King of Cool

Samuel stars in the thriller Freedomland, a chilling tale of the mysterious disappearance of a 4-year-old boy. Julianne Moore plays Brenda Martin, the distraught mother of the missing child. Samuel plays detective Lorenzo Council, who is determined to find Brenda's son.

Racial tension ignites as the criminal investigation focuses in on a man living in a housing project. Detective Council is torn between his loyalty to a community and the dangerous search for truth and justice.

Although Samuel says he puts his heart into each of his movies, he's especially excited about Freedomland. "It's about people," he explains. "There are no special effects. There are ... just people there eliciting and going through emotional turmoil."