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Interviews
UserpicRJ Cyler (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
22.06.2015

RJ Cyler
The “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” Interview
with Kam Williams 

Me and RJ! 

The youngest of three boys, Ronald Cyler II was born in Jacksonville, Florida on . March 21, 1995. He demonstrated a love of the arts and entertaining early on, teaching himself to play the keyboard and drums, and forming a dance duo with his older brother, Broderick, at the age of 12.

In the summer of 2012, RJ traveled to the West Coast to hone his skills at acting camp. Encouraged by the experience, he asked his parents if they would consider relocating to Los Angeles to support his pursuit of a showbiz career.

With his family solidly behind him, he began meeting with agents, and subsequently signed with Landis-Simon Productions and Talent Management, as well as JLA Talent Agency. Here, he talks about making his acting debut in the title role of Earl in the screen adaptation of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, which won both the Audience and Grand Jury Awards at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

 

Kam Williams: Hi RJ, thanks for the interview.

RJ Cyler: Ola, Kam! No problem.

 

KW: I really loved Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. But so have all the critics and audiences. Congratulations!

RJC: Thanks!

 

KW: What interested you in the film?

RJC: The honesty of the film, and how realistically it treats teenagers. A lot of movies present us as only interested in romance, which is kind of offensive, since we're a lot more complicated than that. We also have friends who are genuinely just friends. This script highlighted that aspect of the teenage mind, and I appreciated the fact that it was authentic and raw.

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Interviews
UserpicMother of Jordan Davis Reflects upon the Loss of Her Son
Posted by Kam Williams
16.06.2015

Lucy McBath
The “3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets” Interview
with Kam Williams

Lucy McBath is the mother of Jordan Davis, the unarmed teenager gunned down at a Florida gas station for refusing to turn down the radio which was playing loud rap music. Although Jordan's murderer, Michael Dunn, has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the crime, Lucy has remained a very vocal advocate on behalf of all victims of such violence.

Here, she reminisces about Jordan while discussing 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets, a documentary chronicling the trial of her son's killer. She also discusses her commitment to the Black Lives Matter movement and to pressuring the criminal justice system to hold all violators of black civil rights accountable.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Lucy, thanks for the interview.

Lucy McBath: Thank you, Kam. I'm glad we're able to connect.

 

KW: 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets was a very powerful film. What did you think of it?

LM: I'm extremely pleased because it's truthful and it does the very thing we wanted, which is impact people. It's been very, very well received, particularly among people who never spent much time thinking about the issues of racism and biases and guns and violence. They see how we're all related dynamically to my story in some way, because it's everybody's story.

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Interviews
UserpicLin Shaye (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
02.06.2015

Lin Shaye
The “Insidious: Chapter 3” Interview
with Kam Williams

Shaye at Play!

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Lin Shaye loved storytelling for as long as she could remember and knew that she was destined to act. She performed in many plays in college at the University of Michigan, and then moved to New York City when she was accepted into Columbia University’s Master of Fine Arts program. Remaining in NYC after graduation, she further honed her skills with celebrated stage directors like Joseph Papp and Des McAnuff, appearing in such productions as Tartuffe, at the New York Shakespeare Festival, as well as in The Tempest and The Taking of Miss Janie.

She made her film debut in 1975 in Hester Street, which was shot on location in Manhattan, and featured Carol Kane in an Oscar-nominated performance. But when Jack Nicholson cast Lin in Goin’ South, she relocated from New York to L.A. Her other early films included The Long Riders, Brewster’s Millions and Extreme Prejudice, all directed by Walter Hill. In 1982, she and a dozen fellow thespians formed a theater company called the Los Angeles Theater Unit, which produced only new plays over the course of its decade-long existence. She earned her a Dramalogue Award for Best Actress for her work in the troupe’s staging of Better Days. The Farrelly Brothers recognized Lin's extraordinary talent and cast her in a series of memorable roles in their films, among them Dumb & Dumber, Kingpin and, perhaps most memorably, as the overly-tanned neighbor in There’s Something About Mary. Her other notable comedic roles include the KISS-hating fanatic mother in Detroit Rock City and the head of the Bikini Tanning Team in Boat Trip. Lin has almost 200 screen credits to her name, including Snakes on a Plane, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Ouija, The Hillside Strangler, My Sister’s Keeper, The Signal and Corrina, Corrina. Here, she talks about reprising the role of Elise Rainier, the heroine of Insidious: Chapter 3, in the latest installment of that vaunted fright franchise.  

Kam Williams: Hi Lin, I'm honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Lin Shaye: Well, thanks, Kam, and vice versa.

 

KW: What was it like being directed by your co-star Leigh Whannell this go-round in what amounted to his directorial debut?

LS: He was a fantastic director. We were both a little nervous when we started filming, because you always are, even if you're a veteran actor or director. But we obviously had already forged a wonderful friendship and relationship making the first two films together. Leigh, being a performer himself, had a different directorial style from James [Wan] who is more of a cinephile. Leigh's was more emotional and more informational, since he'd created the characters as well. So, he probably knows more about Elise than anybody, although he said, “No, I don't,” when I tried to tell him that. [Laughs] But making the film with him was wonderful, because he could step into the shoes of any of the characters, if necessary. He was also open to anything you had to say, and there was never a sour word out of his mouth, even at the end of a 17-hour day. He was just amazing! And you know, when you're the director, everybody on set wants something from you. Leigh handled it like a true prince.

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Interviews
UserpicDana Perino (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
27.05.2015

Dana Perino
The “And the Good News Is…” Interview
with Kam Williams

Primo Perino!

Dana Marie Perino was born in Evanston, Wyoming on May 9, 1972, where she grew up herding cattle at the crack of dawn on a cattle ranch. In college, she moonlighted as a country music DJ while majoring in Mass Communications. And after graduating from Colorado State University-Pueblo, she went on to earn a Master’s in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Dana made history as the first Republican female to serve as White House Press Secretary. After seven years in the George W. Bush administration, she was recruited by the Fox News Network to co-host a new show, The Five, which has become one of the most highly-rated programs on cable TV.

Christians in word and deed, Dana and her husband, Peter, devote considerable time to philanthropy causes, traveling to Africa on numerous occasions to volunteer with charities ranging from Living Hope to Mercy Ships. The former is a faith-based organization working with AIDS victims, while the latter is a state-of-the-art floating hospital which sails down the Congo River to bring free medical care to desperate people living is some of the poorest countries in the world.

Here, she talks about her life and career, including the time spent as President Bush’s official spokesperson.

Kam Williams: Hi Dana, thanks for the interview. How are you?

Dana Perino: I’m pretty good, thank you.

KW:You know, I feel like I already know you, from seeing you on The Five everyday.

DP: That’s one of the favorite things I hear a lot on the book tour. I think that’s a huge compliment to The Five.

KW: Even though I’m very liberal, I still enjoy the show, especially because you and Greg Gutfeld aren’t predictable in terms of your political stances.

DP: I know what you mean. Bill Shine, an executive at Fox, once said, “Who would’ve ever thought that it’d be Dana Perino always defending the unions and the TSA?”

KW: Or coming to the defense of Obama administration White House Press Secretaries. What were your expectations, when you agreed to do The Five?

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Vivica A. Fox, Tyson Beckford and Robert Ri’chard
The “Chocolate City” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Is Vivica Really Dating the Handsome Hunk Who Plays Her Son in the Movie?

Vivica A. Fox, Tyson Beckford and Robert Ri’chard co-star in Chocolate City which is basically a remake of Magic Mike. Director Jean-Claude La Marre explains that he felt an African-American variation on the male stripper theme was in order, given the absence of black faces in the original.

This version of the tale revolves around a cash-strapped college kid (Richard) who hides from his mother (Fox) the fact that he’s moonlighting as an exotic dancer at a neighborhood nightclub on ladies’ night. The three recently spoke to me via a conference call about the film, and also about the rumors circulating in the tabloids of a steamy set romance between Vivica and Robert.

 

Kam Williams: Hey, thanks for the interview.

Robert Ri’chard: Hey Vivica, how are you?

Vivica Fox: I’m fine darling. How are you?

 

RR: When are you going to take me out for a glass of champagne, so I can buy you some chocolate?

VAF: [Laughs] You’re starting way too early, Robert. What, are you in need of a mimosa already? You’re too much! Too much!

 

Tyson Beckford: [Joins call] Hey, what’s happening everybody?

VAF: Hey, Tyson.

RR: I heard you’re in Vegas.

TB: No, I was in Los Angeles a few hours ago. But now I’m in New York. And I’ll be back in Vegas at this time tomorrow.

 

RR: I wanna dance tomorrow.

TB: You keep sayng that, but you’ve got to rehearse. You can’t just show up and get onstage. We’ll have to work you out. You’re rusty.

 

RR: I want to come to a rehearsal tomorrow.

TB: We don’t have one scheduled. I’ll have to bring you in and rehearse you real quick, if I have time for it.   

 

KW: Let me start off the interview with a question from children’s book author Irene Smalls. She asks: What interested each of you in Chocolate City?

TB: I’ll answer first, since I was the first to sign on. What interested me was the script. I loved how the characters showed their emotions. It made me feel for Robert’s character [Michael], because I’ve been through that as a college student trying to make my way through life. And I did the whole topless waiter thing in a male revue before, so I knew I could connect with it. In addition, I found the idea of Jean-Claude [director Jean-Claude La Marre] building an entire cast around me kind of intriguing. I was eager to see what he would come up with. So, that’s why I jumped in.

VAF: I’ll be very honest with you, Kam. I had worked with Jean-Claude before and, when I heard that he was doing this, I went to see Magic Mike. And I went, “Wow! How crazy is it that they don’t have any African-Americans in this?” I felt that whoever makes this film African-American will win. Jean-Claude let me know he wanted me to play the mom and, when he told me about the cast, I said, “I’m so totally in for this.” I’ve seen it, and it’s awesome. It’s a feel-good, girl’s night out film that everybody will enjoy.

 

KW: And why’d you do the film, Robert?

RR: Because I had a crush on Vivica.

VAF: [LOL]

TB: You see, that’s how rumors get started, Robert!

VAF: Exactly!

RR: The first time I ever modeled, I walked the runway with Tyson. And he let me walk in front of him. He was the man! I was like, “This is my dude!” So, when I was approached about working with him for a whole movie, I didn’t hesitate for a second. I just said, “Count me in.”

 

KW: Is there any truth to the rumor that you two are an item since making this movie?

VAF: Yes, Robert Ri’chard is the love of my life!

RR: The rumor’s not big enough.

VAF: [Laughs] We’re having fun, but let me set the record straight. No, it’s not true. It was my first time working with him. And our scenes were so intense that everybody was like, “Wow! They have a major connection with each other.” But it was literally mutual respect as actors. There’s no romance going on.

RR: Yet. I wonder how the tabloids are predicting the future.

VAF: [Laughs]

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier for Vivica: I am a big fan and have followed your career since the late Eighties. I probably watched Two Can Play That Game, one of my favorite romantic-comedies, over 40 times. Is there any chance you’ll make another sequel of this movie?

VAF: We actually made one sequel, called Three Can Play That Game. I did co-produce the film, but it didn’t do as well, because they didn’t allow me to have my original cast back. Lord, would I love to get that original cast back together, and do the real sequel that should’ve been done, because it’s a cult classic, and it’s been done by other nationalities. So, I’d love to do a true sequel. Absolutely!

 

KW: Patricia would also like to know whether you might like to direct in the future.

VAF: Ooh! Directing is a lot of responsibility. In the future, yes, but I probably wouldn’t get into that for another five years or so.

 

KW: Patricia has a question for Tyson. She says. You have roots in Panama, and I am taking this occasion to say that I went there last year for almost a month. I was very moved by the warmth of the people there. Not one person was impatient towards me when I looked for words in my French-Spanish dictionnary to communicate with them. Given your diverse background, would you be open to play in a foreign film in the future?

TB: Yeah, I would definitely love to do that. Panama is like one of my homes. I have cousins down there that I’d like to bond with. So, I‘d love to make a movie there.

 

KW: What advice do you have for guys who want to follow into your footstep in modeling and for those who want to be involved in modeling?

TB: That’s tough to answer, because you have to be cut from a certain type of cloth. You have to have be a certain height, build and a have a certain look. You can’t just wake up and decide to model one day. It’s hard to explain, but getting into the business is all about the features.

 

KW: “Realtor to the Stars” Jimmy Bayan says: Vivica, when you're really feeling naughty, and you just want to let your diet go off the rails, what's your guiltiest pleasure? Is there a place you specifically go in LA to get some really “bad" food? The type that makes you say, “Boy, I'm gonna have to hit the gym tomorrow.”

TB and RR: [LOL]

VAF: Do you hear them giggling in the background? I hear you. They’re so bad! Can you imagine having to deal with this all day? Where do I go? Two places: Casa Vega, because I love some good ole Mexican food, and California Pizza Kitchen, because I also love pizza. Those are my guilty pleasures, and not something else that they’re snickering about.

TB and RR: [Laugh some more]

 

KW: Jimmy also says: Tyson, you've enjoyed an enduring modeling career. When you started out, did you think this modeling thing would last as long as it has? Did you always have your sights set on the acting thing as a logical extension?

TB: A lot of people don’t know this, but I started out as an actor. Along the way, I was offered a modeling job, and the modeling took off. So, I put the acting off to the side. Still, I always told myself that once I made enough money, I was going to get out of the game. I didn’t intend to stay this long. I figured once my contract with Ralph [Lauren] was over, that I would go right into acting. But it’s taken awhile for Hollywood to recognize me. In fact, I still feel like they don’t recognize me yet, but they’re going to soon.

VAF: I know that’ right!

TB: You know me, Viv. You see how hard-headed I am. I ain’t stopping ‘til I get there.

VAF: I can tell you I’m so proud, because everyone’s really, really loving you at Chippendale’s, and you are just doing your thing. I’m so proud of you!

TB: Oh, thank you, babe.

 

KW: Reverend Florine Thompson asks: How do you maintain centered spiritually?

VAF: For me, it’s by keeping things simple, as far as the crowd of people that I’m around. I’ve also really learned to focus on family, and on how to be happy with myself from within. 

RR: I come from a very religious family and, for me, the key is my family unit which supports me and keeps me grounded when it comes to just giving it up to God, and putting God first.

TB: I might not go to church as much as I should, but I walk with God every day. I speak to Him, I ask Him for things, and what I can do for Him. And we have a fair trade that has worked out for me.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

TB: I see someone with drive who is not a quitter.

VAF: A grown woman who’s happy in her skin.

RR: An ordinary American son with extraordinary experience.

 

KW: Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

VAF: American Express and $200 in cash. 

RR: I’ve got a Mastercard and about the same amount of money.

TB: American Express. I never leave home without it! [Laughs]

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, everyone, and best of luck with the film.

VAF: Alright, thank you, Kam

TB: Take care.

RR: Thanks, Kam.

To see a trailer for Chocolate City, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42HA58cBHAM


Interviews
UserpicKrazy about Kravitz
Posted by Kam Williams
12.05.2015

Zoë Kravitz
The “Mad Max: Fury Road / Good Kill” Interview
with Kam Williams 

Born December 1, 1988, Zoë Isabella Kravitz is the daughter of 5-time Grammy-winner Lenny Kravitz and Emmy-nominated actress Lisa Bonet (for The Cosby Show). The versatile entertainer has followed in the footsteps of both of her parents, between fronting the bands Elevator Fight and Lolawolf and an acting career that has enjoyed a meteoric rise as of late.

This spring alone, Zoë has a half-dozen films released in theaters, including the blockbusters Insurgent and Mad Max: Fury Road, as well as Good Kill, The Road Within, Dope and Treading Water. Here, she talks about life and about her latest movies.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Zoë, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity.

Zoe Kravitz: No worries, Kam. How are you?

 

KW: Great, thanks. I don’t know whether you’re aware that I’ve interviewed both your mom and your dad.

ZK: No, I wasn’t aware. Cool!

 

KW: Also, the headline, when I interviewed your mom, read “Lisa Bonet Ate No Basil,” which I assume you know is a palindrome.

ZK: No, I never heard that before. That’s cool, too.

 

KW: How do you explain your career taking off this year? You’re in a half dozen new movies this spring: Insurgent, Treading Water, The Road Within, Good Kill, Mad Max and Dope.

ZK: I don’t know, man. I’ve basically been working really hard for the past couple years. And the nature of the film business is that movies come out when they come out, and these all just happen to be coming out at the same time. [Giggles] 

 

KW: How did you enjoy making Mad Max: Fury Road?

ZK: It was good. It was really intense. It was a very long process. It was a six- month shoot in Africa. And it was crazy, Kam. I mean, the stunts were kind of crazy, and they were all shot at real speed. The costumes were insane and the conditions were really harsh. So, it was a very intense film to make, but well worth it.

 

KW: Is it fair to assume that making Mad Max was more like shooting Insurgent than your other new films? 

ZK: In some ways, yes, but I don’t even know if I can compare it to Insurgent. Mad Max is kind of like a beast of its own.

 

KW: What interested you in Good Kill, which is an excellent film? There, you play drone co-pilot Suarez, who is a pretty complicated character with an intriguing arc.

ZK: Thank you so much. When I read the script, it read like a science fiction film. And Andrew [writer/director Andrew Niccol] is known for sci-fi. But when I spoke to him, he said this picture was 100% factual, which blew my mind. I realized then how little I knew about the drone program. And I felt that, if I knew so little about it, there must be others who should be educated about what’s going on. So, first, I wanted to be a part of the project because I thought it was an important story to tell. On top of that, it’s rare to find roles for strong, young, feisty women, especially in a military film. And I love that Suarez ends up being the moral compass of the story, and that she’s also brave enough to stand up to all these men. 

 

KW: It’s very well-written. The dialogue uses so much military and contemporary cultural jargon that it’s very convincing. 

ZK: Like “Good kill!” [Chuckles]

 

KW: I also thought you were great in Treading Water. What made you decide to play the love interest in that offbeat romantic dramedy?

ZK: I just found that story so bizarre. [Laughs] It’s a very sweet love story wrapped around an outlandish premise.

 

KW: Yes, it’s definitely unique. Editor Lisa Loving says: Zoe is super-duper cool. Just watching the trailer for her new movie with Dev Patel, The Road Within, made me cry.

ZK: That’s so sweet!

 

KW: She asks: What’s the secret of your mother, father and stepfather getting along so well?

ZK: I don’t know what the secret is. We’re a family… We all love each other… and we’ve all worked through whatever issues there’ve ever been, and in a healthy way. So, we all get along. Love conquers all, I guess. 

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: Hi Zoe! They say it takes 90 days to get in the grove of a new job. Do you feel like you’ve been getting enough time to prepare for each new project lately?

ZK: This might surprise you, but I do feel like I have, because the shooting of all these films was spread out, for the most part. They just happen to be coming out at the same time.

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: How do you prepare for each new role?

ZK: It kind of varies. I don’t have a method yet. It depends on the script and the character I think I need. I’ve worked with acting coaches, researched roles, and channeled different parts of myself. It’s on a case-by-case for me, right now.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: At just 26, you already have a solid background in various fields: acting, singing and songwriting, modeling and designing. Which feels the most comfortable, and what direction do you hope to take in the near future?

ZK: Music and acting are the most prominent. But I don’t like to compare them, since they’re both very, very important to me.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier was wondering whether your having mixed ethnic roots might have played a role in your eating disorders. She asks because she knows several people struggling with society’s tendency to narrowly define beauty. Do you think women are unfairly judged by their physical appearance?

ZK: I do think women are unfairly judged by their physical appearance, but I don’t think it had anything to do with being mixed-race. In my opinion, mixed-race people are the most beautiful.

 

KW: “Realtor to the Stars” Jimmy Bayan asks: What would be your dream spot to live in L.A. and in the world?

ZK: I can’t say about L.A., because I don’t live there. I love the Bahamas. Our family is from there. I also like Berlin and would love to live there for a while. 

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

ZK: [LOL] No, I might not even know until someone asks me the question.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

ZK: It depends on the day.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

ZK: I haven’t read a book in a long time. I’ve just been reading scripts lately. It’s terrible. [Laughs] I think the last one I read was the entire Divergent series. [Laughs]

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

ZK: I recent to Erykah Badu’s “Mama’s Gun.” That whole album. 

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

ZK: Squash and quinoa and kale and salmon.

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

ZK: I don’t know. I always say Alexander Wang because he’s one of my dearest friends and he’s the one I’m most familiar with. I don’t know a lot about designers’ names.  

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

ZK: It sounds like a silly pageant answer, but world peace.

 

KW: That’s not silly at all, since this is a time when it’s really needed. Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

ZK: Ooh! That’s a hard question, because I believe “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I’d have to think about it.  

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

ZK: I remember playing at my grandmothers’ houses when I was about 4 or 5.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

ZK: I think it probably just taught me that you will always heal. That this too shall pass. The first time you feel that sort of pain, you think it’s never going to go away. Once you do survive it, you realize you can survive anything.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

ZK: Well, , at home, I’m in sweatpants, I’m not wearing any makeup, and I’m not standing with my hand on my hip while smiling. [Laughs] I try to be honest in interviews, but obviously you have to be careful about everything you say and do when you’re being recorded. I’m much more comfortable and quieter at home.

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

ZK: Earlier today. I like to laugh a lot.

 

KW: What was your first job?

ZK: I never had a real job. I started acting in high school, and then I started working. So, I never got to have that experience.

 

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

ZK: All the time.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

ZK: Flight! 100%! Flight!

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

ZK: Be confident, and just do it. It’s all about not questioning what everyone else is thinking, since they’re probably looking to others to know what is or isn’t cool.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Do you have a favorite charity?

ZK: No, not one favorite, I’ve worked with a few different charities, including one in Africa dealing with the AIDS epidemic. I also like helping people who need food.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

ZK: Being genuine.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

ZK: Again, as genuine. I think the best that you can do is stay true to who you are, whatever that is.

 

KW: Your parents are two of the most grounded and normal celebrities I’ve interviewed. And you strike as just as real and accessible.

ZK: Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate that, since that’s all we really have.

 

KW: What’s in your wallet?

ZK: A Metro card, a credit card, a few dollar bills, and a chai tea card. After I buy a certain number of cups, I get a free one.  

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Zoë, and best of luck with all your films. And I hope to speak to you again soon.

ZK: Alright. Take care, Kam.

To see a trailer for Mad Max, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd7kZaMsPDM

To see a trailer for Good Kill, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5RBtNCaogU

To see a trailer for Treading Water, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCpQeywlrV4

To see a trailer for Insurgent, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR-l_TSjlEo

To see a trailer of The Road Within, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MYzi2TPRcM

To see a trailer for Dope, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L41xwM8tIRQ


Interviews
UserpicThe Most Interesting Man in the World
Posted by Kam Williams
05.05.2015

Jonathan Goldsmith
The “Dos Equis” Interview
with Kam Williams

Widely known as “The Most Interesting Man in the World” due to the wildly successful Dos Equis advertising campaign, Jonathan Goldsmith has become a pop culture icon on the order of the Marlboro Man. However, behind those classic scenes of him freeing a grizzly bear from a trap, boating with Miss Universe, or arm wrestling Fidel Castro, Jonathan is a prolific actor, an accomplished businessman, and a capable outdoorsman. This charming, bronzed and bearded gentleman has led a private life nearly as daringly as his onscreen alter ego.

What exactly makes him so interesting? For starters, the consummate “man’s man” with the salt-and-pepper mane resides on a 50-foot sailboat docked in Marina Del Rey, California. Twice, he has come to the aid of a person in dire need of assistance. First, while hiking during a snowstorm, he encountered a stranger nearly stricken with hypothermia. On that occasion, he cared for the man overnight until help could be summoned in the morning. The other time, he rescued a girl drowning at the beach.

Born in New York City, Jonathan was raised by a mother who was a model, and a father who taught gym. He attended both Boston University and New York University before pursuing acting classes at The Living Theater. After moving to Los Angeles in his early 20’s, he was forced to pick up odd jobs as an industrial waste truck driver and a painter in order to make ends meet. All Goldsmith’s hard work and dedication paid off when he landed his first guest role on “Perry Mason.”

Since then, Jonathan has starred in over 300 television shows including “Charlie’s Angels,” “Knight Rider,” and “MacGyver.” He starred alongside Burt Lancaster in the 1978 drama “GO TELL THE SPARTANS,” which chronicled a unit of American military advisors in Vietnam. Ironically enough, the polished man who seems to be invincible, in a James Bond sort of way, was often killed on screen. Electrocuted, shot, chopped, hung, machine-gunned and actually ground by someone impersonating a nun, Goldsmith tended to be in roles where he was either killing people or being killed.

In 2006, he auditioned for and won the role of The Most Interesting Man in the World, using his own personal experiences to help create the character: a cross between Ernest Hemingway, Bill Murray, Burt Reynolds, Royal Tenenbaum and Don Draper. The South American accent he dons when he delivers the remarkable pitch line “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis” was inspired by Jonathan’s very dear friend, Fernando Lamas. In fact, it was Goldsmith who spread Lamas’ ashes when he passed away in 1982. It is a subtle tribute to a friend, and as the Dos Equis campaign sprints into its 8th year it can be seen and heard everywhere—from international television commercials, to print ads, to billboards.

Aside from his acting and business careers, Jonathan also supports and is involved with various charities, including The Morris Animal Foundation and the Mines Advisory Group. The Morris Animal Foundation is a nonprofit organization that invests in science that advances veterinary medicine for companion animals, horses and wildlife helping more species in more places than any other group in the world. He also works to save endangered Siberian tigers. But who would expect less from a world traveler whose “beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man’s body.”

 The Mines Advisory Group takes a humanitarian approach to landmine action assisting people affected by landmines and unexploded ordnance in communities worldwide. He recently went on a USO Handshake Tour, too, bringing a touch of home to military families and troops deployed overseas in Guantanamo Bay.

Jonathan harbors a passion for the outdoors, whether sailing, hiking, fishing or camping. While he has never “punched a magician” and his blood doesn’t smell like cologne as does his character’s, he undeniably leads a life more interesting than most. Whether lounging on his sailboat in the sunshine or hard at work on his career, The Most Interesting Man in the World rarely experiences an uninteresting moment!

 

Kam Williams: Hi Jonathan. How are you?

Jonathan Goldsmith: Enjoying the spring. It feels real good here in Southern Vermont, believe me! How are you?

 

KW: I’m fine, thanks. Your cousin David Roth told me you’re a good dude and that he enjoyed visiting you in Vermont last year. He just asked me to say “hi” for him and to ask you how your shoulder’s doing.

JG: [Laughs] Tell him I’m fine. He’s a good guy. 

 

KW: I’ll be mixing my questions in with some sent in by fans. “Realtor to the Stars” Jimmy Bayan also knows you. He admires how you show up every year for a very noble cause, the Los Angeles Mission's annual Thanksgiving Dinner where they close off the streets and feed thousands of homeless men and women.

JG: That’s nice of Jimmy to say. I’ve done it a few times, but not every year.

 

KW: He asks: How did you ever get this gig as The Most Interesting Man in the World?

JG: It was normal audition, a cattle call with about 500 people there. I didn’t think I was right for the role at all, because most of the other fellows were or looked Latino. So, I had no idea whatsoever and knew nothing about it. 

 

KW: Jimmy’s also wondering whether you had any idea it would be so successful?

JG: None. [Chuckles] I was just hoping the ads would at least last one cycle

 

KW: Well, The Most Interesting Man in the World commercials have been going through cycle after cycle since they began in 2007. Do people expect you to live up to your billing when they meet you in public?

JG: I don’t know whether they have any expectations, but they always ask me what are the similarities and differences between me and the character. I think they often make assumptions about what my life must be like, and it’s definitely a little bit different from his. 

 

KW: How many Dos Equis radio and TV commercials are you in?

JG: I have no idea.

 

KW: Do they make new ones each year?

JG: Oh, yes. We shoot the main ones that are going to run on TV once a year in California. The internet stuff is shot periodically, and mostly in New York.

 

KW: Is there an image clause in your contract with Dos Equis? I’m sure they don’t want to risk any harm to the character you’re so closely identified with?

JG: Sure, there are certain things I can and can’t do. 

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: You’ve enjoyed an enduring career on the stage, on film and on TV. But have you found yourself typecast as The Most Interesting Man in the World since becoming the pitchman for Dos Equis beer?

JG: Not completely. But, without getting into specifics, I’d say I am so closely identified with the character that I am sure it’s limited me at times in the way they look at me.

 

KW: Harriet also asks: Is it a tough transition from “The Most Interesting Man in the World” to just an ordinary guy when you go home at night?

JG: No, not really. It’s a nice transition. I don’t think I could live his life all the time. [Chuckles] I take refuge in the tranquility of my home. I’m very similar to him in many ways; in other ways, not at all. I seek silence and the aesthetic experience. I love the solitude of nature which I much prefer to some of the things you may see in the commercials. Nature re-energizes me. I’m not into a crowded bar scene, although I still thoroughly enjoy doing the commercials, and that atmosphere. They’re fun, but that’s not where I live. I’m looking out at a mountain. I see nothing but nature outside of my house. That’s very much to my taste.

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving asks: Have you ever been tempted to do an Old Spice commercial?

JG: Never.

 

KW: Film director Ray Hirschman was wondering whether any production company has approached you to play The Most Interesting Man in the World on a TV series?

JG: Yes, I’ve been approached lots of times. But I can’t do that, obviously.

 

KW: Cousin Leon Marquis asks: What type of woman does The Most Interesting Man in the World like?

JG: I’m very diversified in my tastes. I have found women of all different types extremely attractive, even those that are not conventionally beautiful. A certain spark… a certain sense of humor… a certain intelligence… can all be very attractive. I’m attracted to all different types of women.

 

KW: Trinidadian Aaron Moyne has a slightly different question: Who would you say is The Most Interesting Woman in the World?

JG: Oh, boy… That’s a very interesting question. I’m not sure. It would have to be a composite. The humanism of one… The spiritualism of the other… The absolute beauty and intelligence of somebody else… I’m not much for absolutes.  

 

KW: Director/Producer Larry Greenberg asks: Jonathan, who do you think is the second most interesting man in the world?

JG: Often when I’m asked for an autograph, I’ll sign it, “You are the second most interesting man in the world.” [Laughs] Let’s see… There’s a barefoot black kid who lives on an island I used to sail my boat to who’s extremely interesting. I spent some wonderful days with him. 

 

KW: What island is he from?

JG: I’m not sure. I sail from Venezuela all the way through to Miami. But he was a whisperer to nature. He was so spiritual that it was infectious and it was beautiful.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman says: You’re seen doing a lot in those Dos Equis commercials. What is your favorite sport in real life?

JG: It would be fishing.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams says he’s a fan of Dos Equis and asks: Which do you prefer Dos Equis Amber or Lager, and from a bottle or the tap?

JG: Definitely from the bottle. And when it comes to Amber versus Lager, I use a lot of beer in cooking. Amber in the winter, and Lager in the summer. So, it’s seasonal.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: Do you think The Most Interesting Man in the World should engage in some socially-beneficial activities?

JG: Grace, The Most Interesting Man in the World is extremely engaged in philanthropic activities. I do a lot of things that you would be pleased with, I’m sure.

 

KW: Grace was also wondering whether The Most Interesting Man in the World moniker might cut two ways, since some people, at the psychological level, probably prefer a vulnerable pitchman rather than a super macho figure like yours or the Marlboro Man. 

JG: I have no idea. It’s a matter of taste, isn’t it?

 

KW: I read that you’re into fashion. Who is your favorite clothes designer?

JG: First of all, I’m not into fashion, although people think that I am, for some reason. My taste is eclectic. I tend to go for Orvis, Land’s End or Timberland. I’m more comfortable in a good pair of jeans and a nice Merino wool shirt than a tuxedo. I appreciate fashion, but it’s just not where my head is. 

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

JG: No.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

JG: Food.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

JG: I just finished “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy, which is terrific. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007C52NY2/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

And I’m now reading “Warriors of God” about the rise of Hezbollah.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400068363/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20   These are great questions, Kam.

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

JG: To hang in.

 

KW: Was there a meaningful spiritual component to your childhood?

JG: Yeah, I would say a loneliness that caused me to be a searcher, a seeker.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

JG: I see a guy that I like. I see a guy that I wish more people were like as far as loyalty and integrity were concerned. And I see a guy with a bigger nose than I wish I had. [Chuckles]

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

JG: For God, if there is one, and I think there is, to change the hearts and minds of men.

 

KW: Let's say you’re throwing your dream dinner party—who’s invited?

JG: My father would be #1… My Uncle Mike… One of the first guests would be Jackie Robinson. Also Martin Luther King… Mahatma Gandhi… Jesus… and Pope Francis. I think he’s really cool. I’m crazy about Shimon Peres. He’s a very dignified gentleman. Also, a wonderful psychiatrist named Frederic Wertham. You should look him up, Kam. You’d find him interesting. He carried on a war with the comic book industry 60 years ago because he felt that exposure to violence was detrimental to a child’s proper development. And he’s 100% right. He defended kids who got into trouble. We became very good friends.

 

KW: Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions? I know I’m going way past the time allotted.

JG: Of course! Please do. I’m enjoying this conversation more than I can tell you. Take your time. You sound like the kind of guy I’d like to have beer with.

 

KW: I’d be honored, thanks. What makes The Most Interesting Man in the World so captivating? Is it that he’s so wise, well-rounded and adventurous, while most people fail to reach their full potential?

JG: It is something to ponder. I wonder what happens to memory. Where does that energy, in my case, 76 years of memory go? How can it be so important and so vivid in one’s life and then, what, evaporate? I don’t know. I recently reread “Man’s Unconquerable Mind” by Gilbert Highet. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0231020163/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

It had a profound effect upon me when I was in college. His thesis is that we die having utilized only about a tenth of our brain power because of stigmas. I think most people’s lives are empty. They’re leading those proverbial quiet lives of desperation. In the box… Never stepping out… Being insecure… Playing it safe and never allowing themselves to be vulnerable or to go through that process of exploration and extension of self. Never really experiencing the life experience… So, we have these capabilities that go undeveloped.

 

KW: How does someone become interesting?  

JG: I think that before you can become interesting, you have to be interested in things.

 

KW: Unfortunately, Millennials seem so absorbed with their cell phones that they’re not inclined to cultivate that natural childlike curiosity about the real world.

JG: I believe that computers can be a double-edged sword. Children don’t read as much nowadays. They get answers without having to understand the process. That’s not knowledge. Real awareness comes through application and through energy expended. Kids don’t do that anymore. I don’t think we’re deepening our awareness. It’s very sad and upsetting to me to see what’s happening with youngsters. They’ve become so materialistic and consumer-oriented.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

JG: Being held by my grandmother in our apartment overlooking Van Cortlandt Park on a warm fall day when the leaves were changing. I know I was just about 2 because we moved from there soon thereafter. My grandmother held me against her voluminous breasts in an old colored quilt. I watched the cars drive by as the sun streamed through the window pane. It’s a gorgeous memory, and my earliest.

 

KW: Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. What high school did you attend? DeWitt Clinton or James Monroe?  

JG: No, but my father actually taught at both of those schools. My parents divorced when I was young, and I attended 22 different schools.

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

JG: Yesterday, when I was fishing with my buddy.

 

KW: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home and the person we see in the TV commercials?

JG: My clothing. [LOL]

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

JG: to be able to change the hearts and minds of men.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

JG: Charisma. That’s not necessarily true. How about sincerity? Or intelligence? It’s hard for me to reduce it to one word. It’s probably a composite of qualities. As we speak, I’m looking at a picture of President Obama who I happen to adore. I’ve met him a few times, and was actually a guest at Camp David for his surprise birthday party thrown by his oldest friends. Forget your politics, he is extremely intelligent, and very engaging one-to-one. I had the same experience meeting Judy Garland and I was an unemployed actor at the time. She spoke to me as if no one else was in the room. Joan Fontaine, one of the most beautiful women in the world, was the same way. Such sophistication, intelligence and kindness! We made friends, and maintained that friendship.  

 

KW: Well, thanks for the time, Jonathan, and stay thirsty, my friend.

JG: It’s been a pleasure. Let’s stay in touch Kam. I really mean that. For a guy who hates talking on the phone, we just spent an hour, and it wasn’t enough.  

To see Jonathan Goldsmith as The Most Interesting Man in the World in Dos Equis commercials, visit: http://www.dosequis.com/videos/dos-equis-commercials


Interviews
UserpicViva Vardalos
Posted by Kam Williams
30.04.2015

Nia Vardalos
The “Helicopter Mom” Interview
with Kam Williams

Born in Winnipeg, Canada on September 24, 1962, actress/scriptwriter Nia Vardalos is best known as the star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, her one-woman stage play which she adapted to the big screen in 2002. She also landed an Academy Award nomination for the picture’s screenplay, which grossed a quarter-billion dollars at the box-office, domestically.

Other movies on her resume include Connie and Carla, I Hate Valentine’s Day, My Life in Ruins, Larry Crowne, and McKenna Shoots for the Stars. On television, she starred in My Big Fat Greek Life, a short-lived sitcom based on My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Nia and her husband, actor Ian Gomez, live in L.A. which is where they are raising their daughter, Ilaria.

 

Kam Williams: Hey, Nia, thanks for the interview.

Nia Vardalos: Hi, Kam. Nice to talk to you, too. I apologize if I sound like a drag queen this morning, but I voiced an entire animated film in one day yesterday, and then went to see Barry Manilow last night.

 

KW: That’s why you’re whispering and sound so hoarse. Which film were you working on?

NV: Sorry, I can’t tell you yet. The title hasn’t been announced.

 

KW: I have to tell you how much I loved My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I must have watched it at least a dozen times. It was #2 on my Top 100 List for 2002.

NV: Thank you so much Kam. That means the world to me. It really does.

 

KW: I loved Connie and Carla, too. What interested you in Helicopter Mom?

NV: I was attracted to the idea of improvising a movie. I thought it would be a really great way of having a loose set. And it turned out to be exactly what I hoped for. The director [Salome Breziner] created a fun atmosphere and [co-star] Jason Dolley] was great to play with in his first film since doing the sitcom Good Luck Charlie. So, I was just very intrigued by the chance to do something so different.

 

KW: Gee, I was totally unaware that the cast was improvising. It flowed very naturally, so it never occurred to me that you didn’t have a script. The only thing that threw me was the ending which I don’t want to give away. It was a bit of a cliffhanger, and I wasn’t sure whether it was supposed to be setting up a sequel.  

NV: [Chuckles] Yeah, I don’t know at all on that one.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: As a Canadian, I am honored to have the opportunity to ask you questions. You wrote and starred in your huge hit, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. There is a scarcity of female screenwriters and directors. Do you have another movie you would like to write and/or direct?

NV: Well, I’m actually headed to Toronto to do the sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But the honest answer to Patricia’s question is that there isn’t a scarcity of female writers and directors. But there IS a dearth, a lack of their being hired. You could throw a rock in L.A. and hit somebody who’s talented who’s trying to break in. It’s up to us women to hire other women. What I do is instead of writing just 1 female character in my films, I’ll write 50, because I know how sad it is that women are having such a hard time finding roles. It’s a joy for me. I love my producers, who are the same ones from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. We have the same set designers, the same everyone. As they say, we’re getting the band back together, as they say. It’s terrific that no one ever asks me, “Can this receptionist or this cop be played by a man?” They wouldn’t think of it since in the script the police officer’s name is Deandra.

 

KW: Patricia also says: I love raising the issue of female filmmakers. In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow broke the glass ceiling with her movie, The Hurt Locker. She became the first woman director in history to win an Academy Award. In 2007, the Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta earned an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category for Water, which focused on women issues. What is your opinion about this issue especially as an Oscar-nominee and what do you think it will take for female filmmakers to get more recognition for film projects concerning women's conditions?

NV: It was so sad this year, when the Academy failed to nominate even one film with a female story. It was so disgusting to me that not one female helmer was nominated for Best Director and that no film with a female protagonist was nominated in the Best Picture category either. I am not anti-man. I am married to a man… I have a father and a brother… I love men. But there is something really lacking when Cake is nominated. How does Julianne Moore win for Best Actress but her film isn’t nominated for Best Screenplay? How does Gone Girl become such a critically-acclaimed and box-office hit but its scriptwriter, Gillian Flynn, isn’t nominated for Best screenplay. It’s disgusting!

