Atlanta actor Braelyn Rankins gets ready to roar on ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’

Braelyn Rankins moved to Atlanta with his family in 2015. Now the teen actor is embracing a plum role: voicing the younger years of a famous king.

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Braelyn Rankins and his family moved just outside of Atlanta in 2015 from Cleveland, Ohio, for one purpose — to get more involved in the city’s TV and film industry and find acting opportunities. His parents had been here in 2011 to film Family Feud, saw all that was happening and wanted to be part of it. The relocation has done the trick — in less than a decade, the now-17-year-old already has a number of substantial credits. He voices the young Mufasa in the new Disney film Mufasa: The Lion King, opening this week and expected to be a holiday blockbuster. 

Directed by Barry Jenkins, the new computer-animated film explores Mufasa as a young cub, orphaned after an accident. He eventually befriends another cub, Taka, and starts to find his purpose and path. Beyonce, Billy Eichner, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Keith David, Anika Noni Rose and Seth Rogen are among the others in the large cast, with Aaron Pierre as the grown Mufasa. The film also features new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, some of which Rankins gets to perform. 

The film is dedicated to James Earl Jones, the acting legend who played Mufasa in the 1994 original and the 2019 reboot. Jones passed away earlier this year. 

When Rankins auditioned in 2020 during the pandemic and then again in early 2021, he knew it was for The Lion King. He thought it was a smaller role, however.  “When I got the call back and found out who I was playing, I was shocked and excited,” said Rankins at a recent roundtable interview. 

Rankins began singing at the age of 5 and played the role of young Simba while in second grade in the Haley School of Performance Arts’ theatrical production of The Lion King. “I feel it’s so full circle. It was one of the first acting experiences I ever had, and now I get to do the film.”

Yet that early gig hasn’t had any direct bearing on the current role. “The play was so long ago that I can’t really say that I pulled inspiration from that. Playing young Mufasa was like creating a new thing, since we are seeing him from a different perspective. He’s Simba’s dad.” 

When Mufasa and Taka first meet, Taka is outgoing, and he and his mother adopt Mufasa into their own family. But their relationship gets complicated and takes an unexpected turn.

Being that this was an animated production, Rankins’ filming largely consisted of interactions with Jenkins. He had to pretend most of the time and rarely had a scene partner — and  didn’t get to meet the full cast until last week’s premiere. He credits the director for helping him find the character. 

“[Barry] is very collaborative. I was nervous coming into it, stiff at first, but he helped me relax.” 

Rankins’ entire family is in the entertainment industry. His siblings Jah’Mir, who is an actor and music producer, and Brielle, an actress and singer, joined Words in Motion Acting Studio in Villa Rica a few years after moving to the area. “It’s where I got my first agent, and it helped us get a start in the industry.” Not long after joining, he appeared with Grammy winner Toni Braxton in the Lifetime movie Faith Under Fire. 

A short time later, Rankins won a Nickelodeon Scholarship to attend Second City in Chicago. That was one of his first times being around kids his own age, not being able to interact with others while being homeschooled. “This gave me a chance to meet peers in the arts and to keep in touch with them.”  

The performer has also appeared in Take Note, OWN’s Delilah, Doom Patrol, GENIUS: Aretha, Hap and Leonard, and Disney’s Lady and the Tramp. 

While he realizes how sacred the movie — and the stage musical — are to audiences, Rankins hopes the new film is a Lion King for a new generation, as well as one that will satisfy fans of the earlier versions. 

“It is a family favorite, something we all watch. I actually have a photo of my father reading The Lion King to me when I was only 3 years old.” 

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