'The Birth of a Nation' Actor Nate Parker on College Rape Scandal: A Christian Man Shouldn't Be in That Situation
Nate Parker, the star actor, co-writer and director of "The Birth of a Nation," says he now views his highly publicized college rape case from the lens of a "Christian man" who should have never put himself in a position in which a fellow student said she felt violated.
Parker, 36, was accused of raping a freshman college student 17 years ago along with his wrestling teammate from Penn State, Jean Celestin. Although the actor was cleared of the charges that included rape and sexual assault, the woman struggled with the aftermath and tried to kill herself multiple times, succeeding on the forth attempt that resulted in her death in 2012.
During an interview with Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes" on Sunday to promote "The Birth of a Nation," which hits theaters on Friday, Parker was asked if he feels any remorse for the incident in which he claims to have had consensual intercourse with the student at the same time as his friend, Celestin.
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"As a Christian man, just being in that situation, yeah, sure. I'm 36 years old right now. And my faith is very important to me," he said in the interview with Cooper. "You know, so looking back through that lens, I definitely feel like — it's not the lens that I had when I was 19 years old."
In a lengthy Facebook post written in August, Parker said he only recently found out about the woman's suicide.
Although he maintained his innocence, Parker admitted that a Christian man should never have put himself in that situation.
"I myself just learned that the young woman ended her own life several years ago and I am filled with profound sorrow. ... I can't tell you how hard it is to hear this news. I can't help but think of all the implications this has for her family," he wrote, before acknowledging that she was in pain during and after the trial. "While I maintain my innocence that the encounter was unambiguously consensual, there are things more important than the law. There is morality; no one who calls himself a man of faith should even be in that situation."
In an interview with Christianity Today Parker said "The Birth of a Nation" gives him an opportunity to present Christians with a different perspective.
"It was a really interesting way to deal with the natural and the supernatural in a way that hadn't been done, and to really deal with some of the spiritual battles we're having here in 2016, when it comes to what it's like to be Christlike. I thought it would be very interesting to bring Christians to a crossroad," he said. "When you think about Nat Turner and what he did, if you're able to view this film without the baggage of racism, then it's very clearly a story of someone that was compelled by his faith to act as the hand of the God through his interpretation."