 

KW: What’s the solution?

NV: I think we need parity. The Academy needs more female members so that we can point this out and support ourselves and each other. 

 

KW: It’s a shame because 2014 was such a great year for movies. 

NV: There were so many amazing films last year. Theory of Everything was absolutely a master class in acting. And did you love The Imitation Game as much as I did?

 

KW: Yep, that was #5 on my Top 100 List.

NV: It broke my heart. And how about Guardians of the Galaxy? I spoke to the screenwriter, Nicole Perlman. She’s a huge comic book geek who was in the Marvel writing program. I just loved meeting her.

 

KW: One of the great things about this job is that I get a chance to speak with luminaries like you, and each experience is usually enriching and even moving because the person invariably has a lot to offer and is so much deeper than what I expected based on the image I had gotten from seeing them in movies and on TV.      

NV: Thank you for saying that, Kam. I feel the same way when I meet somebody in Los Angeles, because I’m from Winnipeg. I’m just a very ordinary girl that something extraordinary happened to. So, I’ll go to an event and, say, stand next to Charlize Theron and be like, “Oh my God! This is incredible!” And then you get to talk to her and you find out she’s a real person. She’s a mom and very interesting. I’m constantly thunderstruck by people that I admire.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

NV: I see strength, and I see a tired mom.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

NV: Accidentally spray-painting my face black when I was about 6. I was trying to do a craft project in the garage with a board and a can of spray paint that was missing a nozzle. I stuck a nail in it, and it blew all over my face. [Laughs]

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

NV: Oh! Lately, I’ve been salting eggplant to take the bitterness out, and then layering it with tomatoes and a little bit of Parmesan cheese to make a low-rent Eggplant Parmesan without the breading and the tons of fat. 

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

NV: Peace, and geographical birth fairness.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

NV: Control top panty hose. [Chuckles]

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

NV: “Tiny Beautiful Things” by Cheryl Strayed. I love reading, and I read a lot. I’m constantly going through so many books. I just re-read a novel I loved called “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. Oh, it’s so beautiful!

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

NV: I’m going to say integrity, because I want to believe that’s the case. But sometimes I’m surprised when someone who has achieved success is incredibly Machiavellian in their manipulations. So, while I want to believe it’s integrity, that might just show how naïve I am. I sometimes worry that I might not be shrewd enough to maneuver myself through the Hollywood system. And then I look at Playtone, the company that produced My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I call them my Playtoners. They are the kindest people who treated me like gold before that movie made a dime. We became personal friends. When I think about how lovely and wonderful they are that convinces me that you don’t have to make a deal with the devil to succeed. It’s a choice. As we know, there are companies like Monsanto filling the Earth with their genetically-modified poison, which makes me wonder how many people share our belief that it’s better to be good, Kam. [Earnestly] We have to change the world!  

 

KW: We’ll see, with Bernie Sanders throwing his hat into the ring, the people will have a real choice. Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

NV: Yeah. On stage, I’d like to redo the Broadway musical, The Rink. And, onscreen, there are so many great movies to pick from… My brain is just fried right now… Let me think… Oh, I know. I would love to remake The Philadelphia Story with Hugh Grant. The chemistry between Cary Grant and Kate Hepburn is so delightful.

 

KW: Hugh Grant released a sweet romantic comedy with Marisa Tomei in February called The Rewrite. Did you catch it?

NV: I love her. I’d always admired her work and then I got to meet her recently. She’s great! She’s so delightful in person.

 

KW: What’s in your wallet?

NV: My wallet has both American and Canadian money, because I’m preparing to go to Canada to shoot. And as you know, I’m Canadian, so I have a bunch of loonies [one-dollar coins] in there.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Nia. Best of luck with the sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I can’t wait to see it.

NV: Thank you, Kam. It was really nice to talk to you. You ask very interesting questions.

To see a trailer for Helicopter Mom, visit: https://vimeo.com/97173719


Interviews
UserpicA Nice Slice of Rice
Posted by Kam Williams
21.04.2015

Anne Rice
The “Beauty’s Kingdom” Interview
with Kam Williams

Anne Rice’s debut novel, Interview with a Vampire, was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. She is also the author of many other best-sellers, including the hugely successful Vampire Chronicles, The Mummy or Ramses the Damned, Violin, Angel Time, and the Mayfair Witches series.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Anne now lives in Southern California. Here, she talks about her latest book, Beauty’s Kingdom, an eagerly-anticipated extension of her popular, Sleeping Beauty trilogy.

Kam Williams: Hi, Anne. Thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity

Anne Rice: Thanks, Kam. 

 

KW: I’ll be mixing my questions in with some sent in by fans. I really enjoyed Beauty’s Kingdom. What inspired you to extend the Sleeping Beauty trilogy after such a long hiatus? 

AR: I had more to say. Many years have passed since I wrote the original trilogy. I felt a new book could refine and deepen the vision. Also, times have changed and, with them, attitudes towards erotica. It's accepted today in a way it was not before, and I did find that inspiring.  

 

KW: Bobby Shenker says: I read and loved the Beauty series when I discovered it in the mid-Eighties. Did the appearance of Fifty Shades of Grey have any influence on your decision to continue the series?

AR: Yes, the success of Fifty Shades indicated that people were out of the closet about their appreciation of erotica. Erotica no longer need be an underground thing. I was inspired by this new acknowledgement of the significance of erotica. 

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How do you make the writing psychological shift from Gothic fiction to Erotic fiction—or is there a lot of one in the other?

AR: For me erotic and gothic fiction have much in common. Both are imaginative realms that are talking about the meaning of life in metaphorical terms. I love that. I don't have any problem writing in both genres.

 

KW: Director Lawrence Greenberg says: Anne, I am a huge fan. I think that I have read every one of your books. Can you speak a little bit about how your writing has been adapted to the screen and what you have learned from that process, for better or worse?

AR: I have good and bad experiences with screen adaptation. What I learned above all is that it is always a risk. However, I love film in all forms, and I think it's worth the risk. So I keep agreeing to and encouraging adaptations. Of course, I feel those adaptations which are entirely faithful to the underlying work are the most successful. When producers and directors and screenwriters try to re-imagine and substantially change the underlying material, more often the end product fails.  

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: Wow! OK! Dang! Anne Rice rearranged part of my mind during the years I read her novels, including the three-part Sleeping Beauty. Will… never... get... over... that! Whoa! Anne, one of the things I love the most about your writing is the way you consistently encompass wide swaths of human history. What is your favorite history book, or do you have a go-to source for your historical perspectives?

AR: I read very widely in history and consume an amazing number of biographies.  The well written biography is the best way for me to learn about a period, whether we are talking about a biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe or Elizabeth I or Peter the Great or Augustus Caesar. I read history all the time for pure pleasure often immersing myself in a character or a century that might not show up in my novels at all. Reading history for me is like eating ice cream.

 

KW: Lisa’s also curious about what made you turn to writing about the life of Jesus. What did that historical research involve? And what has been the response of your readers? 

AR: Writing my two novels about Jesus involved years of research into life in the First Century, research in the Bible, research in Bible scholarship, research in ancient mythology and literature, etc.   I visited Israel twice while writing these books.  ---- The reader response to both Christ the Lord books was hugely positive, but I eventually moved away from the project for theological reasons. I loved writing about the private life of Jesus, trying to re-create what daily life was like for Him as a boy in Nazareth, but when it came to tackling His public life and teachings, I found the age old theological battles about Him draining and discouraging. But I loved working in this area. I am a believer in Jesus who has no organized theology to back up that belief. I seek for Jesus outside organized religion and its quarreling churches and cults. And my two books about Jesus are the full expression of my love for Him and faith in Him.

 

KW: Do you have any favorite "monsters" that you have never written about? Is "monster" the right word to describe vampires, witches and Lasher? Is there a real-life Lestat that you patterned the character on?

AR: My favorite monster is the vampire without doubt. He is a metaphor for the outsider in all of us, the outcast, the lonely one, the lost one. I'll be interrogating that metaphor for the rest of my life.  

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: Without giving too much away about Beauty’s Kingdom, tell us what readers should expect from it? If it becomes a movie one day, who’d you like to direct and star in it?

AR: Beauty's Kingdom picks up the characters twenty years after the trilogy. Beauty and her beloved husband, King Laurent, are called upon to come back to the kingdom where they met as slaves and preserve the way of erotica slavery. Beauty declares that henceforth all slavery must be voluntary and open to applicants of all classes.  The book explores, among other things, the outlook of those who volunteer to be slaves and how they love it and what they expect from their royal masters and mistresses.  ----  Right now, Beauty is being developed for cable television.

 

KW: Patricia also says: I didn't read Interview with the Vampire but I truly loved the movie. The best movies often come from great books, and it helps when the author writes the screenplay like in this case. How did you insure that the filmmaker would do a great job adapting your novel? Were you involved with the casting? Did you spend a lot of time on the set, too?  

AR: I couldn't really insure anything. I did write the script and Neil Jordan added many things but was essentially faithful to the script and the books.  But it's always a risk. There was no guarantee it would turn out that way.  David Geffen was the producer behind it all, and it was his desire I think for fidelity that underscored the whole effort. 

 

KW: It is amazing that you became highly successful with your first novel. I assume you encountered many naysayers prior to getting published. What kept you going and what advice do you have for aspiring authors?

AR: Writers have to have faith. They have to be stubborn.  They have to endure lots of insults, contemptuous dismissal and criticism, and they have to keep going. I always believed this. I always believed the author has to fight for her vision, her story, her characters, her "right" to be a writer and to offer something fresh and interesting in a marketplace that will always be tough. I don't know where I got my courage. I am a scrapper. It's in my genes.  

 

KW: What was your first job?

AR:  My first job was as a cafeteria waitress in a downtown cafeteria in New Orleans.  I worked on weekends and made 75 cents an hour.  It was hard work but I loved it.  

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Anne, and best of luck with the book.

AR:  Thank you, Kam.

To order a copy of Beauty’s Kingdom, visit: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525427996/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20


Interviews
UserpicHeavenly Sistahs Expound on Brotherly Love
Posted by Kam Williams
21.04.2015

Queen Latifah and Keke Palmer
The “Brotherly Love” Interview
with Kam Williams

Keke Palmer is a multi-talented actress, singer, songwriter and talk show host who made her screen debut at the age of 10 in Barbershop 2 before landing a breakout role a couple of years later as the title character in Akeelah and the Bee. The emerging ingenue has since embarked on an enviable showbiz career in film, on TV and in music while also finding time to give back to the community.

By contrast Oscar-nominee Queen Latifah (for Chicago) started out as a hip-hop artist before adding acting to her repertoire. She’s also proved to be a popular spokesperson for everything from Jenny Craig to Pizza hut to CoverGirl cosmetics.

Here, the two talk about Brotherly Love, a hip-hop driven drama starring Keke which was produced by Latifah.        

 

Kam Williams: Hi Queen and Keke, I’m so honored to have this opportunity to speak with both of you.

Keke Palmer: So are we.

Queen Latifah: Thanks, Kam.

 

KW: Queen, Professor/Filmmaker/Author Hisani DuBose has a question for you: With all that you've accomplished, was it still difficult for you to get this project greenlit?

QL: Well, it wasn’t hard to get it greenlit, because we greenlit it. [Laughs] It’s easy when you’re the greenlighter. Really, it was more about lining up the financing. It always comes back to the dollars and cents, and finding the money to be able to fund the project and make it happen. That’s what we went on immediately, and I’m fortunate to work with a tiger who doesn’t rest until it all happens. He and I really jumped in on it until and worked with some other partners to help create the finances, and they came through for us. So, we all put it together, collectively, and made it happen.

 

KW: Hisani has one for Keke, too: Did you feel a lot of pressure having to grow from a child star into a woman under the bright lights of Hollywood?

KP: I definitely, at times, felt the pressures of life similar to the pressures anyone would feel growing up. The only difference was that maybe more people were aware of mine. But, if anything, I changed the pressure from negative to positive. So, instead of thinking everybody wanted to see me fail, I decided everybody wanted to see me win, since I wanted to see myself win. I’m glad and appreciate having people on my team who are watching and looking out for me. Let me continue to make them proud and continue to give away the gift that was given to me.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Keke, how did you prepare to play Jackie?

KP: I thought it was really awesome that I got a chance to be in a movie being made right in Philadelphia. Being around a lot of kids, walking around the streets of Overbrook and actually getting to know the neighborhood helped give me an idea of what their reality was like. It was nice to discover that it wasn’t that much different from where I grew up. And then I also got to spend time with the rest of the cast, because this was an independent film. That meant we had so much more creative control and creative liberties, as well as a lot of time to spend with one another while we were trying to get everything going. I think the chemistry among the cast is what really makes the film feel so good to me. We got to work with each other long enough to get a feel for each other and that really made the characters come to life.  

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: What message do you want people to take away Brotherly Love?

KP: I want them to get whatever they honestly get from it. I don’t want to tell them what they should be receiving from it, ‘cause that would kill the experience. But what I took away from the film was the importance of choices. Sometimes, when you grow up in one of these poverty-stricken neighborhoods where the educational system isn’t the best, you don’t realize that you have any choices. Often, kids don’t appreciate the choices available, as if it’s either the street or nothing. I want them to understand that reality is what’s relative to you, and that you can make choices that allow you to create a new reality for yourself. 

 

KW: Bobby Shenker says: I was so excited to hear that you’re starring as Bessie Smith. Years ago, when I saw you in Living Out Loud [with Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito], I said, “This woman needs to play Bessie Smith in a biopic.” And I'm sure I've posted numerous suggestions of this over the years. So I'm ecstatic! I think I revisited that thought when you did Chicago. My only wish would have been that it was on the big screen. Love from Philly to the Queen!

QL: Thanks Bobby!

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: Share that we sistahs are proud of the Queen. And tell her that not only myself but my mother and my aunt adore her work. So she must keep her film projects coming because we will be watching. We can't wait to see her upcoming new biopic about the iconic blues singer Bessie Smith. She asks: Do you have another biopic planned?

QL: Thanks, Marcia. There are actually a couple floating around, but the scripts aren’t quite where they need to be for me to pull the trigger on them yet. And I’m working on three scripts that are really close to me featuring three completely different characters from totally different time periods. So, I’m going to have a lot of fun once I decide which one’s going to go first. And I can’t wait! [Chuckles]

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: Keke, I am impressed with your career achievements at a young age, and I’m additionally impressed with your philanthropic work, for example, with the Boys & Girls Club, Urban Farming, Saving Our Daughters, including anti-bullying, etcetera. What motivated you to be so involved with charitable activities? 

KP: Something that was instilled in me by my parents at a very young age is that there is no happy life without a life of service. Over the course of my career, I’ve been fortunate to always encounter others who share that philosophy, like Queen Latifah, people who understand that when you’ve been blessed, you have to share your gifts, and you also have to help others give their gifts away. Being of service is something that really makes me happy. Being able to tell young kids about something they might never have known without meeting someone with my experiences is what really what I feel it’s all about. I feel that’s the only way that you get fulfillment out of life.  

 

KW: Reverend Florine Thompson asks: What advice do you have to offer young girls hoping to emulate your success? 

KP: To be true to your heart, and if you’re passionate about your dream, work towards it but don’t allow your idea of how you think it should manifest prevent what’s actually unfolding from happening. You know what I mean? Be present in the moment and allow yourself to be guided by it by God. Allow Him to guide you and just embrace every situation, good or bad, since you’re experiencing it because you’re meant to go through it.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, and best of luck with Brotherly Love.

QL: Thanks, Kam.

KP: Bye.

To see a trailer for Brotherly Love, visit: http://brotherlylovethemovie.com/#trailer


Interviews
UserpicPinto's Intro
Posted by Kam Williams
13.04.2015

Freida Pinto

Freida Pinto
The “Desert Dancer” Interview
with Kam Williams

Born in Mumbai on October 18, 1984, Freida Pinto exhibited an interest in acting from an early age. She had participated in community theater as well as school productions by the time she graduated with a degree in English Literature from St. Xavier’s College, rated the top college in India for the Arts.

Freida was signed as a model by the Elite Agency and was hired to anchor a TV travel show prior to making her highly-acclaimed screen debut co-starring opposite Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire, which swept the 2009 Academy Awards. She’s since appeared in Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, portrayed the title characters in Trishna and Miral, and played James Franco’s love interest in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Here, she talks about her latest outing in Desert Dancer, a biopic about Afshin Ghaffarian, the Iranian dissident who founded an underground, modern dance company in a country where dancing is strictly forbidden.    

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Freida. Thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Freida Pinto: Of course, Kam. Thank you so much for doing this for my little, tiny film.

 

KW: A small, but powerful art film. It had everybody at my screening crying.  

FP: Oh my God! Thank you for telling me. We love hearing that there wasn’t a single dry eye in the room. That’s what we aimed for.

 

KW: Yes, it was very moving, as well as uplifting. In this picture, you reminded me of Halle Berry in Jungle Fever, where she also played a drug addict. Have you seen it?

FP: No, I haven’t. But I love Halle Berry, so thanks for the compliment. I’m going to watch it.

 

KW: How did you prepare to play a heroin addict?

FP: I didn’t want to watch any film about heroin addicts, because I didn’t want to imitate or exactly copy someone else’s take on what the individual symptoms were, although I did watch Candy, with Abbie Cornish and Heath Ledger, which was amazing. Instead, what I did was spend a lot of time with my director [Richard Raymond] at A.A. meetings in London, and just listened to people speak.

 

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you. So I’m mixing in some of their questions with mine. Sangeetha Subramanian says: Hi Freida, the movie looks great! What was the process like learning the dances for the film? 

FP: It involved a physically-demanding regimen, because in a movie like this about dance, the actors are expected to look the part. So, first, we had choreographers and trainers come and break us down. If we arrived thinking movement was a certain thing, they were teaching us something brand new. We were being twisted and turned and bent backwards, and under the most challenging of circumstances, as well. We were working really, really long hours, so we had to push ourselves. It was amazing to test your endurance and find yourself motivated to go one step beyond what you thought were your limits. Another aspect was the mental and emotional training, especially with my character, Elaheh. It was very important that I let myself go, and experience things I was afraid of experiencing.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Did your training in classical Indian dance help prepare you for the 8 hours of daily practice for this role?

FP: [Laughs] I wish I really had any training in classical Indian dance. That’s Wikipedia just lying. That is not true. I came with zero experience from the dance world. The only dancing I’d ever done was in clubs. [Laughs some more] 

 

KW: Bernadette also admires that you are so involved in causes respecting girls and education. She asks: Is there any particular subject or course of study you would recommend to young girls considering a career in film? 

FP: In film? I have not been formally trained at an acting school or even a film school. But when I majored in English Literature in college, part of the syllabus covered film in literature, adaptations, and reading poetry and prose from the early 19th Century to the present, all of which was beautiful and opened your mind to so much more. But I also studied Psychology which helped me immeasurably, and continues to help me in terms of the science of accessing emotions and how the human brain functions. I find all of that very intriguing. I’m not saying that’s the answer for other actors, just that I’m a very cerebral and scientific kind of person. More than anything else, if you can spend a great deal of dedicated time observing people without judgment, that can be a great way of learning. 

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: You are such a talented performer, and yet I have been thrilled at the work you have done to support underprivileged women and children around the world. This film, too, shows the power of art in a corrupt society. What do you think are the most pressing political and social issues we should be addressing today? And what do you think we, as citizens of the world, should be doing to make it a better place?  

FP: I’m not going to comment on political issues. America and India both have their issues. One thing I can say is that awareness is very, very important because we’re living in a world which is literally shrinking by the day. We are global citizens. So, for us not to be aware of what’s happening to our neighbor is almost sad. Once you’re aware, then you can decide what cause you want to dedicate your time to. I feel that all of us can contribute something, and it doesn’t have to be money. It can just be service or talent.  

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: Have you ever felt culture shock in moving between the Indian and American cultures? If so, what have you found to be the biggest differences between the two cultures?

FP: No, not at all. Perhaps growing up in Bombay made me immune to culture shock, in a way. So, culture shock is not part of my DNA.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Would you be interested in dubbing your dialogue into Hindi?

FP: I’d love to, if that means opening up the film to another audience. In fact, I did that for Slumdog Millionaire and in Trishna, which was part Hindi, part English. The subject-matter of Desert Dancer is not just limited to Iran. Freedom of expression can be a topic of discussion in India as much as it is in America or Iran. 

 

KW: Patricia also asks: Is there an Indian figure you would like to portray in a biopic, such as Indira Gandhi?

FP:Yes! Quite a few. Indira Gandhi and Jhansi Rani, to name a couple. Jhansi Rani was actually a soldier. You should Google her. She’s phenomenal! There’s also a Pakistani character I’d love to play. But I’d never mention her name right now, because I’d get into so much trouble.   

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

FP: Oh, I’ve never been asked that… I’m a great admirer of Audrey Hepburn, so I’d love to be a part of a different take on any of her films, like a re-versioning of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

FP: Gosh, there are so many. My association and affiliation with a lot of fashion brands goes way beyond the fashion itself, almost into a relationship. Right now, I have a very, very strong relationship with the Ferragamo family. So, I’d have to say Salvatore Ferragamo.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

FP: This was an exercise I had to do in an Actor’s Workshop. It was of me getting lost in a fair in Bombay. I thought I was lost for about 2 hours, but my dad said it was only about 2 minutes.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

FP: Anything that is breakfast-related. I love making eggs and avocado toast, but I have no patience for the rest of the day. The only thing I can pride myself on is making a really good breakfast.

 

KW: Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

FP: Money, hopefully. [Laughs] I don’t carry a wallet, per se. I just carry a tiny thing that can hold a credit card, an I.D. and a little bit of cash.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Freida, and best of luck with the film.

FP: Thank you, Kam.

To see a trailer for Desert Dancer, visit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZC3er0RuVw


Aunjanue Ellis and Clement Virgo
“The Book of Negroes” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Aunjanue Ellis starred as Aminata Diallo in The Book of Negroes, the hit, TV-miniseries based on Lawrence Hill’s award-winning best seller of the same name. Here, she and the picture’s director, Clement Virgo, share their thoughts about the adaptation of the historical novel chronicling the life of an 11 year-old girl kidnapped in Africa and enslaved for decades in the U.S. until she manages to escape to Canada.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Aunjanue and Clement, thanks for the interview.

Aunjanue Ellis: Thank you, Kam.

Clement Virgo: Absolutely!

 

KW: What interested you in The Book of Negroes, Aunjanue?

AE: To be honest, the first thing that interested me was seeing that the CBC [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation] and BET [Black Entertainment Television] were partnering on the project. In my mind, I couldn’t think of two more divergent networks. Then, I found out it was based on this wonderful historical novel about a woman’s story of survival. I love doing that kind of work. 

 

KW: Did you read the book before accepting the role?

AE: Yes, I did.

 

KW: Clement, what inspired you to turn it into a mini-series?

CV: The book was quite a phenomenon in Canada, where it won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and sold a million copies. I fell in love with Aminata Diallo and enjoyed reading about the period of history that she takes us through. I thought I knew about the American Revolutionary War and about my own and Canadian history. But I didn’t know about people migrating from New York to Nova Scotia, or appreciate that if you were African-American, you really had to choose sides during the Revolutionary War. And I saw Aminata as being a lot like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, where she was caught up in this twister of slavery, and all she wanted to do was get back home. Her determination to survive was so powerful, I felt like I had to tell the story.

 

KW: Given the facts brought out about the Revolutionary War by The Book of Negroes, do you think that the American colonies were on the wrong side of history? The film suggests that the British were lesser of two evils. Have blacks been mis-educated into siding with the Patriots over the British Loyalists in the same way Native Americans talk about being manipulated by movies as children into rooting for the Cowboys over the Indians?

AE: The British kept their slaves while wanting to get rid of America’s, so you can take from that what you will. It’s a lot more complicated than we’re led to believe.

 

KW: Do you think George Washington’s ex-slave, Henry Washington, should be more of a hero to African-Americans than his master, the first president of the United States? After all, he escaped from slavery and then gained his freedom by fighting with the British during the Revolutionary War. 

AE: America is steeped in mythology. The problem is that it’s been living a myth since its inception, starting with The Declaration of Independence. How can you say that all people are created equal, but mean only if they’re white and male? So, we, as its citizens, have continually had to die in the streets to force the country to live up to that promise and be more than a myth, and be a reality for all. That’s why it’s so genius that Clement has Aminata say to George Washington, “If this is what you’re claiming to be, then why do you have slaves?” This picture does a great job of shattering the myths perpetuated in many schoolbooks.

 

KW: This film actually moved me to tears on several occasions, like the very touching scene where Aminata tracks down her baby shortly after it was sold, but was immediately ordered off the plantation by its heartless, new slave owner.  

CV: I’m glad to hear that. It was important to all of us to capture the totality of these characters’ humanity and not just reduce them to their circumstances. Aminata fascinates me, because she reminds me of all that black people have had to overcome. I also appreciated the fact that she was a midwife, since one of the last things she had been told by her mother before being kidnapped and sold into slavery was, “As long as babies are being born, life will go on.” So, her subsequently bringing life into the world is very, very significant.

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: I meet so many people who don't really know, or worse, don’t think about, the racist roots of our country which have grown into this imperfect present day. Do you see the success of The Book of Negroes miniseries as part of a greater awareness in the United States of our racist history and how we should be living now?

CV: I consider it part of my job as a filmmaker to put art out into the world that is positive and affirms life. Yes, it says the roots may be racist and brutal, but it cannot define us and it cannot stop us.

 

KW: Lisa also asks: Who do you feel is The Book of Negroes’ intended audience?

AE: Everybody.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How much of YOU is in Aminata Diallo, and how much did you allow yourself to get lost in the character?

AE: Aminata couldn’t be more different from me than any character I’ve ever played in terms of her temperament, her world view and the way she carried herself with so much wisdom and grace, even as a child. My sense of self is a lot more haphazard. I lost myself with her, when I put my costume on. You can’t go through what she went through as an actor without giving yourself over to it completely. And I did. So, it got very hard and depressing. Who she is, is not me, which is why playing her was so rewarding ultimately. And I’m very grateful when anyone compliments me on my performance, since that means that they didn’t catch on that I was acting.

 

KW: Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

CV: [Laughs] What’s in my wallet? I have a check for $257 that I’ve been walking around with for three weeks that I need to cash.

AE: [Laughs] I have a wallet that I got when we were shooting in South Africa. What’s in it? Some change from Canada and other places, and my expired driver’s license. [Laughs some more]

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Aunjanue and Clement, and best of luck with all your endeavors.

AE: Thank you so much, Kam.

CV: Bye!

To see a trailer for The Book of Negroes, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNHG_3-Zad8


Interviews
UserpicShailene Woodley (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
15.03.2015

Shailene Woodley

The “Insurgent” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Shailene! Shailene!

Shailene Woodley skyrocketed to fame on the strength of her powerful performance opposite George Clooney in The Descendants. Among the many accolades she landed for her work in that Academy Award-nominated film were the Independent Spirit and National Board of Review Awards for Best Supporting Actress, in addition to Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award nominations in the same category.  

Last fall, Shailene starred in the coming-of-age drama White Bird in a Blizzard, directed by Gregg Araki. And she further solidified her stature as a talented and versatile actress in the critically-acclaimed The Fault in Our Stars, the big screen adaption of John Green’s best-selling novel.

Prior to that, she starred opposite Miles Teller in The Spectacular Now. The co-stars shared the Special Jury Prize for Dramatic Acting at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2013. Shailene’s star status was firmly established by response to the big screen version of Divergent, the sci-fi thriller based on the popular Young Adult novel of the same name by Veronica Roth.

She is currently in production playing the female lead opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Oliver Stone’s Snowden, the real-life story of the Edward Snowden, the 28 year-old hacker-turned-whistleblower who leaked classified information from the NSA about surveillance programs run by the U.S.

Shailene began her career at the age of 5 soon after being spotted by an agent who recognized her potential. She cut her teeth in commercials before landing her first TV role in the 1999 made-for-TV movie, “Replacing Dad.”  

Shailene has some rather ethnically-diverse roots, being of British extraction on her father’s side, and a mix of African-American, Creole, French, Spanish, Swiss and German on her mother’s.  When not on a set, she spends as much time as possible outdoors, thinking of ways she can help keep the environment beautiful and healthy for future generations. Here, she talks about reprising the role of Tris in Insurgent, the eagerly-anticipated sequel to Divergent co-starring Kate Winslet, Octavia Spencer, Naomi Watts and Zoe Kravitz.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Shailene, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Shailene Woodley: Omigosh, Kam, thank you for talking to me.

 

KW: Well, I’ve been so impressed with your acting abilities over the course of your brief career, from The Descendants to The Spectacular Now to 2014 when you really exhibited your versatility in Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars and White Bird in a Blizzard.

SW: Thank you!

 

KW: Just so you know, I’m going to mix in questions from fans with some of my own.

SW: Great!

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: How do you prepare for such a physically-demanding role?  

SW: There was definitely some training involved, but there wasn’t anything too gnarly, as far as preparation goes. The most physical thing we had to do in this film was a lot of running.

 

KW: Irene also asks: What do you most want to communicate to the audience about Tris in this installment?

SW: I think in this movie Tris is really able to utilize and showcase the strengths that she gained from being “Dauntless” in the last movie.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: From the trailer, Insurgent looks like the kind of sci-fi action I want to fully immerse myself in. I don't just want to see it in 3D; I want to see it in 3D IMAX while floating in an isolation chamber.

SW: Wow!

 

KW: Larry does have a question: Were there any special directions Robert Schwentke gave you that enabled you to be so convincing as Tris?

SW: Special directions. The thing with Robert is that he was very keen on getting a sense of what my opinion was of who Tris is, and how she exists in the world. It was really exciting to work with someone who was so willing to collaborate. 

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: Shailene, Divergent was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time! Can't wait to see Insurgent. What was it like on set in between serious takes? 

SW: It was great on set. Luckily, nobody took themselves too seriously, so even if there was a serious scene, there were never any stakes that felt very high.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How is your approach to acting altered by whether you’re performing for TV versus the big screen?

SW: I don’t know that it’s any different except that with TV you have a limited amount of time to get certain shots. So, there seems to be a sense of rushing, while with movies you have more time to get the shots that you need.

 

KW: Harriet also asks: How much of the real Shailene is in Tris, and to what extent did you allow yourself to just get lost in the role?

SW: There is a lot of me in Tris, definitely. I really admire her bravery and her courage. But as far as getting lost in the role, it was more about calling upon my own bravery and courage, and reacting based on how Tris would react in any given situation

 

KW: Her last question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

SW: I don’t want to star in a remake. I don’t think they should be remaking a lot of classics, because so many of them are great on their own.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: You've already had a phenomenal career at a young age. Were you nervous about working with George Clooney in The Descendants?  

SW: No, I wasn’t nervous. I was really excited, because I really admired him and admired his work, and was very, very keen on learning from him.

 

KW: You’re presently shooting Snowden with Oscar-winner Oliver Stone. How’s that experience thus far?

SW: It’s amazing!

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

SW: Hmm… [Pauses to think] Probably, of my brother being born when I was about 3.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

SW: Ooh, any kind of meat. I’m a big stew person, like a meat stew.

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

SW: I don’t have one favorite.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

SW: I see a lot of opportunity for growth.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

SW: The eradication of big corporations.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

SW: The last book I read was called “Dear Lover” by David Deida.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

SW: At home, I never have makeup on.

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

SW: This morning.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

SW: Maybe a bird.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere anything that you promised yourself you’d do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

SW: [Chuckles] Nope, because becoming famous was never on my mind.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

SW: [Growls] Fly!

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

SW: Yeah, I don’t know that every single successful person has this quality, but I think it’s an ability to fight no matter what, to keep going no matter how difficult an obstacle in front of you might seem.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

SW: I’d love to learn more about the human anatomy.

 

KW: What’s in your wallet?

SW: [Laughs] I don’t have a wallet.

 

KW: The Nancy Lovell Question: Why do you love doing what you do?

SW: I love doing what I do because it’s an art form and I get to tell stories.

 

KW: The Rudy Lewis question: Who’s at the top of your hero list?

SW: My mom.

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

SW: I’ve recently discovered Asaf Avidan, and I’ve become obsessed with his new album.

 

KW: The Pastor Alex Kendrick question: When do you feel the most content?

SW: When I’m honoring myself.

 

KW: Is there something you wish people would note about you?

SW: Not necessairly.

 

KW: The Toure question: Who is the person who most inspired you to become the person you are today?

SW: My momma.

 

KW: What do you admire about her?

SW: She is somebody who fights really hard for world compassion and empathy for others.

 

KW: What effect did having to wear a back brace as a child for scoliosis have on you? Was it very traumatic?

SW: Not at all. I just thought of it as something to embrace. It was just something I had. I could either be upset by it and be triggered by it, or embrace it and commit to working on it and move forward.

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

SW: I don’t know whether it’s decisions I’ve made, or opportunities I’ve been fortunate to have. I guess doing The Descendants was a big turn for me but, at the same time, it wasn’t really a decision because I would’ve given anything to be a part of that film. 

 

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid on the scene?

SW: I don’t necessarily get afraid but, yes, you can definitely get nervous before a scene, occasionally, especially if you’re working with someone new that you really admire that you want to not impress, but honor.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

SW: Chocolate.

 

KW: What do you want that you don’t have yet?

SW: I would love to go to massage school, and learn about the way muscles affect bones.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

SW: I’m very fond of an organization called, Food & Water Watch.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Shailene, and best of luck with the film.

SW: Thanks so much, Kam. Have a wonderful day!

To see a trailer for Insurgent, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suZcGoRLXkU


Ben Crump
The “Ferguson” Interview
with Kam Williams

Ben Crump is the attorney of record in many high-profile, civil rights cases, most notably representing the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice, the 12 year-old boy shot by a Cleveland, Ohio police officer a second after he got out of his patrol car.

Kam Williams: Hi Ben, I appreciate the time. I know how busy you are.

Ben Crump: You’re very, very welcome, Kam.

 

KW: What is your response to the recent shooting of the two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri?

BC: Together with the Brown family, I condemn the shootings and make an immediate appeal for nonviolence, as we have from the inception of this movement. The heinous act of this individual does not reflect or forward the peaceful and non-violent movement that has emerged in our nation to confront police brutality and to ensure equality for all people. An act of violence against any innocent person eludes moral justification, disgraces the millions of Americans and people throughout the world who have united in peaceful protest against police brutality, and dishonors our proud inheritance of nonviolent resistance. We support the imposition of the full extent of the law on the perpetrator, and our prayers are with the officers and their families.

 

KW: What do you make of Attorney General Holder’s recently declining to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown?

BC: I just think that the Department of Justice has to stop sanitizing all these killings of unarmed people of color. When you look at the Justice Department’s report talking about the Ferguson Police Department’s rampant pattern of discrimination and its excessive use of force against African-American citizens, it’s hard to try to rationalize how this cesspool of racism doesn’t spill over onto the individual officers. For instance, Sergeant Mudd, the first officer on the scene after Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown. He was Wilson’s mentor and supervisor. He was one of the primary witnesses and main advocates for Darren Wilson in front of the grand jury. We now know that this was the individual who sent the racist email that was repeatedly forwarded around the Ferguson Police Department saying that Crimestoppers paid a black woman $3,000 to get an abortion. So you have this cesspool of racism, yet they’re trying to suggest that it’s not going to affect individual officers. The Attorney General says that you have this high standard that you have to show that at the time of the shooting the individual was thinking hateful or racist thoughts. That’s an almost impossible standard. It should be enough to show implicit bias, given all the attendant circumstances. If there’s a pattern and practice of discrimination and excessive force, you should be able to hold these officers accountable for killing unarmed citizens. The reason I say that, Kam, is because, if there are no real consequences for their actions, we won’t get any different results. We need real consequences to get real results. There’s no deterrent to these officers’ behavior when they continue to see the local and federal governments under the Obama Administration sanitizing the killings of unarmed black and brown people.

 

KW: Holder’s also just announced that there will be no arrest of George Zimmerman for violating the civil rights of Trayvon Martin. That shocked me because everyone heard the recording of the 911 operator ordering Zimmerman to stay in his car and to wait for the police to arrive. But he ignored the instructions and killed an innocent teen innocently walking down the street, just yards from home. And even that’s not considered a violation of the child’s rights? How insane is that?

BC: Absolutely! We keep seeing a reoccurrence of their sanitizing these killings. It almost encourages people to conclude that they did nothing wrong, since the government didn’t press any charges. We’ve got to somehow send a message to deter this conduct. Otherwise, we’re going to see it over and over and over again. It’s becoming almost like an epidemic.

 

KW: No kidding. Just since you and I last spoke, we’ve had police shootings of Jerome Reid getting out of a car with his hands up in New Jersey, a homeless man in Los Angeles, 19 year-old Tony Robinson in Madison, Wisconsin, and Antonio Zambrano-Montes in Spokane, Washington.

BC: We’re representing Antonio Zambrano-Montes’ family.

 

KW: Great! And there’s also Sureshbhai Patel, an elderly tourist from India who was left paralyzed by a cop in Alabama who thought he was a black man prowling around a white neighborhood. These incidents are happening about once a week now. What about the Tamir Rice case? The chief of police in Cleveland is a black man, so I was stunned when the city said the boy’s death was directly caused by his own acts, not by police officer Timothy Loehmann. How did you react to that conclusion?

BC: It was literally shocking that, based on what we see in that surveillance video, this 12 year-old child could be called responsible for his own death because he wasn’t being careful, versus what we see and know happened there; how these officers violated all their procedures, training and department regulations, and drove up to the scene recklessly in a way which escalated the situation. Tamir Rice was killed in less than one second which was totally disrespectful. And the pattern of disrespect continued when his 14 year-old sister ran up crying, “You killed my baby brother!” Instead of showing her any compassion, they tackled her, handcuffed her, manhandled her, dragged her through the snow and threw her into the back of the police car where she had to sit helplessly 4 to 5 feet away from where her brother lay kicking as he died. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the pattern of disrespect continued with how they treated their mother when she arrived. They told her she could either get in the police car with her daughter to go to the station or get in the ambulance to go to the hospital with her son. And now the pattern of disrespect to the Rice family continues with blaming Tamir for his own death in the answer to the complaint of wrongful death we filed. That was shocking and sends a loud message not only to the people of Cleveland but to people all over America.   

 

KW: I’d also like to know how you feel about the video that surfaced of that Oklahoma fraternity singing that racist song on the bus.

BC: They may kick the fraternity off campus, but the thing that’s so unfortunate is that, no matter what they do, those students still felt it was okay to say what they said. So, you can’t help but wonder whether that’s how they really feel in their hearts. It reminded me of my personal hero, Thurgood Marshall. I’m reading Gilbert King’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Groveland, Florida rape cases called “Devil in the Grove.” In it, he talks about Marshall, saying he had two fears. First, how big a celebration there was going to be the day racists lynched him and hung him from a tree. But his second and worst fear, after seeing so many young children in pictures of lynchings, was knowing that one day they would grow up to be running society. And that’s what I thought about watching the video on that bus. That in 20 years or so, those fraternity and sorority members will be running corporations, city governments and other institutions. And I wondered, what will their mentality be like? How does this bode for the future?

 

KW: I agree. It’s very scary. Thanks again, Ben, and keep fighting the good fight.

BC: Thanks so much Kam. Call anytime.


Interviews
UserpicClarence Page (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
09.03.2015

Clarence Page

The “Culture Worrier” Interview
with Kam Williams
Front “Page” News!

Clarence Page is a nationally-syndicated columnist and member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board. Besides those duties, the Pulitzer Prize-winner makes frequent TV appearances, including on The McLaughlin Group as a regular member of the show’s panel of political pundits.

Clarence makes his home in the Washington, DC area with his wife, Lisa, and their son, Grady. Here, he talks about his life, career and his best-selling collection of essay, “Culture Worrier.”

Kam Williams: Hi Clarence, how’re you doing?

Clarence Page: I’m good. How are you today, Kam?

 

KW: Great! First, I wanted to ask, how much of a connection do you still have to Chicago? You write for the Tribune, but live in DC.

