Ashton Sanders Has Already Had a Remarkable Career, and It Just Keeps Getting Better

While discussing his role in Moonlight with Teen Vogue, Ashton opened up about how Amazing Grace Conservatory, a nonprofit which aims to empower at-risk youth through performing arts, instilled his love of acting. After struggling with addiction in his family growing up, Ashton enrolled in the program when he was 12. “It changed my life,” he told the publication about the conservatory. “Yo, that – to be around artists and people who would accept my odd quirks – that made me into who I am.”

During an interview with Vanity Fair, Ashton noted that his love of fashion stems from his father, who is a fashion designer. “He used to make men’s suits,” he said of his dad. “He had to shut down in the early 2000s, but I would say he was before his time. The stuff we see now on the runway for high fashion in terms of two-piece suits or what have you – my dad was creating that stuff back then. My pops did that when I was in, like, fifth grade.”

After graduating from Grand Arts High School in Los Angeles in 2013, Ashton enrolled in The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago. It’s actually where he met his eventual Native Son costar KiKi Layne. He left the school after three years to focus on his acting career.

In addition to acting, Ashton also has a production company called 1237 Production. In December 2020, it was announced that his company had secured the film and TV rights to Peter Nelson’s novel A More Unbending Battle: The Harlem Hellfighters’ Struggle For Freedom in WWI and Equality at Home. Ashton is set to produce and star in the adaptation. His company is also producing Feather, which is based on Angela Johnson’s novel The First Part Last.

Since stepping into the spotlight as an actor, Ashton has made a name for himself as a fashion icon. After all, his father is a fashion designer. In addition to attending the Met Gala, he’s also been the face of campaigns for Louis Vuitton, MatchesFashion, and Calvin Klein. He’s noted artists like André 3000, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Jimi Hendrix as a few of his personal style icons.

In addition to starring in Moonlight and on Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Ashton has had roles in Straight Outta Compton, The Equalizer 2, and Judas and the Black Messiah. He is also set to portray Bobby Brown in the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody alongside Naomi Ackie.