Jordan Aaron Hall grew up in Harlem, where he’d watch A Different World DVDs with his parents. Though he wasn’t around when the original sitcom began airing in 1987, it was a staple sitcom in his home. So when he found out he landed the role of Amir Rodale in the Netflix sequel series, he didn’t take it lightly. “It was beautiful to get the call that I got this project,” he tells Her Campus in an exclusive interview. “Me and my parents really felt the [beauty] of that moment and just the blessing of it all — [for me] to be in the game for so long and get such a massive opportunity like this.”
And despite him being only 23 years young, Hall has been in the game for so long. He started acting at 10 years old, doing early theatrical and Broadway roles, appearing in FX’s POSE, starring in the 2020 film What We Found, writing, directing, and starring in the short film Graduation Day, and starring in the 2024 Prime Video rom-com The Idea Of You. And now, Hall is playing Amir, the first openly queer character in the A Different World universe — along with being a lead in the reboot of an iconic show. It’s no surprise that Hall feels the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. “Of course, there’s that pressure and that feeling of nervousness with any project that you get of this magnitude. I really wanted to show up and give it my best, give Amir my absolute best, and make sure that he was as layered and as three-dimensional of a person as he possibly could be. Especially being that he’s a queer character, I didn’t want him to be one-dimensional at all. I wanted him to have a lot of depth,” he says. “I hope that Amir provides people with layers and a deeper understanding of themselves or other people that they may come across, because he is such a beautifully complicated person. I really want queer people to watch and to feel seen by that.”
Amir is a psychology major at the fictional (but iconic) HBCU Hillman College from Harlem, New York, who spent time in juvenile detention before college. Having been born and raised in Harlem himself, portraying Amir presents Hall with a special opportunity — playing a character from the same exact neighborhood as himself. “I have so much pride in my city,” he says. “The borough is Manhattan, but I feel like Harlem is its own city. I have so much love for Harlem, and so it feels so cool to get to create [this] role and get to have him be from the same place as me. There are little things, specifically in his fashion, that I got to nod to.”Â
To make sure his home neighborhood was represented, Hall enlisted his family’s help. “My dad helped me connect with some designer friends that he had and place some of their looks on the show. They are New York designers, and so that was a touch of New York swag I got to put on [Amir],” Hall says.Â
As beloved as Amir is in the show, at the end of Season 1, the character finds himself in some hot water. After missing a mandatory check-in appointment with his parole officer while attending an on-campus protest, Amir is told there’s a warrant out for his arrest. It’s a cliffhanger that has fans worried about Amir’s future — that is, if the show is greenlit for Season 2. (Which, according to Hall, “it better.”)
As for Hall’s take on where Amir will end up, “The audience will get to dive deeper into that storyline and why … he ended up in the juvenile detention system, and how it is that he’s going to navigate that,” he says. “I think we’re going to get some backstory on that, and hopefully find a way to rectify that going forward.”
The original A Different World spent a lot of time focusing on major social issues of the ’80s and ’90s, including the HIV/AIDS epidemic, sexual assault and consent, domestic violence, race, class, and apartheid. The sequel series is following in the original’s footsteps, tackling campus safety issues (including bomb threats), funding shortages for HBCUs, ICE and immigration, mental health struggles, and the weight of social media on today’s young people. “The mission of A Different World has always been to speak to the times and to what’s happening right now, and so I think we have a responsibility to show up and do that in a modern way, the same way that the original show did,” Hall says. “Because unfortunately, with all that’s happening in our country right now and just across the world, there’s a lot that needs to be spoken to, and I think our show does not — and will not — shy away from tackling those hard-hitting issues.”
As for what’s next for Hall, he’s just getting started. Aside from, hopefully, A Different World Season 2, “I would love to do an indie film, either arthouse drama vibe or arthouse comedy. I love those kinds of films. Otherwise, I’m writing and developing some stuff myself. I’ve been working on my pilot for a little bit, and I’m also working on a feature film script,” he says. “I love filmmaking. It’s one of my big passions in life, and I want to keep making as many things as I can.”