CP: That’s right. I work out of our Washington bureau. My column is syndicated nationally, anyway. I have more of a Washington perspective than the other Tribune columnists, but I still love the place and try to get back as often as I can. And I occasionally do a locally-oriented blog item which is only printed in the Tribune.

 

KW: I think of you as the black Mike Royko. How would describe your style?

CP: I think every Chicago columnist considers himself to be a Mike Royko. [Chuckles] His office was next-door to mine at the Tribune Tower for a number of years. I always admired his strong voice… a very ordinary Chicagoan sitting at the bar after work going back-and-forth with his buddies about politics and this or that from a working-class point-of-view. I really appreciated his ability to do that so flawlessly, and in such a strong voice. So, I always tried to cultivate a voice assessing what was good for the average members of the public, and sometimes I succeeded. [Chuckles]

 

KW: You always do a great job. Tell me a little about why you decided to publish a collection of essays?

CP: It occurred to me that after doing this for 30 years, from the Reagan Era to the Age of Obama, that if there was ever an appropriate time for me to publish a collection of columns, this would be it. So, I went back and reread my pieces, and I began to notice the strong trend toward social commentary interwoven with politics played in most of them, and the phrase “Culture Worrier” just jumped out at me.

 

KW: How do you enjoy appearing on the McLaughlin Group with John, Eleanor Clift, Mort Zuckerman and Pat Buchanan?  

CP: I’ve been doing the show since about 1988. McLaughlin’s been a remarkable talent scout over the years when you think about how people like Chris Matthews, Lawrence O’Donnell and Jay Carney used to be regulars on the show.

 

KW: Marie Polo asks: What was the most interesting and the most challenging aspects of being an army journalist back in 1969?

CP: Oh, that’s an interesting question! I will say that the difference was that when you’re an Army journalist, as opposed to a civilian correspondent covering the military, you’re very often either a public relations agent or expected to perform that role, with a few exceptions, such as reporters for Stars and Stripes. I would say that one of the most unexpected benefits of that job was being taught to never try to cover anything up, but rather to get any bad information out right away, so that there would be nothing more to come out later. This was a wonderful lesson to be taught because often the effort to cover up a story becomes a bigger story than the original one.  

 

KW: You suffered from ADD, but it obviously didn't prevent you from having a very successful career as a journalist. How did you overcome this difficulty or turn it into a strength?

CP: I didn’t know I had ADD, because it hadn’t been invented back then. For what it’s worth, like a lot of others with ADD, I’ve been able to succeed simply by trying harder.

 

KW: When I watched Life Itself, the documentary about Roger Ebert, I learned that winning a Pulitzer Prize was a very big deal to him. What did winning a Pulitzer mean to you? 

CP: One thing about winning a Pulitzer, it means you know what the first three words of your obituary will be: Pulitzer Prize-winner. [Chuckles] After winning the Pulitzer, I couldn’t help but notice how people suddenly looked at me with a newfound respect, and would say, “He’s an expert.” On the negative side, I developed a terrible case of writer’s block for awhile, because I felt like readers would expect every one of my columns to be prize worthy. I spoke to a number of other Pulitzer winners who had the same problem, a creative block that had them hesitating. How do you get past the writer’s block? Nothing concentrates the mind like a firm deadline, and a little voice in the back of my mind reminding me that, “If you don’t write, you don’t eat.” Listen, we all want to be respected and appreciated, but when you get a big honor like that, people start to look for your work in a new way with higher expectations. Today, the best thing about having won is when I get a nasty comment from some internet troll I can remind myself of the Pulitzer and say, “Well, somebody appreciates me.”

 

KW: Dave Roth says: As far as I can tell, despite many people's well intentioned efforts over the last 50 years, America still appears to be a racially-divided and culturally-segregated country, as evidenced by, among many other examples, Ferguson, Missouri, any examination of failing public schools and/or prison populations, and the current gerrymandering case being heard by the Supreme Court. What, in your view, is substantially culturally different in the U.S. today versus say March 3, 1991, Rodney King Day? And what do you believe is the single greatest piece of evidence that progress is being made toward a society that provides equality of opportunity and treatment under the law, regardless of race, ethnicity or gender?

CP: Good question. First of all, I would say that our cultural divides are less racial and more tribal. We’re trying to reduce racial barriers to opportunity while at the same time not creating artificial quotas in regards to race. Today’s tribal politics is more attitudes and values-based than back in the olden days when it was something we strictly associated with ethnicity.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: Thank you for your fine work in illuminating important issues. What do you see as the most critical domestic concern that needs to be addressed by our national government? 

CP: I would say environmental protection is our most important long-range issue. In the shorter term, as well as the longer term, I’ve always said our biggest challenge is in education, which has become even more challenging because of income inequality and wage stagnation. We haven’t confronted the fact that people who get their income from capital investments have benefited while ordinary workers who rely on salary have not. So, the income gap is getting worse. But Washington is in gridlock, politically, and I’m pessimistic about our making any major improvements over the next couple years. 

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian asks: When you think about your legacy how would you like to be remembered? 

CP: What a wonderful question! When I posed that question to retiring Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, he looked up as if he were surprised, but he quickly responded, “That he did the best he could with what he had.” It was remarkably humble, but to the point. That’s how I’d like to be remembered, too.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

CP: [LOL] That’s good one, too! What would I have done, if I had not become a political writer? I wanted to become an entertainment writer. I’ve always been fascinated by showbiz as much as I was by politics.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

CP: Pasta and salmon.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

CP: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She’s dynamite!

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

CP: I see a guy getting older. [Laughs] But I always try to keep my mind open or I’d never have figured out Twitter and Instagram.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

CP: I remember being told by my parents when I was 4 that I couldn’t go to an amusement park advertised on TV because colored kids weren’t allowed there. That was a bit of a shock and really stayed with me over the years. That was how I first learned about racial segregation. Fortunately, I took it as a challenge, early on, and it motivated me. You never know how a child might respond to discrimination. It goes both ways. Some kids become embittered.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Clarence, I really enjoyed our chat.

CP: Same here. Thanks, Kam


Interviews
UserpicJake Tapper (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
23.02.2015

Jake Tapper

“The Lead” Interview

with Kam Willi

 

Jake on Tap!

In his capacity as CNN’s chief Washington correspondent, Jake Tapper hosts “The Lead.” The one-hour weekday program examines and advances stories from around the globe that reflect his curiosities and interests, ranging from politics to money, and from sports to pop culture.

Jake has been a widely-respected reporter in the nation’s capital for more than 14 years, and his most recent book, “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor,” debuted in the Top Ten on The New York Times’ best-seller list. Prior to CNN, he was employed by ABC News, where he had served as senior White House correspondent since the 2008 presidential election.

In that role, Jake contributed regularly to Good Morning America, Nightline and World News Tonight, in addition to serving as substitute host of This Week. He also had a blog, Political Punch, on ABCNews.com. In terms of accolades, he has earned the coveted Merriman Smith Award for presidential coverage from the White House Correspondents’ Association an unprecedented three consecutive times. And he played a key role in ABC’s Emmy Award-winning coverage of the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, and its Murrow-Award-winning coverage of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Over the course of almost a decade at ABC News, he covered a wide range of stories, visiting remote corners of Afghanistan, covering the war in Iraq from Baghdad, and spending time in New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In 2008, he served as the lead political reporter for the coverage of the presidential election.

Jake began his journalism career at the Washington City Paper before being published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Weekly Standard, among others. He has drawn caricatures and illustrations for the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, and his comic strip, “Capitol Hell,” appeared in Roll Call from 1994 to 2003.

Jake is the author of a trio of books, including “The Outpost,” “Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency,” and “Body Slam: The Jesse Ventura Story.” A

Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude graduate of Dartmouth College, Jake currently lives in Washington, DC with his wife Jennifer, their young son and daughter, and a dog and two cats.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Jake, thanks for the interview.

Jake Tapper: Sure, my pleasure, Kam.

 

KW: How did you end up in journalism, as the son of a pediatrician and a psychiatric nurse?

JT: Well, I don’t have their gifts for science and math, so going into medicine was never going to be a path for me. But we were a family of news junkies, and I was born in ’69, so awareness of my parents’ progressive politics was always very much in the forefront of our dinner table discussions, whether about Watergate, Vietnam, the Black Panthers, or Philadelphia’s Mayor, Frank Rizzo. So, from a very early age, my brother and I watched the news every night and were very aware of the political issues of the day. And ultimately, after a few false starts that included going to film school after I finished college, and serving as press secretary for a family friend running for Congress, I finally figured out what I wanted to do. Telling stories about what’s going on, and reporting the news became a very natural fit. Actually, it’s kind of surprising that it took so long to figure it out.

 

KW: Did you write for The Dartmouth Review while you were there? It might be the most famous college student paper in the country. But I would guess that you didn’t, since it only promotes conservative points-of-view.

JT: No, I didn’t write for the Review, but I did do a daily comic strip for the regular school newspaper, The Dartmouth, where I would comment on the events of the day in comic form. My strip would make fun of everyone: The Dartmouth Review, and liberal campus protestors, frat boys and sorority girls, the football team, and administrators and professors. 

 

KW: You also did a cartoon strip called “Capitol Hell,” after you moved to D.C.

JT: Yeah, that was a weekly comic strip published by Roll Call.

 

KW: Did you write and draw the strip?

JT: Yes, I was hoping to be a cartoonist, but I succeeded in journalism first, so I just stuck with it.

 

KW: How do you decide what stories you’re going to cover?

JT: That’s a great question. We devote a great deal of time debating what we think is the most important issue of the day with the goal of providing as much breaking new information as possible while also providing a mix and a balance of stories, so that we’re covering business and international affairs, as well as politics and international news, and some sports and pop culture, if there’s something we think rises to the level.

 

KW: And how do you decide whether a story’s important enough to cover it on location?

JT: That’s one of those things where, like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said famously about obscenity: “I don’t know how to define it, but I know it when I see it.” One of the great journalistic thrills of this job has been to be able to anchor shows from Boston, Oklahoma, Paris or wherever a story is breaking and seems big enough. Sometimes, it’s really just a need to get there to talk to people who are already there on the scene. 

 

KW: Have you ever had a fear for your own safety while covering a story in a hot spot like Ferguson or Paris where there was a palpable possibility of danger in the air? 

JT: I wasn’t scared about my safety in Paris, but I will say that while I’ve reported from there, and from Israel, the West Bank, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, the place that seemed the most likely that I might be injured or worse in some sort of accident was Ferguson. That was both in the protests in August, and then much more starkly in October when there was the announcement that there would not be an indictment against Officer Wilson, which was followed by much more violent protests. That was the most hairy situation.

 

KW: What was the energy like in Ferguson?   

JT: I think that a lot of people parachuting in, like me, were coming into a situation that had been tense for decades. It seemed to me that the idea that this was all about one incident was incorrect. People were upset about their own personal experiences, as much, if not more so, as they were about what had happened to Michael Brown. 

 

KW: Why do you think President Obama decided not to attend the unity rally in Paris following the terrorist attacks there?

JT: I was never able to get a straight answer as to what happened, and why they made the glaring decision not to send even a high-ranking official from the administration. Why the White House didn’t remains a mystery to me. It’s likely that they thought of it was a European affair which didn’t necessitate the participation of the U.S. or, frankly, any leader from the Western Hemisphere. To me, when you’re in the last two years of an administration, and you don’t always have the best people giving the best advice at any given moment. But I honestly don’t know what happened. I’m still kind of confused by it. The White House basically said something to the effect of, “We should’ve sent somebody but we’re never going to tell you why we didn’t.”

 

KW: Did you really go on a date with Monica Lewinsky in 1998?

JT: Yes, about a month before she became a household name. We met at a party, and went on a very innocent date. I didn’t really think anything of it at the time. Then I went on a vacation with my dad, picked up a newspaper on our way back, and was stunned by what I was reading. And I wrote a story about for the Washington City Paper which is where I landed next. That was my first full-time job in journalism. 

 

KW: Have you remained in touch with her or tried to interview her?

JT: We exchange email on occasion. I think she knows that I’m here, if she wanted to do an interview, but I haven’t really been pressing for it.

 

KW: What do you think of her recent resurfacing?

JT: The truth is, I feel sorry for her. We all do stupid things when we’re 20 or 21. It would be horrible to have for a poor decision you made at that age to haunt you for the rest of your life. But it does happen. She’s a smart and good person who made a bad mistake with somebody who should’ve known a lot better. And it makes me sad as a friend of hers that it still haunts her.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

JT: No, not really, because I think of myself as an interviewer, not as the subject, as I’d guess you think of yourself, too.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

JT: I started Wally Lamb’s third book, “The Hour I First Believed,” but I haven’t finished that yet. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060988436/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

The last book I finished was “American Sniper” by Chris Kyle, which I read before interviewing his widow, Taya, and Bradley Cooper. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062238868/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

I also just finished reading the first Harry Potter book with my 7 year-old. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/059035342X/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

JT: That’s a question I’ve never been asked. I remember my parents dropping me off at my friend Eric Dudley’s house on their way to the hospital for my mom to have my brother. So, I was 4. And I also remember my brother being brought home. He and I are very close to this day.

 

KW: Was there a meaningful spiritual component to your childhood?

JT: I was brought up in a Conservative Jewish household. I went to a Hebrew school and to a Jewish sleep away camp. But I wouldn’t describe my childhood as particularly spiritual. My parents divorced when I was 7, which was almost trendy at the time. All my friends’ parents were getting divorced. I identified as a Jew, but much more so as a kid growing up in Philadelphia in the Seventies. It was an era of change.  

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

JT: I see someone a lot older than I expect to see. I feel like I’m about 27, so I’m surprised to see the gray and the bags under my eyes. But, I still have my hair, so I can’t complain. Let’s just say I did okay, follicly-speaking, with the genes I was handed. People don’t necessarily think I’m 46.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

JT: You really have to stand out to be remembered in this field. I don’t think very many journalists do get remembered. In terms of this profession, I would like to be remembered as a journalist who told the truth, who confronted people in power making questionable decisions, and who tried to do some good. But the truth of the matter is I only expect to be remembered by my kids, and I hope they think of me as a good dad.   

 

KW: Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

JT: My wallet’s a lot more exciting than its contents. I have a great wallet that everybody remarks about because it looks like one of those Aerogram letters. I got it at a toy store, and every year my wife buys me a new one because I’m one of those guys whose wallet looks like a corned beef sandwich after awhile. I’d be carrying around things like club cards for bookstores that don’t exist anymore. But right now, mine is pretty bareboned. It’s got credit cards, driver’s license, health insurance information, car information and a $50 traveler’s check that I never got around to cashing.

 

KW: thanks again for the time and keep up the great work, Jake. I think you have good energy and you exude a certain calmness and confidence that makes for a pleasant experience watching you.

JT: That’s really nice of you to say, Kam. Thanks.

To see Jake Tapper’s coverage of the unity rally in Paris, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FJME4bD6jQ    


Interviews
UserpicBack with the Boys, Back in the Tub, and Backwards in Time Again
Posted by Kam Williams
16.02.2015

Craig Robinson
The “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” Interview
with Kam Williams

Craig Robinson is arguably best known for his role as acerbic Dunder-Mifflin employee Darryl Philbin on NBC’s Emmy-winning The Office. Regardless of what role you know him from, he is definitely a world away from his original career intentions.

Before deciding to pursue his comedy career full time, Craig was a K-8 teacher in the Chicago Public School System. He earned his undergraduate degree from Illinois State University and his Masters of Education from St. Xavier University.

It was while he was studying Education that he also discovered his love of acting and comedy when he joined the famed Second City Theatre.

As a stand-up comic, Craig first made a splash at the 1998 “Just for Laughs” Festival in Montreal. That year, he also won the Miller Genuine Draft Comedy Search.

He soon went on to perform on The Jimmy Kimmel Show and on Real Time with Bill Maher. Now, headlining venues and festivals across the country, he does both solo acts as well as sets with his seven-piece band, The Nasty Delicious, thereby tying together his lyrical comedy with his finesse at the piano.

Success on The Office and his stand-up prowess quickly brought Craig to the attention of Judd Apatow who cast him as the sensitive bouncer in Knocked Up. He subsequently kept audiences glued to their seats as one of the henchman hunting Seth Rogen and James Franco’s bumbling stoner characters in Pineapple Express, and made fans squirm when he co-starred with Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

More recently, Craig has starred in Escape from Planet Earth, Peeples and This Is the End. And later this year, look for the premiere of Mr. Robinson, a TV show loosely based on his life as a teacher in Chicago.

Here, he talks about reprising the role of Nick in Hot Tub Time Machine 2, a sci-fi comedy co-starring Rob Corddry, Clark Duke and Adam Scott.

 

Kam Williams: Hey Craig, thanks for another interview.

Craig Robinson: My pleasure, Kam. How’re you doing?

 

KW: I’m doing great. How about yourself?

CR: I’m good. Thanks for getting the word out.

 

KW: Of course. As usual, I’ll be mixing in my questions with some from readers. Let me start with: What was the primary challenge you faced in getting back into the hot tub?

CR: With the addition of Adam Scott to the principal cast, the primary challenge was whether there would be chemistry. But that worry quickly changed to “Oh, it’s on!” So, the initial concern was about what was going to happen. Besides that, the heat was an issue at times, since we shot in New Orleans for a couple months.

 

KW: What was it like getting back together with director Steve Pink and your co-stars Rob and Clark?

CR: There’s nothing but love and trust there, so it was great. It was like being with friends, with people you already know. So, you have a sense of what makes each other tick and what makes each other laugh. Plus you bring along what you’ve learned since last time. The familiarity was wonderful!

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: You mentioned sharing a special moment with Jessica Paré while shooting the original Hot Tub Time Machine, and that you enjoyed watching that scene over and over again. Did you have another memorable moment like that in Hot Tub Time Machine 2?

CR: Yes, except this time it was with Rob Corddry.

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: Craig, sequels can be great for reviving themes and running jokes from an original movie. Was that the case with Hot Tub Time Machine 2, or does the sequel focus more on breaking new ground?

CR: That’s a great question, Sangeetha. We definitely tip our hat to the original, but we also break new ground. It’s a marvelous mixture!

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: Did you worry about running the risk of being typecast by agreeing to do the sequel? 

CR: Not at all. I’ve been typecast already. [Chuckles] I was first typecast after playing a bouncer in Knocked Up. Right away, I had four or five offers to play another bouncer. People kept saying, “Hey man, I got this role for you as a bouncer.” But in my mind, I was thinking, “Well, I’ve done that.” Then, when I was playing Darryl on The Office, some people started hating on me, saying I was best in small doses after a publication announced that I had landed a lead in a movie. So, I’m not going to worry about being typecast, I’m just going to continue doing what I do. 

 

KW: Eleanor Welski asks: What is your upcoming film Zeroville about? I see that it has a lot of the same cast as This Is the End.

CR:  Yeah, well Franco [James Franco] is directing that, so he called us in, and we were like, “Yeah, yeah, of course!” Once you’re familiar with someone’s track record, you know immediately whether or not you want to work with them. He has that kind of juice. I’m not aware of everyone else who’s in Zeroville, since I only had a couple of scenes. 

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

CR:  Just today, flying on a plane to New Orleans with Steve [director Steve Pink], Josh, [scriptwriter Josh Heald] and Clark and Rob, we were all laughing really heard listening to Josh pitch some ideas he has for Hot Tub 3.

 

KW: Yeah? I’d love to hear them.

CR: Sorry, we don’t want to put the cart before the horse, so I can’t talk about that.

 

KW: You made a pilot for a TV series called Mr. Robinson. When’s the show coming on?

CR: We don’t have an air date yet, but we’ve already taped the premiere and the second episode in front of a live studio audience. We’re having a blast! It’s about me as a substitute music teacher whose first love is playing with my band. We use my actual band, The Nasty Delicious. And you get introduced to my childhood sweetheart from many, many, many years ago. She’s now a teacher at our old high school. I start subbing there just to be near her, but I fall in love with the school and I’m so good with the kids that I’m offered a permanent position. I take the job, and hijinks ensue.

  

KW: Sounds good!

CR: Speaking of good, Meagan Good’s my co-star. We’re very excited about that.

 

KW: Speaking of jobs, what was your first job?

CR: After high school, the summer before I started college, I worked as a gofer at an attorney’s office in downtown Chicago. I would make copies, buy bagels, go pick up checks, and do whatever they needed. My godfather, Eddie Jackson, rest his soul, got me that job. Sometimes, I’d have to deliver a million-dollar check and I’d hold it right up against my chest like it was going to blow away or something. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

CR: I’m a Scorpio. I’m very quiet. In real life, I’m usually observing the situation. But the red carpet’s a circus where you’re expected to be talkative, work the room and be larger than life. I’d be perfectly comfortable to just sit there and observe, and pick my moments, which is what makes improvising with ensembles so much fun for me. I prefer to be able to soak the scene all in before launching on you.   

 

KW: Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

CR: [Chuckles] I don’t really carry cash. Let’s see… my license… a valet ticket…a business card… and a credit card for incidentals.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Craig, and best of luck with the film.

CR: Hey, I appreciate it, Kam, and we’ll be in touch, man.  

To see a trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine 2, visit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojuLwwASMaU


Interviews
UserpicA TĆŖte-Ć -TĆŖte with Tasha 2.0
Posted by Kam Williams
01.02.2015

Tasha Smith
The “Addicted” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Tasha Smith is a multifaceted actress whose work brings style and intensity to the subjects she plays on the big and small screens. She currently stars in the television series “Tyler Perry’s For Better Or Worse” on the OWN Network, for which she earned an NAACP Image Award nomination as “Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series.”

 

Tasha’s memorable portrayal of Angela in Why Did I Get Married? and Why Did I Get Married, Too? sparked the creation of the spin-off series which is focused around her relationship with her husband, Marcus, played by Michael Jai White. Additionally, she has joined the cast of Fox-TV’s new hip-hop drama series, “Empire.”

 

Tasha’s other film credits include Daddy’s Little Girls opposite Idris Elba and Gabrielle Union where she delivered a powerful performance which impressed audiences and critics alike. She subsequently went on to co-star in the #1 box office hit Jumping the Broom, starring Paula Patton, Laz Alonso and Angela Bassett.

 

She also co-starred in the romantic comedy Couples Retreat opposite Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman and Faizon Love, adding to her already impressive box-office resume which includes ATL, The Good Mother, The Whole Ten Yards, and The Longshots. She is well-known for her extensive work on the small screen, too, most notably, her critically-acclaimed portrayal of the drug-addicted Ronnie Boyce on the Emmy Award-winning mini-series "The Corner."

 

On and off the big and small screen, Tasha has a naturally commanding presence. She takes time to share her inspirational life story through motivational speaking, and to mentor emerging actors through the Tasha Smith Actors Workshop (TSAW). And in her spare time, the Camden, New Jersey native loves to workout at the gym, cook gourmet meals, and entertain friends at her home.

 

Here, she talks about co-starring as Dr. Marcella Spencer opposite Sharon Leal in Addicted, the screen adaptation of the steamy best-seller by Zane.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Tasha, thanks for the interview. It’s been too long.

Tasha Smith: Hi Kam. I’m happy to talk with you.

 

KW: Same here! Maya Angelou once said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made me feel.” And whenever I’ve interviewed you, you’ve always made me feel great.

TS: Oh, Kam, thank you! That is awesome.

 

KW: You’re publicist was a little concerned about what I would talk to you about today. So, I sent her an outline of what areas I hoped to cover. Did you read it?

TS: No, I’ve been working so hard, I didn’t have a chance to look at it. But I trust you, and I adore you. I’m sorry.

 

KW: No, need to apologize. I know that you’re busy enough as an actress, and then you spend so much time teaching acting workshops, too. [www.tsaw.com]

TS: Yeah, you know I’ve opened up my school in California in a beautiful facility on Ventura Boulevard. I’m always in heaven when I’m doing my classes.

 

KW: What interested you in Addicted? Had you read the book? How about Fifty Shades of Grey?

TS: I read the book, of course, because I had to in order to see the whole dynamics of Dr. Marcella’s relationship with Zoe [played by Sharon Leal], and I loved Marcella. I loved her voice… I loved her tone… I loved the fact that she was the voice of reason who served as the guide to help Zoe deal with her addiction so that she would not destroy the rest of her life and her family relationships, because that’s exactly what addiction does. Addiction will kill everything in you and around you. I was familiar with Addicted for a long time, even prior to the movie, way before it got the greenlight. And when it finally got the greenlight, I was very happy to be a part of it.   

 

KW: How did you prepare to play your character, Dr. Marcella Spencer?

TS: I tell you, I met with so many therapists… I sat in on sex addiction classes… I went through hypnotherapy because, at first, she was supposed to be a hypnotherapist. I feel like the people I met and the experiences I had in group sessions gave me a good anchor for Marcella. 

 

KW: When I went to see the film, the audience was 90% female? Why do you think that was the case?

TS: I think because it opened up fantasy in terms of women’s sexuality. We’re used to seeing fantasy explored from a male perspective, and the way men might see sex, have sex, want sex and even be addicted to sex. But I don’t think women pursuing that sexuality within themselves is something that’s talked about or experienced as often. I think women found it intriguing because they wanted to see what that look like and felt like and sounded like. I think it was a curiosity with women.

 

KW: The screen version of Fifty Shades of Grey is coming out soon. Do you see any parallels between that and Addicted?

TS: I do, as far as the type of story it is. I know it’s the same genre, but I’ve never read the book. So, I can’t really comment about it. But I am going to see the film, and I think that it’s cool. Zane has been that urban voice for black people as far as our sexuality and our sensuality, not that she only has an urban following. We may be used to seeing the Zoe’s of other races, but I think it was great to be able to tell the story of this beautiful black woman and her family.

 

KW: I remember meeting Zane at a party and being surprised that she seemed so straitlaced and perfectly normal, and not a nymphomaniac like one of her protagonists.

TS: Yes, she looks like she could work at the Post Office. She’s just as conservative, but with a mind that could blow your mind.

 

KW: What would you say is the movie’s message?

TS: That if you don’t deal with addiction, it could destroy your life. It also addresses the inspiration of restoration in a relationship. 

 

KW: I see that you have a picture called Polaris coming out this year. What type of character do you play there?

TS: I play Sophie, who’s that All-American best friend. It was more of a cameo role, but it was still a wonderful opportunity to work with an amazing, first-time director [Soudabeh Moradian], at least as far as features, who comes from the documentary film world. It was also great to have a chance to work with my best friend, Elisabeth Rohm.

 

KW: What other upcoming projects do you have, Tasha?

TS: I have two new TV shows, Power and Empire. On Empire, which just premiered in January, I play Carol, who’s Cookie Lyons’ [played by Taraji P. Henson] sister. It’s fun. It’s a great show.

 

KW: Tell me a little about Power.

TS: That doesn’t come on until the summer. It’s with Omari Hardwick, Naturi Naughton and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. You’re gonna love it!

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

TS: My favorite clothes designer? It’s a shame that I don’t have a favorite right now. I gotta tell you, Kam. I am just discovering my fashion side. I have never felt anchored when it comes to fashion. I’ve always had to depend on a stylist helping me to figure it out. But over, maybe, the last four or five months, I have literally been getting back to myself and to what I really love as far as fashion is concerned. So, I can’t really answer that question, although I do have a couple of favorite shoe designers I have a little bit of an addiction to: Giuseppe [Zanotti] and Christian Louboutin. For some reason, I’m in love with their shoes... [Pauses] Wait, I just thought of a designer that I’m actually feelin’ who’s really fun and exciting for me… Stella McCartney… I’m feelin’ her. I have some pieces of hers that make me go look for more of her pieces.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

TS: [Breathes deeply… exhales… clears her throat] That’s a very good question. Kam, I gotta tell you, you always ask me wonderfully probing questions and, for some reason, I always want to be extremely honest with you.

  

KW: I’ve always appreciated that. 

TS: I’ll say this: the last three years of my life have been very painful and somewhat abusive, mentally.

 

KW: Gee, I’m so sorry to hear that.

TS: And I always found myself trying to cover the mental anguish and the torment and the abuse that I was dealing with. That made me always question my beauty, my intelligence, and a lot of other things about myself.

 

KW: That is so sad! I had no idea.

TS: I felt like I was literally losing myself as being the joyful, spiritual, passionate, exciting woman that I naturally had been. I remember working on a show, and feeling so insecure about whether I looked attractive enough to do a love scene. It was weird because I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t feeling beautiful, even though I knew I was. And my friends were like, “You know why!” I remember that I kept asking the person I was working with whether I looked okay. He was kind enough to take a photo of me on the monitor. When he took the photo, he asked the director to wait. Then he came to me and said, “This is how you look.” I don’t think even he knew how that moment impacted me. My reaction was, “Wow! I look like that?” You hear about actresses experiencing their insecurities, and how we always want to feel pretty enough, good enough, or this or that enough. But this was such a revelation for me, because I had been spending time in the mirror questioning my beauty. When he showed me that snapshot, I finally really appreciated myself again. There was this revelation in one second that really blessed me, big time. So, now when I look at myself in the mirror, I see this beautiful woman that’s getting back to her old self.   

 

KW: That’s terrific! Sherry Gillam would like to know what makes you smile on the inside?

TS: Right now, my excitement about my life and my future makes me happy, because I am a dreamer, and I always dream, no matter how many obstacles are in my way. My dreams, my desires, and my goals make me smile.

 

KW: Finally, what’s in your wallet?

TS: [How’s with laughter] What’s in my wallet? A note to myself.

 

KW: Thanks again, Tasha. I really appreciate your being so open and forthcoming with me, as usual.

TS: Thank you, Kam, and have a great day, okay?

To see a trailer for Addicted, visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdZ0lUxunbA

To see a video about the Tasha Smith Actors’ Workshop, visit: http://tsaw.com/actors_workshop_video10.html


Interviews
UserpicOscar-Winner Reflects on Life, Career and His Latest Film
Posted by Kam Williams
25.01.2015

Kevin Costner
The “Black or White” Interview
with Kam Williams

Kevin Michael Costner was born in Lynwood, California on January 18, 1955. After landing a breakout role in Silverado in 1985, he enjoyed a meteoric rise in such hit pictures as The Untouchables, No Way Out, Bull Durham and Field of Dreams en route to winning a couple of Academy Awards for Dancing with Wolves.

 

Other films on his impressive resume include JFK, The Bodyguard, Message in a Bottle and Draft Day, to name a few. Here, he discusses his latest film, Black or White, a courtroom drama where he plays a grandfather caught up in a legal fight for custody of his biracial granddaughter with the black side of her family.       

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Kevin, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity.

Kevin Costner: You can call me Kevin, Kam.  

 

KW: Thanks! I told my readers I’d be interviewing you, so I have a lot of questions for you from fans. Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: What attracted you to this project, and do you think the plot is relevant, given the evolution of race relations in America?

KC: That’s what attracted me to the project. It reminded me of one of the things I like about movies. I remember how, after I read the script for Dances with Wolves, I just knew that I had to make it, when not everybody else wanted to. But I did end up making it. Similarly, Bull Durham and Fields of Dreams, didn’t strike people as giant movies, but I think the hallmark of all three of those pictures is that they have traveled through time and become classics. And when I read Black or White, I had the exact same feeling. I said, “Oh my God! This is about the moment that we’re living in right now. And this was before Ferguson, and all this stuff. You know, our problems didn’t just start in August. I’ve been living with this my entire life. But I thought there was a level of genius in the writing that I thought would make everybody rush to make this movie also. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and so the journey of this project has been very much like the journey of others that I’ve had to push uphill. But I didn’t think Black or White had any less value, so I decided I would pay for it, and make this movie because I just thought it had a chance to be a classic, and because it said some things I think a lot of people need to hear and would even perhaps say themselves, if they could string the words together.  

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: Black or White looks like a great movie, Kevin. Did you give your on-screen granddaughter, Jillian Estell, any acting advice on the set?

KC: No I didn’t. I just tried to lead by example by the way I behaved on the set, and she understood. She’s a little girl, and I always had to keep that in mind. But she gave us the performance that we really needed. This movie depended on her being really good, which she was!

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Field of Dreams’ message was, “If you build it, he will come.” What’s the takeaway built into Black or White?

KC: I guess the message of Field of Dreams, ultimately, was about things that go unsaid between people who really love each other, and about how it’s important that you try to say those things while you’re still alive, so that they have that level of meaning, that level of value, that you can carry with you for the rest of your life.

Field of Dreams, to me, was always about things that go unsaid that need to be talked about. I don’t know what the takeaway for Black or White is, but I do know that if you’re going to make a movie, and it’s going to deal with race, you have to make it authentic, and not pull any punches. You have to use the language that’s appropriate. And I thought this movie was a miracle because writer/director Mike Binder was able to just be authentic in dealing with race. These were things that wanted to be said, so I knew that I would have a kind of a role of a lifetime in Elliot Anderson.

 

KW: Director Larry Greenberg says: Black or White touches on how alcoholism and addiction impact parenting. Is this an issue that you feel needs more attention?

KC: Well, obviously, you were able to see the movie, Larry, and for that I’m grateful. The hope is that, if the movie did touch you, you’ll continue to tell other people about it. But alcohol, used in any excess, is always going to put a veil over how we behave… clouding our judgment… and affecting our ability to love and to be responsible. And certainly, in this instance, it’s pretty clear that what was driving the drinking was the loss of the love of his life, his wife, and the loss of his child seven years earlier. The discussion of alcohol, and where he is in terms of it, is pretty unique in this film, because at one point he suggests that maybe he isn’t an alcoholic, but just an angry person. And that clouds his judgment when he’s backed into a corner. Also, the movie deals with addictions on both sides, which makes it very balanced and enjoyable to watch.

 

KW: Sherry Gillam says: Happy Belated Birthday! [January 18th] I saw your picture on the cover of AARP Magazine a couple of months ago. You’re still just as handsome as ever.

KC: [Laughs heartily] Thank Sherry a lot. I have no choice, but that was really a high compliment. It’s been a pleasure making movies for people of my generation. I try to make films that will stand the test of time, so that the younger generations will be inclined to catch up to them. That’s what I tried to do with Black or White. It’s relevant to us now, but I’m hopeful that someone watching it twenty years from now will understand what’s at stake when you’re dealing with the welfare of a child, and of the problem that might come when you overlay it with race.

 

KW: Sherry did have a question, too. She asks: What makes you smile on the inside?

KC: [Laughs again] A good idea makes me smile. My children succeeding makes me smile. My wife looking at me and saying she’s proud of me makes me smile. Even just being surprised makes me smile.

 

KW: Professor/director/author Hisani Dubose says: You have such a broad range of movies, which I think is great. What attracts you to a script? Is there a unifying factor?

KC: Sometimes, it’s the chance to say something I want to say for myself. Other times, it’s having an opportunity to say something that I feel everyone in the world would like to say. And Black or White really matches up with that. There are some things said in this movie that I know people have wanted to say for a long time. I was given the speech of a lifetime in the courtroom, and I’m gratified to hear that audiences have been clapping when I’m done. A lot of people would never think that’s possible, given the movie, but I’ve seen it in theaters night after night. That’s been very pleasing to me.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams says: Thank you for making so many great, enjoyable films. When you look back upon your career, how do you remember your magical rise from Silverado to winning a couple of Oscars for Dances with Wolves?

KC: The truth is that I can remember it, I understand, yet I never thought my career would ever have that kind of success. Listen, I’ve had such good luck. I didn’t know it could ever be as wonderful as it has been, although it has had a measure of stress and pain. Still, it’s been an incredible ride. I appreciate my good luck and my good fortune, and I have loved every minute of it. Silverado, Fandango, No Way Out, The Untouchables, Open Range, Hatfields & McCoys, all these movies that I look back on, and now Black or White. Listen, I’ve had good luck, and I get that. I just hope the second half of my life plays out in a way that I am able to continue to make movies that are relevant not only to me but to people who like to go to the theater.

 

KW: My favorite of your films, one which I’ve watched over a dozen times, is No Way Out.

KC: [Chuckles] That was a movie that wasn’t going to get made, either. It was sitting at Warner Brothers in a state of limbo known as turnaround. It just wasn’t on the minds of anybody. Orion Pictures wanted to do a picture with me, but they didn’t have anything in mind. They asked me what I was interested in, and I told them that there was this picture over at Warner Brothers I really loved called Finished with Engines. I brought the script to them and they decided they would do it, but they changed the title to No Way Out.  

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: What do you enjoy the most about the moviemaking process?

KC: I really love rehearsal. I love being with people and working on something when no one else is looking. Another aspect I enjoy is having a job where you have breakfast, lunch and dinner with the people you work with. You always get to know people a lot better when you’re actually able to have meals with them. So, I was really perfectly suited for the movie business. I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I thank God for it every day.  

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Do you think this film will initiate a debate about interracial adoption?

KC: I think that if you see this movie with someone who doesn’t look like you, you’re going to have an incredible conversation afterwards. I believe Black or White will really foster conversation whether you see it with friends or with your sweetheart, and that you will be a little different when you come out of the theater. 

 

KW: David Roth says: In Black or White, your character, Elliot, is raising a black granddaughter, sheltering her from her junkie dad and the perceived instability of her black relatives. Does this picture pander to “white knight coming to the rescue of a person of color” stereotype avoided by Selma director Ava DuVernay in her downplaying President LBJ’s role in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

KC: Audiences coming out of the theater say how refreshing Black or White is because of its evenhandedness in that regard. We know that humans are sometimes willing to fight unfairly, and what makes this picture great is that it feels very, very authentic. We’re not dealing with the same issue that David has with Selma. No one likes to go to a movie and fell like they’ve been manipulated. You smell a rat when you’re being manipulated. The truth is just as entertaining as a lie, so why not shoot the truth?

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

KC: I see a full life. And I’m raising young children, and my desire to stay healthy and to remain relevant is uppermost in my mind.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

KC: I remember everything from about 2½ or 3 years-old on. I remember my father coming home and unlacing his work boots... I remember my mom cooking in the kitchen… I remember the curtains… the couches… the smell of the linoleum. I even remember some of my dreams from back then.    

 

KW: I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that powerful eulogy you delivered for Whitney Houston. There were a lot of great eulogies that day, but yours eclipsed them all.

KC: Thank you. Well, Whitney and I had a unique relationship. I wasn’t even sure that I should be up there talking, but it seemed like the world demanded that because of our make believe relationship in The Bodyguard. The world has linked us together because of that movie. So when I was asked to speak, I could only talk about what it was I knew.

 

KW: Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

KC: I don’t really think about that very much. There are a couple that I might redo, but I still just love breaking new ground on an individual movie. I appreciate great classics, and perhaps I’ll make one someday, but I have six or seven lined up, and not one of them is a remake or a sequel.  

 

KW: Are any of your kids interested in following in your footsteps?

KC: No, they’ve all charted their own paths. None of them has pivoted off my name. They’re all doing their own thing. That’s what I love about them. My daughter [Lily] sings in Black or White. That’s her singing in the funeral scene. She’s 28, and an amazing singer/songwriter.

 

KW: Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

KC: [LOL] What’s in my wallet? Well, at the premiere a few days ago, this Chinese fellow came up to me, handed me his card, and said, “I want to make movies with you.” I haven’t called him yet, but we’ll see if he really means it.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Kevin, and best of luck with the film.

KC: I’m glad you liked the movie, Kam, and thanks for writing about it.

 

To see a trailer for Black or White, visit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqlE-7PP7Ho


Interviews
UserpicLee Daniels (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
19.01.2015

Lee Daniels

The “Empire” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Daniels Builds a TV “Empire”

After directing and/or producing such successful feature films as The Butler, Monster’s Ball [for which Halle Berry won an Academy Award], and Precious [for which Mo’Nique won hers], two-time Oscar-nominee Lee Daniels [for Precious] has set his sights on TV for the first time. Here, he talks about directing the new nighttime soap opera Empire, co-starring Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Lee, thanks for another opportunity to speak with you.

Lee Daniels: Great, Kam. How are you?

 

KW: All is well, thanks. What was the source of inspiration for Empire?

LD: My partner, Danny Strong, came to me with this idea of telling a story about my life, and merging that with music and the Hip-Hop world. He wrote The Butler and originally wanted to do Empire also as a movie.

 

KW: I had no idea it was semi-autobiographical. Why TV, as opposed to the big screen?

