Everton Dennis joins the gang
With a frightening crime rate that has resulted in hundreds of homicides in the past decade, Chicago is arguably the most violent city in the United States. But for his movie, Gangland, director Jean-Claude La Marre chose the Windy City as a backdrop to one of history’s great love stories.
The film, released on Amazon last week, is inspired by Romeo and Juliet whose ill-fated romance has been interpreted by many film-makers. Gangland stars Wood Harris, Clifton Powell, Tamar Braxton and Jamaican Everton Dennis.
Known as E-Dee, the lanky Dennis plays Ragga whom he describes as “a confident gangster that no one wants to cross.”
He had a small role as Slim in Chocolate City 3, a sleeper hit for La Marre in 2017. That prompted the director/screenwriter to give him a beefed-up part in Gangland.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, La Marre has Haitian roots. His acting credits include roles in Malcolm X and Dead Presidents; as a director, he is responsible for Gang of Roses and Go For Broke.
Befriending emerging players like La Marre has helped keep Clarendon-born Dennis busy in Hollywood, a town where it is traditionally tough for persons of Caribbean descent to snare quality roles. Some of those roles, like Ragga, call for some muscle which Dennis is not afraid to flex.
“I love the gangster role that I am getting now, but what I do differently is write and produce movies as well, so me and my partner QMillion we write our own scripts with more variety,” he noted.
QMillion and Dennis have collaborated on a number of songs including Needed Me (Alone) and Sail Away, which was done with Wayne Wonder. Fancy Face, his latest song, is also produced by QMillion who has worked with acts such as Paula Abdul and Billy Preston.
Out The Gate, an autobiographical 2011 movie Dennis wrote and starred in with Paul Campbell and Oliver Samuels, is his biggest effort since he moved to Los Angeles 20 years ago. He has also appeared in the movie Overkill.