Ato Essandoh is best known for his role in the Academy Award nominated movie "Django Unchained" in addition to his role in the CBS  show "Elementary". Today Ato joins The Lab NYC's Arthur Kade to discuss his BBC America show "Copper". Ato talks about being a Lucy Liu fan before getting on the show "Elementary", he tells us that he talked to her about all of his favorite "Kill Bill" scenes. "Copper" is a series set in the neighborhood of Five Points in the 1860's. We follow policedetective Kevin Corcoran as he tries to solve the death of his daughter and disappearance of his wife. On top of all of that the show does a great job of historically  pointing out what life was like after the Civil War. Ato brings us through the dynamic of the show "Copper", saying "I get to play a black doctor in 1864 and at first I was like, that's impossible, how's that possible.  black people couldn't be anything back then, and then I looked it up and there were like six doctors so it made me feel like their was a grounding in the character that I play, that I could use."  Ato talks about the controversy over the movie "Django", saying that the movie was controversial because Quentin Tarantino directed it and the extreme use of the N word, but notes that the movie would not be realistic if they did not stay true to the time period. Ato brings up the film "Birth of a Nation", where the Klu Klux Klan saves the day in a time where America was going through the reconstruction period of the Civil War. He says that it is interesting to see the change from an African American character being the villain to becoming the hero in "Django". Ato looks at the way we are treating race today and gives his thoughts about the Paula Dean situation saying that he does not see the uproar but says it is to be expected. Ato says that there needs to be a dialog and that we need to pull people along that have old fashion ideals about race. For more on Ato Essandoh, catch Copper on BBC America Sundays at 10PM EDT.