LD: What happened was we decided that’s enough with movies, let’s do it for television so that we could bring this to life for America on a weekly basis. It picks up, historically, where The Butler left off, and deals with race relations. It’s a little bit like my family, a little like some friends of mine with money, their world, and a little like some of my friends without money, their world. I think it’s the African-American experience.

 

KW: Which character are you? Lucious Lyon [played by Terrence Howard]?

LD: I’m Lucious… I’m Jamal… I’m all of the characters. My sister and my cousins are Cookie [played by Taraji P. Henson]. Cookie’s  little bit of all of them.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How do film actors like Terrence and Taraji make the transition from the big screen to the small screen?

LD: That’s a very good question and a very complicated one, because with film we get the luxury of time. It works at a different pace. It’s nice and slow. As a film director and as film actors, you get used to a certain rhythm that’s slow. But with TV, it’s hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. It’s a different pace. So, it’s about adjusting to the pace. It’s not meant for everybody.

 

KW: Has the frenetic pace frustrated you?

LD: No, I think it’s made me a better director, because I have to think fast. I no longer have the luxury of taking my time. Does that make any sense?

 

KW: Absolutely! Chalyn Toon asks: Did you consider other actors or did you always envision Taraji and Terrence for the lead roles?

LD: I always considered Taraji, but even though Terrence and I are very good friends and had worked together on The Butler and were thinking about doing The Marvin Gaye Story. But I didn’t know if he’d do TV. I was thinking of Wesley Snipes for the role, but word on the street was that Taraji wasn’t feeling it anymore. Then she told me, “I’ll do it, but only if Terrence does it.” I went, “girl, you ain’t even got the job yet.” And I was like, “Terrence ain’t going to do TV.” But then he said he would, and there you go.  

 

KW: Chalyn also says: Most writers avoid dealing with homosexuality within the black community. What made you choose that path? Unlike your counterpart, Shonda Rhimes, who has depicted white males in a passionate relationship, perhaps to target a whiter audience, you’ve put two males of color in a gay relationship. Why did you choose to do so?

LD: I did it because I think it’s time to destroy a myth in the black community about gay men. When I was doing research for Precious, I went to the Gay Men’s Health Crisis here in New York City, because the movie dealt with AIDS. What I expected to see was gay men, but what I found were African-American women and children who’d been infected with HIV by black men on the down-low. They were on the d-l because their pastor says, because their minister says, because their neighbor says, and their homeboy says, “You can’t be gay.” Black men on the d-l are killing our women. I can’t hate the men on the d-l, I only hate that they’re on the d-l, because our people forced them to be. So, this is really dedicated to educating. This is the civil rights movement of our generation.

So, this is really dedicated to educating   

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier: You are working on a Richard Pryor biopic. What does he mean to you?

LD: The more research I do, the more I uncover not only his brilliance, but how much of a pioneer he was at a time that was harder on African-Americans than it is right now, if that’s imaginable. His experience as a black American was very similar to mine. We both come from troubled backgrounds. He was very open about his sexuality, and what he did, and he spoke the truth. And he fought for the truth for everybody. And because he was so tormented, he was a drug addict, and so was I. Our similarities are strangely connected. So, he speaks to me. He was ahead of his time, and he didn’t even know that he was changing the world through humor. He was uniting African-American and white Americans through his humor. He didn’t know, and I hope to do him justice.

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: Lee, I'm major proud of all your work, and I'm digging Empire. Congratulations on your weight loss. You’re looking good. Vegan is working for you.

LD: [Belly laugh] I’m not really vegan. I’m vegan-ish. I have a piece of lamb every now and then.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Lee, and best of luck with Empire.

LD: Thank you, Kam. Talk to you soon.

To see a trailer for Empire, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBzu_jKLJek     


Interviews
UserpicTara Talks about Portraying Civil Rights Martyr Viola Liuzzo
Posted by Kam Williams
17.01.2015

Tara Ochs
The “Selma” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Tara Ochs is an actress and voice-over artist residing in Atlanta, GA. She has also been a comedy improviser her entire career and credits that skill with opening many doors.

Tara can currently be caught performing with Atlanta-based theatre company Dad’s Garage, where she also teaches improv to people of all ages. Previously, she worked with The Second City troupe, and was a company member of the L.A.-based improv companies ComedySportz and ACME Comedy Theater.

Tara’s television credits include Crossing Jordan, CSI:Miami, One Tree Hill, Army Wives, Close to Home, Samantha Who? and Single Ladies. And her voice-over credits include numerous national and regional radio spots, as well as over 40 audio books with Audible and Hachette Publishing Groups.  She lists M.M. Kaye’s “Shadow of the Moon” and Dale Kushner’s “Conditions of Love,” as among her favorite reads.

A graduate of Florida State University, Tara considers Pensacola, Florida her hometown, although her family moved around quite a bit when she was a child due to her father’s enlistment as a Navy pilot. His service has inspired Tara’s love of country, while her mother’s dedication as a schoolteacher has motivated her to work with young people in the arts.

Here, she talks about portraying civil rights martyr Viola Liuzzo in the Academy Award-nominated film, Selma.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Tara, thanks for the interview.

Tara Ochs: Thank you Kam! You look really nice today. Is that a new sweater?

 

KW: Thanks! And, yes, it was a Christmas gift. What interested you in Selma? Were you aware of the march?

TO: I was NOT aware of anything to do with Selma or the marches. Living in Atlanta, you can’t help being surrounded by the vestiges of the civil rights movement, so naturally it interests me. But this particular moment in history, I was unfamiliar with. Once I was introduced to the story via the audition, I was thrilled to come across an example of such a large number of people coming together to support the movement.

 

KW:  How about the character you played, Viola Liuzzo? Had you heard of her?

TO: I also knew nothing about Viola Liuzzo. It wasn’t until I received the script that I learned of her enormous contribution to the movement. It was a surprise – I had no idea that a white woman had lost her life in the struggle for civil rights.

 

KW: How did you prepare to play her? Did you speak to her children or anyone who knew her?

TO: At the time of the filming I had not yet gotten in touch with her family--the turnaround for this film was incredibly fast. From script to screen in just about a year! I am currently in touch with them however, and so thrilled to have their support.

To prepare I did my good actor research--I Googled. The resources I came across that had the most value for me as a performer were the book “From Selma to Sorrow” by Mary Stanton, and the documentary Home of the Brave.

 

KW: Did you feel any responsibility to portray Viola right, given that she was martyred?

TO: Absolutely! The weight of that responsibility was overwhelming. I speak a little about that on my blog [ www.taraochs.blogspot.com ] In short, I wanted to approach Viola as a woman, not as a saint--so I looked for those details that made her seem human to me.

 

KW: Is there a cause bigger than your own self interest, for which you might be willing to pay a big price, perhaps even sacrificing your life?

TO: The first answer that comes to mind is my family. But I suppose that’s not a cause. [Chuckles] In a way, though, it contributes to the things that I feel passionate about. For example, my father is a veteran, so patriotism runs deep in my family.

 

KW: Did it ever get emotional on the set, given the historical importance of Selma?

TO: [LOL] Constantly! CONSTANTLY! I can’t tell you how difficult it was to keep it together as we marched on that bridge with actual survivors of Bloody Sunday. And the final speech back in Montgomery? There was no need to act that day.

 

KW: What message do you hope people will take away from the film?

TO: Hope. And perhaps a clearer understanding of why non-violent protest is the most effective way to agitate.

 

KW: What do you think of the criticisms being leveled at the film, suggesting that LBJ is being portrayed unfairly?

TO: What controversy? The film clearly shows LBJ for who he was--a master politician. And it clearly shows Dr. King for who he was--a master activist. It just doesn’t seem like a controversy to me. I am cheering for both LBJ and MLK by the end of the film.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

TO: I’ll have to think on this one.

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

TO: This past Saturday – I was practically in tears. My high school outreach improv team had their tournament and they were absolutely brilliant. I could barely catch my breath.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

TO: My Dungeons and Dragons group. We play weekly, and I play a Battle Cleric who worships a sun goddess. Pathfinder edition, if that means anything to you.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

TO: I’m working my way through the “Wheel of Time” series because I want to get to the ones written by my favorite author, Brandon Sanderson.

I’m taking turns with that and “Misquoting Jesus” by Bart Ehrman. I’m sort of nerdy about theology.

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to?

TO: “Glory,” of course. 

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

TO: Shrimp Creole, my grandma’s recipe.

 

KW: Was there a meaningful spiritual component to your childhood?

TO: Absolutely. I grew up in the Episcopal Church, and it was a key part of my social and spiritual life

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

TO: About 50 different people. When I was little, my mom used to put me in the corner when I misbehaved for time out. But the corner she stuck me in had a mirror. I love making faces.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

TO: I have a terrible memory, but I used to have a recurring dream which I later realized was a childhood memory. I lived in Japan from age 2 to 4. The memory was of me in a park with the Great Daibutsu [Buddha] at one end. I got to climb inside that statue. I remember perhaps being awed for the first time.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share?

TO: Faith.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

TO: I would have gone with astronaut, but I heard that’s harder than being an actor. [Chuckles]

 

KW:  The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

TO: The Apartment.

 

KW: What’s in your wallet?

TO: It’s lean. Just the cards I need, always some cash, a MARTA card [Atlanta Transit] and a Fox Bros BBQ [restaurant] sticker. [Laughs]

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Tara, and best of luck with Selma and the rest of your ventures.

TO: Thanks Kam! I’m going to go memorize my rap battle lyrics now. Have a good evening!

To see a trailer for Selma, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPgs2zshD9Y


Interviews
UserpicStraight from the ā€œHartā€
Posted by Kam Williams
13.01.2015

Kevin Hart
“The Wedding Ringer” Interview
with Kam Williams

Kevin Hart might be the hardest working man in Hollywood. Just last year, he starred in a trio of feature films: Ride Along, About Last Night and Think like a Man Too, and enjoyed supporting roles in Top Five and School Dance, too.

Meanwhile, he has his hit TV show, Real Husbands of Hollywood, for which he won the NAACP Image Award in the Best Actor in a Comedy Series Award. In 2014, the NAACP also named Kevin the Entertainer of the Year.

The irrepressible comedian shows no sign of letting up, between presently releasing The Wedding Ringer, and following that up with Get Hard in March. And he’s already wrapped work on Ride Along 2, and has The Secret Life of Pets, Central Intelligence and Captain Underpants in production.

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicJeff Chang (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
05.01.2015

Jeff Chang

The “Who We Be” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Visionary Author Talks about His NAACP Image Award-Nomination

Jeff Chang is a new sage thinker with his finger on the pulse of American culture. His first book, the critically-acclaimed “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation,” collected a cornucopia of honors, including the American Book Award and the Asian-American Literary Award. 

 

Next, he edited “Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop,” an anthology of essays and interviews. Here, he talks about his latest opus, “Who We Be: The Colorization of America,” which has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction category.   

 

Don’t let yourself be dissuaded by the grammatically-incorrect title, or it’s Ebonics chapter headings like “I Am I Be” and “What You Got to Say?” for the actual text isn’t written in inscrutable slang as implied, but rather makes a most articulate analysis of the evolution of American society from the March on Washington to the present.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Jeff. Thanks for the time and congratulations on the NAACP Image Award nomination for “Who We Be.” You used to just write about hip-hop. What inspired you to expand your focus for this book?

Jeff Chang: When I finished “Can't Stop Won't Stop,” I realized that the big hole was in talking about all those who had influenced me during my intellectual awakening during the mid-1980s and into 1990s. These were people from the generation that fell between the gap of the Civil Rights Generation and the Hip-Hop Generation--teachers and thinkers like Gary Delgado and Ron Takaki and Gloria Anzaldua, writers like Ishmael Reed, Ntozake Shange, and Jessica Hagedorn. They helped to theorize multiculturalism and their ideas carried us through the culture wars. 

 

KW: Why did you decide to examine the evolution of American culture over the last half-century?

JC: I guess every project has been a little autobiographical--this is the era that I have lived through. And now that I teach and mentor, I am always surprised and a little sad at how little my students know about what people their age did during the 1980s and 1990s. We weren't silent. They hear endlessly about the proud brave youth of the 1960s and even the 1970s, but not much history has been done on those who came afterward. In part, this is a function of demographics--we are the shadow generation between the so-called Boomers and Millennials. In part, ours is not a history of glory and victory. When it comes to racial justice, it's been quite the opposite. It's not a story with a happy ending.

 

KW: Where do you envision America to be a half-century from now?

JC: I'm less successful at predicting than I am at reading history. I do write from a sense of urgency, though. I worry that if we don't move toward a consensus for racial justice, that we'll instead continue the current trends of re-segregation and end up with a more rigid, insurmountable racial caste system in 2042. That would be a horrible outcome for everyone, including whites.

 

KW: Do you think you have a unique perspective as a Chinese/Hawaiian- American?

JC: I've been blessed to come from a background in which my family has intermarried with every race and culture imaginable. My family looks a lot like President Obama's, but much bigger. I suppose I look at the society I'm living in the way I look at my family. Because we are family does not mean there aren't problems, but we owe it to each other to keep on talking, to try to work them out. This may make me a bit Pollyanna-ish, but you gotta believe in something, and every belief comes from somewhere, and that's mine. 

 

KW: “Who We Be” reminds me of Marshall McLuhan’s “The Medium Is the Massage” [not his famous essay “The Medium Is the Message”] which was a dizzying mix of essays, asides, aphorisms, photos and drawings. Are you familiar with that book?

JC: I am! Dizzying was exactly the right word. From the beginning I wanted the book to be visual--in the writing and in its content and presentation. McLuhan pointed out in the mid-60s, that we were now living in a mixed up culture where visuality was much more important. The word "colorization" comes from TV, and this is also happening right at the time McLuhan and Fiore are making their book. So, in a lot of ways, I was trying to recognize that history, while merging that with the history of the representation of people of color in the post-civil rights era. Such a great question! Thank you.

 

KW: You’re welcome, Jeff. How would you describe your approach to cobbling together the content you included in your book?

JC: The organizing metaphor was seeing--how we see race. I knew I had to move in this direction after “Can't Stop Won't Stop,” and I had some elements--Morrie Turner's cartoons and his amazing life story, on the one hand, and the street art of the Obama presidential campaign, on the other. Greg Tate, Lydia Yee, Roberta Uno, Vijay Prashad and others hit me with other key pieces that helped to shape the narrative. And as I was finishing the book, Vijay Iyer hit me sideways with his insight about listening versus seeing race. He made me understand that jazz and soul and blues are of an earlier period in which listening was central. Hip-hop comes up in an era of seeing--and so it gets complicated. 

 

 

KW: What message do you hope people will take away from the book?

JC: That we need to have a real conversation about race that does not try to ignore the legacies of discrimination, debasement and inequity. And we need to transform the culture of violence that continues to lead us in each generation to have to explosively protest the way that bodies of color, often specifically black bodies, are targeted and contained. I think the best way for us to approach this is to recognize and name re-segregation as we see it, and, through cultural interventions, push toward a new consensus for racial justice.

 

KW: What do you make of the nationwide demonstrations in response to the failure of the grand juries to indict the police officers in the Eric Garner and Michael Brown cases?

JC: They are among the most sustained and widespread protests against state violence against African-Americans in history. And they are being organized and moved in a decentralized way by thousands of ordinary Americans--mostly youths, mostly women. There are no central leaders, despite the media's focus on some older charismatic men, and that makes them impossible to stop. They give me clarity about my work and they give me hope that we might be in a transformative moment. 

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

JC: Not really. Every question is a blessing.

 

KW: What was your first job?

JC: I went to a private school on "scholarship" which meant that, at age 10, I was serving lunch to my peers and wiping up the tables after them.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

JC: If it's pleasurable, I ain't guilty! [LOL]

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

JC: So many! Two of the most recent have been especially amazing: Claudia Rankine's “Citizen,” and my man Marlon James's “A Brief History of Seven Killings.”

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

JC: Again, so many. This is what's on right now: Sade's "Love You More" [JRocc Mix] https://soundcloud.com/jrocc/love-you-more-rocc-mix

  

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

JC: Hawaiian-style Pipi, beef stew.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

JC: Art: music, visual art, literature, etcetera that connects big ideas and calls us to do something.

 

KW: Was there a meaningful spiritual component to your childhood?

JC: Yes. My grandparents were Buddhist and my parents converted to Catholicism. I'd say my spiritual beliefs are some odd, contradictory hybrid of both. 

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

JC: Someone who is trying. 

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

JC: Right now it would be for my brother-in-law Arnel to be alive again. He passed away suddenly in July.

 

KW: My condolences. The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

JC: Oh, man, I can't remember!

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question: How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

JC: It made me understand how important recognizing your transgressions is toward reaching reconciliation.

 

KW: Can you give me a generic Jeff Chang question I can ask other people I interview?

JC: What are the three values that guide everything you do?

 

KW: Thanks! What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

JC: Don't follow me, follow your own trail, and if it crosses mine for a while, welcome.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

JC: By my actions and my children.

  

KW: And lastly, what’s in your wallet?

JC: The bare minimum I need!

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Jeff, and good luck with the book.

JC: Kam,  thanks for this amazing interview and for all your generosity. With lots of respect and gratitude.

To become a member of the NAACP and to vote for the Image Awards, visit: http://www.naacpimageawards.net/become-a-member-to-vote/


Interviews
UserpicRussell Simmons (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
24.12.2014

Russell Simmons

The “Who Polices the Police?” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

"Rush" to Judgment:

Hip-Hop Icon Seeks Solution to Rash of Police Shootings

Russell Simmons has been very active as of late in the Black Lives Matter movement, and not merely as a participant on the picket lines. Whether extracting a promise from N.Y. State Governor Cuomo to appoint special prosecutors in cases of police brutality, or defending Bill de Blasio after NYPD President Pat Lynch suggested the Mayor has “blood on his hands,” Rush has been an outspoken advocate urgently lobbying for an overhaul of how the criminal justice system handles the prosecution of cops accused of police brutality.  

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Russell, thanks for taking a break from your vacation to talk to me. Where are you calling me from?

Russell Simmons: I’m with my kids in St. Bart’s. I’ve come here every year for the past 27 years. Kam, I wouldn’t take the time to talk to anybody else. You’re the only one I trust to get out the word accurately.

 

KW: I appreciate the opportunity, brother. Let me start by asking how you feel about the cowardly ambush assassination of NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos in their patrol car?

RS: It breaks my heart that those two innocent police officers were killed. I am really very, very brokenhearted about it. But the best way to protect both the policemen and the community going forward is by creating a system that’s just, where everyone feels safe. Of course everyone feels terrible about what happened to the policemen, but it’s terrible what happened to Eric Garner, too.

 

KW: Why do you spend so much time on the streets marching nowadays and previously in the park with the Occupy Movement, when you have money?  

RS: Why not? Why can’t I occupy? Why can’t the rich help the poor? Why can’t I pay attention to systematic problems that disenfranchise my people?

 

KW: You’ve been working with the Justice League NYC, a progressive group that has gained a lot of traction as of late, and which issued a specific list of demands.

RS: I’m a little concerned about the group’s demands, all of which are legitimate, because as thoughtful as the list is, it’s still been easy for the New York Post and others to find ways to cherry pick and disparage it.  

 

KW: Well, what would you say is your most important goal?

RS: There’s one overriding issue, namely, that we live in a police state so long as the police get to police themselves. And that is why cops go unindicted. 

 

KW: Does it all boil down to whether or not black lives matter?

RS: I don’t like to racialize it, but it is a question of whether black lives matter. They do matter less. We know that from the news when one little white girl going missing in Brooklyn is considered more newsworthy than the fifty black kids who got shot in Chicago the same weekend. So, yes black lives matter less, but Global Grind [ www.globalgrind.com ] did follow the recent incident involving an African-American policeman who shot a white boy and didn’t get indicted. We’ll never know whether he’s guilty, because there won’t be a trial. So long as the local district attorney [D.A.] is responsible for indicting a cop, we live in a police state. I will not rest until that one flaw in the system is changed.  

 

KW: What happened in that meeting you and Jay-Z had with Governor Cuomo a couple of weeks ago? Afterwards, you held a press conference saying that the Governor had pledged to employ special prosecutors in the future, but he seemed to simply say that the system needs to be reformed.   

RS: Maybe I misunderstood him about an executive order, but he did promise to change the law. He said something to the effect of, “I promise you, I’m going to get a bill passed establishing a separate office and a separate prosecutor for the state that looks into police abuse.”

 

KW: You have your differences with NYPD Union President Pat Lynch, too.

RS: The police union can point all the fingers they want at everybody else, but they’re fighting to retain control. They know it’s the #1 issue. But people are avoiding it, and pushing it to the side. I don’t think anybody’s going to rest until we get a separation of the local D.A. in these cases. I’ve been in all of the meetings with [Attorney General] Eric Schneiderman. The Governor would have to issue an executive order that would land on Schneiderman‘s desk, or he’d have to introduce a bill in Albany to make that change. New York may be the first state to enact such an initiative, and then it could rollover all across the country. Regardless, we’re going to fix New York State. No one’s going to rest until New York has an independent prosecutor to look into these cases.

 

KW: As a lawyer, it’s painfully obvious to me that these cases are being thrown, since any prosecutor could, as they say, indict a ham sandwich if he or she wants to.

RS: All of these prosecutors have thrown the cases. Normally, everybody gets indicted and is put on trial. In the Eric Garner case, the only person the Staten Island grand jury did indict was the guy who filmed the tragic incident. 

 

KW: I didn’t know that, but I can’t say I’m surprised.

RS: I’ve spent a lot of time with Eric Garner’s son recently, and it breaks my heart to see his family grieving and to know that unless U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder steps in and brings some civil rights charges, they will never get justice. So, when I march, I’m thinking about that one issue everybody has to agree with. The Police Association is the only one that doesn’t. It’s been horrible, between all the attacks on the Mayor and the peaceful protestors.  

 

KW: What needs to be done to reduce the tension between the rank-and-file police officers and the community?

RS: It’s the job of the head of the police union to create a dialogue and a comfort level with the community. Mayor de Blasio’s doing his best to understand the dynamic and to work out a fair plan, but it’s like Lynch doesn’t want to give an inch. It’s in his power to determine whether a cop is indicted. If a local D.A. indicts a cop, he may as well kiss his ass goodbye. That conflict of interest can’t exist anymore. If Lynch doesn’t change, then blood could be on his hands, because he has the power to support the appointment of special prosecutors, so that any inappropriate behavior and excessive force can be investigated in a reasonable way. 

 

KW: How well attended were the marches? Did the police play down the head count?

RS: When we marched down Fifth Avenue, there weren’t just 30,000 people out there, but at least 150,000 people out there. It stretched for 35 crowded blocks full of people. I’ll send you the footage shot from a helicopter. It was a peaceful march, and if we don’t adjust system, we will march again. Last time, I had everybody from Khloe Kardashian to Miley Cyrus to Kanye to Puffy to Nas out there. They all Instagrammed and Tweeted and used other social media to let folks know that they were going to be there. Tyrese has 20 million followers on Facebook alone. These people are all waiting for word of when we launch. So, the issue is not going away, until the state is no longer a police state where the policemen police themselves. 

 

KW: New York sure looked like a police state when a long gauntlet of cops turned their backs on the Mayor as he walked down the hall of the hospital after paying his respects to the two officers who had just been assassinated. I realized, if they don’t feel that they have to show any respect to the Mayor, just think of the contempt they must have for the Average Joe.

RS: I would blame [Police Commissioner] Bratton. I’m not sure he’s the right person to bridge the gap. Bratton says, “It’ll go away.” He’s wrong. If he thinks it’s going away, he’s crazy. We’re not going anywhere. We’re just getting started. If we don’t get a special prosecutor in New York State, we’re going to march.

 

KW: What about the possibility of it inciting violence?

RS: I’ve never seen so many smart and thoughtful kids as at that 150,000+ march. The only incident involved a white, City College professor. Black people are used to the injustice, but this white professor probably got riled up because he’s white and wasn’t used to it. That was the only incident at a very diverse march. 

 

KW: Well thanks again for the time, Rush, recharge your batteries, so you can return from vacation ready to resume fighting the good fight. We need you. 

RS: Will do, my brother. God bless you.


Interviews
UserpicDavid Oyelowo (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
16.12.2014

David Oyelowo
The “Selma” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Mellow Oyelowo!

David Oyelowo (pronounced – “oh-yellow-oh”) is a classically-trained stage actor who is working successfully and simultaneously in film, television and theater, and has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents. He was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for his stirring performance as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the highly-anticipated, civil rights drama Selma. Directed by Ava DuVernay and produced by Oprah Winfrey and Brad Pitt’s Plan B, the film follows the black fight for the right to register to vote culminating in the march from Selma to Montgomery and in President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965.

David can currently be seen in Christopher Nolan’s space travel, sci-fi adventure Interstellar and in A Most Violent Year opposite Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac. He just wrapped production on Captive, a true-life crime thriller, and will soon co-star in Nina, a biographical drama about Nina Simone (played by Zoe Saldana).

A year ago, he co-starred in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, alongside Forest Whitaker, John Cusack, James Marsden and Oprah Winfrey. And in 2012, he was seen in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated drama Lincoln, with Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones.

Additionally, David starred in the critically-acclaimed independent drama, Middle of Nowhere, also directed by Ava DuVernay, and in Lee Daniels’ The Paperboy, opposite Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron. His other screen credits include the George Lucas-produced Red Tails, Rise of The Planet of The Apes, The Help, 96 Minutes, The Last King of Scotland and Who Do You Love.

David first impressed audiences on the stage when he starred in The Suppliants at the Gate Theatre playing King Palasgus. Next, he played the title role of Henry VI, becoming the first black actor to play an English king for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

 

Kam Williams: Hi David, thanks for the interview.

David Oyelowo: My pleasure, Kam. How are you?

 

KW: I’m great! Congratulations on the announcement of Golden Globe nominations for you and Ava DuVernay.

DO: Yes, that was a very, very nice moment for us. I’m particularly proud of her. When you look at that list of directors she’s in the company of, it’s pretty extraordinary to think that she’s only been directing for five years, and that she’s the first black woman to be afforded this honor. So, we’re really, really happy, particularly when it comes to her.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: You have had a very successful and varied career but your role portraying Martin Luther King in Selma must have been an extraordinary experience. I have only seen the trailer online and was deeply moved by your performance. How emotional an experience was portraying Dr. King for you?  

DO: It was a deeply-emotional experience for numerous reasons, not the least of it being that the film had been very hard to get off the ground. So, there were several times when I had to pinch myself about the fact that we were actually getting it made. When you reflect upon the significance of Dr. King to this nation, it’s criminal that he hasn’t had a feature film that was centered around him until now. That, in and of itself, was emotional. But when you’re doing scenes on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, with people still living in Selma and now in their 60s and 70s who had actually marched, who were there that original Bloody Sunday, that’s humbling… that’s deeply moving. You’re no longer acting at that stage, you’re just reacting, because it takes the filmmaking process to another dimension. So, yes it was an intensely emotional shoot, but also an intensely joyful shoot, since we really felt we were paying honor and doing service to these great men and women who had participated.

 

KW: Rel Dowdell, Patricia Turnier and Sangeetha Subramanian all ask: How did you prepare for your definitive performance as the iconic Dr. Martin Luther King?

DO: Even though the journey towards doing it was long and at times frustrating, one of the good by-products of its taking awhile was that I had time to really study King, to study his movements. I also had the God-given opportunity to be in films like Lincoln, The Help, The Butler and Red Tails, films that look at the black experience in this country over the past 150 years. So, I had this historical education going on before stepping into this role. All of those things, combined with talking to Dr. King’s children, and spending a lot of time with Andrew Young who, of course, knew him intimately, were all elements that helped me immeasurably get to where I got.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How does an actor faithfully embody an historical figure without simply presenting another newsreel portrayal?

DO: Well, I think the way you do that is by focusing on what’s behind the newsreels. If you merely focus on what we already know, then it’s not revelatory. You may as well just go and watch a documentary or a few videos on Youtube, and you’re good. What I had to do was go and find the guy who is the father, the friend, the man who was unsure, the man who needed friends around him in order to be able to keep on going. What does a moment where he’s home alone with his wife feel like? What does a moment where he’s just completely on his own feel like? To show what he’s like when he’s quiet, as opposed to when he’s giving a speech are things that I think are absolutely necessary in order for an audience to feel like they’re seeing a side of this historical figure that they didn’t know before.    

 

KW: David Roth asks: What was it like collaborating with director Ava DuVernay again? Did it make a difference that you’d worked with her before?

DO: Well, in what I do for a living, trust and confidence are key. Inevitably, you can’t make brave choices and do your best work, if you don’t have those, because it’s such a subjective art form, and you don’t have eyes on yourself.   

Having done Middle of Nowhere with Ava, I had found someone I deeply trust, not just as a human being, but in terms of her creative and artistic vision. And in playing a role as exposing as Dr. King, you want someone leading you that you implicitly trust. That was one of the blessings of working with Ava again on this. And not only do I trust her as a person, but I think her ability as a director is world class. She’s as good as anyone I’ve worked with before, and that’s something that instills confidence.

 

KW: Chandra McQueen says: Your performance in Selma was remarkable. We saw the human and iconic side of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in your      performance. Was there anything that surprised you, something new that you discovered about Dr. King, while studying for the role? 

DO: I think what a lot of people don’t realize is how much being the leader of this movement weighed upon him. After all, he was only 39 years-old when he was assassinated, and only 36 during the Selma campaign. He always seemed older than he actually was, and I believe part of that had to do with just how much life he had to live in order to lead this movement. He was away from home 28 days of any given month. He was a voice for the voiceless and had so many people relying upon him. As a result, that made for a man who, to be perfectly frank, had lived two lifetimes by the time he was killed. That was something I felt in the playing of it. I don’t think I could have done what he did. That was quite extraordinary.

 

KW: Well, you made history in your own right with your performance as Henry VI when you were the first black actor to play an English king with the Royal Shakespeare Company. How did that accomplishment feel?

DO: It felt great, because I was glad to be the one to break the deadlock. Yet, it was bittersweet because, like Ava says of her Golden Globe nomination, even though I was the first to be afforded the honor, I’m sure I wasn’t the first black person deserving of that honor. So, it’s something to be proud of, but we’re keen to move on from the first and to be an undeniable part of the conversation going forward.  

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, David.

DO: Thanks so much, Kam, and have a good day.

To see a trailer for Selma, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPgs2zshD9Y


Interviews
UserpicMark Wahlberg (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
15.12.2014

Mark Wahlberg
The “The Gambler” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Two-Time Oscar-Nominee Talks about His Latest Film

Mark Wahlberg earned Academy Award nominations for his standout work in both the The Fighter and The Departed. Mark’s breakout role in Boogie Nights established him as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents, and he has since played diverse characters for such visionary filmmakers as David O. Russell, Tim Burton and Paul Thomas Anderson.

His remarkable acting career began with Renaissance Man, directed by Penny Marshall, and The Basketball Diaries, with Leonardo DiCaprio, followed by a star turn opposite Reese Witherspoon in the thriller Fear. He later headlined Three Kings and The Perfect Storm, with George Clooney, and The Italian Job, with Charlize Theron.

Mark then starred in the football biopic Invincible, with Greg Kinnear, and Shooter, based on the best-selling novel, “Point of Impact.” He reunited with The Yards director James Gray and co-star Joaquin Phoenix for We Own the Night, which he also produced. Most recently, he collaborated with Pain & Gain director Michael Bay for Transformers: Age Of Extinction. His additional credits include 2 Guns, with Denzel Washington, Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor, The Lovely Bones, The Other Guys, Contraband and Ted.

An accomplished film and television producer, Mark produced The Gambler, Lone Survivor, Broken City, Contraband, The Fighter (for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture) and We Own the Night. For television, he executive produced HBO’s “Entourage” through its impressive eight-season run. In addition, he executive produced HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” “How to Make It in America” and “In Treatment,” as well as A&E’s “Wahlburgers.”

A committed philanthropist, he founded The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation in 2001 to benefit inner-city children and teens. Here, he talks about his latest film, The Gambler, a remake of the 1974 classic starring James Caan.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Mark, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity.

Mark Wahlberg: Oh, my pleasure, Kam. Thank you.

 

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you, so I’ll be mixing my questions in with theirs. “Realtor to the Stars” Jimmy Bayan says: He asks: Was there something about this script which appealed to your East Coast sensibilities that drew you to this project?

MW: Well, when you think about the person responsible for creating the character and the dialogue, Bill Monahan, who’s a Boston guy, obviously, his words roll off my tongue quite nicely. Previously, I’ve worked with him on The Departed, he recently wrote American Desperado for us, and I just acted in a movie he directed called Mojave. So, yes, Jimmy, that goes without saying.  

 

KW: James Cryan was wondering whether your Boston background was of help in making The Departed?

MW: Absolutely! Absolutely! That thing was so in my wheelhouse. I told Marty [director Martin Scorcese] “Watch out, because I’m going after everybody in this one.” Although that’s who the character was. It allowed me to have a real “take no prisoners” attitude.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams says: Thank you for being such a good example of how to build a career on your own terms and for making such inspirational films like Invincible and Lone Survivor. Now that you are moving towards producing bigger projects for yourself and other filmmakers, how do you define success and how do you decide what to produce?

MW: You’d be surprised. My taste continues to grow and expand. I define success as being in a position where I can do a picture like The Gambler after making Transformers and other movies that have enjoyed tremendous commercial success. That allowed me to go to a studio and say, “Wow, now take a chance on me with this smaller movie that is not the typical type of film that studios want to greenlight.” It’s a small character piece about a man who’s not the most likable guy in the world that I find fascinating. And hopefully, people will find it interesting enough that the movie will be a success and allow me to keep making more films like it. So, success for me is just having a job and having the studio feel confident that I can go out there and make a movie that people will enjoy.

 

KW: Andrew DeAngelo, who was born and raised in Dorchester, asks: How similar is the show Entourage to your actual rise as a movie star? Were any of your real-life experiences incorporated into the show?

MW: Some of the experiences, definitely, Andrew. The only problem was we couldn’t find four guys from Boston. We originally wanted the characters to all be from Boston, which would have given them a more urban and gritty feel. But the hardest part of the casting was finding a guy who was believable as a movie star who wasn’t already a movie star. So, we then made the compromise of having these guys come from New York. 

 

KW: When’s the screen version coming out?

MW:  June. I’m very excited about it. The movie’s done. And it’s off the charts!

 

KW: Kate Newell asks: When are you finally going to hosting Saturday Night Live?

MW: I’ve been asked to host a few times, but I’ve never done it.

 

KW: Kate also asks: Who do you think does the best impression of you?

MW: Andy Samberg is the only person I’ve ever seen do an impression of me, and I didn’t think it was that accurate. I’d like to see somebody else impersonate me, especially if they can do a good job.

 

KW: David Roth asks: Who would win in a fight between Jim Bennett and Axel Freed, the gambler played by James Caan in 1974?

MW: [Chuckles] Axel Freed, because Jim Bennett does not fight. He will push every button, and infuriate people to the point where they want to beat the crap out of him, but he won’t be bothered by that. He will not fight. 

 

KW: I really enjoyed the film. I loved the gritty dialogue-driven script, the earthy soundtrack, and what a supporting cast! You got great performances from Brie Larson, Jessica Lange, John Goodman, and Michael Kenneth Williams.

MW:  Again, I have to credit Bill Monahan for creating these characters and writing the dialogue that attracted that level of talent. Don’t forget the great George Kennedy who had another scene in the movie that, unfortunately, didn’t make the final cut. We found ourselves in that difficult situation where the movie we wanted to make was three hours, but we had to hand in a film that was about two hours-long. Where do you compromise? How do you make a movie that is going to both best service the story and the main character? It was just one of those things.

 

KW: I thought it was a very powerful way to start the film with that deathbed scene where your character’s grandfather [played by George Kennedy] asks you, “What are you going to do when I leave you with nothing?”  

MW:  It’s funny, because that scene was originally supposed to take place in the middle of the movie. But then, we thought that maybe it would be good to open the movie with that scene, because Jim’s dad wasn’t a part of his life, and his granddad was the only person that he was connected to.  

 

KW: Yeah, I think it worked really well. Sangeetha Subramanian asks: What's your favorite food to eat on set?

MW: If I’m not training then, gosh, anything: donuts… Kentucky Fried Chicken 20-piece hot wings… corned beef hash and eggs… But because I’m training right now, I’m eating very healthily: almond milk… Ezekiel bread… chicken… fish… I’m on a strict diet right now, so I’m not having any fun eating. Normally, our caterer makes these wonderful chocolate chip cookies for lunch. It was my one treat of the day, after getting beat up on the mountain while shooting Lone Survivor. I’d eat a couple cookies and then take a 15-minute nap on the top of the mountain.

 

KW: What movie are you in training for?

MW: Will Ferrell and I are teaming up again on a film called Daddy’s Home. In the movie I play a Special-Ops soldier who has just discovered that Will Ferrell’s character is married to my ex-wife and is my children’s stepfather. So, I have to come home and try to win them back and take him out.

 

KW: I thought you guys were great together in The Other Guys. Wasn’t that film where The Rock and somebody else died in the opening scene?

MW: Samuel L. Jackson.

 

KW: Yeah, that film was hilarious. Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: If—because for over two decades you have been trying to right the wrongs while being a model for youth—you are able to obtain a pardon from the Massachusetts Parole Board, how might your potential pardon be a possible inspiration to others who have committed wrongs in their youth?

MW: Hopefully, it will show them that it isn’t too late to turn their lives around. People are always speculating about what the reason was for my requesting a pardon. The important thing is that ever since I realized all the wrongs that I had done, I have been trying to correct them for the past 27 years. I just focus on my work with inner-city kids, and in my community, and on my philanthropic work. If I am awarded a pardon for my philanthropic work, great; if not, I will continue to be involved in the community and to work just as hard, if not harder, to prevent kids from going down the same road and making the same mistakes. But hopefully, we’re still living in the land of second chances. Even my going back to school was to inspire young people that it’s never too late to get your education. That’s all I can do, and try to be the best father and husband that I can be.

 

KW: I’m sure you’ll get the pardon. You’ve earned it. Good luck! The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

MW: Gosh! It’s of being alone with my dad. He drove a truck for a living. But he had a few free hours in the middle of the day, between the morning shift and the late afternoon shift. Because I was the youngest of nine, I could have him all to myself when they were at school. We’d watch movies at home, or go to the movies, and he introduced me to the guys who still inspire me today. The first movie I can remember ever seeing was Hard Times with Charles Bronson and James Coburn. My dad also introduced me to the likes of Jimmy Cagney… John Garfield… Robert Ryan… Steve McQueen… James Caan… Those are my fondest memories.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

MW: I see a guy getting old. I try to not look in the mirror too much.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

MW: Peace and harmony in the world.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

MW: Working with talented people and challenging myself as an actor.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

MW: Not much. Dad’s just gotta put on a suit and go out there and take some pictures. I do understand that going out and promoting the movie is a big responsibility, and part of the reason they give me the job in the first place. I also like to get out there to promote a positive message about the importance of family and faith and of doing the right thing.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

MW: That “never give up” attitude, not taking “no” for an answer, and working twice as hard as the next guy. Doing it the good, old-fashioned way. Real hard work pays off.

 

KW: What exercise regimen do you follow to stay in such great shape?

MW: It changes. I’m only doing whatever the next role calls for. To give you an idea, I’m at the halfway point of shooting this movie. I woke up at 3 AM today, and had egg whites and Ezekiel bread with almond butter 5 minutes later. At 3:15, I was reading my prayer book and saying my prayers. At 3:30, I was in the gym for an hour, doing jump rope, and all types of high-impact functional movement exercises: kettle bells, dumbbells, step up planks, battle rope, rip cord trainer, etcetera. I came back up here and had a shake. Then I went to the basketball court and played 2-on-2 for an hour. Came back here and had a roasted chicken, tuna salad and a big sweet potato. That was all before 6 AM. Then, I went to do the Today Show and Michael & Kelly. Then I came back here, had two turkey burgers and an avocado. Then I did 90 minutes of phone interviews before having a filet mignon with sautéed spinach. Then I went to a meeting at 1:30, came back here and had another roasted chicken with steamed carrots. And when we finish, I’m going to read my script and start learning my lines for the scenes we’ll be shooting tomorrow. At 6 PM, I’ll take a shower, and wait to get a call from my wife letting me know that she and the kids landed safely. At 7:15, I’ll go to sleep, and wake up at 3 AM again tomorrow.

