I’m inclined to agree. I felt like I was somehow just not connecting the dots, that there must be a reason he just seemed so… flat. But I’m not so sure. Jerrod is friends with Ramy, maybe that’s how he got the gig? But Yorgos isn’t sloppy, it feels like it was a deliberate choice. The only other Black actor in the movie, Suzy Bemba, also has a very flat, thankless, one-note role serving only to briefly support Emma Stone’s journey.
Actually, aside from Stone, none of the other performances are particularly worthy of note. Mark Ruffalo’s Oscar nomination is a joke. Felt like an amateur, hammy stage performance to me. But at least he was trying *something*, Jerrod was just reading his lines like they were terms and conditions. Beyond flat.