and energy. "The polio he had, I gave him a little limp," says Arnell. "But I didn't want to make it too big, so I made it into a sly, slick kind of swagger. Everyone knew the story, so I didn't want people to dwell on the sad part. And he's a Leo. They're into themselves. It was juggling, not to make him look pompous but to make him true and still young and innocent at the same time."
Arnell, a Los Angeles native, is a proud graduate of the four-year program at LACHSA, noting admission is by audition only. He says the school insists its students have passion for all they do, and he happily complied. He learned many methods, including Suzuki/Viewpoints, but notes the school allowed students to freely express themselves. "In the neighborhood I grew up in, it was like gang-related," says Arnell. "I didn't really hang outside too much. When you get to school, it's like freedom. 'I can be who I want to be, I can express myself through my art.' I loved it."
He is now taking a beginning acting class, just to see what class is like outside high school, at L.A. Valley College. He expects to next appear onstage this spring in Reggie Cook's "Father, Father" at The Hayworth.