 

KW: That’s amazing! I remember speaking with Anthony Mackie, for Pain & Gain, and he credited you with helping him sculpt his physique for that film.

MW: There’s nothing better than meeting somebody with a great soul, and a great spirit and a good heart. I took him to the gym the first day we met in Miami. Then we had a nice meal and a big shake. And he and I have remained close. He just called me the other day to ask me how I was doing, since we’re shooting in his hometown, New Orleans. So, I hope to see him and get together with him. He’s a good guy who’s going to have a great career. I told him that he’ll be able to do whatever he wants for as long as he wants, as long as he’s patient. And you have to always be ready. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

MW: As a great servant of God who tried to give back as much as possible, and as a great father and husband.

 

KW: Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

MW: Picture books of all my kids when they were young, a lucky pendant, a few receipts, a couple of credit cards, a spiritual relic and a couple other mementos, and a two-dollar bill I got from a dear friend.  

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Mark, and best of luck with The Gambler.

MW: Thank you, Kam. Bye.

To see a trailer for The Gambler, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiiaoUnkMvQ


Interviews
UserpicOpening the Genealogy Flood
Posted by Kam Williams
08.12.2014

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
The “Finding Your Roots: Season Two” Interview
with Kam Williams

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African-American Research at Harvard University. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Professor Gates has authored 17 books and created 14 documentary films, including Finding Your Roots, season two, now airing on PBS. 

His 6-part PBS documentary series, The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (2013), which he wrote, executive produced, and hosted, earned the Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Program—Long Form, as well as the Peabody and NAACP Image Awards. Having written for such leading publications as The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Time, Dr. Gates now serves as editor-in-chief of TheRoot.com, while overseeing the Oxford African-American Studies Center, the first comprehensive scholarly online resource in the field.

Professor Gates’s latest book is Finding Your Roots: The Official Companion to the PBS Series, released by the University of North Carolina Press in 2014. Here, he talks about Finding Your Roots: Season Two, now available on DVD.

 

Kam Williams: Hi, Dr. Gates, how are you?

Henry Louis Gates: Everything’s a little crazy around here, because I’m trying to get out of town. But otherwise, I’m doing very well, Kam. How are you?

 

KW: Great, thanks. So, where are you headed?

HLG: We’re going to South Africa for a couple weeks where I’ll be getting an honorary degree from the University of Cape Town.

 

KW: Congratulations!

HLG: Thank you!

 

KW: And congrats on another fascinating season of Finding Your Roots. How did you pick which luminaries to invite to participate in the project? Did you already have an idea that they might have an interesting genealogy?

HLG: No, we picked them cold. I have a wonderful team of producers. To tell you the truth, first, we just fantasize. Then, we sit down in my house with a big peg board with the names of all the people who said “Yes.” So, we never know whom we are going to get in advance.

 

KW: How do you settle on the theme of each episode? For instance, you did the one on athletes with Derek Jeter, Billie Jean King and Rebecca Lobo, and the one on chefs with Tom Colicchio, Aaron Sanchez and Ming Tsai. 

HLG: Usually, we first do the research and film everybody, and then organize the episodes internally. For instance, Episode One was called, “In Search of Our Fathers.” You might wonder, what does Stephen King have in common with Courtney B. Vance? Well, Stephen King’s father left when he was 2, and Courtney never knew his father. He was put up for adoption. And frankly, that’s my favorite kind of story, when it’s counter-intuitive. That’s why we’ve organized the episodes around those two principles.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: The subject of our roots is fascinating, as shown in your television program on PBS. I'm wondering what you found to be the singularly, most-interesting discovery in your research for Finding Your Roots 2?

HLG: That’s tough to say, because each story has something dramatic and interesting. Take when Ming Tsai’s grandfather fled China after the revolution, all he took besides the clothes on his back was one book, the book containing his family’s genealogy. Isn’t that amazing? He was willing to flee to a whole new world, learn a new language, and start over in a new culture only if he had his family tree with him. That’s heavy, man! It’s like he was saying, “I can do anything, as long as I have my ancestors with me.” I really admire that. And consequently, we were able to trace Ming’s ancestry back to his 116th great-grandfather.

 

KW: Whose roots were you able to trace back the farthest?

HLG: Ming Tsai’s, without a doubt. We’ve traced several people back to Charlemagne, but Ming’s goes back to B.C., because of the Chinese penchant for keeping fantastic genealogical records.

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: It seems that your guests have a variety of reactions as each story and new fact is revealed. Whose reaction to an uncovered story surprised you the most? 

HLG: Anderson Cooper, without a doubt. I told him that his 3rd great-grandfather, Burwelll Boykin, was a slave owner. First of all, Anderson was very saddened and disappointed that he descended from a slave owner. But his ancestors were from Alabama, so I told him that was very common. I don’t think you inherit the guilt of your ancestors. We merely reveal whatever we find, without making any sort of judgment. What your ancestors did is what they did. That’s not on you. Anyway, Burwell Boykin had a dozen slaves, according to the 1860 Census. And one of them kept running away. To punish him, he locked him in a hot and humid cotton house. Can you imagine? When Burwell let Sandy “Sham” Boykin out the next morning, the slave grabbed a hoe out of his master’s hands before beating him to death. We found the story in a diary kept by one of Anderson’s ancestors, and then we verified it in the court records which showed that, sure enough, a slave named Sandy Boykin had been hanged in 1860.

 

KW: Marcia Evans says please let Dr. Gates know that this show is awesome and well appreciated. I don't want this series to ever end. There are soooooooo many stories that I want to learn about. This discovery is not just about DNA and history. It's about family, family secrets, and the mindset of folks and their choices. For all of these reasons, I am a dedicated fan. I appreciate Professor Gates and his passion for teaching undocumented history, especially African and African-American studies. I'm a history buff which is why I've been following his work for years. Ask Professor Gates if he is aware of the research work of Professor/Researcher Roberta Estes and her research into accurate testing for Native American genetics?

HLG: No, I’m not, Marcia. But thank you very much for the kind words and the information. I would love to learn about what she’s doing. We’re always fascinated with Native American ancestry, and we’ve found two surprising things about our guests. First, that very few have any significant amount of Native American ancestry, black or white, although Valerie Jarrett did have 5%, and we found her 6th great-grandmother, by name, and the Native American tribe that she was part of. But rarely do we find an African-American with even 1% Native American ancestry.

 

KW: Has anybody ever tried to disagree with their DNA analysis? 

HLG: No, but some people were shocked, particularly African-Americans who believed they had Native American ancestry. They’re always disappointed. [Chuckles]

 

KW: When I was growing up, it seemed like every other kid at school used to say he was part Cherokee.

HLG: The poor Cherokees. Everybody, white Americans and black Americans claimed to be part Cherokee.[LOL]

 

KW: Did any of your subjects ask you not to reveal something you found out about their family?

HLG: No, although I’m sure a few people would like to do so, if they could. But we’re PBS. We’re independent.

 

KW: Editor Bobbie Dore Foster asks: Dr Gates, do you ever answer queries from everyday people who need help with genealogical puzzles and other obstacles to fleshing out their family trees?

HLG: Yes I do, Bobbie, in two forms. At TheRoot.com, we answer a question a week for African-Americans who have a genealogical quandary. That’s co-written with the New England Genealogical Society. And at Ancestry.com, the genealogist there and I write a weekly column that’s on the Huffington Post.

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: We all just love your show. My family tree efforts have literally thrilled my entire family and made them look at themselves and each other differently – as if to appreciate all that our ancestors survived down through the ages. Did you and your family have the same experience when you started looking at your genealogy?

HLG: Oh my God, yes! In fact, CeCe Moore, our genetic genealogist, noticed that I had a whole lot of matches with people named Mayle. We pursued it and, as it turns out, those people and I, on one side of my family, are descended from a white man named Wilmore Mayle who was born in England. He freed his slave Nancy in 1826, and they had children together. We convened all of his mixed-raced descendants for a family reunion in September, and we filmed that for the last episode of the series. And that was done purely through DNA. We don’t even know how Mayle fits in my family tree, but he’s definitely one of my ancestors. 

 

KW: Chandra McQueen asks: What would you say carved out this path for you?

HLG: The fact that when I was 9 years-old, on the day that we buried my grandfather, Edward St. Lawrence Gates, my father showed my brother and me a picture of Jane Gates, the oldest Gates we’ve ever traced, then or now. It blew my mind! She was born in 1819 and she died in 1888. I’m looking at her picture right now. She was a slave and a midwife. I was just so amazed. Between looking at my grandfather in the casket, which was very traumatic, and seeing my father cry for the first time, which was also very traumatic, and trying to figure out how in the world someone who looked like me could have descended from someone who could have passed for white, and then finding out that my great-great grandmother was a slave, intrigued me. So, the next day I interviewed my parents about my family tree. And I’ve been hooked ever since. [Laughs] And that’s a true story.

 

KW: Chan is also curious about what surprised you the most about your own genealogy?

HLG: The fact that I was 50.1% white and 48.6% black.

 

KW: Chan’s last question is: Do you go about gathering genealogical information about African-Americans very differently from the way you do for other ethnicities? How do you get past the obstacle of slavery?

HLG: Yes, we do, because African-Americans generally weren’t identified by name in the census prior to the abolition of slavery. So, we start with the 1870 census, which is the first in which blacks appear with two names. Then you go back to 1860, and see whether there were any slave owners with the same surname, since, more often than not, most emancipated slaves kept the surname of their former owners. Ironically, the key to finding one’s black ancestry during slavery often involves finding the identity of the white man or woman who owned your ancestors. That’s quite a fascinating paradox.

 

KW: Beatryce Nivens says: I have been tracing my genealogy for several years, and other members of my family have been doing it for a couple decades. My great-grandmother was a slave on the Thomas H. Watts farm in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Her slave owner was her father. In 1977, the white side of my great-grandmother's family gave a second-cousin of mine slave papers listing the slaves on their ancestors’ plantation, as well as their dates of birth and deaths. Unfortunately, that cousin is now deceased and his children can't find the papers. What is the best way to recreate that list? We have used the 1870 Census. Are there any other resources you would recommend for South Carolina? Chesterfield is a County whose courthouse and documents were burned to the ground by Sherman during his historic march across the South towards the end of the Civil War.

HLG: Beatrice, go to Ancestry.com, and type in the name of your ancestor, and it will automatically connect you to any record regarding that particular family member that’s been digitized.

 

KW: Why do you think tracing one’s ancestry is so emotional and transformational, even for celebrities?  

HLG: It’s funny, I filmed Donna Brazile yesterday, and Jimmy Kimmel a week ago, and both of them cried during the reveal. It is very, very emotional. I think people are deeply moved because, ultimately, it’s about ourselves. It’s about you. You are literally the sum total of your ancestors. You are a living testament to your family tree. On Thanksgiving, in the lobby of William Junius Wilson’s apartment building, I met a man who thought that people are so fascinated by the series because of the sense of rootlessness that comes with post-modernity. And one way people gain a sense of solidity is by laying a foundation. And that foundation for anyone is your family tree. Who am I? Where do I come from? You know what? I used to think only black people had what I call “genealogical amnesia.” But I found out that nobody knows more than past their great-grandparents.  

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, brother, and have fun in South Africa.

HLG: Any time, Kam. You know I love talking to you.

To see a trailer for Finding Your Roots: Season Two, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPyoYWnMDxc


Interviews
UserpicCheck Out Slaughter, Come Hell or High Water
Posted by Kam Williams
04.12.2014

Karin Slaughter
The “Cop Town” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Karin Slaughter is the New York Times and #1 internationally best-selling author of 14 thrillers, including “Unseen,” “Criminal,” “Fallen,” “Broken,” “Undone,” “Fractured,” “Beyond Reach,” “Triptych,” “Faithless,” and the e-original short stories “Snatched” and “Busted.” Here, the Georgia native discusses her latest opus, “Cop Town,” a riveting murder mystery set in Atlanta in 1974. 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Karin, thanks for the interview. As a long-term reader of classic murder mysteries, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Agatha Christie to Dorothy Sayers to Dick Francis to Donald Westlake to Edgar Box (aka Gore Vidal), I must say that I really loved Cop Town and would rate it right up there with the very best of the genre.

Karin Slaughter: That is high praise indeed.  Thanks so much!

 

KW: What inspired you to write the book?

KS: I wrote a novel called Criminal a few years ago that was partly set in the 1970s, and I had the great pleasure of talking to all these incredible female police officers who came up during that time.  There were so many more stories that I wanted to tell about them.  What they went through was just amazing, and I think it’s important for people to remember exactly how bad it used to be.

 

KW: How would you describe your creative process? Do you do map out the plotline or focus on character development first?  

KS: It really depends on the story, but all of my books are about characters.  The plot is very important because writers have to play fair with their readers, but no one would care about the plot if the character work wasn’t there.  So, basically every book I work on starts with me thinking not just about the bad thing that’s going to happen (spoiler alert!) but how that bad thing is going to ripple through the community, the family of the victim, and the lives of the investigators.  I am keenly aware when I’m working that the crimes I am writing about have happened to real people. I take that very seriously.

 

KW: How much research did this project entail? I know that the story is set in your hometown of Atlanta, but the events take place at a time when you were just a toddler. And when I Googled some of the names, I discovered that you interweaved some real-life characters and events with the fictional ones. 

KS: I love weaving in fact with fiction, and I know that many of my readers were alive and paying attention in the 70s, so it’s my job to reward them for paying attention with little touchstones from that decade.  I have Sears catalogues for clothing, Southern Living for architecture and entertaining, and of course all the tremendously helpful people who talked to me about what it was really like to live in Atlanta at that time.  That being said, I write fiction, so there were some instances where I had to bend the story a little bit to suit my needs.

 

KW: Is there someone you bounce your early drafts of chapters off of in order to know whether it’ll work with your readers? 

KS: I only work with my editors because pointing out a problem, a slow passage or a character who needs more to do, etcetera, is very easy, but knowing how to have a discussion about fixing it is alchemy.  Many times, it’s something earlier in the book, or later, that needs to be tweaked and then it all makes sense.  A good editor is one of the sharpest tools a writer can have in her toolbox.

 

KW: Do you write with a demographic in mind? 

KS: I write with me in mind, because as much as I love my readers, these are my stories.  I am a voracious reader myself.  I don’t stick to one genre.  My only criteria is that it’s a good story.  I try to bring that to my work because I think people can read your excitement about a story.

 

KW: How long does it take you to write a book, and how do you know when it’s finished?

KS: It depends on the book.  For a story like Cop Town, it takes years to do the research and come up with the plot and really immerse myself in that time period.  Since Kate and Maggie were new characters, I had to do a lot of sitting around and thinking about them.  What’s important to them?  How has money informed their lives?  I also have to bend my thinking, because I write books about strong women who are in control of their lives, and Maggie and Kate aren’t really in control, but they are getting there.  I didn’t want to have this revisionist moment where they stand up and say, “We’re not going to take it anymore!”  That sort of thinking wasn’t in the average woman’s vocabulary.  Change is always incremental, so they might say, “We’re not going to type your reports for you until the weekend!” As for when it’s finished, I think about this quote I heard a long time ago no idea where it’s from: An artist is a painter who knows when to stop painting.

 

KW: Was the protagonist of Cop Town, Kate, based on anyone you know?

KS: I think Kate is an amalgamation of some women I’ve known in my life.  That’s really where all characters come from, though. The thing I wanted to show with Kate was how different the world is if you’re raised with money.  That sort of cushion frames your thinking.  Interpose that with Maggie, who has been raised to think that at any moment she might be living with her family on the street, and you begin to understand why they look at crime—and criminals—differently.

 

KW: I know you’ve already sold the film rights. Who’d you like to play Kate in the movie?

KS: Rosamund Pike is amazing.  I also love an actress named Dominique McElligott.  As for Maggie, how fantastic is Grace Gummer?

 

KW: Where did you learn how to ratchet up the tension so skillfully?

KS: Can I say Gilligan’s Island and not lose all my readers?  I was a latchkey kid, and instead of doing my homework, I watched reruns on TBS until a car pulled into the driveway.  I think that cliffhanger/dramatic arc got programmed into me, along with a predilection toward infomercials.

 

KW: Is there a message you want people to take away from the book?

KS: First and foremost, I want them to have a good read, because I want everything I write to entertain people.  There are always different layers to the story, though, so if you want to think about social justice, or sexism or racism or homophobia, or really drill down into why the world is a better place when the police force looks like the people they are policing, then that’s there, too.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

KS: Why are you so young and thin?

 

KW: Have you ever become embroiled in a real-life murder mystery?

KS: No, thank God.  I am a bit of a Dudley Do-Gooder, though, because if I see a car accident or something bad happen, I am one of those idiots who runs toward the problem instead of away from it.  Not that I would recommend this behavior.  I once stopped my car on the street because I saw a man hitting a woman and I jumped out and started yelling at him.  I was fine, but it later occurred to me that that is a good way to get your butt kicked.

 

KW: Have you ever accidentally uncovered a deep secret?

KS: No!  And I spied on my sisters All… the… time...  I think it’s just because they’re really, really boring.  I could’ve so been the Erin Brockovich of my family.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

KS: My friend Alafair Burke wrote a book with Mary Higgins Clark, and I was really blown away by how fantastic it was.  Michael Connelly’s new one is fantastic.  I loved the latest Jack Reacher.  Lisa Gardner, Kate White, Mo Hayder, Jane Smiley, Phillip Roth…we are all spoiled for choice.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

KS: Flaws, just like every other woman my age.  You know, it really sucks getting older.  Sometimes I’ll be walking along and I’ll just glance over my shoulder to make sure nothing has fallen off.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

KS: I know I should say world peace, but right now I’d just really like for my neighbor’s dogs to stop barking.  Oh, and good health, for me and my family, not the dogs.

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time? 

KS: I’d want to be with my cats and my family at home.  Wow, Jamie Foxx, that’s really depressing.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

KS: I went to a Christian School, and when I reached a certain age, I wasn’t allowed to wear pants to school anymore.  There was a big conference about it with my parents about how unladylike it was for me to wear pants (this was a school where the principal and once of the coaches stood at the front door with a wooden ruler to make sure girls’ skirts were an inch below their knee).  So, from that day forward, I had to wear skirts, which meant that I couldn’t play on the playground like I used to.  I really feel like I could’ve been the next Serena Williams if not for that.  Or the pre-Serena Williams.  I mean, let’s be honest, she would totally be thanking me every time she won a match if not for that.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

KS: It was a seminal moment in my life, because I was with a real jerk, and once I did the prerequisite eating an entire cake and singing “All By Myself” in the shower, I realized that people treat you badly when you let them, and that I had to respect myself and not let anyone else treat me that way again.  If someone really loves you, they are your biggest champion, not your biggest detractor.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

KS: I saw this thing on TV that makes breakfast sandwiches and I ordered it immediately and now I can pretty much make you any breakfast sandwich you want.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

KS: People who are interested in life.  I don’t understand people who say they’re bored.  Look out your window.

 

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

KS: I’m afraid of the general things that everyone is afraid of: a bump in the night that could be a cat or Death dragging his sickle across the room; losing my health; becoming homeless, never meeting George Clooney.

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

KS: You know, it’s crazy, but I laugh all of the time. It is painfully easy to amuse me.  An author friend of mine and I trade jokes pretty regularly.  And they’re these really witty, intelligent jokes that you’d expect from the literary descendants of Dorothy Parker and the Round Table, like: Q: what’s invisible and smells like carrots?  A: A rabbit fart.  You’re welcome, Edna Ferber.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

KS: The thing is that I never feel guilty about my pleasures.  I love watching television.  I love reading all kinds of books.  I love cupcakes.  Okay, maybe I feel a little guilty about the cupcakes.  They’re kind of a problem.

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

KS: Choosing to be ethical and fair with people.  My agents are the same way.  We just don’t screw people over because it’s not right.  This is very important to me, because I am a big believer in the Golden Rule.  Though, a lot of times when people are crappy, they get away with it, so I just have to remind myself that life makes you pay for your personality.  They might win on point, but they tend to be miserable human beings.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

KS: Flying.  Unless there’s a gluttony superpower I don’t know about, because in case it’s not clear, I really love cake.

 

KW: If you could have a chance to speak with a deceased loved one for a minute who would it be and what would you say?

KS: I would tell my grandmother that she has hemochromatosis and that she should go to the doctor because it’s treatable.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

KS: Determination.  I think a little bit of arrogance, too, but determination is a big part of it.  Every successful author I know faced crushing rejection early on, and they got back up and kept going.  I love watching those family tree shows because all of these famous people generally come from a long line of over-achievers.  I don’t think this necessarily answers the question about nature vs. nurture, though, because people who have opportunities pass those opportunities along to their children.  This is actually a theme I tried to explore in Cop Town with Kate.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

KS: I would love to be a watchmaker.  I love putting together puzzles, and the thought of delving into all those tiny gears really puts me in a happy place.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

KS: Don’t try to follow in my footsteps.  Make your own footsteps!  No one else can tell the stories that are inside of you except for you.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

KS: I want to be remembered as kind.

 

KW: What’s in your wallet?

KS: Two credit cards, my license and my Delta Airlines Diamond membership card, because l earned that with my blood.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Karin, and best of luck with Cop Town.

KS: Thank you for your thoughtful questions!


Interviews
UserpicTavis on Repositioning Dr. King as a Revolutionary
Posted by Kam Williams
02.12.2014

Tavis Smiley
The “Death of a King” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Tavis Smiley is the host and managing editor of Tavis Smiley on PBS, and The Tavis Smiley Show from Public Radio International. He is also the author of 16 best-selling books. Here, he talks about his latest opus, “Death of a King.”

 

Kam Williams: Hi Tavis, thanks for the time, brother.

Tavis Smiley: Always nice to speak with you, Kam.

 

KW: I have lots of questions for you from readers. Attorney Bernadette Beekman says: I know that your book deals with the last year of King's life when the tide was turning against him, such as the Black Panthers, Ralph Bunche, and others in the movement.  Now Dr. King is viewed as a martyr.  Was it difficult for those still living to now speak negatively about King?

TS: Good question, Bernadette. Now that he is a dead martyr, rarely do people speak negatively of him. My point is that it’s easy to celebrate and applaud dead martyrs. The problem is that when King was here and in our faces, and talking about inconvenient truths, like what he called the triple threat facing our democracy--racism, poverty and militarism—everybody turned on him. Yet, 50 years after his assassination, what do we see when we look at Ferguson, Missouri? Racism, poverty and militarism! We have deified King in death, so it’s easy for people to say nice things about him now. But in life, we demonized him.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: An historical biography of the last year of Dr. King’s life, no matter how beautiful a tribute, is it really what we need to read now to get it right?

TS: Absolutely! The answer’s “Yes,” because we come to know who we really are in life during the dark and difficult and desolate days of our journey. If you think you respect and revere Dr. King, wait ‘til you read this book. You’re going to feel that way even more so afterwards, because you’ll get to see how he navigated the most difficult period of his life, the last year of his life when everybody turned against him. That’s what fascinates me about him. After reading this book, you’ll have a different appreciation of Dr. King. It’s important to see him in his full complexity, and be honest about the fact that we help to kill King because we abandoned him. And once we abandoned him, we isolated him, which made it easy for someone to assassinate him. It was a three-step process.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Do you have any interest in entering politics?

TS: Let me put it like this, “N, O, NO!” And put that in caps.

 

KW: Patricia also says: I think this is one of your best books. I just finished reading it. I found your discussion of Coretta Scott King’s influence on her husband very interesting, as well as her contributions as an activist, and her criticism of the Civil Rights Movement’s lack of focus, and the roles played by women in combat. About your research process: Did you make trips to Atlanta, Montgomery, the Lorraine Motel and other places in Memphis?

TS: Yes, all of the above. The short answer is I traveled extensively, I interviewed extensively, and I researched extensively. Still, I couldn’t have done this book had it none been for the work of Dr. King’s three principal biographers: Taylor Branch, David Garrow and Clayborne Carson. Those guys did the heavy lifting which made it easier for me to do a book just focusing on his final year. As for Coretta, she’s really an unsung heroine. I’m glad that Patricia took away the critical role that Coretta played not only in Dr. King’s life, but in the Movement. I’m glad that we were able to weave that into the narrative effectively.

 

KW: Patricia says: You quote Dr. King asserting that “Our nation is sick with racism, sick with militarism, sick with a system that perpetuates poverty.” If Dr. King were still alive, what do you think his assessment of present-day America would be?

TS: Excellent question! He’d pick up right where he left off, talking about that triple threat of racism, poverty and militarism. Even in the era of the first black president, racism is still the most intractable issue in this country. Regarding poverty, half of all Americans are either in or near poverty. Poverty is certainly worse for African-Americans now than it was during King’s lifetime. And there’s a highway into poverty, but barely a sidewalk out. This is not a skill problem, it’s a will problem, and King would be challenging us about the lack of our will to eradicate poverty. On militarism, the growth of the Military-Industrial Complex has been exponential since his assassination. If he were here now, he’d have a strong critique of the American empire’s militaristic approach to the world. And frankly, he’d have a strong critique of the Obama administration on its use of drones.

 

KW: Patricia says: You wrote that this book meant more to you than any of your others. I consider it an homage to a legend. What do you think is the most important part of Dr. King’s legacy?

TS: I think Dr. King is the greatest democratic, public intellectual that America has ever produced. What’s interesting is that in the U.S., we regard him as an icon, while elsewhere around the world he’s regarded as a revolutionary. They saw him as the radical revolutionary that he really was. Loving your enemy is a radical concept. Here at home, we’ve sanitized and sterilized him, and failed to appreciate him as the revolutionary and prophet that he really was.

 

KW: Chandra McQueen says: This year marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Do you think Obama is as deserving of his?

TS: I want to be as charitable as I can be, here. It’s been very difficult, sometimes heartbreaking to watch this war President with a Nobel Peace Prize, navigate his presidency.

 

KW: Have you considered having some of Smiley Books translated into other languages?

TS: We’ve translated some, but we could do more.

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian asks: What was the most surprising fact you uncovered when researching this book?

TS: That for all the surveillance and wiretapping Dr. King was kept under, not one time was he ever heard contesting the humanity of another human being.

 

KW: Vassar professor Mia Mask asks: What's up with your campaign against Obama? Isn't it somewhat self-serving? What, if anything, have you and Cornel West accomplished with your public criticism of the President?

TS: I am not engineering a campaign against Obama. My work and witness is about holding our leaders accountable.

 

KW: What do you think is the state of black politics in terms of loyalty to the Democratic Party?

TS: It’s the same old story. Democrats, too often, take blacks for granted, and Republicans, too often, simply ignore black voters.

 

KW: David Roth says: I would love to have a chance to chat with you. I am intrigued by the evolution of the post-civil disobedience African-American identity. Please comment on what Dr. Cornel West refers to as the dousing of the "Black prophetic fire" and the subsequent co-opting of the “we-consciousness” of 19th and 20th Century black leaders by the “me-consciousness” of the capitalistic society all Americans operate within. Now that the majority of Black Americans has been assimilated, there is no longer a singular, collective Black voice articulating the call for true equality of opportunity and equal justice under the law, which has led to the marginalizing of the people who raise their voices today.  

TS: Dr. West is absolutely correct about the black prophetic tradition of speaking truth to power being on life support.

 

KW: Kyle Moore asks: What has to be done to change to the political stalemate we see in Washington?

TS: We need to elect leaders who understand that leadership is about loving and serving people, not about self-advancement.

 

KW: L.A. “Realtor to the Stars” Jimmy Bayan says: You've been in Los Angeles for 30 years. What is it that you still find so alluring about our City of Angels?

TS: Great question, Jimmy. The City of Angels is a microcosm of the world, and so living in L.A. makes me feel like a citizen of the world.

 

KW: Cousin Leon Marquis asks: What was the toughest question you ever had to ask someone?

TS: That’s a question that every one of my guests would have a different answer for, because they all think I ask tough questions. We’ll leave it at that.

 

KW: AALBC Publisher Troy Johnson asks: What happened with the R. Kelly book project?

TS: We published the book, but for any number of reasons, it didn’t sell enough to make the best-seller list. He was afforded an opportunity to tell his story, and the marketplace decided.

 

KW: Troy also says: I really enjoyed, and now miss, the Smiley and West radio program. Why was it cancelled? Any plans for a similar program in the future?

TS: It wasn’t canceled. Dr. West and I decided to step away from it, primarily because we both just have so many things going on. We’re both very busy people.

 

KW: Troy would like to know: What are the future plans of Smiley Books?  

TS: We’re going to continue to publish books we think need to be read.

 

KW: Film critic Armond White simply asks: Why?

TS: Great question, Armond. I ask that myself everyday.

 

KW: Thanks for another great interview, Tavis.

TS: Thank you, Kam. I look forward to reading it.

 


Interviews
UserpicBrooke Shields (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
24.11.2014

Brooke Shields
The “There Was a Little Girl” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

A Look at Brooke!

Brooke Shields is an award-winning actress and a Princeton graduate with honors in French Literature. She started in iconic films such as “Pretty Baby,” “The Blue Lagoon” and “Endless Love.”

Brooke is also a renowned model, and starred in the long-running TV show “Suddenly Susan” as well as the critically-acclaimed “Lipstick Jungle.” She has appeared on Broadway on numerous occasions, too, and wrote and performed in her own one-woman show, “In My Life.”

A gifted writer, Brooke penned the New York Times best-seller “Down Came the Rain” and a couple of well-received children’s books. She lives in New York City with her husband, Chris Henchy, and their daughters, Rowan and Grier.

Here, she talks about her life, her career, and about her new memoir, “There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me.”  

 

Kam Williams: Hi Brooke, I’m honored to have this opportunity to interview you.

Brooke Shields: Omigosh! Thank you, Kam, for wanting to. I’m losing my voice a little bit, but I’ll try to speak up. I hope it’ll sound clear.

 

KW: I live in Princeton, and once met you briefly, when you were a student here, in that tiny pastry shop on Palmer Square. We were both being waited on and I remember being quite stunned when I realized it was you in line ahead of me. But you were quite natural when I said “Hi” and struck up a little chit-chat about the offerings in the case. Was that a favorite place of yours to frequent?

BS: Yeah, they had those really big, like three-pound bran muffins. [Chuckles]

 

KW: Yep! My readers sent in a lot of questions for you. Let me start with Editor Lisa Loving. She says: Brooke, what an interesting person you are! We are around the same age and I have always followed you. What was the turning point in your life? To me, it seems that you have had more than one.

BS: That’s a very astute way of looking at it, Lisa. Most people assume there’s only supposed to be one turning point which dictates the rest of our lives. But I think we have to be open to additional turning points when they arrive. Things happen in our lives. Classmates graduate… careers change… babies are born… friends are lost… loved ones die… There are so many milestones that I believe are important to acknowledge as being significant to you. That’s a very refreshing perspective that Lisa shares, because there really isn’t just one critical turning point in a life, but rather a number that you’ll need to be willing kind of bend with.  

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: You are awesome Brooke! What was your favorite spot to hangout in Princeton?

BS: Ooh! Wow! In town, it was all about food. I became a bit addicted to Thomas Sweets [ice cream] which is one of the reasons why I gained about 20 pounds while I was in college. [Chuckles] Winberie’s [restaurant] was always an unbelievable, safe place where we could go as a group and have meals and have fun playing games. I don’t even know if it’s there anymore.

 

KW: It is.

BS: I’m glad. Well, those were my favorite spots in town. At school, I felt very free anywhere on campus. On warm, sunny days, I especially loved sitting outside the library, hanging out by the fountain or camping out in the fields behind the independent study. They were all amazing!  

 

KW: Princeton has eating clubs instead of fraternities. Had they begun admitting women when you arrived?

BS: Yes, although when I went there in ’83, Ivy Club was all-male when I arrived and it was still all-male when I graduated. I joined Cap & Gown.

 

KW: Dave Roth asks: Who is your intended audience for this book? Is there a particular demographic you believe will gain from it?  

BS: I think there’s a difference between who will be interested in reading it and those who might be able to gain perspective. I’ve been around for so long that those people who have actually grown up with me might read it just for the trivia. However, I’m hoping that younger audiences will sort of tap into the part that simply deals with getting to know your parents and asking them to try to understand who you are. That’s a dialogue that needs to happen.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: What becomes a legend most? That’s the old Blackgama slogan. Do you remember those ads?

BS: I do! I do, Harriet!

 

KW: Harriet goes on to say that “What becomes a legend most?” is an interesting question to pose to you, given how you’ve been a legend since childhood.

BS: Well, there’s a certain sense of longevity that’s associated with legends, as well as a sense of endurance. I think what becomes a legend most is not only that which lasts the test of time but an ability to keep adapting. I’ve been around for decades, and I’ve tried to stay afloat by seizing upon opportunity when presented to me. And the opportunities presented to me now look very different from the ones in the Eighties. But instead of waiting for everything to happen in the way you think it should, it’s a matter of being able to see what the real lay of the land is, and figuring out how you can play a part in it.

 

KW: That makes me think of Isabella Rossellini, whom I interviewed a couple of weeks ago. She’s also an actress who has made herself over numerous times.

BS: But besides being talented, she’s also smart, artistic and beautiful. There’s a beauty in her that was considered amazing, not the norm. Yet, she managed to maintain a sense of self through all of her films, and she’s endured the test of time. I think that’s what “legend” is, in addition to being willing to fail, get up, and try again.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams asks: Can I ask a Blue Lagoon question? Then he says: I fell in love with you after watching that film when I was 12. But he forgot to ask his question.

BS: well, the fact that he was allowed to watch it when he was 12 was pretty forward-thinking of his mom.

 

KW: Sarah Jane Cion says: I love Brooke Shields! I just ordered the book. My pen name is Sally Shields, and the Shields part was picked for Brooke. When I was 16, you were on the cover of Seventeen Magazine, and I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had ever set eyes upon. I wish I had a question, but all I can think of is how much I admire and appreciate you. Wait, do you need a jazz pianist to play at any functions?

BS: Wow! I’m honored that I inspired you to pick Shields as part of your pen name. And what’s funny is that my first fake name was Diana Williams, which I made from Princess Diana and baby William. And what does she play, jazz?

 

KW: Yes.

BS: I’m so much more in awe of people who can play an instrument than of almost any other talent. I wish I could play an instrument.

 

KW: Peter Brav says: I look forward to reading the memoir. I once sat next to you and your mom at a dinner for the Israeli Film Festival in 1983 and found you both to be very charming. My question is: if you hadn't entered the entertainment industry, what do you think you’d be doing today?

BS: I’ve been in the entertainment industry for so long, before I even knew that I wanted to be in it. So, it would be hard to know what else I might be doing. I probably would have still made my way into it somehow because, to me, making people laugh, and entertaining, and watching people experience storytelling is one of the most rewarding things I can imagine. So, I think I would’ve found a way to entertain people in some capacity.

KW: Both Alice Yi and environmental activist Grace Sinden, a Princeton resident and former Princeton University researcher, ask: How important to you and your career has been the education you received at Princeton University? 

BS: It’s been the thing that’s helped me stay standing.

 

KW: Producer/director Larry Greenberg says: Brooke, thanks for being so nice to me when I met you briefly when you were a student at Princeton. When I see the tremendous wealth of work you have done in the industry, I can't help but wonder when you will try your hand as a director.

BS: Gosh, Larry, that’s just a beautiful sentiment. I directed Chicago at the Hollywood Bowl the summer before last, and I got a bit of the bug for it. So, I’m sure that within the next few years, there will be some sort of foray into it.

 

KW: Wesley Derbyshire asks: Did classmates ask you out on dates while you were at Princeton?

BS: After awhile. Not much my freshman year. But by my sophomore year, I had asked enough people out that they started to ask me back.

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: If you could talk to your mother today, what would you say to her?

BS: I hope you knew how much I loved you.

KW: Marcia Evans says: I have every intention of reading your book from cover to cover. From the interviews that I've seen this week of you discussing the book had me feeling proud of your courage and honesty, discussing your private emotional and psychological child-rearing matters about growing up with your mother. I believe that your book will help many heal from the pain of being raised in an unhealthy or challenging environment.

BS: I think we can all look at our situations and find reasons to make them healthier and healthier. Nobody really has it all figured out. I believe there’s healthy and unhealthy in each of us. It’s when you operate with a sense of love in your heart that you maintain the integrity that enables you to keep going forward.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier was wondering whether you might be interested in acting in a French language film, given that you majored in French Literature.

BS: I would absolutely say “yes” in a second, if given the opportunity. I would take on that challenge enthusiastically and work really hard.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Brooke, and best of luck with the book.

BS: Thank you so, so much, Kam.

 


Interviews
UserpicPenn Pal
Posted by Kam Williams
18.11.2014

Kal Penn
The “Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Kalpen Suresh Modi was born in Montclair, New Jersey on April 23, 1977. He attended the Freehold Regional High School District's Performing Arts High School, as well as the Governor's School for the Arts, and received a degree from the prestigious School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA.

Kal is probably best known for playing the role of Kumar in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and a Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. His other notable feature film credits include Mira Nair's film The Namesake, based on the best-selling novel by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri; Van Wilder and its sequel, The Rise of Taj; A Lot like Love; and Superman Returns.

On TV, he’s widely recognized for his role as Dr. Lawrence Kutner on the critically-acclaimed series "House." And he also appeared regularly on "24," and guest-starred on the hit series "Law & Order: SVU" and "How I Met Your Mother.”

In 2009, Kal took an extended sabbatical from acting to serve as the Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. During his tenure with the Obama Administration, he’s handled a variety of roles, including that of the President’s Liaison to the Arts Communities, Young Americans, and Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders.

Here, he talks about being back in front of the camera to -make his latest movie, Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain.

Kam Williams: Hi Kal, thanks for the interview.

Kal Penn: Thanks for having me!

 

KW: What interested you in Bhopal?

KP: The script was the first thing that drew me to the project. I was generally familiar with the real-life incidents upon which the film is based, but reading the first draft of the script, and realizing that the complexities resonated with me was the first draw I’d say. Sitting down with the director, and hearing his passion for the project was the second. And of course, it didn’t hurt that Martin Sheen was already attached. He’s incredible!

 

KW: You were just a child when the accident occurred. Do you remember hearing about it at the time?

KP: I do, vaguely. I also recall studying it in a few classes in college, but I wasn’t familiar as intimately as when we started researching for this project.

 

KW: Writer/director Ravi Kumar says the film is a work of fiction, ostensibly inspired by Sanjoy Hazarika’s book “Bhopal: Lessons of a Gas Tragedy.” I know your character, Motwani, was based on a real-life reporter, but what about Mischa Barton’s, Eva?

KP: You know, aside from Motwani, who’s based on real-life journalist Rajkumar Keswani, I’m not certain which other characters were specifically fictionalized and in which ways. Good question. I’ll ask our director this weekend!

 

KW: What message do you want people to take away from the film?

KP: I think with any film, first and foremost, you want the audience to be drawn to the complexity and depth of the characters and to remain engaged the whole time. Earlier screenings have had people leave crying, engaged in intense conversations, and asking each other some really fascinating questions. So I feel like I hope that continues, that a film like this of course is entertainment, but that it goes beyond that and sparks the kinds of conversations about relevant, tough issues. I love when art has the power to do that, and I think our writers and director have crafted a film that walks that line.

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: Kal, the last time Kam interviewed you, you said that Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, a film in which you essentially joked about the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and where you smoked pot with President George W. Bush, involved no political statement. Is the same true of this film?

KP: Ha, ha! Good question. I think an entirely fictionalized buddy comedy is very different than a fictionalized tragedy adapted from real-world events, so I would say this is pretty different. I don’t know that there is any political statement being made by the film, that would probably be a question our writers and director would be best suited to answer, but from my perspective, I think this film touches on the multitude of factors that went into such a devastating disaster. We don’t look at “Bhopal” through a singular lens; we approach it from different characters and perspectives. So, I hesitate answering this as a “yes” or “no.” I think the story explores everything from corporate greed to government corruption to environmental and medical regulations to jobs, economy, human rights, and family. Inherently, it explores factors that are political, social, and humanitarian, but I don’t know that it’s making any particular political statement per se.

