May 25--South Side native Echo Kellum credits the "revenge of the black nerd lifestyle" for his bump in fame since he began playing a tech whiz who transforms into a superhero on the CW drama "Arrow."
"I always have people looking at me like, 'Where do I know this guy?' I'm a tall black man with an Afro, and I stand out like a sore thumb. Everyone's like, 'Hey, that's that dude,'" Kellum, 33, told New York magazine in an article posted online Wednesday.
"What's really cool to me is the type of people coming up to me. I was born in the projects in Chicago, but I have so many dudes coming up to me from the hood who are like, 'I love your character, man.' 'Arrow' touches everywhere. All my homies and stuff, we're all from inner-city Chicago and we're all huge superhero fans. The 'revenge of the black nerd' lifestyle is real."
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Kellum also appeared in the shortlived Fox comedy "Ben and Kate" and Glen Ellyn native Sean Hayes' canceled comedy "Sean Saves the World." He joined the "Arrow" cast last year, but he didn't initially know he was auditioning for the role of tech guru Curtis Holt, who becomes Mr. Terrific.
"The part had a code name, or at least a different character's name. But I thought the character was really cool and fun and smart and a lot like myself in the sense that I used to work at (Best Buy's) Geek Squad and am really into technology," Kellum told New York.
"So I really connected with the material. At the end of the audition (process), they let me know that the part was Mr. Terrific, and I was blown away because I was familiar with that character. Then I got a call a couple of days later that they wanted me to play him."
The Season 4 finale of "Arrow" is scheduled to air 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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