'Hair Love' maker Matthew Cherry wants an Oscars to continue Kobe Bryant's legacy: 'Want to represent for him'
Matthew A. Cherry has a lot in common with the late Kobe Bryant. Like Bryant, he is a former athlete, having played as a professional footballer in the NFL till 2007. He quit to pursue a film career.
Like Bryant, Cherry has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his film, 'Hair Love'. Bryant was nominated and won during the 90th Academy Awards for his animated short, 'Dear Basketball', which was based on a letter Bryant wrote to The Players' Tribune in 2015 announcing his retirement from basketball.
'Hair Love' tells the story of an African-American father who is attempting to style his young daughter Zuri's hair for the first time. The film was produced after a 2017 Kickstarter campaign. Cherry directed the six-minute film with Everett Downing and Bruce W. Smith. Peter Ramsey and Pixar animator Frank Abney served as executive producers.
Now, Cherry wants to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short to honor Bryant. The NBA legend died in a helicopter crash last Sunday along with eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.
In an interview with Associated Press, Cherry said, "I know they say awards don’t matter and everything, but I really would love to win, especially since it’s the same category. ... I would love to win so I could shout out his name to honor him and continue his legacy."
Cherry also spoke about the difficulty of transitioning to a different career as an athlete. He said, "It’s hard as an athlete trying to transition into a different career. So often, you get told to stick to sports. You tell people what you want to do and they’re like kind of whatever and brushing you off."
He continued, "I think to make it to this level and being in the same category as him, it’s just all really kind of crazy. I really just want to represent for him."
Cherry also spoke about how Bryant's win at the Academy Awards in 2018 inspired him. He said, "Just knowing it’s possible. Sometimes I think people talk about diversity and inclusion. I think the best way for that to make a difference is just to see people that look like you kind of doing jobs you didn’t know existed. He really just set the bar."
Though Cherry never worked with Bryant, he mentioned he had looked forward to meeting the late Los Angeles Lakers player. He said, "[Bryant] shouted us out like two weeks ago when we got the Oscar nomination. Somebody from The Undefeated included us in a tweet. ... He was like ‘Let’s go!’ That was literally his tweet. I had looked forward to meeting him on the circuit. It’s just a tragedy."