KW: Hirangi Patel says: Huge fan here! How did you prepare for a historical film which reflects such an integral part of India's history?

KP: Thanks, Hirangi. Most of the historical and contextual prep for the overall film was of course done by our writers and their research years before actors are attached. From the actor’s perspective, working on everything from dialects and language to looking at archives and information from the Eighties played a role in developing my character.

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: Kal! You were in two of the three films I organized at the Rutgers South Asian Film Festival in 2006 including Cosmopolitan and American Made. What is your advice for South Asian American actors/actresses trying to break in the industry?

KP: Thanks Sangeetha. I think my advice for any actor would be to be as trained as possible, and to not take “no” for an answer. There are so many more opportunities for performers of color now than there were 10 years ago, and there will be more 10 years from now. So many incredibly talented writers, directors, and filmmakers are emerging on their own shows, plays, and productions.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Was your film translated into Hindi and how was it received in India?

KP: The film is going to be translated into multiple languages from what I understand. It releases in India on December 3rd, followed by Singapore and several countries in Europe.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

KP: “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea” by Barbara Demick. 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

KP: I’m not allowed to wear gym shorts with an old tee shirt on the red carpet.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

KP: Flight.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Kal, and best of luck with Bhopal and in the White House.

KP: Thank you, Kam!

 

To see a trailer for Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw7dZiYzKBY

 

 


Interviews
UserpicJeffrey Wright (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
18.11.2014

Jeffrey Wright

“The Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part 1” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

 

Entering Stage Wright!

 

Critically-acclaimed Jeffrey Wright continually pushes the boundaries of his craft with inspiring and celebrated performances in an illustrious career that has spanned the worlds of theater, film and television. On the big screen, Wright was most recently seen in Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive which was released last April.

 

On television, he currently appears on HBO's Boardwalk Empire, playing Dr. Valentin Narcisse, Doctor of Divinity, philanthropist, student of culture and the man who runs Harlem. Onstage, this versatile thespian played the lead in John Guare's A Free Man of Color, which was directed by the legendary George C. Wolfe at Lincoln Center. And he garnered a Tony Award in 1994 for his work in Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning epic Angels in America, also directed by Wolfe.

 

On film, Jeffrey has portrayed a stunning array of icons and iconoclasts. His brilliant portrayal of the renowned and controversial graffiti artist Jean Michel Basquiat in the 1996 film Basquiat received widespread praise from critics and earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination. At the other end of the spectrum, he has taken on roles in the James Bond films, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, and starred as Muddy Waters in Cadillac Records and as Colin Powell in Oliver Stone's W.

 

His other credits include Jonathan Demme's remake of The Manchurian Candidate, Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers, Ang Lee's Ride with the Devil, and Shaft. For his portrayal of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in HBO's Boycott, he received a 2001 AFI award.

 

In addition to acting, Jeffrey is Vice Chairman of Taia Lion Resources and Chairman of Taia Peace Foundation. He also serves on the boards of directors of the Tribeca Film Institute and Resolve. Furthermore, he was named by Sierra Leone as the Peace by Piece Ambassador for the country's 50th Anniversary Independence Celebration, and received the Humanitarian Award at the 2011 Napa Valley Film Festival for his work with the Taia Peace Foundation.

 

Here, he talks about his latest outing as Beetee in The Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part 1.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Jeffrey, thanks for another interview.

Jeffrey Wright: Hey, how’re you doin’, Kam?

 

KW: Great! How was it being back with The Hunger Games and playing Beetee again?

JW: The film has kind of been an expansion of these stories, though not from Beetee’s perspective. It sort of shrinks for him in that he’s wheelchair-bound and kind of confined to a laboratory’s space. But the films around him are expanding and the stakes are being raised, and we’re entering these districts that we really haven’t explored before. So, it’s kind of a thrilling ride. From Beetee’s perspective, he becomes the lens through which we enter these other worlds, since he’s responsible for communications. That’s kind of exciting. I was also drawn to the idea of propaganda and communication as a weapon, since it’s relevant to a lot of what’s happening outside of cinema nowadays.

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: Your character, Beetee, in The Hunger Games is revered for his intellect. Is that a departure from the roles typically offered actors of color?

JW: I don’t think there is a typical role offered actors of color. Perhaps that was true many generations ago but, thankfully, there has been tremendous progress forged by a host of actors who preceded me who have expanded the possibilities. Even in the past, many roles that might have been stereotypical were subverted in some way. I’m very excited about seeing this recently-discovered Bert Williams film found at the Museum of Modern Art in which he performs in blackface, like he does in many of his movies. As he describes, he does an impersonation of a black man. [Chuckles] I love that idea because he was one of the most brilliant performers in cinema, ever. And we’ve only seen a few short clips of his work. But W.C. fields described him as the funniest man he’d ever seen, and the saddest man he ever knew. I say that to suggest that there are never limitations, whether you’re an actor or anyone taking on a task because, if you look back a century, there was a performer of color, Bert Williams, who, despite being confined to blackface, was doing some of the most thrilling acting that I’ve ever seen on camera. From what I understand, he was even somewhat of an inspiration for Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp, which was the first major, iconic cinematic persona. So, I’ve kind of gotten away from believing in limitations.

 

KW: Director Rel Dowdell says: You’re one of the best!

JW: Thanks!

 

KW: He goes on to say: Given your peerless acting talents, do you ever think of yourself as underrated?

JW: No, I don’t, Rel. Some people say that, but, no, I don’t.

 

KW: Chandra McQuen says: You are such an amazing and versatile talent with an impressive list of credits to your name. You seem to be cast in roles based on your talent and not the color of your skin. Do you ever feel the weight of being a minority actor? What dream role would you like to play, if casting were 100% colorblind?

JW: I’m doing what I want to do. If casting were 100% colorblind, the characters I’d want to play are the same ones I’ve wanted to play prior. The one role I’ve considered developing a film about is Alexander Pushkin, the Russian writer, poet, lover and madman.

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: Jeffrey Wright is one of my all-time favorite actors ever.  I had the opportunity to meet him briefly a few years back he was so gracious. He is the epitome of what I call a man with integrity. Please don't complete this interview without my question. The other day, I watched his awesome performance playing the Dominican drug dealer in Shaft for the umpteenth time. I love your Latin accent, especially the line about “Egyptian Cotton.” Wow! I would like to know how you captured the accent and flavor of the Dominican culture so well.                  

JW: I have one particular Dominican friend whose use of language I always really dug, as well as the music of his voice. So, I grabbed a lot from him, and then I hung out in Washington Heights after I had been working on the character for awhile. The character actually came to me in a barber shop on 186th Street, completely, when I was getting a haircut and shave. The barber’s name was Derbis. When I was done, I looked in the mirror, and I saw Peeples.

 

KW: Professor/filmmaker/author Hisani Dubose says: You are one of the most engaging actors I've ever seen. How are you able to project so many emotions through your eyes? In the Manchurian Candidate for example the close-up on your eyes told your story all by itself. Also where did he get the idea for the way he said “Tiger Woo” in Shaft. People are still imitating you for laughs.

JW: Thank you, Hisani. I don’t know how to answer the eyes question. I just use the eyes that I was born with. But I do think they are a film actor’s primary tool, so I try to use them well. As for “Tiger Woo,” I was in Scotland for the British Open a couple weeks before we started shooting Shaft. Every day, I was thinking about the script in my head. The original script had me ask Christian Bale’s character whether he liked tennis. But it occurred to me that golf would be better, especially since I’d been watching so much of it. So, instead I asked, “Do you play golf?” before referring to “Tiger Woo,” since Peebles likes power and aspires to be someone like that. [LOL]

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian asks: What was your favorite location to film?

JW: Hawaii! But Berlin is a close second.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

JW: When I look in the mirror, I still see a little kid. [Chuckles].

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

JW: Being with family. I think that’s what everyone’s earliest childhood memories revolve around. I was about 2 years-old or so. It must have been about 1967. I remember where we were living at the time. I just remember being in this space which was our home at the time, with family.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

JW: Well, we just had the London red carpet premiere for Mockingjay in front of about 5,000 people. I hope I’m not nearly as excitable at home as I am in that situation. If I were as amped up at home, I think I’d be bouncing off the walls. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

JW: That’s a good question, but I can’t answer it, because I’d be divulging more than I should right now. But there might be something coming up in terms of a remake.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Jeffrey. I’m really honored to have had this opportunity to speak with you.

JW: Thank you, Kam! Take care.

To see a trailer for The Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part 1, visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXshQ5mv1K8

 

To see a montage of Jeffrey playing Peeples in Shaft, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_dQOIrGhwI

 


Interviews
UserpicNate Parker (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
11.11.2014

Nate Parker

The ā€œBeyond the Lightsā€ Interview

with Kam Williams

Ā 

Brother Parker!

Actor and humanitarian Nate Parker first received critical attention for his starring role in The Great Debaters opposite Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker. Denzel handpicked him to play the troubled yet brilliant Henry Lowe who overcomes his selfish ways to become the teamā€™s leader. Nate received an honorary Doctorate from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, the school on which The Great Debaters was based.

More recently, he appeared in the action thriller Non-Stop, opposite Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore. Last year, he starred in Ainā€™t Them Bodies Saints, opposite Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster.

In 2012, he was the toast of the Sundance Film Festival when he appeared in Arbitrage opposite Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Tim Roth. That year, he also starred as the lead in Red Tails, supported by Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding, Jr. It told the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, who were the first African-American military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps and were some of the finest pilots in World War II. George Lucas funded, produced and co-directed this feature.

Earlier in his career, Nate starred opposite Alicia Keys in The Secret Life of Bees, which featured an all-star cast of Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning and Paul Bettany. Additionally, heā€™s been seen in Pride alongside Terrence Howard, in Dirty opposite Cuba Gooding Jr., in Felon with Stephen Dorff and Sam Shepard, and in Tunnel Rats with Michael Pare. And onstage, Nate appeared opposite Dustin Hoffman, Annette Bening, Rosario Dawson and James Cromwell in ā€œAmerican Voicesā€ at the Broad Street Theater.

A Norfolk, VA native, Nate studied computer programming and trained his way to become an All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma. He mentors twenty-four children from schools in central Los Angeles and spearheads projects and events with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He sponsors a Peace for Kids scholarship fund and works in their afterschool program.Ā 

Here, Nate talks about his new movie, Beyond the Lights, while waxing romantic about his career and his life philosophy.Ā 

Ā 

Ā 

Kam Williams: Hi Nate, thanks so much for another interview.

Nate Parker: My pleasure, brother.

Ā 

KW: I really enjoyed Beyond the Lights. What interested you in the project?

NP: Before anything else, it was Gina. I think sheā€™s one of the best directors on planet Earth. And her vision, and her work ethic, and attention to details are so inspiring that when a project comes up that sheā€™s a part of, you want to be a part of it.Ā 

Ā 

KW: She certainly devoted herself to developing and fleshing out her characters in this picture.

NP: Well, she had the time. You know what they say: ā€œCheap, fast and good. You can only have two.ā€ This is a woman who takes her time. Four years for this project, four years for the last one. Sheā€™s been in the driverā€™s seat for so long, and been so passionate about it, and sheā€™s never taken no for an answer. And it shows in the work. Not only did she write the perfect script, but she was so intentional about her vision coming across, that it made it easy for me to do my job.

Ā 

KW: But you bring a lot to the table, too. Iā€™ve seen you do reliably great work in picture after picture.Ā 

NP: Thanks, Kam. You and I will probably be on the phone a lot in the coming years, and youā€™ll always hear me say the same thing: I attribute everything that Iā€™ve attained to my leadership. I am nothing without my director. I really believe that. I can prepare a character, and put myself in a position to deliver truthful nuance and put on the skin, but itā€™s the directorā€™s job to usher me into a place that achieves the vision in way thatā€™s understated and believable.

Ā 

KW: What message do you think people will take away from the film?

NP: I think the first is that the language of love transcends all obstacles. I think the second is that in order to love someone else you first have to know yourself, and be comfortable in your own skin.Ā 

Ā 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

NP: Oh my goodness! Thatā€™s a good question. My first great heartbreak was losing my father. I was 11, when I lost my dad. It changed me, because I had to be the father for my family. My outlook on life changed immediately, and it became all about service. And thatā€™s how I approach my craft, as if Iā€™m a servant of the film. Losing my father was the biggest transition that affected so much of my life.Ā 

Ā 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

NP: Funny you should ask. Yes, A Place in the Sun. Itā€™s one of the best films Iā€™ve ever seen, and weā€™re developing a picture thatā€™s very similar to it, thematically.

Ā 

KW: The Viola Davis question: Whatā€™s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

NP: I do my very best to be the same person. I always say Iā€™m an ā€œactor-vist.ā€ All I do, I do for my people. I make no apologies for that, and I try to live my life as an example for young black men navigating the life space. I want to leave a legacy behind that, when you reflect about me, youā€™ll think, ā€œOkay, there was a sacrifice made on behalf of people who looked like him.Ā 

Ā 

KW: What do you think about the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri?

NP: I went to Ferguson. I think the problem is deeper than police brutality. I believe thereā€™s an overall dehumanization and hyper-criminalization of black youth that affects everyone. It wasnā€™t a cop who killed Treyvon Martin. So, Ferguson was not an isolated incident, but emblematic of an epidemic thatā€™s been around for over 400 years. The injuries and conditioning caused by slavery continue to live within us today. Weā€™re constantly told that the value of a black life is less. Thereā€™s a certain level of white supremacy and black inferiority thatā€™s entrenched in our society. Once you become desensitized to that truth, you fall right into the trap. And until we have an honest confrontation of those evils, we cannot heal as a country, and a Ferguson is going to continue to happen every other week. Thatā€™s why itā€™s so important that you, as a journalist, and that I, as an artist, pursue justice, and make it a strong thread of who we are as individuals.

Ā 

KW: That makes me think of that famous saying by Faulkner, ā€œThe past isnā€™t dead. It isnā€™t even past,ā€ and how Sugar Ray Leonard told me the toughest fight he ever had wasnā€™t Marvin Hagler, tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran on Wilfred Benitez, but his fight against a lesser opponent in Boston because of all the racism he encountered from the moment he stepped of the plane right through the fight. He said the relentless, palpable hatred sapped his spirit. I was stunned by that totally unexpected answer.

NP: Thatā€™s interesting. I can help but mention the irony of listening to you relate that story as I sit here looking out a window watching a huge American flag waving in the breeze. We are a great country, but we are sick, and we need to be made well. And America has a long way to go.

Ā 

KW: When you mention the American flag and irony, that reminds me of an what happened to a good friend of mine, Ted Landsmark, a fellow lawyer, when we were both in Boston back in the Seventies. He had his nose broken by an American flag when a bunch of racists attacked him right in front of City Hall. The photographer who happened to capture it won a Pulitzer Prize for the photograph.

See: http://www.blacktalkradionetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/754x400xTedLandsmark-754x400.jpg.pagespeed.ic.LFcIN3xS75.jpg

And: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y2stTZU7nVg/SUQ4EPtoW6I/AAAAAAAAACk/E7ibSy9tajM/s1600-h/Landsmark.png

NP: Oh my goodness! I never heard about this incident. Iā€™m googling it right nowā€¦ Iā€™m looking at it right now. How ironic! Thatā€™s incredible! This has been the plight of the black man in the U.S. Crushed by the very instrument thatā€™s supposed to symbolize freedom.

Ā 

KW: Are you thinking about entering politics in real-life someday, like your character, Kaz?

NP: No, not at all. Anything thatā€™s been done for our people in the past, was done outside the realm of politics. Our greatest inroads were achieved with the help of leaders who were among the people. Thatā€™s not an indictment of politicians, itā€™s just that things donā€™t change quickly when you work within the political structure.Ā Ā Ā 

True revolution transpires on a grassroots level where change can occur very quickly.Ā Ā 

Ā 

KW: Let's say youā€™re throwing your dream dinner partyā€”whoā€™s invitedā€¦ and what would you serve?

NP: I would invite Paul Robeson, and I would serve a vegetarian meal, something thatā€™s healthy for us both.

Ā 

KW: Have you ever had a near-death experience?

NP: No oneā€™s ever asked me that before. Yes, in summer camp when I was in the 7th grade and had asthma desperately bad. I was kayaking for the first time when it rolled over and I didnā€™t know how to roll the boat back upright. I was zipped in and couldnā€™t get out. Fortunately, a friend, Isaac Paddock, swam over and saved me. I literally had an asthma attack while I was drowning. I donā€™t know how I survived it, except with Isaacā€™s help and the grace of God. If Isaac hadnā€™t pulled me out, I wouldnā€™t be here right now.Ā 

Ā 

KW: Have you ever accidentally uncovered a deep secret?

NP: Sure, every family has its dysfunction, but I wouldnā€™t want to talk about it.

Ā 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

NP: ā€œOn Film-making,ā€ by Alexander Mackendrick, because Iā€™m about to direct a film in December called The Birth of a Nation. Itā€™s a biopic about Nat Turner. Revolution is in the air. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0571211259/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

Ā 

KW: Where did you interest in Nat Turner come from?

NP: Itā€™s pretty much all I care about nowadays. I grew up in Norfolk and Chesapeake, Virginia. Nat grew up about 40 miles away, in Southampton County. And of course, he led the most successful slave revolt in American history. Iā€™m very much interested in aggressively pursuing justice for all people, especially during times of moral crisis. Iā€™m less worried about my brand than about alleviating the plight of oppressed people. So, I speak my mind, particularly about injustices in my community, even though that can sometimes get you in trouble.

Ā 

KW: Keep up the good work, Nate, and best of luck with Beyond the Lights.

NP: Thank you, Kam.

To see a trailer for Beyond the Lights, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rvgJ2WbDsc


Interviews
UserpicCiao, Isabella
Posted by Kam Williams
09.11.2014

Isabella Rossellini
The “Green Porno” Interview with Kam Williams

The daughter of actress Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini, supermodel/actress/director/singer/author/conservationist/feminist Isabella Rossellini grew up in Paris and Rome. At the age of 19, she moved to New York, where she became a translator and later a reporter for RAI-Italian Television. Her popular segments led to appearances as the New York correspondent for the weekly Italian comedy show THE OTHER SUNDAY, with Roberto Benigni.

At the relatively advanced age of 28, Isabella began a modeling career when she was photographed by Bruce Weber for British Vogue and by Bill King for American Vogue. She has since worked with the industry's most distinguished photographers - from Richard Avedon to Steven Meisel, from Helmut Newton to Peter Lindbergh, from Norman Parkinson to Eve Arnold. And she has appeared on the cover of such magazines as Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Bazaar and Vanity Fair. An exhibition of photographs of Isabella, Portrait of a Woman, was held in March 1988 at the Museum of Modern Art of the city of Paris.

Isabella wrote, directed and starred in a series of shorts called GREEN PORNO, about the reproducing habits of various bugs, insects and other animals.  The shorts are comical, but insightful study of the curious ways certain animals “make love,” featuring Isabella in colorful, vibrant costumes. GREEN PORNO premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and launched on Sundance Channel later that same year.   

Isabella made her cinematic debut in 1979 in Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's IL PRATO (THE MEADOW). Her American film debut was opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines in Taylor Hackford's WHITE NIGHTS. In 1986, she starred opposite Dennis Hopper as Dorothy Vallens, the tortured lounge singer, in David Lynch's haunting and controversial BLUE VELVET.

Her other film credits include, THE ACCIDENTAL HUSBAND, MY DAD IS 100 YEARS OLD,  THE ARCHITECT, THE FEAST OF THE GOAT, HAVE YOU HEARD, THE SADDES MUSIC IN THE WROLD, ROGER DOGER, COUSINS, ZELLY AND ME, WILD AT HEART, DEATH BECOMES HER, FEARLESS, WYATT EARP, BIG NIGHT, THE IMPOSTORS and THE FUNERAL. Her portrait of the Jewish Hassidic mother in LEFT LUGGAGE directed by Jeroen Krabbe, won a special award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1998.

Isabella's modeling and acting career also led her into the world of cosmetics. Beginning in 1982, she was the exclusive spokesperson for the international cosmetics brand Lancome for 14 years. In 1990, Lancome launched the very successful fragrance Tresor, which was her first involvement with product development. In 1995, she began collaboration with Lancaster Group to develop her own brand of cosmetics, Manifesto, which launched internationally in May 1999.

Isabella's fictional memoir "Some of Me" was published in 1997, and her photographic book, "Looking at Me," is currently in stores. She also wrote a book about her father entitled IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE DAUGHTER AND THE HOLY SPIRITS: REMEMBERING ROBERTO ROSSELLINI. 

Isabella is very involved in Wildlife Conservation. The Disney Conservation Fund just awarded her for her commitment to this cause by giving her $100,000 to donate to a conservation organization of her choice. She is also a volunteer for the Guide Dog Foundation and trains puppies for their program.

Isabella has been married to director Martin Scorcese, and romantically-linked to director David Lynch as well as actor Gary Oldman. She now lives in New York City with her two children, Elettra and Roberto, though she is currently touring the U.S. with the production of her one-woman show, GREEN PORNO, adapted from the celebrated Sundance Channel series.

With day-glo costumes, paper puppets, and text by legendary French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, she acts out a panoply of reproductive oddities: the praying mantis that consumes its partner while copulating; the male bee who loses his penis in the act; and the shrimp, whose foreplay involves it shimmying seductively out of its shell. The play, which is part nature documentary and part DIY cartoon, is scheduled to continue its run into the spring of 2015.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Isabella, I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Isabella Rossellini: Thank you for doing the interview, Kam. How are you?

 

KW: I’m great, thanks. In preparation for this interview, I did a little research, and I read that interview you recently did with a jaw-droppingly rude reporter from Vanity Fair.

IR: Thank God, I never read it. That’s good. [LOL]

 

KW: Don’t worry. I think you’ll have a lot of fun doing this interview. I always tell my readers who I’m interviewing ahead of time so they can send in questions. So, if it’s okay with you, I’ll be mixing in mine with theirs.

IR: Sure.

 

KW: Bobby Shenker says: I love you! Will you marry me? 

IR: Of course I will, Bobby! I’m single, so there’s absolutely the possibility.

 

KW: Here’s another guy who’s gushing. Gil Cretney says: Kam, please tell Isabella from me… she is a goddess!

IR: [Laughs again] That’s very wonderful to hear. Sometimes I get called beautiful or kind. But a goddess has it all, supernatural powers. Thanks, Gil!

 

KW: Let me share one more message from someone with a personal comment.

IR: Not a nasty one, I hope.

 

KW: No it’s also very positive. Larry Greenberg simply says: You are so wonderful! I’m too smitten to come up with a worthy question.

IR: That’s very nice, Larry. And it’s very kind of you to read me all these comments, Kam.

 

KW: I’m just reading what was sent in. Editor Lisa Loving says: We just love Green Porno. She asks: Have you ever watched any of the John Lydon [of the Sex Pistols] Mega Bugs programs? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytkV9Fk-zKk

IR: No I haven’t. I’m not familiar with him. But I’ll write down his name and look it up.

 

KW: Lisa was also wondering whether, as one of the most beautiful women in the world, and the daughter of one of the most beautiful women in the world, and a lifelong inhabitant of circles of famous people in the news, you see anything new in how the public “consumes” celebrities?

IR: No, I don’t see anything new. Maybe it’s different in Los Angeles where they have more of a problem with paparazzi. That part of being a celebrity is not so pleasant. It all started in Rome long ago, you know, before spreading to L.A. and elsewhere.

 

KW: That makes sense, since paparazzi is an Italian word.

IR: It began in Italy with amateur photographers stalking celebrities. They would be so persistent trying to provoke something, and if you lost your patience, then they could get the sort of sensational photo they were after. It is more widespread in the U.S. in recent years than it used to be, especially in Los Angeles, not so much in New York yet. 

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks, purely hypothetically: How do you think your father as a director and your mother as an actress might ‘comment’ on Green Porno?

IR: I think they would like it, quite frankly. They both loved animals. We certainly shared that in the family. And they were also interested in science, especially the new science of animal behavior, which Jane Goodall founded. And as you know, Kam, most of my films and my studies are in animal behavior. So, I think my parents would be happy about Green Porno. It’s comical, why not? [Chuckles] They were entertainers, too.   

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: How did you come up with the idea of using paper penises in Green Porno?

IR: The reason why we used paper costumes is because we had a very limited budget, and it seemed to be the cheapest way to go. So, we managed to make something stylish out of our weakness by creating all of the costumes out of paper.  

 

KW: Irene has a follow-up: What led you to develop this one-woman play?

IR: The success of my short films, and the encouragement of friends. Also, this wonderful, Oscar-winning writer, Jean-Claude Carriere, agreeing to help me write the monologues was very tempting. That’s what did it. 

 

KW: Irene has one more: Which of your many roles as a supermodel/actress/director/singer/author/conservationist/feminist do you enjoy the most and which do you think expresses the essence of who you are?

IR: I sort of divide them in my head. Some of those roles are professional, like modeling or acting or writing. But being a feminist is not a job. What I think has been wonderful about my life is that it has been diverse, and that I’ve been able to do so many different things. I was able to evolve from modeling into acting. And then when acting opportunities became limited because of my age, I was able to become a writer and director and author. So, I am grateful to myself that I didn’t just sit around and become nostalgic about the past that has been and can’t come back, but that I instead decided to move on.

 

KW: But if you could only be remembered for one thing, what would that be for?

IR: As the mother of my children. 

 

KW: Cynthia Groya says: I am a huge admirer of yours! All the unexpected and courageous moves you have made in your life. What was it like working with Dennis Hopper and David Lynch on Blue Velvet? 

IR: Well, it was actually, a very, very nice set. We all became very good friends, and remained close all our lives. The film is very scary, very serious but it was very pleasant on the set because of our friendship. We all met filming, and hit it off very well. And it was also one of the most important films I have done in my career.  

 

KW: Cynthia also asks: What was the best thing about growing up Ingrid Bergman's daughter?
IR: Well, she was really “mom,” whether or not she was Ingrid Bergman the actress. She was a very warm, charming, funny, tender, entertaining and playful mother. That was the best. The fact that she was famous came along with those qualities was a bonus, although we might have liked for her to be less famous so she’d stay home more. 

 

KW: Filmmaker Ray Hirschman says: Isabella, you are so multi-talented. But if you had to follow only one artistic road, which would you choose? 

IR: I would probably pursue the one I’m doing now, because that’s the one you can control the most, writing, directing and performing your own pieces. It’s the best, because I can create jobs for myself.

 

KW: Yale grad Tommy Russell would like to ask: How much time do you spend in the United States?

IR: I’m a U.S. citizen and I’ve lived here since I was 19. I spend a total of about 4 or 5 months a year in Europe, but the majority of the time I’m here.

 

KW: Tommy also says: I hope she gets a kick out of this question. Can I have your love life? Tell her I'd take the ups and the downs.

IR: [LOL] I wonder why. Tommy must like some of the husbands and boyfriends he knows I’ve had. [Laughs some more]

 

KW: Kate Newell says: I loved you in your role on 30 Rock! What was the best piece of advice your mother gave you?

IR: My mom was very down to earth, very concrete, and I think her biggest lesson was setting that as an example, rather than giving me a piece of advice.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: What advice do you have for aspiring female filmmakers, given that there is still a scarcity of women in that field? 

IR: Keep doing it. Persevere! It’s hard to make a living in any of the arts. When most people think of artists, they think of the stars and the celebrities. But that’s such a tiny minority of the elites who are able to make those millions of dollars. The reality is that it’s very hard for the rest to make a living as an artist. So, you really have to persevere and understand that achieving the sort of success where you’re making the big money is like winning the lottery.  

 

KW: Patricia also asks: Is there a biography of an icon you dream of adapting into a movie?  
IR: No, I have never thought about that.

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: As a woman of color, I appreciated your conscious decision to not continue your Lancome campaign contract. Was that due to a personal stance on not supporting a beauty campaign whose message about beauty by societal standards can only be reflected by youthful skin? I wasn't surprised to learn that you did not want to represent that message/mentality that beauty only exists with youth.  Bravo! I would like to see among the faces of a campaign championing the beauty of mature women of all ethnicities. 

IR: You’re right, Marcia. There’s still this problem that hasn’t been resolved. We are working towards that goal of having women of all ages and ethnicities well-represented in the industry.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Isabella, and best of luck with Green Porno.

IR: Thank you, Kam. Bye.

 

To order tickets for the Philadelphia performance of Green Porno, at 8 pm on November 14th, visit:

http://tickets.worldcafelive.com/event/617715-isabella-rossellini-green-philadelphia/


Interviews
UserpicHaley Joel Osment (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
28.10.2014

Haley Joel Osment
The “Sex Ed” Interview
with Kam Williams

I See Haley, People!

Haley Joel Osment skyrocketed to fame at the age of 11 with his unforgettable, Academy Award-nominated performance in M. Night Shyamalan’s ghost thriller, The Sixth Sense. His portrayal of Cole, the little boy who uttered the iconic line, "I see dead people," left an indelible impact on audiences, as the picture grossed over $672 million worldwide.

In 2000, Osment went on to co-star alongside Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt in the Warner Brothers drama Pay It Forward. And a year later, he starred opposite Jude Law in Steven Spielberg’s 2001 sci-fi drama, A.I. which earned over $235 million worldwide.

Here, he talks about his life and career, and about his upcoming movie, a comedy called Sex Ed.

Kam Williams: Hi Haley, thanks for the interview.

Haley Joel Osment: Hey, how’s it going, Kam?

 

KW: Great! I really enjoyed Sex Ed. Before we start, I just wanted to say that I think you and my son have some mutual friends. He’s your age and went to Princeton. He said you were on a campus a lot when he was there.

HJO: Yeah, one of my closest friends went to Princeton, so I would come out to visit him occasionally, which was kinda nice because it was such a short train ride away from New York City. It was always great to get out to a non-urban environment.

 

KW: I’ll be mixing my own questions in with some from readers. Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How did attending the Tisch School at NYU help you prepare for your adult career in film and theater? Is going to college something you would recommend to other child stars?

HJO: I think college is a good idea for most everybody, but it depends on the person and on what you want to be doing when you turn 18, whether you want to go away to school or if acting’s something you want to jump on immediately.

 

KW: Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

HJO: No, I would like to see more original films than remakes at this time. [Laughs]

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: What interested you in Sex Ed?

HJO: It’s a film that [director] Isaac [Feder] and [screenwriter] Bill [Kennedy] have been trying to make since about 2007. I loved the script when I first read it in 2010, a funny fish-out-of-water comedy. Over the next four years we had a couple of near misses trying to get it made. Then, out of the blue, we got some money to shoot the movie in Florida, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since the location added a lot of flavor to the film.

 

KW: Irene also asks: What do you want people to get from your performance? Are you trying with this comedic turn here to get out from under the shadow of your iconic performance in The Sixth Sense?

HJO: I’m always just interested in whatever the best scripts are. This was just a bit of fortunate, coincidental timing. I really enjoy doing comedies, although I didn’t get to do a lot of them as a kid. I was on some network sitcoms. But it’s a really fertile time for comedy right now on a variety of platforms.

 

KW: Did you base your character, Ed Cole, on anybody?

HJO: Not on anyone in particular. He was originally based on a friend of Isaac and Bill’s who had been teaching English in Korea. But I never met that person, and wanted to create Ed from the ground up as his own man.

 

KW: What message do you think people will take away from the film?

HJO: Well, we didn’t set out to make a polemic. Where we sort of land is a mixture of respect for those parents who know what they want their children’s sex education to be like, and the reality that the information should be available for other kids whose parents are unable to inform them about the subject. 

 

KW: Aaron Moyne asks: At what age will you tell your kids about the proverbial birds and the bees?

HJO: Oh gosh, I don’t know. Kids are, at the very least, a long way off for me. I don’t know that there’s a set age. I guess it depends on the maturity level.

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian asks: How do you cope with those hard days on the set?

HJO: It can be grueling, particularly with an independent film like Sex Ed, when you have really long work days because you’re shooting the whole film in a short amount of time. It can get a bit tiring when you’re in virtually every shot of every scene. But having done some theater in New York, where you have to keep yourself fresh for eight performance a week, helps with endurance and keeping your energy up.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: Aside from your own work, what are you enjoying watching nowadays?

HJO: Well it’s a great time for television, along with Amazon Prime, HBO Go, and other ways we catch our shows. ! I’m a big fan of Veep, Game of Thrones, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Breaking Bad, which ended last year. As far as movies, I’m excited about Inherent Vice which opens in December, and I’m also looking forward to seeing Birdman which is supposed to be pretty cool.

 

KW: Grace was also wondering whether there are any particular actors or directors you have not worked with yet but would like to?

HJO: Certainly, Paul Thomas Anderson, in terms of directors. I’m a big fan of all his films. When it comes to actors, it’s hard to pick just one.  

 

KW: Finally, Grace says: Early acting success often leads to a distorted perception of what a good life is. Do you feel you learned any important life lessons in this regard from your own early success in movies and television? 

HJO: I think one thing that was really important, particularly in this industry which is so unpredictable and changing in profound ways, and I guess is contracting on the film side, was never to expect that it would always be a boom time. I was really lucky to be in such high-profile movies early in my career. But part of the reason for going to college was to make sure that my motivation for being in the industry was to do quality work, and not to be counting on giant blockbusters. In that regard, I am prepared for whatever the future holds. 

 

KW: What was it like to be nominated for an Oscar at 11 years of age?

HJO: The Academy Awards season was crazy! But what was kinda nice and reassuring was how Steven Spielberg warned me about two months before Oscar night that the best part of the experience would be how all these famous people would be nervously running around trying to meet each other during commercial breaks in the telecast. He was absolutely right about that. It was cool to see that everybody else was also in this excited place.

 

KW: Have you ever had a near-death experience?

HJO: No, and I hope that good fortune continues. 

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

HJO: No, Kam, I’ve been doing press for so long that I’ve heard it all.

 

KW: Would you mind saying something controversial that would get this interview tweeted?

HJO: [LOL] No, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised that the subject-matter of Sex Ed hasn’t ruffled any feathers so far.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

HJO: I’m in the middle of “The Shadow of Great Rock” by Harold Bloom. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300166834/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

And I just finished “The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus” by Richard Preston. Getting more information about Ebola did sort of help quell my panic.  

 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385479565/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: I know Richard. He lives nearby, and I interviewed him about “The Hot Zone” back then.

HJO: Oh, that’s right! He’s a Princeton guy. Well, it’s an interesting book to read now. All the science behind it is fascinating, from the standpoint of doctors who had no idea what it was they were dealing with during the initial outbreak.

 

KW: What’s was just as interesting as “The Hot Zone” was that at least five years before 9/11 he confided in me that the FBI was very worried about a possible terrorist attack by Islamic fundamentalists with a weapon of mass destruction. The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

HJO: I just got Ty Segall’s new CD, “Manipulator.” I’m a really big fan of that album.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00KUIV2OK/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

HJO: That’s a tough one. One of my closest friends has a big backyard in Brooklyn. We like to grill brisket for hours and hours on Sundays for the football games. I’ve also been trying to perfect a really simple marinara sauce with good quality tomatoes you can find in the city.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

HJO: I don’t know… I can’t think of a creative response to that one. [Chuckles]

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

HJO: To put an end to the Ebola outbreak.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

HJO: My mom playing kids’ books on tapes for me as I was falling asleep in the crib.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

HJO: Part of the reason I enjoy doing press is because I don’t have to modulate my personality too much. I think I just speak louder on carpet, which is important when you’re doing interviews. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: Is there a key quality you believe all successful people share? 

HJO: I think curiosity and open-mindedness are important in our business. But success is a hard thing to predict or pin down.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

HJO: I’d say, just make sure that the work is your primary interest. It’s a really tough industry. I know a lot of really talented, good people who don’t succeed. So, I’d say find a way to do your craft in a way which satisfies you, and let the rest of the stuff, the success and recognition, come as a bonus.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

HJO: For a wide variety of roles over a great many years.

 

KW: And finally, what’s in YOUR wallet?

HJO: [Laughs] A post-it note with my “To Do” list.  

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Haley, and best of luck with Sex Ed.

HJO: Thanks a lot, Kam. It was nice talking to you.  

To see a trailer for Sex Ed, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-lauONf9F4


Interviews
UserpicArcane, Urbane and Insane Bourdain
Posted by Kam Williams
19.10.2014

Anthony Bourdain
The “Parts Unknown” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Chef, author and world traveler Anthony Bourdain is an outspoken trailblazer with unique insights about food, culture and current events. Here, he talks about his life, career and his Peabody and Emmy-winning TV-series, Parts Unknown.  

 

Kam Williams: Hi Anthony, thanks for the interview. I love the show. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Anthony Bourdain: Oh no, my pleasure, Kam.

 

KW: Congratulations on the his Peabody and Emmys for Parts Unknown.

AB: Thank you. It feels good.

 

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you. So, I’ll be mixing their questions for you in with my own. The first is from editor/Legist Patricia Turnier who is French Canadian. She says: You have French background and you’re fascinated with French cuisine. Do you speak the language?

AB: Yes, badly. But my French definitely improves the more I drink, as I worry less and less about absolutely perfect grammar. [Chuckles] I do speak and understand the language, just not particularly well.

 

KW: Patricia also asks: Did you spend any summers in France with your parents growing up?
AB: Just a few. Two or three. Three summers, I think.

 

KW: Patricia says: you are an excellent writer. What is the best advice you have for young writers about cultivating a unique writing style with a sophisticated voice like yours?

AB: Wow! That’s hard to say… I just don’t know… Be true to yourself. I write quickly with a sense of urgency. I don’t edit myself out of existence, meaning I’ll try to write 50 or 60 pages before I start rereading, revising and editing. That just helps with my confidence. I listen a lot to how people speak. I’ve read a great many good books in my life. I had some excellent English teachers. Surely, those things were helpful.   

 

KW: Besides your books, the show is extremely well-written. Do you have a hand in that?

AB: I write the voiceover as part of the editing process, some of it beforehand. Working with the producer, we’ll sort of hash out the flow of each show, the sequence of events, and the general framework. And maybe there will be some writing as well that they can edit to. But much of it is done afterwards. It’s a long and interactive process that takes about 9 to12 weeks sometimes, per show. So, a lot of attention is paid. I’m very aware that we’re telling a story here, and that we want to tell it in the most compelling, honest and accurate way we can.

 

KW: I’m not surprised to hear that you wear several different hats on the show, since you strike me as one of these versatile, multi-talents like David Byrne.

AB: I wouldn’t want to compare myself to David Byrne whom I consider a genius, but what I think what we have in common is that he’s also a guy who is very interested in the world and who has a lot of passions beyond singing and playing guitar. Clearly, if you track his career, you see a great many collaborations with interesting artists, and his work reflects whatever’s turning him on that year. In that sense, what a great way to live, if you could always do things that interest you, and do them with people who interest you.

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: This is tough because you have already been asked everything from your worst meal ever [unwashed warthog rectum] to the most disgusting food you ever ate [McDonald’s]. Would you mind comparing McDonald’s to some of the wildest dishes you’ve sampled on the show?

AB: I think it’s very hard to make an argument that a Chicken McNugget is either chicken or a nugget? If you’re eating unwholesome, street food in a country where they have to make do with whatever scraps are left to them, at least you know what it is, and generally have some sense of where it came from. Whereas a McNugget, to my way of thinking, is a Frankenfood whose name doesn’t necessarily reflect what it is. I’m still not sure what it is. Listen, Kam, when drunk, I will eat a McNugget. It’s not the worst tasting thing in the world, but it’s one of the things I’m least likely to eat, because I choose not to.    

 

KW: Isn’t there beef in the Chicken McNugget’s bread crumbs?

AB: They use a beef flavor that they spray or somehow add. I think it’s in the French fries, as well. Manipulating flavor, salinity and sugar levels is an important part of convenience food, snack food and fast food.

 

KW: Lisa also asks: What does your daughter Ariane like to eat? Have you cooked together yet?

