Viola Davis’ sister convinced 3 Body Problem’s Jovan Adepo to act

It only takes one conversation to change your life.

In less than a decade, Jovan Adepo has collected an impressive list of acting credits: Fences, The Leftovers, When They See Us, Watchmen, and Babylon, just to name a few. But the 35-year-old almost never pursued acting professionally.

While in school, Adepo thought his future was in football. “At the time, I was completely invested in playing sports,” the actor — who currently stars in Netflix’s sci-fi hit 3 Body Problem — said during a recent Emmys FYC panel series moderated by Entertainment Weekly.

“I was in high school, going into college and play college football,” he said. “But in my mind…. I was the only person that felt like I was going to go pro, not realizing that I was a bench warmer…. I mean, I went to college to play ball, and that’s an achievement, but I wasn’t playing.”

But after performing in a church play, Adepo says he was approached by a woman who thought he could make it in Hollywood: “She said, ‘You did great in this play. If you ever want to get into acting, I know someone who can give you advice.’ I was like, ‘Ma’am, I’ll be playing on Sundays. You’ll see me on Sundays. Thank you, but no thank you. She was like, ‘Well, if that doesn’t work out, then I think you have a knack for this and I can introduce you to someone.’ And that ended up being her sister, Viola Davis.”

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Adepo eventually took her up on her offer and went on to star opposite Davis and Denzel Washington in 2016’s Fences, becoming the only main actor in the film that didn’t also star in the 2010 Broadway revival. “Voila was a hundred percent a foundational element in the beginning of my career. Her and her husband, Julius [Tennon.]”

And Adepo did end up playing on Sundays — just on HBO instead of the field.

Check out our full conversation with Adepo — including a look back at the actor’s iconic roles and a bit of a 3 Body Problem season 2 tease — above. Season 1 of Netflix’s adaptation of Liu Cixin’s novel series Remembrance of Earth’s Past is now streaming.