'A Full Circle': Bay Shore Native Makes 'Static Shock' Audition Short

BAY SHORE, NY — In 2022, Bay Shore native Quentin Owusu-Adjei Thomson moved to Hollywood, California, to pursue an electrifying dream.

A little more than a year later, the 24-year-old actor is one step closer to snagging an audition for the DC superhero film Static Shock, produced by Michael B. Jordan.

Thompson published his own concept trailer, titled “Quentin Thomson is STATIC SHOCK: Help An Underdog Get Into DCEU Film” on March 27.

The three-minute video is based on the animated television series and DC comic. The story revolves around Virgil Hawkins, a Black teenager who obtains electromagnetic powers, and becomes the superhero “Static Shock.” It has since gained more than two thousand views.

“It was just a really surreal, like a full circle moment,” he said.

Thompson co-wrote the script with director Nick Dugan, who donated his talents to the project for free. He had just finished graduate school, and knew Thompson through a mutual friend.

“He just really believed in what I did,” said Thompson. “He saw the news stories, and he just really wanted to kind of help with the cause.”

The duo ended up writing eight different drafts of the script. Dugan also enlisted his own network of people in entertainment. For example, the co-actors and other crew members volunteered their time, he said.

“For most of the campaign, I've been pitching to people why they should care about this,” he said. “It was a really surreal moment, that people are really believing in the mission that I'm doing. Just to see it unfold was a full circle moment.”

The three-minute concept trailer depicts a hypothetical event in which Hawkins and his best friend, Richard “Richie” Osgood Foley, encounter a burglary while waiting in line at a donut shop.

Hawkins then turns into Static , using his powers to save the day.

Thompson and Dugan enlisted the help of a special effects professional, who previously worked on Marvel Universe’s Thor movies.

The cast and crew filmed for a total of two days in August at a Los Angeles donut shop.

The 24-year-old told Patch that the making of this trailer was a combination of overcoming obstacles and reflection.

In early 2022, Thompson created a GoFundMe to finance the trailer. At the time, he was living the “struggling actor” life, working at Olive Garden and Target to make ends meet between auditions. He also was cast on web series, Attaway General.

The lifestyle was draining, he said. Despite investing three quarters of his life savings into the project, the crowdfunding “flopped,” and he lost sight of his purpose.

“It was a journey of just kind of feeling like, am I going too far with this? Is it really worth doing this?” he said. “I really hated the concept of asking people for like money. And it made me question my worthiness to make this happen.”

But in May, Thompson was cast as the Blue Ranger in the feature film, Power Rangers: Origins.

The executive producer and writer Stephen Schwartz grew up with the Power Rangers series and wanted to create his own, more mature version for fans, Thompson said.

The project intends to be pitched to Hasbro , which owns the rights to the Power Rangers, will be shown to fans at comic book conventions around the country.

Meeting other actors on the set, he said, reignited his passions and reminded him of why he moved to Hollywood.

“It was a really empowering experience. I spoke with people who started up their own causes, and they gave me such great insight,” he said.

After the filming for the project ended, Thompson created another fundraiser. This time, he was 100 percent dedicated to the cause.

“I felt very validated as an actor because I was doing what I loved,” he said.

The second crowdfunding campaign made 100 times more than the first, Thompson said.

Thompson previously told Patch that becoming Static Shock is a long-time dream. As a child, he religiously watched the animated series. In high school, Thompson created his own nonprofit organization “Heroes For Hope,” and volunteered at Good Samaritan University Hospital, dressing up as different superheros to entertain patients in their pediatric unit.

His academic interests also ran parallel to the character of Virgirl Hawkins. Thomson went onto study computer engineering at SUNY New Paltz — a decision inspired by the superhero.

“Literally one of the reasons why I chose electrical engineering or computer engineering was because when I was younger, I loved 'Static Shock',” he previously told Patch. “I just love the idea of electricity. I was obsessed with it as a kid.”

He told Patch the three months before his graduation, Variety announced the production of the superhero movie. Feeling shocked, he said, was an understatement.

“I was so excited. This was an underrated superhero who not a lot of people know,” he previously said.
He created a petition to campaign for an opportunity to audition. It gained 1,210 signatures.

Thompson told Patch that at this moment, he is no longer auditioning for small roles. Instead, he made a different career goal in the entertainment industry.

He currently works for Paramount Plus, working with the technology that allows live events to be streamed to the app.

Now, Thompson’s main goal is to share the video as much as possible. And hopefully, it will catch the eye of Michael B. Jordan.

So far, the casting has not yet been done for the film.

What truly keeps him going, he said, is the support of his family, friends, and community.

“The journey has had its ups and downs. Sometimes it feels like, it's not paying off. But at the same time, I look at people who are supporting me and just makes it so much more rewarding,” he said. “And it makes it feel like I've already succeeded.”