AB: We cook together all the time. And since her mom and grandparents are Italian, a little Italian gets snuck in. She eats like a European kid in the sense that she’s very daring. She eats raw oysters, chicken hearts and yakitori and other Japanese food. She’s very curious about food and isn’t afraid to try new things. She loves to cook with me, and I love cooking with her. When we do cook together, we generally make ratatouille and pastas. Simple things. She’s 7, so I have to monitor her knife work very carefully. But I just gave her her first chef’s knife. 

 

KW: when you’re in the middle of nowhere, do you ever hesitate before eating something alien, fearing a negative reaction that might call for emergency medical attention that’s too far away?

AB: No, wholesome food is wholesome food anywhere. I may not like something but, generally speaking, if it’s a busy, street food stall serving mystery meat in India, they’re in the business of serving their neighbors. They’re not targeted toward a transient crowd of tourists that won’t be around tomorrow. They’re not in the business of poisoning their neighbors. I have eaten food that was clearly not fresh, that was dirty. I knew I was spinning the wheel of fortune there, but I did it because there was no polite way out. I saw it as the lesser of two evils, and I did pay a price. But it’s one I was willing to pay because turning your nose up at a genuine and sincere gesture of hospitality is no way to travel or to make friends around the world.

 

KW: Jeff Cohen says: I love that guy and his show. I want to know how I can get that job. Best job in the world!

AB: Hell if I know. I still don’t know how this happened to me. One minute I was dunking French fries, the next minute I had a TV show. I still haven’t figured it out. I guess not giving a crap is a very good business model.

 

KW: More seriously, Jeff asks: What fuels your passion to find out of the way places and cuisine, and how do you incorporate those experiences into your cooking?

AB: As far as the first part of the question, that’s just how I like to eat. Those are the places that make me happy, and they’re the most representative places, if you kinda want to get the flavor of what a place is really like and of who lives there. As to the second part of the question, it may come as a surprise to some that I do not incorporate those flavors that I discover or encounter around the world into my own cooking. I’m not so arrogant as to think that I can visit India for a week and then come back and cook Indian food. Just because I like sushi, doesn’t mean I can make sushi. I’ve come to well understand how many years just to get sushi rice correct. It’s a discipline that takes years and years and years. So, I leave that to the experts. When I cook, I generally stick with what I know, what I’m comfortable with, and what I feel I’ve paid my dues learning, and am good at.  

 

KW: Jim Cryan has a question related to one of his favorite episodes of Parts Unknown: What's the best street food to eat while watching cricket in India?

AB: Gee, I forget the name, but it was this very spicy, colorful, flavorful Rice Krispies-type dish.

 

KW: Cousin Leon Marquis asks: What's the strangest food you ever ate, and where were you when you ate it?

AB: I think I’d refer back to Chicken McNugget or a Cinnabon.

 

KW: Attorney/Pastry Chef Bernadette Beekman was wondering whether you have a preference for any particular type of cuisine.

AB: If I were trapped in one city and had to eat one nation’s cuisine for the rest of my life, I would not mind eating Japanese. I adore Japanese food. I love it.

 

KW: Bernadette would also like to know whether you will do other love stories to cities in period style such as you did with Italy? Loved the black and white “La Dolce Vita" feeling!

AB: That was one of my proudest accomplishments, and one of my favorite shows. I don’t know whether we’d do it in black and white again, but yes, I hope to do another richly-textured, carefully-designed, cinematic ode to a city I love and to its food. Sure! That’s always what I like to do, and when I’m at my happiest.

 

KW: Pittsburgh native Robin Beckham says: Parts Unknown is one of my favorite shows. She asks: Do you ever plan to visit the Steel City?                                                                                

AB: Very likely, yes.

 

KW: Robin goes on to say: Mr. Bourdain, through your show you call attention to the variety of food choices people are indulging in around the world. And on your journeys visiting various countries, you have a unique way of helping to break down religious, racial and ethnic barriers by presenting people in a light that forces an audience to think about other cultures in a positive manner (in a way they may never have in the past). When you return to the United States and witness the racial divide we have in Ferguson, what are some of your thoughts about what we need to do here in America to bring people together? What are the “Parts Unknown,” from your perspective, that can help to heal our country?

AB: Wow, that’s a big, big, big, big, big question, Robin. I wish I knew. We are, in many ways, a much more divided nation than we like to think or say we are. In some of the countries I’ve visited, like Malaysia and Singapore, people are mixed up, whether they like it or not. Here, it’s like a grid system, even in New York, where we like to think of ourselves as enlightened and multi-racial. It’s a complicated question that I certainly don’t feel qualified to answer. I could suggest that all that’s needed is for us to sit down and share a meal together, but I don’t know if that’s true. Certainly, to the extent that people can walk in each other’s shoes for a few hours, or even just for a few minutes, this can only be a good thing. Looking at Ferguson, Missouri from the outside, I would guess that the Police Department has a particular siege mentality, an “us vs. them” mentality, that’s not all that unusual in this world when you look at angry, disenfranchised, paranoid people. It’s a mentality that emerges in groups of people. It’s ugly and, frankly, I’m the last person in the world in terms of having a constructive clue as to what to do about it.      

 

KW: But you have a natural ability to relate to people and to reduce the human experience to a collective one. Add in food, and you’re a natural ambassador.

AB: It’s not my intention. I’m out there looking to tell stories about other cultures, places I go, and things I see. That’s all, really. I’m not trying to explain other cultures, or to give a fair and balanced account of a country, or the top ten things you need to know. I’m not trying to spread world peace and understanding. I’m not an advocate or and activist or an educator or a journalist. I’m out there trying to tell stories the best I can. I come back and make television shows that give as honest a sense of what I felt like when I was there. If that enables the audience to empathize with people they felt hostile towards or never thought about before, that is good and I feel happy about that. But that is not my mission in life. My mission in life is tell an entertaining, well-made, well-crafted story that is true to myself. I am proud and pleased when viewers report afterwards feeling some kinship with people they never imagined empathizing with before. I’m not Bono. I’m not on a mission.

 

KW: You’re doing something that resonates with the audience to come to CNN and become the network’s highest rated show almost immediately.

AB: I see Parts Unknown as an adjunct to the news in the sense that when you see something terrible or something good that transpires in Libya or Palestine or Iran or Congo or Southeast Asia, you know who we’re talking about, if you’ve watched this show. You’ve sat down with a family from the West Bank or Gaza. You’ve seen the daily routine of a Vietnamese rice farmer. You have some sense of whom we’re talking about in Congo, the next time a statistic pops up. We put a human face on places faraway from where we live. I think it’s useful. It may not be news, but it’s useful. 

 

KW: Do you think you’re helping to obliterate the “Ugly American” stereotype by being so sensitive to and appreciative of other cultures?

AB: I think many, if not most, of the people I’ve met in countries where you’d not expect them to be friendly, make a definite distinction between our government and us. They are extraordinarily friendly and welcoming just about everywhere, and are often cynical about their own leaders and government. So, the idea that they could disagree with many things about our government and yet still find it in their hearts to invite us to their table and to enjoy sharing their culture with us is not an unusual impulse, at all, in my experience. People everywhere have been very, very good to me, whether I’m with or without cameras.   

 

KW: Robin asks: Do you have any updates on a possible show in North Korea? AB: The state control is so tight there that there’s no way we could have anything resembling an organic or real experience. They really keep you inside a sort of North Korean Disneyland, and there would be no way, at all, of seeing how ordinary North Koreans live, and that, of course, is what we would want to show.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

AB: Playing with plastic army men on the beach with my brother at around 3.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

AB: I see a face full of lines, and every one of them has been earned.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

AB: I love making Neapolitan style ragu of neck bones, oxtail and tough cuts of meat, and slowly cooking down with a tomato sauce into a ragu.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

AB: A bowl of spicy noodles, a beautiful beach, anything involving my daughter, a fat unread book, any number of film directors coming out with a new film, and seeing stuff that few others have seen. And Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I’ve been doing  lot of that lately, and it’s deeply satisfying.

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: I have really enjoyed and learned so much watching Parts Unknown. What advice do you have for vegetarians who want to travel to countries where it's a bit harder to find meals with no seafood and no meat?

AB: I’m sort of unsympathetic. I just think it’s bad manners.

 

KW: Robin asks: What do you share with your daughter about your experience connecting with human beings who welcome you into their very different worlds?

AB: She watches my show, and I try to bring the family along to one family-friendly location a year. She’s only 7, but she’s traveled pretty widely. I think it’s important for a kid, especially a privileged kid like my daughter, to see that not everybody in the world lives like her.

 

KW: How does she react to seeing daddy on TV?

AB: She doesn’t take it seriously. In my house, neither my wife nor my daughter are impressed that I’m on television, and they remind me of that frequently.

 

KW: If you could have a chance to speak with a deceased loved one for a minute who would it be and what would you say?

AB: Well, my dad. When my father passed, I was still an unsuccessful cook with a drug problem. I was in my mid-thirties, standing behind an oyster bar, cracking clams for a living when he died. So, he never saw me complete a book or achieve anything of note. I would have liked to have shared this with him.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

AB: I’d like to play bass like Bootsy Collins. I’m serious. That would be my dream. Or I’d play with James Brown’s Famous Flames or with Parliament or Funkadelic.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

AB: Show up on time and do the best job you can.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

AB: I don’t care.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Anthony, this has been tremendous. All the best with the family, the new season and all your travels.

AB: Thank you, Kam. It’s been fun. I really enjoyed it. So long.

To see a trailer for Parts Unknown, visit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od09-RQo5Kw


Interviews
UserpicThe Sound and the ā€œFuryā€
Posted by Kam Williams
13.10.2014

Michael Pena & David Ayer
The “Fury” Interview
with Kam Williams

Michael Pena was born in Chicago on January 13, 1976 to immigrant parents from Mexico . After graduating from high school, he answered an open casting call for the sequel to To Sir, with Love. He landed a role, relocated to L.A., and the rest is history.

Michael went on to deliver memorable performances in Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Babel and The Lincoln Lawyer. He also landed lead roles in World Trade Center and End of Watch, and played the title character in the biopic about Cesar Chavez released earlier this year.

Here, he and End of Watch director David Ayer talk about reuniting to collaborate on Fury, a World War II adventure starring Brad Pitt.

 

Kam Williams: Hi David and Michael, thanks for the interview. I really appreciate it.

David Ayer: Right on!

Michael Pena: Thanks, Kam.

 

KW: I loved Fury! Great job! Did you read my blurb about the movie?

DA: Not yet.

 

KW: I described it as a WWII tank flick you don’t so much watch as endure. Picture the sheer intensity of Saving Private Ryan coupled with the visual capture of The Thin Red Line, the harrowing claustrophobia of Das Boot, and the utter insanity of Apocalypse Now.

MP: I’ll take that. 

DA: That’s pretty damn good, bro!

 

KW: I’ll be mixing in readers’ questions with some of my own. Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: David, what is the most significant memory from your military service which continues to influence your writing today?

DA: Holy cow! Nothing I would care to say in public. [LOL] Actually, there’s nothing I could say in public, because of my security covenants. My proudest moment was being awarded my submarine warfare qualifications pin in the Philippines after a lot of intense studying.    

 

KW: David, given that you served in the Navy, where did the idea for Fury come from?

DA: I had one grandfather who was in the Army in World War II, and my other grandfather served in a Navy submarine during the war. And I had an uncle in the Army Air Corps. But I’ve always been fascinated by the war in Europe. And I kinda realized that no one had done a tank movie about it. It was sort of long overdue. So, I hope this becomes the classic American tank movie, the Top Gun for the Armored Corps.  

 

KW: I think you achieved that given how you make the audience feel like they’re right inside the tank and have us pulling for the crew at every turn. I was sweating bullets.

DA: It’s really intense.

 

KW: Bernadette asks Michael: Having appeared in multiple Ayer-written works, do you have an affinity for an Ayer script. Do you feel a certain rhythm to the dialogue in each film?

MP: Yeah, of course I loved Training Day and Harsh Times. I remember then reading the script for End of Watch and thinking: this is a great role, dude! I studied my entire life to make almost every performance as if I were doing a documentary. That’s my motivation. And David writes in that style, so I went, “Oh, this is so cool. I can actually delve in.” Not every director likes that. After I read the dinner scene, I couldn’t wait to do it. I remember on the day of the shoot, he asked me whether I wanted to warm up. But I said, “No, I’ve been rehearsing it for five months. Let’s go now!”   

 

KW: Bernadette asks: Michael, do you have a preference for roles in a certain genre? Is there a type of role you tend to seek to play?

MP: I didn’t go to acting school. Because I didn’t have a lot of cash, the way I taught myself how to act was by watching all of the early Inside the Actor’s Studio episodes. I watched Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire and Robert De Niro’s Mean Streets a hundred times. I prefer films that are very, very real, like Crash, End of Watch and now Fury. I just enjoy the basic human drama. 

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Michael, How did you prepare for the role of Gordo?

MP: It was tough because, although it was all there on the page, I wanted to represent more of a generational figure. So, I took from a bunch of other people. But as for the voice, David would talk to me in Spanish in kind of the same rhythm, because I could easily lose it, especially since we were filming in England where I was surrounded on the set by so many British accents. So, I needed a little more help on this one than usual. To me, the voice was a critical aspect of the character, because Gordo has a different sense of humor. He’s kind of a simple man. I thought about the way my dad is. He grew up in Mexico, and was a farmer. He’s a very simple, quiet, brooding man.  

 

KW: Patricia also asks: Michael, You recently portrayed Cesar Chavez?

MP: He means an awful lot, to be honest with you. My parents were farmers who came to the U.S. for the American Dream. They still grew cucumbers and peppers and corn in the backyard, because we didn’t have much money. They came to this country because people had taken advantage of them in Mexico. And here comes this small man by the name of Cesar Chavez who actually fought for their rights. It wasn’t the easiest thing for him to do, to speak up on behalf of people who didn’t have a voice. And he actually took it upon himself to do just that, and he made a big difference. So, it was an honor for me to be given an opportunity to portray him.

 

KW: Margaret Van Dagens says: You are both from the Midwest, and both originally from Illinois, my home state. I'd like to know how being from the Midwest has influenced your work, and whether being from there gave you a feeling of camaraderie as you collaborate on projects. This is not as superficial a question as it may sound. I feel that being from the Midwest has made a great difference in my work. 

MP: Honestly, I didn’t even know David was from the Midwest until this minute.

DA: Yeah, I bounced out of there as a kid, and pretty much grew up in L.A.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: David, how do you walk the fine line between gore and gripping?

DA: You don’t want to take your audience out of the movie, and too much of the wrong thing can do that. Violence and violent images obviously have a strong effect. If it’s gratuitous, it ain’t good. It has to have a reason. For me, especially in this film, violence has consequences. And the violence is part of the environment this band of brothers lives in. These guys are like a family trying to survive in a violent environment. So, every violent act is reflected in these characters. And they have to process them and come to terms with them.

 

KW: Harriet has one for you Michael. She says: You’ve just done a biopic and an action film based on true stories—how is the preparation different from roles based on fiction?

MP: I don’t really think there is much of a difference. I try to do the same kind of work from picture to picture. The only time it’s different is when I’m doing comedy. Then, the main focus is on making people laugh. And then, secondarily, you try to find the drama in it. I grew up in the ghetto, and I remember not realizing I lived in the ‘hood until I moved out of there. Then, I was like, “Oh man, I used to live like crap. Holy cow!” The crackheads and heroin addicts weren’t cool, but other than that I had so much fun growing up.      

 

KW: Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to direct, David?

DA: That’s hard for me to say. Because I’m a writer, it’s easy for me to generate material for myself. My big advantage as a director is that I’m also a writer. The way that markets work now, everything has to be PG-13, and you have to kind of go for a broader audience. So, the problem with remakes is that a lot of what made an original special can get watered down or lost.

KW: Thanks again for the time, guys, and best of luck with the film.

DA: Alright, Kam.

MP: Absolutely!

To see a trailer for Fury, visit:   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q94n3eWOWXM 


Interviews
UserpicBoris Kodjoe (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
06.10.2014

Boris Kodjoe
The “Addicted” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Kodjoe Aglow!

From his big screen and television roles to his theater and entrepreneurial skills, Boris Kodjoe has proven to be one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents. He is probably best known for his role as Damon Carter on the TV series “Soul Food.”

He can currently be seen opposite Kevin Hart, Nick Cannon and JB Smoove on another hit sitcom, “The Real Husbands of Hollywood,” and will soon be starring in the upcoming series “Members Only” which will premiere this fall on ABC. And on the big screen, Boris was recently seen reprising his role as Luther West in the box office hit Resident Evil: Retribution, as well as in Baggage Claim opposite Paula Patton, Derek Luke and Trey Songz.

He was born in Vienna, Austria to Ursula Kodjoe, a psychologist from Germany, and Eric Kodjoe, a physician from Ghana, West Africa. They raised Boris, his brother Patrick and sister Nadja in Germany where he became one of the best tennis players in the country before earning an athletic scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth University.

While studying in Richmond, he was approached by a talent scout for Ford Modeling agency which he joined after earning his marketing degree in May of 1996. Immediately, he booked a dozen campaigns such as Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, Yves Saint Laurent, and The GAP. His career skyrocketed as he quickly became one of the most recognizable male supermodels.

Hollywood soon took notice. While studying with acting coach Janet Alhanti, Boris started guest starring on sitcoms such as “For Your Love,” and landed a supporting role in the feature film Love and Basketball. He also starred in Brown Sugar, alongside Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan, for which he was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. His other screen credits include Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion, The Gospel, Surrogates and Resident Evil: Afterlife.

Onstage, Boris made his Broadway debut in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opposite James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad and Anika Noni Rose. Previously, he toured the country in the play Whatever She Wants with Vivica A. Fox and Richard Roundtree.

Boris and his brother Patrick have launched the clothing company ALFA (Affordable Luxury For All), bringing the luxury of custom-made clothing to every man and woman in America at affordable prices. The line can be accessed at www.worldofalfa.com. But his primary personal interest is to raise funds for Sophie’s Voice Foundation (www.sophiesvoicefoundation.org), a charity he started with his wife in honor of his daughter Sophie, who was diagnosed with spina bifida at birth.

Here, Boris discusses his new movie, Addicted, the screen adaptation of the steamy best-seller by Zane.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Boris, thanks for another opportunity to interview you.

Boris Kodjoe: Thank you, Kam.

 

KW: You know, I recently met Nicole at a charity function here in Princeton after one of her performances of Antony & Cleopatra.

BK:  Wow!

 

KW: That was a lot of fun after having interviewed her several times over the years. She’s even more beautiful and gracious in person. Now, let me ask you about the movie. What interested you in Addicted? Were you already a Zane fan?

BK:  I wasn’t as aware of her before I read the script. That’s when I began to find out more and more about Zane, her tremendous fan base, and all of her books.

 

KW: How did you like the idea of playing the aggrieved party instead of the hunk the female lead is after?  

BK: It was interesting to me, because he went from being a victim to being a protagonist, in a way, once he found out that his wife had been leading this parallel life. So, the character had to deal wiith all kinds of obstacles, and ups-and-downs that I found intriguing.

 

KW: Tell me a little about what it was like making this movie.

BK:  It was great. It was almost like a family affair. I’ve known [director] Bille Woodruff for years, as well as [fellow cast members] Tyson [Beckford], Sharon [Leal] and everybody. So, it was quite easy to trust my director. My job was basically to make Sharon feel comfortable and protected. She was so courageous and vulnerable, and did such an amazing job. And I was sort of the safety net for her to do all that.

 

KW: Was there any tension on the set between Zane, the author of the novel, and Bille in terms of their vision for the screen adaptation?

BK:  No, they got all of that out of the way before we started shooting. They had numerous meetings, and made sure they were on the same page. To make a movie like that, you really have to trust your director, and they were on the same page.

 

KW: What message do you think people will take away from?

BK:  It’s about communication, weathering the storms, and making sure you really understand each other. In a situation like that, especially where addiction is involved, that lines of communication are open for the spouse not only to understand but to be ready to jump in and help. In the film, you see how difficult it can be because there’s guilt, there’s blame, there’s doubt, and therapy comes into play, as well. And it encourages the audience to engage in conversation after seeing the movie, which is great, too.  

 

KW: You’re really busy on TV nowadays, between Real Husbands of Hollywood and Members Only.

BK:  Yeah, Husbands starts up on October 14th, that’s when Season Three premieres. And I just finished the first episode of Members Only, which takes a unique look into contemporary life at a country club, at a lot of scandal and other ridiculousness that transpires there. So, it’s been exciting for me to do both shows, and a diverse selection of work overall.  

 

KW: Do the series’ shooting schedules overlap?

BK:  No, it worked out perfectly, which things usually do when you relinquish control and give it to God.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How do you and Nicole balance your busy careers with being the parents of young children?

BK: It’s not about balance. It’s about priorities, and we make family our priority, and everything else sort of falls into place around it. When you do that, you don’t have the stress of trying to make things happen. They happen organically. Our kids are more important to us than any movie or TV show. So, we want to make sure they have what they need, and mostly that’s quality time with us.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

BK:  An amazing book I read with my kids about the life of a child with a very rare and severe facial disfigurement, and about how his environment responds to him, and how he makes his life, his community, friends and school. It’s phenomenal. We’re reading it right now. The book is called “Wonder” and the main character’s name is August. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375869026/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20  

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you at this point in your career?

BK:  Anything that’s new and different.  

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

BK:  Our new clothing line, World of Alfa [ www.worldofalfa.com ]. That’s our company.

 

KW: Let's say you’re throwing your dream dinner party—who’s invited… and what would you serve?

BK: My wife, my father, my brother, my mother, James Earl Jones, Sidney Poitier, Rupert Murdoch, Desmond Tutu, J.J. Abrams, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, John Stewart, Bill Maher, Chris Rock and Banksy. A big table.  

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

BK:  In Vienna, when I was a year-and-a-half or two years-old. I remember it because I remember the little blue raincoat I used to wear, and how the buttons felt. I liked to walk on the street in front of our house when it was raining, and jump into all the puddles. That’s weird, but that’s my earliest memory. I’m going to have to go to therapy to figure out what that means.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere anything that you promised yourself you’d do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

BK:  No, I never dealt with fame. It was never a goal of mine to become famous. So, I never projected any goals associated with that. But I did have a bunch of goals I wanted to achieve when I was financially able to do so, but they had nothing to do with fame. When I set goals, they’re more tangible than becoming famous. You don’t build a company or a foundation for fame. By the way, October is Spina Bifida Month, so that’s a big deal for us.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

BK:  I had to make a decision about whether it would impact how I felt about trusting people, and I decided I wasn’t going top allow it to impact my outlook on trust, because I believe trust is a choice. And I’ve always given people the benefit of the doubt until they prove me otherwise. So, it just made me stronger in my conviction about that, but it also taught me never to put anything past anyone.

 

KW: Ausgezeichnet!

BK:  danke sehr.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

BK:  Just the way I dress. [Laughs] Otherwise, I’m the same person. I don’t put on a face. I’m the same guy every time you see me. I like to laugh, I like to smile, and I don’t take myself too seriously. I can be a goofball. When I come home, the only thing that changes is that I take off the suit and put on tennis shorts and play with the kids.

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

BK:  I’m always an entrepreneur, but I’d probably be a teacher. I like teaching kids, whether that’s tennis on the courts or history in the classroom.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

BK:  American Gigolo.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

BK:  Conviction. Belief in yourself. What it really says is that we are willing to weather the storm of multiple failures to achieve a goal. We’re so convinced in the destination that we are able to let go of the reins and give it to God.

 

KW: The Pastor Alex Kendrick question: When do you feel the most content?

BK: When I’m with my family.

 

KW: The Pastor Alex Kendrick question: What defines who you are?

BK: My actions.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

BK: Abort the mission, and build your own.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Boris, and best of luck with Addicted.

BK: No problem, thank you, Kam.

To see a trailer for Addicted, visit: http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/theatrical/addicted/


Interviews
UserpicJeremy Renner (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
05.10.2014

Jeremy Renner
The “Kill the Messenger” Interview
with Kam Williams

Chillin’ with the Messenger!

Jeremy Renner starred in The Hurt Locker, which won a half-dozen Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow). For his portrayal of Sgt. William James, he received many accolades, including his first Academy Award nomination, in the Best Actor category.

The following year, he was again an Academy Award nominee, this time as Best Supporting Actor for his performance as James Coughlin in The Town, directed by Ben Affleck. Moviegoers worldwide also know him for his starring roles as Hawkeye in The Avengers, as William Brandt in Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and as Aaron Cross in The Bourne Legacy.

Jeremy’s breakthrough movie role was as Jeffrey Dahmer in Dahmer. And his other films include American Hustle; The Immigrant; Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters; The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; 28 Weeks Later; Take; North Country; S.W.A.T.; and Neo Ned.

Here, he talks about his new film, Kill the Messenger, directed by Michael Cuesta. The two previously collaborated on 12 and Holding which was nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards’ John Cassavetes Award.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Jeremy. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Jeremy Renner: Thank you, Kam. My pleasure.

 

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you, so I’ll be mixing in my questions with theirs.

JR: Okay, great!

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: Oh my God! Oh my God! You made a movie about Gary Webb. Thank you. Wow! You are ripping my heart out right now. I am not going to cry. I just forgot what the heck I was supposed to be doing today. Jeez! I’m giving myself permission to cry a little. Jeremy, to me, this is one of the most important stories of the Modern Age. And the way Gary’s life was systematically destroyed—not just by the CIA but by the newspapers that mindlessly colluded with them—makes me weep for all time. His book, “Dark Alliance,” is one of my most treasured possessions. She asks: Mr. Renner, did either your role in Kill the Messenger or The Hurt Locker change the way you regard the world or our nation?

JR: Yeah, but not in a political sense. Just five minutes ago, I was talking to someone else about The Hurt Locker’s not being a political movie, whereas it could have quite easily been spun into one very heavy-handedly. Kill the Messenger is a little more obviously a political picture, but I didn’t really want politics to weigh-in on that, even though I might have my opinion and thoughts about it. I think politics and religion are personal belief systems that have nothing to do with anybody else. That’s where I stand. And I don’t like to make movies that try to force people to change their opinions. However, while the backdrop of Kill the Messenger involved politics and journalism, what was important to me was the underdog story. I love to watch an Everyman rise to the occasion under extraordinary circumstances, like in David and Goliath. I think that universal theme resonates with almost anyone, since most people are trying to do the best they can. Like The American way. I pride myself in sort of representing that, as an actor, especially with Gary Webb coming from the same area as I. It was a tragic situation all the way around, and a big story that’s impossible to tell in two hours, which is why we focused more on Gary Webb personally. 

 

KW: Lisa also asks: What did you learn by immersing yourself in Gary’s life story?  

JR: I’d always been on the other side of journalism, just being asked questions. This afforded me a chance to learn a lot about newspapers, satellite stations, and the work of an investigative reporter, and how they get a story. But what I still really enjoyed the most was learning about Gary Webb’s personal life as a father and husband, as well as a journalist.

 

KW: Lisa’s last question is: Do you think Gary committed suicide, or do you think he was killed by the CIA?

JR: I have an opinion about it, but I don’t care to address that on the record. I’ll let the movie speak for itself. What matters more to me is what other people think.

 

KW: David Roth thinks that since you’re one of the producers, you must feel pretty passionate about this project. He asks: Why do you think this story took a back seat to the Monica Lewinsky scandal?

JR: [LOL] The Monica Lewinsky story… [Laughs some more] and I do say this laughing… is just more entertaining to follow. Dark Alliance was talking about the CIA connection to cocaine and crack as opposed to blow jobs, which was a lot easier to swallow, no pun intended. [Chuckles]

 

KW: David also asks: Why didn’t you include Webb’s decline and death in the film, since it was under such suspicious circumstances?

JR: We did, actually. We have a very beautiful, long tracking shot. We replicated the morgue photo, and we originally had it bookending the beginning and end of the movie. But it felt too heavy-handed, and made what we were saying glaringly obvious, which wasn’t how we wanted the movie to be. So, we took it out, and put in a little text at the end saying what happened, instead of showing all that stuff. We wanted to be very delicate about showing what happened to Gary Webb as opposed to going, “Eff you, CIA! Eff you, government! Eff you L.A. Times and the San Jose Mercury News! It’s not about shooting all these other people down, because I don’t think there’s just one bad person to point at here, at all. The tragedy is really on Gary Webb and his being victimized by uncovering something that was ultimately true. 

 

KW: Sangeetha Subram says: Your performance in Kill the Messenger was sensational! I also loved you in The Bourne Legacy also. She asks: Is there one actor or actress that you would say has inspired you?

JR: Thank you, Sangeetha. Jeez! Most of the people I’ve worked with have inspired me. I’ve been lucky to work with so many great actors. Speaking of the Bourne Legacy, Rachel Weisz was someone I’d been trying to work with for so long. She’s amazing! I love Emily Blunt, too. She’s another one of my favorites. But there are loads and loads of them. It’s a long list. 

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: You’ve achieved leading figure status and you also do wonderful ensemble work—how different is your focus for each kind of different ‘space’ on the screen?

JR: The focus, I suppose, is the same. The requirement of time is not nearly as demanding, but the work is the same whether you work one day or a hundred days on a movie. You still have to bring a fully-realized, three-dimensional character to the screen. So, the work is the same, it’s just that the responsibility of carrying the movie is lightened.

 

KW: Harriet also asks: How do you put your own imprint on a movie that is based on a true story, you’ve done a bunch of them, when you already know your character’s motivation and outcome?

JR: I guess it’s a subjective thing. If I’m playing a real-life person, I’m beholden to the truths of who they are or who they were, if they’re dead. It’s easy, but then there are limitations to that, because they’re a known figure. If it’s something I’m creating, it’s free game. So, I guess truth is really the ultimate decider of what it is. 

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

JR:  I feel like we’re constantly remaking movies, but they just have different titles. I believe there are twelve stories that we retell over and over again thematically. I’ve never thought about remaking a film, but I’ve probably already done it. [Chuckles]

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

JR:  It’s usually the other way around. They ask a question I wish they wouldn’t ask. [Laughs heartily] But I welcome any opportunity to answer a question I’ve never been asked before. But I don’t know what that is. You’re asking me to divulge something I don’t really want anyone to know about me, but I don’t want anybody to know anything about me. [LOL]

 

KW: Here’s one you might never have been asked: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

JR: [Chuckles] I can’t tell that story. I was running around naked in my mom’s high-heeled shoes. I was a tyrant. I was always disappearing a lot, like a ninja.  

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

JR: Breakfast. Anything for breakfast. It’s my favorite meal.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

JR: Flaws.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you at this stage in your career?

JR: The same thing as ever. The same principles that did with my very first job: to be challenged to grow.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

JR: I suppose I can get a little loose on the red carpet, but I’m not wearing a suit at home where I’m relaxed and a bit more of a goofball. Who I am as a person is a pretty down-to-earth, simple, simple man.  

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

JR: To be with my daughter.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key qualities do you believe all successful people share? 

JR: Tenacity, perseverance and fearlessness.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

JR: Flying is always a good one.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be? You were a makeup artist before you got your big break, right?

JR: Yeah, I was a makeup artist for a little while, instead of waiting tables. I’d probably be a teacher, a musician or a real estate developer, which I’m already doing.

 

KW: What instrument do you play?

JR: Drums, guitar and piano, and I sing.

 

KW: Can I find you performing on Youtube?

JR: There’s some stuff from SNL and from when I was pressured to sing on some talk shows.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

JR: If there’s anything else that makes you happy, please go do that. But if this is what you love, and what you want, make it your Plan A, and don’t have a Plan B. Don’t plan to fail.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

JR: As complicated.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Jeremy, and best of luck with Kill the Messenger. And I hope to speak to you again about your next project.

JR: Yeah, yeah. I really appreciate it, Kam.

To see a trailer for Kill the Messenger, visit: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N2nuDtJX0M

To see Jeremy singing “Stuck in the Middle with You” with family and friends, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5TXSqGnLto


Interviews
UserpicLaurence Fishburne (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
28.09.2014

Laurence Fishburne
The “Black-ish” Interview
with Kam Williams 

Fishburne Baby Fishburne!

Laurence J. Fishburne, III has achieved an impressive body of work as an actor, producer and director. Starting at the age of 10, Laurence starred on the soap opera "One Life to Live." He made his feature film debut at age 12 in "Cornbread, Earl and Me" and followed that up a few years later with "Apocalypse Now."

 

His television performances include "The Box" episode of "Tribeca" which earned him an Emmy award and "Thurgood," which earned him an Emmy nomination. He starred for three seasons on the hit series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and he was an Emmy Award nominee and an NAACP Image Award winner for his starring role in the telefilm "Miss Evers' Boys," which he executive-produced. And he can currently be seen alongside Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen in the NBC thriller series "Hannibal."

Through his production company, Cinema Gypsy, Laurence is scheduled to executive-produce and star in "The Right Mistake," a dramatic television series for HBO. The company also made the movies "Akeelah and the Bee," "Five Fingers" and "Once in the Life."

Among his many film credits are "Boyz n the Hood," "A Rumor of War," "The Color Purple," "The Matrix" trilogy, "Decoration Day" and "The Tuskegee Airmen," for which he received an NAACP Image Award. Laurence also won the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Theatre World, and Tony Awards for his portrayal of Sterling Johnson in August Wilson's "Two Trains Running." In 2006. he reteamed with his frequent acting partner Angela Bassett at The Pasadena Playhouse in August Wilson's "Fences." directed by Samuel Epps.

Here, he talks about playing Pops on the new TV sitcom, “Black-ish.”

 

Kam Williams: Hi Laurence, I’m honored to have another opportunity to speak with you.

Laurence Fishburne: Thank you, Kam. It’s good to hear your voice. 

 

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you, so I’m mixing in their questions with my own. Aaron Moyne asks: What inspired the title Black-ish?

LF: Ah, the title came from Kenya Barris, our writer/creator. It’s like “squeamish” or “Jewish” or other “ish” terms like that.

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: Why this show? Why now? And Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: What was “intrigue-ish” about doing this show?

LF: What was intriguing to me, first of all, was that it’s comedy, which is something I don’t do a lot of. I’ve wanted to do comedy for a while, and the elements of this show fit. They really made sense in terms of my doing a comedy basically about a well-to-do black family with children of privilege, living in modern America, in our Digital Age. I can relate to what all of that means and how we have to navigate it. So, that’s the why and the where.   

 

KW: How would you describe your character, Pops, in 25 words or less?

LF: [Chuckles] I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t describe my character Pops in 25 words or less.

 

KW: Director Rel Dowdell says: You've presented some of the most memorable images of African-American men at either end of the spectrum with "Furious Styles" from "Boyz N the Hood" and Ike Turner from "What's Love Got to Do with It?" Is it difficult to portray characters that are so different in persona and morality, and do you have a preference?

LF: I don’t have a preference. The wonderful thing about what I do is being able to run the gamut. It’s never the same. I don’t get excited about the idea of playing the same person all the time. I do get excited about being able to explore different people and different characters, and using my range, as it were.

 

KW: Professor/Filmmaker/editor Hisani Dubose says: Please ask the wonderful Mr. Fishburne why he decided to do comedy. He's such a great actor that I'm sure he'll pull it off.

LF: Because I haven’t done much of it and because a lot of people don’t know that I actually can be quite funny. Plus, I feel that the context of the show, the timing of everything, and my wonderful cast mates, Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, all added up to the perfect combination of ingredients. It just makes sense at this time. And actors should be able to do both comedy and drama. At least the good ones.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Do you get to ad-lib on the show?

LF: Yes, we do.

 

KW: Shelley Evans asks: Is it any easier for African-American actors to land parts on television and web series these days?

LF: Well, it’s certainly easier than it was 30 years ago! [LOL]

 

KW: Sangeetha Subram asks: Do you think diversity has improved on television over the years? There is still so much more to do, but is there anything the general public can do to campaign for more authentic diverse images being represented?

LF: I think that if the general public would use that social media tool to express their desire to see a more authentic and genuine representation of what the American family looks like, then that would be helpful.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I have a high respect for you as an actor for decades and I was blown away to discover even more your high-caliber when you performed the role of Thurgood Marshall for the play. My question is what does Marshall represent to you and how did you prepare for the role?

LF: Thurgood Marshall represents so much to many different people. For me, he really came to represent not just the courage that African-Americans have had to have in the face of discrimination and racism, but the courage that was borne out of the love that he received from his family, his community, his educators and his classmates. Everything he did was borne out of that love and support that was given to him. He also went into the lion’s den not only with great courage but with great humor. So, he’s really a towering figure in our history.

 

KW: Is there another historical figure you would like to portray?

LF: I’m sure there are many, but I couldn’t pick just one right now.

 

KW: D.V. Brooks says: Mr. Fishburne, having become one of our esteemed elders in the performing arts and public figures what advice would you like to pass on to the upcoming generation of writers, actors, producers and directors of color in continuing the legacy of such individuals such as  Ruby Dee, Amiri Baraka, August Wilson and others like yourself?

LF: The real answer to that is that when I see those young people I will give that advice to them. It is for them and for them only.

 

KW: D.V. also says: You and I share an experience from our youth: the Model Cities summer programs. What did that experience, along with the support of your parents, Laurence, Sr. and Hattie, instill in you as an artist?  

LF: The Model Cities experience didn’t really inform me as an artist as much as it informed me as a human being. It was a very safe place to be, and I came away from that experience with a lot more confidence in myself as a person.  

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: Kam, you must use my questions and comments.  Please start off by letting Laurence know that I've followed his career since One Life to Live. Let him know that I'm a huge fan of his work, especially the amazing performance he honored us playing Socrates Fortlow in “Always Outnumbered" That blew me away. I went thru a box of tissues that night. Thank him for me because he really brought it.

LF: Thank you, Marcia.

 

KW: She goes on to say: I know his lovely wife Gina Torres has Cuban roots. I wonder if he's had the pleasure to visit Cuba as yet.

LF: No I haven’t been to Cuba yet.

 

KW: She also says: I'm aware he is a music lover and I’d like to know whether he digs Cuban vibes.

LF: I love Cuban music.

 

KW: Next, she asks: What are your favorite countries to visit?

LF: Goodness! I love Morocco. I love Italy. I love Spain. And I love Tahiti.

 

KW: Finally, Marcia suggests: They should make a film about Hannibal, and cast you, Mr. Laurence Fishburne, in the title role. You’d make a splendid Hannibal!

LF: That’s very kind, Marcia. Thank you very much!

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

LF: No. [Chuckles]

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

LF: The last book I read would be right here on my Kindle. It’s called “Perfect Brilliant Stillness.” http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0976578301/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

LF: I enjoy making Arroz con Pollo for my wife.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Laurence. I really appreciate it. And best of luck with Black-ish.

LF: You’re welcome and thanks, Kam.

 

To see a trailer for Black-ish, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNqqjDv6_dU


Interviews
UserpicJoy Luck Amy
Posted by Kam Williams
23.09.2014

Amy Tan
“The Boomer List” Interview
with Kam Williams

Born in Oakland, California on February 19, 1952 to immigrant parents from China, Amy Tan is an award-winning writer whose novel, The Joy Luck Club, was translated into 35 languages and adapted into a hit feature film. She resisted her mother’s pressure to become a doctor and concert pianist.

Instead, Amy chose to write fiction. Besides The Joy Luck Club, she is the author of The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Saving Fish from Drowning, and Valley of Amazement,were all New York Times best-sellers.

She also penned her memoir, The Opposite of Fate;two children’s books, The Moon Lady and Sagwa; The Chinese Siamese Cat; and numerous articles for magazines. In addition, Amy served as co-producer and co-screenwriterfor the film adaptation of The Joy Luck Club and was the creative consultant for Sagwa, the Emmy-nominated PBS television series for children.

She wrote the libretto for the opera based on her novel The Bonesetter’s Daughter. With music composed by Stewart Wallace, the opera had its world premiere to sold-out audiences in September and October of 2008 at the San Francisco Opera.

Here, she talks about being profiled in The Boomer List, a PBS American Masters documentary featuring icons of the Baby Boom Generation. The special premieres from 9-10:30 PM ET/PT on Tuesday, September 23rd (check local listings).

 

Kam Williams: Hi Amy, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you. We’re also both Boomers born in 1952.

Amy Tan: Thanks, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in participating in The Boomer List?

AT: I thought it would be interesting to examine who we are as a generation. I also thought it would be fun because I’d worked with [director] Timothy [Greenfield-Sanders] before.  

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Thank you for The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife and all your fine writing since then right up to The Valley of Amazement which I just finished. You’ve been on plenty of best-seller lists. How does that compare to representing your generation on the The Boomer List?

AT: I suppose you could call me representative in terms of my going from being a part of an invisible set of writers who were outside of the mainstream to becoming a mainstream writer. That, people thought was very significant, breaking through some sort of barrier that I wasn’t aware of. I wasn’t trying to break through barriers. I was just writing a book. Before, there were plenty of books out there that had been written by African-Americans which were always treated as somehow on the periphery. They’d be in Ethnic Studies classes but they eventually became part of mainstream American literature. In that sense, I do think my novels have contributed to that development of American literature.

 

KW: That reminds me of when I took a course in college called The Great American Short Stories and all the writers we covered were white males. On the first day of class, I raised my hand and asked the professor why all the great American writers were white males.

AT: I went through exactly the same education that you’re talking about. I was an English major, and the only woman represented on the course curriculum was Virginia Woolf. I ended up taking a special class in Black literature as part of a summer program, and Asian literature classes still didn’t exist yet.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: You are among the most successful female writers. Only about a dozen women laureates have won the Nobel Prize for Literature since its inception. Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin had to take the pseudonym George Sand to become a French novelist and memoirist. Historically, it has been difficult for women to thrive in the literary world. How can we break the glass ceiling and what advice do you have for aspiring writers?
AT: I really don’t know how one breaks through unless you have more diversity on the judging panel. What I have observed is that the winners are often books about larger political world issues. All I know is that my books would never win a prize like that because, in the judges’ minds, do not concern larger world politics. As a judge, which I’ve done, you look for literary merit overall, but so many prizes, especially the Nobel, have a political tinge to them. Not to say that’s wrong. It also has to do with what people perceive the value of literature to be, and what function it should perform, as opposed to simply being its own art form and entertaining. 

 

KW: I found it interesting that your mother focused more on teaching you about being a female than about being Chinese-American?

AT: I think that was because she felt the greater impediment, the greater danger, had to do with being a woman. Among the lessons she taught me was that I should never let anyone else look down on me or determine how I saw myself. She felt that you can be constrained by the way that people think in any culture.

 

KW: Yet, she also told you that you weren’t beautiful.  

AT: I look back at pictures of myself as a teenager and laugh. I certainly was not beautiful. I had acne, hideous glasses, a hideous hairdo, a puffy face, all the usual things for a 13 year-old. My mother was not one to coddle and say, “You’re so beautiful, darling. People just can’t appreciate it.” My mother always saw danger in beauty and said: “If you try to rely on beauty, you’re going to find yourself lost after awhile because beauty doesn’t last, and because people are attracted to beauty for the wrong reasons. So, you should be glad that you’re not beautiful.” That was her perspective. [Laughs] I think I was very fortunate that at that point when I was forming an image of myself I understood that I was going to have to depend on something else to find someone who was interested in me. My mother never stopped talking about how beautiful she was and how much that had gotten her into trouble. The worst of men were attracted to her.

 

KW: I saw some pictures of you as a teenager, and I think you looked very cute. When you look in the mirror today, what do you see?

AT: I’m very content when I look in the mirror. I’m happy with the way I look. I’m just me. I’ve grown into this face.

 

KW: As a child you also felt ashamed of being Chinese. Why was that?

AT: By the time I was 6, I had gradually become aware of the fact that I was different. And as my family moved up the economic ladder, we moved a lot, to better and better neighborhoods, and the classrooms in my schools became whiter and whiter, until eventually, I was the only Chinese girl in the class. By the time you reach 11 or 12, no child wants to be too different. You kinda want to look like everybody else. I had that same feeling. I wanted to have blonde hair and a perky nose and have boys look at me and admire my figure. But that didn’t happen. So much of it had to do with the boy-girl thing which became a hallmark of popularity and acceptability in junior high and high school. I just wanted that like everybody else. And I believed that I didn’t get any dates because I was Chinese.

 

KW: What inspired you to swim with sharks after you turned 60? A desire to do something daring and dangerous? 

AT: No, it was that I literally wanted to discover something new in the way that Darwin did in discovering new species. It’s such an ambitious and almost impossible goal, but it would keep prompting me to look for something no one had ever noticed before. In some way, we are all different from everyone else in the world. That could be manifested by noticing something no one else has noticed. In Indonesia, I found the ugliest ant condo, and I decided, “I’ll take that.”

I also sensed that one way I could discover something new was by exploring the ocean, because there are so many unidentified species there. So, swimming with whale sharks with some conservationist friends became part of that adventure. I had not anticipated that it would be so life-changing. You simply abandon fear for the pure excitement and beauty and joy and surrealism of being around the world’s largest fish, and having them look you right in the eye. I even accidentally touched some of them at times as they started to turn when swimming close by.  

 

KW: Do you think China is a lot like the United States today?

AT: Superficially, yes. But I think China has gone beyond just being more Western. There’s a lifestyle, an attitude, and a pace unlike that of the U.S. It’s hyper-speed. As Baby Boomers, we were the last American generation that could assume that we would own a house. However, that’s the norm now in China. Acquisition! And over the top acquisition! People will pay $100,000 for a designer purse. You have no idea how hyper-acquisitive people are in China. I don’t think many Americans would find they have much in common with them. I have relatives in China and I have seen them change dramatically as a result of this new acquisitiveness. Here, a lot of younger people don’t identify with Baby Boomers because they see us similarly. We were the big bulge and set a lot of the trends in the consumer model of what was popular. China is doing that now as well. But they aren’t desirous of being like Americans.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams says: While the Boomers did accomplish much good in breaking up some of the social and gender stratification in our country, many Generation Xers resent the Boomers' cultural domination in the 80s and 90s, and even now as child-raising adults. Do you think that Baby Boomers, as a group, are aware of this animosity towards them on account of how they shaped our country at a high cost to future generations and where they’ve taken the U.S. economically, spiritually and socially?

AT: I’m certainly aware of it, but I don’t know that all Baby Boomers are. I think there are different strands of our generation. One that was very interesting was behind our grassroots efforts which got some traction on behalf of the anti-war movement, women’s liberation and equal rights for gays. We’re the last generation with the expectation of upward mobility and the home ownership and the credit card mentality. Those coming behind us feel that debt is what we’ve left them with, and the idea of having it now, but paying for it later. I think they also resent the amount of our pollution. We were the start of McDonald’s and the fast food culture and of massive consumer waste. But we also did a lot of positive things, entering the Peace Corps, campaigning for George McGovern, loving Jimmy Carter for what he was doing for social good, and I think many Boomers still have that consciousness. I would say to those who really despise Boomers: Don’t lump us all together. The credit card Boomers led us down a very nasty path of debt and unemployment. 

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

AT: I’d be embarrassed to admit the name of the last one I really read. It was a funny, fluffy book. But before that, I reread Love in the Time of Cholera. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0307389731/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

Next, I’m planning to read Middlemarch which, oddly enough, I’ve never read. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0141439548/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

AT: Cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, sautéed together in oil and garlic, and garnished with capers and lemon. I’m vegetarian. I don’t eat meat. I could talk about how bad it is for the environment, but…

 

KW: Let's say you’re throwing your dream dinner party—who’s invited?

AT: I’m always terrible at that “If you were stranded on a desert island” type of question. I think, if I could have dinner with almost anyone, I would prefer it to be with people gone from my life, rather than important political figures like President Obama and President Assad to see what they’d have to say to each other. I want to see loved ones again and to hear about things that we didn’t have time to talk about. So, it would be the impossible dinner list of people I know I would never be able to see again.   

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

AT: I remember sitting under a tree in the summer, at 2½, when something fuzzy and round fell on top of my head and made me cry. I picked it up, and it looked like a peach. But my mother says it must have been an apricot since we only had an apricot tree in the backyard. We were living in Fresno at that time.

 

KW:  What are you working on now? 

AT: I’m working on a book about writing. It’s not a how-to book. It’s really about what Ezra Pound call “The Undertow.” The undertow of your life. All the things that come to the surface and all the things can drag you down and take you away forever. I’m trying to capture that sense of who I am from the very beginning, and of what I’ve noticed about life, and death, and relationships. So, I can’t really say what the book is about yet because I still have to find out more of what this writer is about first. 

 

KW: Wow! I look forward to reading it. Well, have a good trip. I hear you’re leaving for Europe today.

AT: Yeah, I’m headed to Holland, Germany, Iceland and Italy. My big thing is I need to make sure I get enough sleep everyday. 

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Amy, and bon voyage!

AT: My pleasure, Kam.

To see a trailer for The Boomer List, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz0icyUEQtc


Interviews
UserpicEqualizers ā€˜ŠÆā€™ Us
Posted by Kam Williams
15.09.2014

Denzel Washington & Antoine Fuqua
“The Equalizer” Interview
with Kam Williams

Denzel Washington is a man constantly on the move. Never content to just repeat his successes, the two-time Academy Award-winner (for Glory and Training Day) is always searching for new challenges through his numerous and varied film and stage portrayals. 

From Trip, the embittered runaway slave in Glory to South African freedom fighter Steven Biko in Cry Freedom; from Shakespeare's tragic historical figure Richard III to the rogue detective Alonzo in Training Day; to his recent critically-acclaimed performance as the addicted airline pilot Whip Whitaker in Flight, Denzel has amazed and entertained audiences with a rich array of characters distinctly his own.

The talented thespian has also starred in 2 Guns, Safe House, Unstoppable, The Book Of Eli, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, American Gangster, Inside Man, Déjà Vu, Man on Fire, The Manchurian Candidate and Out Of Time, to name a few. And his next film as director was The Great Debaters, where he co-starred opposite Forest Whitaker.

Here, Denzel and director Antoine Fuqua discuss their reuniting to collaborate again on The Equalizer. 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Denzel and Antoine, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with the two of you.

Denzel Washington: Our pleasure!

Antoine Fuqua: Yeah, thanks Kam.

 

KW: I want you to know that I loved this film and also your previous one, Antoine, Olympus Has Fallen. Thanks for using my quote on the DVD. I hope I get blurbed for this one, too. 

AF: Of course! You’re welcome.

 

KW: I have more questions for you two from readers than you could ever answer, but I hope we can get through a lot of them.

DW: Go!

 

KW: Film Student Jamaal Green doesn’t have a question, but says: You are both an inspiration to me and many of my peers who are pursuing a career in filmmaking. Thank you for your dedication to your craft.

AF: Thank you Jamal!

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls says to Antoine: Thank you for giving us a Black hero. Do you see the Equalizer as blossoming into a franchise?

AF: I hope so, but that’d be up to the audience.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: Antoine, I have only seen the trailer for The Equalizer, but I was blown away by the cinematography. How were you able to achieve that look?

AF: With the help of a great cinematographer, Mauro Fiore [Oscar-winner for Avatar].

 

KW: Pittsburgh publisher Robin Beckham asks As an Academy Award-winning actor, what is it like to work again with one of the few African-American directors, Pittsburgh born, Training Day director Antoine Fuqua? Is there some special “brother” chemistry in action while working together?

DW: [LOL, speaks while Antoine also laughs heartily] Yes, we have the ”brother” meeting every weekend, at the Brotherhood of Black Directors and Black Actors’ meeting. No, Antoine is obviously very talented, and we’ve had some success in the past, and I also look forward to our next opportunity.

 

KW: Director Rel Dowdell says: Denzel, you have set the standard of excellence for African-American actors for so long. Is there any type of film that you haven't had the chance to act in yet that you would like to?

DW: No. [Laughs again, then pauses to think] I don’t know... There’s no wish list, but thanks for asking, Rel.

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving asks Denzel: Have you ever taken on a role that, when you were in the middle of it, made you think – wait, this is impossible?

DW: What does Lisa mean by impossible? Impossible to do or to be or in some other way?  

KW: I have no idea. I’m just reading what was sent in.

DW: Don’t shoot the messenger, right? [Chuckles]

KW: Yeah.

 

KW: Lisa also says: Antoine, based on your childhood, would your mom have been surprised to know all that you were going to accomplish in your professional career?

AF: Absolutely! Absolutely! I played sports. She would never think I was going to be a director. That wasn’t part of our daily conversations.

 

KW: Hirangi Patel asks Denzel: What can you reveal about your character Robert McCall’s mysterious back story?

DW: It wouldn’t be mysterious anymore, if I revealed it. [Antoine chuckles in background] You have to go to the movie and see.

 

KW: Dr. Joy Ohayia would like to ask Denzel: What is your secret to staying in fantastic shape for your action movies?

DW: There’s no easy way. Going to the gym, and a good diet and exercise. Well, I guess there are some magic pills available these days, but I don’t take any of ‘em. I may start, though. [Laughs]

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles: What message about this action hero do you hope viewers take away from the film?

DW: Maybe Antoine will answer that question, butI never do because it all depends upon what each viewer brings to the film. The idea is just to have a good time. It’s not a big deal. Is there a message, Antoine?

AF: No, just doin’ the right thing. He’s a guy who does the right thing, what’s necessary to help others.

 

KW: David Roth asks Antoine about The Equalizer: Why would a black man attempting to disappear choose to live in a predominantly white community?

AF: [While Denzel bellows in the background] who says it’s a white community?

DW: Actually, it’s a black and Hispanic community.

 

KW: Aaron Moyne: If you had the power to equalize social injustices in real-life, what would be the first one you'd tackle?

DW: Who’s that one for?

KW: He didn’t say.

DW: You got that one, Antoine?

AF: That’s a tough one. There’s a lot of things that need equalizing.

DW: Yeah. Just getting along, Aaron, and having respect for your fellow man.

 

KW: Kate Newell asks: Denzel, would you ever consider a career in politics?

DW: [Emphatically] No!

 

KW: Claudia Thorne asks Denzel: I would love it if you were the commencement speaker at my graduation from Howard University next year.

DW: Thank you, Claudia.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: What advice do you have for aspiring minority actors and directors, and did either of you have a protégé?

DW: Don’t look at yourself as a minority.  

AF: Yeah. Yeah, that’s right.

 

KW: Tony Noel asks Denzel: How have you managed to avoid having your life splashed across the tabloids?
DW: You can’t, unless you stay in the house. [Belly laughter from both]

 

KW: Tony asks Denzel: Is there an outcome or theme of a movie of yours that you would change if you could?  

DW: I don’t know. We actually changed the ending in Training Day. In the original one, he lived. He walked away into an airport or something.

AF: Yeah.

DW: We changed the ending since, in order to justify Alonzo Harris’ living in the worst way, he had to die in the worst way, which he did.

 

KW: Steve Kramer says: I played the piano for "The All Nite Strut" and worked with your then girlfriend…

DW: [Denzel cuts me off] Get outta here! Pauletta?

KW: Yes, with Pauletta in Boston and Toronto. I was a skinny white guy with a big Jew-fro back then.

DW: [LOL] A skinny guy white guy with a big Jew-fro?

KW: Yep.

DW: Okay, I’ll ask my wife.  

KW: Steve was wondering whether you remember walking the streets of Boston with him right before the release of your first movie, Carbon Copy, when he told you there was no greater woman than Pauletta?  

DW: Well, I’m glad I listened to him. [Chuckles]

 

KW: Denzel, city bus driver Kevin Kenna would like to know whether you have any fond memories of Philadelphia?

DW: Yeah, my son went to the University of Pennsylvania, so I have a lot of great memories from visiting him and working there… Cheese steaks and going to the Palestra to watch basketball games.

 

KW: Richie von der Schmidt asks Denzel about Philadelphia: Do you agree that “A bologna sandwich is a satisfactory meal, whereas caviar and champagne, roast duck and baked Alaska, that might be considered a delightful meal,” which is a line of your characters from the film Philadelphia.

DW: You gotta ask [director] Jonathan Demme.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams is curious about how working on A Soldier's Story and For Queen and Country improved your craft as an actor? You were so great in those early films.

DW: Well, A Soldier’s Story was a Pulitzer Prize-winning play first. I was one of the original cast members with Sam Jackson, among others in the play. We had great success off-Broadway even before we did the movie. It was a tremendous experience.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks Denzel: Will you ever retire from acting? 

DW: We’ll all retire from life at some point, but no. The great thing about acting is you don’t necessarily have to retire. 80 seems to be around the age that people seem to ease out of it. Gene Hackman… Sidney Poitier… So, I have a whole ‘nother quarter to go.

 

KW: Sangeetha Subram asks: Denzel, how did you come to produce this film?

DW: It’s just a title. It really was a collaborative process. We all got involved as soon as we were given the script. I’m not a numbers cruncher. I just helped make sure we put the best film we could onscreen. 

 

KW: Bernadette, Antoine, What was it like directing Denzel again?

DW: Oh, I’m going to walk away while you answer that one. [Laughs]

AF: Amazing. He’s simply amazing! You can’t ask for better.

 

KW: Professor/Fillmaker/Author Hisani Dubose asks: How has the Hollywood studios becoming part of conglomerates affected your ability to work? Do you think it’s feasible for independent productions to go after theatrical release these days?

AF: It’s always been big business. It doesn’t affect it any more now than it did 30 or 40 years ago. You just have to do the work.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

AF: Myself! [Laughs]

DW: The room behind me. [Laughs very heartily]

 

KW: Well, thanks again for the interview,

AF:  Thank you, Kam.

DW: Take care.

 

To see a trailer for The Equalizer, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP_FwE0Z7no


Interviews
UserpicBill T. Jones (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
26.08.2014

Bill T. Jones

The “Story/Time” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Tiny Dancer, Dancing in the Sand

Williams Tass Jones is an accomplished artist, choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer. The world-renowned Renaissance man was born in Bunnell, Florida on February 15, 1952, but raised in upstate New York from an early age.

 

Bill began his dance training at the State University at Binghamton, where he studied classical ballet and modern dance. In 1982, he formed the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company with his late partner, Arnie Zane. Today, he continues to serve as the company’s choreographer and artistic director. He is also the executive director of New York Live Arts, a multi-disciplinary performance venue. Bill is the recipient of many accolades, including the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, Tony Awards in the Best Choreography category (for Fela! And Spring Awakening), a MacArthur Genius Grant, the prestigious Order of Arts and Letters from the government of France, and induction into the National Museum of Dance Hall of Fame. Here, he talks about his career and his surrealistic new memoir, “Story/Time.”

Kam Williams: Hi Bill, thanks for the interview. I loved the book.

Bill T. Jones: Fantastic!

KW: What a unique idea, turning a series of surrealistic lectures you delivered at Princeton into a memoir?

BTJ: I don’t know why I still have this illusion that I could do something quietly which would just be for a very small group of people. Now that the book is being promoted, there are wider ramifications, and it’s part of a whole other form of expression beyond my just doing pure inquiry for myself. And you’re one of those personalities that comes along with that tsunami of discourse. So, no complaints, I’m just adjusting to that. So, what would you like to do, Kam?  

KW: I’d like to mix in questions from fans with some of my own. Professor/Filmmaker/Author Hisani Dubose says: How has the trend towards people relying on technology for entertainment affected the appreciation of creativity in terms of live dance performances?

BTJ: [Laughs] Well, that’s quite a question, Hisani. I appreciate the question. We’re all wondering about that. There are a couple things we see. Dancers were the last romantics. The Romantic Movement of the 18th and 19th Century had this idea that everything in the world was an expression of Nature. We in the dance world held onto this idea for a long time that we were Nature itself. There were no tricks involved. When the curtain went up, you saw real people onstage. And we took that as setting us apart from other cultural pursuits. It’s not scored and we don’t need a conductor to bring it to life. No, dance is about a group of people coming together and using their bodies. But now we’re in an electronic, on-demand age where everything can be reproduced, and where life is an ever more turned inwards experience. One thing about dance that I’m proud of is the fact that you have to show up in a place and create an instant community for an event that occurs onstage which, depending on the skill of the creators, has great resonance with that community of people. And this may sound suspiciously Christian, but you also all share a communion. Do we have the same experience with electronics? I think watching live performers onstage is different from standing around the water cooler discussing last night’s episode of Breaking Bad  I notice that there is now this feeling among many young people that the most important things are those that are validated by media. Do they go out of their way to attend an event with a smaller group of people who share a specialized interest? I tend to doubt it. And I suspect that might be a consequence of the rise of electronic media.

KW: Do you think electronic media should somehow be restricted or perhaps even eliminated?

BTJ: No, I’m not a reactionary in that regard. I believe that human life is a spiritual activity, and that anything that human beings give themselves to with great enthusiasm can rise to the level of being transcendent. I’m on the side of humanity and its penchant for finding innovative ways to express our dilemma through whatever medium we’re faced with.

KW: Marcia Evans says: First, let Bill T. Jones know that ironically while on Bard College Alumni site I discovered that he received an honorary degree. Let him know as a past Bard student it made me proud to see him at that podium. It brought back my fond memories and my disappointing ones regarding lack of professors of color teaching at that esteemed college. The years I attended in the early 1980 black professors were not teaching at Bard at that time. This was before Toni Morrison who was the first professor of color to teach there. Leon Botstein kept saying that they couldn't find black professors who wanted to teach there, which was nonsense. Secondly, it's nice to see how much Mr. Botstein has grown since then. An example of his progress is reflected in how many times Mr. Jones’ dance troupe has graced the stage at Bard. It's clear that Botstein now respects Mr. Jones as an artist with much to teach about dance. Third, let him know that I admire his warrior spirit teaching the world about AIDS. Fourth, let Mr. Jones know that the mother's words of wisdom his mother gave him after he lost his partner really spoke to me. Finally, let him know that he is one of my heroes and that this sister is major proud of his gift and grace and of how he conducts his business of dance.

BTJ: Well, Marcia, I am overwhelmed by your response, because I am very much African-American, even though I’m not a Christian like my mother was. Still, I appreciate the African tradition in the Black Church where you stand up and speak out to the community and the community answers back, effectively saying, “I hear you!” And this is what this communication with you has just done for me, Marcia. One of the struggles of a contemporary modern artist is to bridge this question: Is my work coming from a continent of one, an inner voice, a unique personal experience? Or is it that you have the privilege of standing on the shoulders of a community of people who have afforded you that platform, and that your work is always going to be negotiating that inner personal location and the ongoing discussion that your people are happy? I am really proud when I receive national honors, but I’m equally pleased when I hear a sister, a black woman, actually embrace me like a brother. I no longer feel alienated at this moment.     

KW: Have you had a hard time pushing back against society’s tendency to pigeonhole you and the pressure to categorize your work? What is black dance?
BTJ: That used to be the most torturous question for me. For years, I used to say that I wanted to be no part of anything that had to have a color. I wanted the same freedom enjoyed by my white colleagues. But now I say that black dance is anything that a person who defines himself as black chooses to do. That causes a lot of head scratching. Some may ask, “Why do you bother to put “black” in it?” Because there’s another subtext to that. You can look at my face and see what color I am. Still, it’s important to me to carry that little medal on my shoulder. As time goes on, it just might be part of the answer to the existential question “Who am I? Where do I come from? And why am I here?” There’s something specific about it that inflects my life as a black person.

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier who is from Canada and loves dance was wondering whether you have any plans to perform there in the near future.

BTJ: We’ve played in Toronto quite a few times and hope to go there every time we produce a new work which right now is “Story/Time” which this book is based on. And we have another work-in-progress called “Analogy” dealing with a narrative in which the dancers speak. I would love to show both of those productions in Canada.

KW: What did it mean to you to be part of the series of the Toni Morrison lecture series, given that she was the first black female to win the Nobel Prize for Literature?

BTJ: It was a great honor, as well as an honor to have her in attendance, and I look forward to presenting her a copy of the book. Toni actually also happens to be a friend as well. She lives 15 minutes away from me and my companion and soon-to-be spouse, Bjorn Amelan. We live in a little town in Rockland County called Valley Cottage. Toni’s nearby in a community called Grand View. We see each other socially, and Toni and I shared the stage with Max Roach doing a piece called Degga. Degga, by the way, is a West African word, it’s Yoruba for “understand,” and according to Toni is the root of the phrases “Dig it” and “Can you dig it.”   

KW: Was writing this book a cathartic experience for you?

BTJ: On one level it was. The book initially was three lectures in which I attempted to work out some ideas in public. Since I’m a performer, that’s how I’m most comfortable. But, it’s a whole other thing when you’re confronted with just your words on the page unaccompanied by your personality. So, yes, it was cathartic, but it was also nerve-wracking because I’m a professional performer, not a professional writer. 

KW: Would you be interested in choreographing a screen version of a Broadway musical that is dear to your heart?

BTJ: Film is a little beyond me right now. [Laughs] I’m still wrestling with staging real space/real time events that are going to appeal to a broad audience. The recent Broadway musicals which have made it to the screen haven’t done very well. That could change, but it’s not the same as during the Golden Age of Broadway. Making a movie could be a great thing, but for some reason they haven’t fared so well lately.

KW: Ilene Proctor asks: Do you think dance should be taught as part of a school’s curriculum?

BTJ: Yes, I do. Dance is one of the most challenging cultural endeavors, because we’re literally working with the body, this profound instrument of transformation and communication. Conceptually, you can teach children, even if they have no legs, how to think not only by looking but by feeling and doing. And it’s not about athletics or competition. Inspiring a child to move just for the joy of moving is a great gift to that child.

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman says: I love your work so much. I know you have worked with children and with professionals of all ages to teach them your choreography. Do you think there are some people in the general public who have no sense of rhythm who can not dance no matter how hard they try? 

BTJ: [LOL] I appreciate your analysis, Bernadette, but I would ask you to expand your concept of dance beyond rhythm. There are some very moving performances I’ve witnessed where the person is practically still the whole time, making very few gestures. The most advanced people working in dance right now are using the body to explore questions about life, religion, art, medicine and so forth. And that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be a crackerjack social dancer, but rather calls for a certain level of intelligence to be employed in close collaboration with this sacred instrument called the body.    

KW: Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with that you haven’t yet?

BTJ: The list grows every day. One is the visual and installation artist Theaster Gates. He has distinguished himself by working in clay with his hands while singing the blues and nursery rhymes. He also creates a novel form of art by renovating abandoned buildings in the ‘hood in Chicago them and turning them into listening rooms for the community. I’m looking forward to collaborating with him on something.

KW: Daryl Williams was wondering whether you felt that Fela's death due to AIDS should have been included in the play.

BTJ: Obviously I didn’t, because I didn’t put it in. Black themed shows have a hard time on Broadway. I have my reasons for that. I thought that it would hard be enough to get audiences to come and listen to his type of music as theater music. I didn’t want Fela’s uniqueness and all of his accomplishments to be subservient to another AIDS story.

KW: Colonel Alan Gray asks: How did you become involved with Alvin Ailey? BTJ: When I moved to New York, Alvin came to one of my workshops because he had been hearing about me, since there weren’t many young black choreographers around. He recognized something that we had which was kindred and he asked me to make a piece for his company. He sort of put his arm around me, encouraged me and joined my board. And I’m forever grateful to him for that. 

KW: Alan also asks: Are African-Americans generally appreciative of your style of performance?

BTJ: African-Americans are a very large and diverse group, right? We need to have a much more sophisticated discourse than that. Anything less is insulting to us as a group. Let’s face it, the modern dance world is mostly a white middle-class world. But I’ve seen more blacks attending more dance events over the years. That’s why I talk about it so much. I do want black people to know that there is a man, a brother, inside of all this esoteric stage movement who is really trying to say something from his heart. Some of it has to do with being African-American, some of it has to do with being a “World Citizen.”

KW: Thanks again for the time, Bill. Best of luck with your wedding, the book, your upcoming productions, and your many other endeavors.

BTJ: Thanks, Kam. Please don’t hesitate to call if you need to fact-check anything.


Interviews
UserpicThere Is Nothing Like a Damon
Posted by Kam Williams
19.08.2014

Damon Wayans, Jr.
The “Let’s Be Cops” Interview
with Kam Williams

Damon Wayans, Jr. is a member of the famed Wayans family, creators of the groundbreaking television series In Living Color, the Scary Movie franchise, and much more. Damon made his film debut in Blankman, a superhero comedy that starred his father. He also appeared in his dad’s television series My Wife and Kids before striking out on his own as a stand-up comic on Def Comedy Jam.

Damon subsequently made such movies as Dance Flick, Marmaduke, Someone Marry Barry, and The Other Guys. More recently, he has starred on the TV sitcoms Happy Endings and New Girl. Here, he talks about his new film, Let’s Be Cops, where he co-stars opposite Jake Johnson, a fellow cast member on New Girl.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hey Damon, how’re you doing?

Damon Wayans, Jr.: Kam-tastic!

 

KW: Thanks for the time, bro. What interested you in Let’s Be Cops?

DW: I guess it was the concept which was similar to a buddy cop comedy, except they’re not cops. So, it’s sort of a fresh take on the idea. I was actually a little curious about why it hadn’t been done before, but I was definitely interested, especially once I heard that Jake Johnson was in the mix. We get along really well and make each other laugh a lot. So, I was like, “If you do it, I’ll do it.” And that’s how we got involved in the project.   

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Did you do your own stunts and dancing? Did you shadow a real cop to prepare for the role?

DW: I did not shadow a real cop to prepare for the role because in the movie we‘re pretending to pretend to be cops. Basically, any mistakes that I would make as an ordinary citizen were encouraged. So, I never needed to shadow a cop to try to look like a cop. And yes, I did most of my own stunts, and when it came time for the dance moves I even did my own back flip. But when it came to really dangerous stunts, like breaking the glass table with my back when the lady throws me, that wasn’t me, but a stuntman named Reggie.   

 

KW: Kate Newell says: It's great seeing you on New Girl. Is there much improv happening on the set?

DW: They allow it, yeah. After they get their takes in, they kinda allow us to do anything we want. It’s fun working in that environment with people I like. I went to high school with Zooey [Deschanel]. We know each other really well. 

 

KW: Talking about TV shows, I recently read that In Living Color might be coming back to TV.

DW: Really? That’s cool to hear if it’s true. I know that they tried to revive it a year or so ago, but it didn’t really pan out.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: You have experience on both the big and small screen. Which might be a better fit for your performance style?

DW: I don’t really know. That depends on how Let’s Be Cops does at the box office. If it tanks, I guess TV is better for me. [LOL] I feel like I can do both. I think of the small screen as my 9-to-5 job and of the big screen as projects that you fit in between.  

 

KW: How hard is it hailing from such a talented and famous family?

DW: It’s not really hard. They’ve encouraged me the whole way, since we see a win for any one of us as a win for all. So, if I’m doing good work, and they approve of it, I’m happy.  

 

KW: Your dad has a reputation for being a bit of a disciplinarian. Is that rumor true or false?

DW: It’s true. He was definitely a disciplinarian, when we were growing up. It was almost as if he went off to play Major Payne in the movie, and stayed in character after he got back. He would make us do sit-ups, push-ups and jumping jacks every morning when we woke up. If we got anything below a B grade, he would shave our heads and make us wear a suit to school. He’s a pretty intense guy. [Chuckles] 

 

KW: You wouldn’t believe how many people I’ve interviewed over the years have told me they broke into show business with the help of one of the Wayans.

DW: That’s awesome. I guess the Wayans gave me my first break, too.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Which scene in Let’s Be Cops was the most fun to shoot?

DW: [Laughs] It’s hard to pick just one. The ones with Jake, Rob Riggle and Nina Dobrev were all fun. And Keegan-Michael Key from Key and Peele was hilarious. I’d say any scene that made me laugh or break character in the middle of it. I just had a blast the whole way through.

 

KW: Patricia is also wondering what teacher or mentor played an important role in your professional path?

DW: My two greatest influences were my dad, and my martial arts teacher, Mark Mikita.

 

KW: Finally, Patricia says: You’ve written scripts for TV. Are you interested in writing for the big screen? 
DW: Absolutely! One of my dreams is to be able to what the big boys, the Seth Rogens and the Jonah Hills as able to do, get my own projects greenlit, shot and do well at the box office like. That’s kind of my ultimate goal. 

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

DW: [LOL] No, I don’t think so.

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

DW: About five minutes ago.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

DW: That reality-TV show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I always want to eat that food whenever I watch it.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

DW: I read a lot of books. The last one was “Gone Girl,” a novel by Gillian Flynn.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0307588378/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20 That’s a really good book which has just been made into a movie by David Fincher. It’s coming out in October and stars Ben Affleck. And I’m reading the “The Bourne Retribution” right now. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1409149617/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20 

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

DW: “Summer,” by Calvin Harris. I hear it everywhere. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00IZQ81C0/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

DW: Here’s the thing, dude. I can’t really cook, but I make a mean Top Ramen. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

DW: Danger! I like to do daring things. I’ve bungee jumped three times. The only thing I haven’t tried is skydiving.

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

DW: I’m not really a clothes guy. I’d rather be naked.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

DW: My dad. [Chuckles] and I see a guy who’s pretty happy.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

DW: The power to fly, for sure.

 

KW: Let's say you’re throwing your dream dinner party—who’s invited… and what would you serve?

DW: I’d serve corn chowder bisque, and Jake [Johnson] would not be invited because he’s standing here bombing my interview. [To Jake] You’re not invited. I’d invite Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K, and all these people who make me laugh. I would sit at the head of the table and say, “Make me laugh or get out of my house.”

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

DW: My uncles Shawn and Marlon bursting into the bathroom while I was pooping, throwing me off the toilet, and laughing at my turds. That really happened. They used to torture me. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

DW: I don’t think I’ve ever had my heart broken, because I’m a man. I laughed it off, and then went and had sex with about 16 women, all unprotected. [Chuckles]

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

DW: A dolphin.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

DW: I smile and laugh a lot more when I’m at home.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

DW: The ability to make people’s heart stop, if I just point at them.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you say all successful people share? 

DW: Drive, and belief in themselves.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

DW: Weekend at Bernie’s.

 

KW: The Flex Alexander question: How do you get through the tough times?

DW: By crying a lot. [LOL]

 

KW: “Realtor to the Stars” Jimmy Bayan’s question: What is the dream locale where you’d like you live?

DW: Hawaii.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

DW: If you have the ability and want it bad enough, do it!

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Damon, best of luck with Let’s Be Cops, and IO look forward to speaking with you again soon.

DW: Awesome, Kam, thanks!

 

To see a trailer for Let’s Be Cops, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExciLtpHp74  


Interviews
UserpicCongressman James Clyburn (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
11.08.2014

Congressman James Clyburn

The “Blessed Experiences” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Gentleman Jim Clyburn

James Enos Clyburn made history in 1993 when he became the first African-American to represent South Carolina in the House of Representatives since Reconstruction. Over the course of his tenure, he has served as Majority Whip and as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and is currently the third-ranking Democrat in the House as the Assistant Minority Leader.

Representative Clyburn is an alumnus of the HBCU South Carolina State College, where he majored in history and was active in the civil rights movement. During his junior year, he was arrested and convicted as a member of the Orangeburg Seven, a group of student leaders who had organized a non-violent demonstration against segregated lunch counters.

Congressman Clyburn has been married to his wife, Emily, since 1961, and they have three daughters, two sons-in-law, and three grandchildren. Here, he talks about his life and career, and about his autobiography, “Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black.”

 

Kam Williams: Congressman Clyburn, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

James Clyburn: Yes, sir. How are you, Kam?

 

KW: Great! I loved your autobiography. It really gave me a chance to get to know you in so much more depth than your appearances on C-Span and other cable news networks. I really knew next to nothing about your rich civil rights background and lifelong commitment to the underprivileged.   

JC: Oh, you’re so kind, Kam.

 

KW: I’ll be mixing in my questions with some from readers.Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I am from Canada and thank you for taking the time to share your experience and knowledge in your autobiography. What is the main message you want people to take away from the book?

JC: The memoir’s main lesson is grounded in that old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” I lost three times before I got elected. There’s no limit. Stay in pursuit of your dreams. That’s what this book is about. I hope young people get a lesson out of every chapter and are motivated by the notion that the next time might be “the” time that they succeed.

 

KW: Patricia also says: Warren Buffett wrote about your book that you are the most significant African-American member of Congress who broke many barriers.  What does it take for a visible minority to shatter the glass ceiling and enjoy longevity in a career in politics? 

JC: First, get yourself prepared, not just in terms of education, but mentally. A question I often get is, “How do you maintain your sanity with so much happening all around you?” I think I developed a certain mental toughness that is required in this business. You have to have a thick skin and a brass bottom, because you’re going to kicked a lot.

 

KW: It also seems that the higher you go, the more they come after you.

JC: You’re exactly right. All you have to do is achieve a modicum of success.

 

KW: Patricia finishes by saying: Older females are among the most vulnerable individuals in the economic crisis. They are twice as likely as elderly males to be living near or below the federal poverty threshold. What needs to be done to secure a reasonable retirement for this segment of the population?

JC: Patricia is correct that it’s a very vulnerable population. But I don’t know that anything additional needs to be done outside of sensitivity to the fact that these issues are unique for this demographic, and that we ought to be aware of that uniqueness. We need to make sure that they are aware of and are able to gain access to what’s available for them. That’s why I was so concerned about the Affordable Care Act. A big part of it is the expansion of Medicaid, which includes not only low-income people, but senior citizens in nursing homes, the disabled and children who are vulnerable.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: As a Democratic leader in the U.S House of Representatives, you must often feel frustrated by the destructive resistance of the House Republican majority to move forward on any of President Obama's programs such as job creation, much-needed infrastructure improvements, including unsafe roads and bridges, and the impingement of voting rights in many states. How do you deal with the frustration that results from the blockage of necessary progress, since the opposition has made this their prime strategy in terms of the President's programs? An appeal to reason does not seem to work, because this is a blanket strategy.

JC: Sure, it’s frustrating at times, but you keep going at it. It took me seven years to create the Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, which failed to pass for a long time. All of a sudden the break came, and I was ready to pounce, as soon as I saw that opening. It’s now law. And it turned out to be one of the most popular things I’ve ever done. Often it depends on your not being hung up on getting the credit, since the best way to get legislation that you’ve proposed passed sometimes is to let another Congressman put his or her name on the bill.

So, I think stick-to-itiveness and a little humility can go a long way.   

 

KW: So, an ability to compromise is important, right?

JC: Absolutely! That means stepping back and getting the ego out of the way in order to accomplish what you want to get done.

 

KW: Grace also says: While you have a commendable voting record, you support nuclear power concluding that wind and solar power are too expensive. How do you respond to the legitimate fears of nuclear accidents, such as happened in Russia and Japan, and of acts of terrorism, as well as concerns about the safety and adequacy of the storage of highly radioactive spent fuel? 

JC: Well, I’m very concerned about the storage of nuclear waste, but I’m not worried about it. That’s one of the reasons why I’m so supportive of what we’re doing down at the Savannah River Plant. I think the technology’s there. All we need is the funding to turn the waste into additional energy. And I’m a big supporter of research. My wife, Emily, has had five bypass surgeries. She’s alive today because of nuclear medicine. You ought not be afraid of nuclear, but respectful of it. Yes, it has dangers, but it also has benefits. If not for nuclear, much of the medicine that’s saving lives today would not be in existence.   

 

KW: Publisher John Zippert says: There are many Black farmers who were still left out of the Pigford/USDA lawsuit settlement. Do you see Congress acting again to complete the process and make sure everyone who is eligible receives the settlement?

JC: Well, I’m satisfied that we’ve done all that’s going to be done on that issue. That’s not to say that everyone who should’ve gotten in on the settlement got in on it. Remember, we’ve done not just one Pigford, but Pigford II because a lot of people, through no fault of their own, were left out. That’s why we went back and did Pigford II. I suspect that some people might still have been left out, but I’ve been working very closely with the advocates, John Boyd [Founder of the National Black Farmers Association] and others who seem to be satisfied that we have done as well as we can do on that issue. 

 

KW: Mr. Zippert also says that less money was appropriated under the Farm Bill for the Section 2501 Outreach Program for minority farmers in Fiscal Year 2014 than previously when "veteran" farmers, a whole new category was added to the program.

JC: I think what he’s asking for is outreach to make sure that farmers who qualified did get contacted. Sure, there probably was less money this year than in the first round. But these are the sort of programs you phase out. You just don’t set aside the same amount of money as you did for 5,000 people, if there are only 2,000 left to be searched for. These moneys do get phased out, and they will eventually be phased out altogether.

 

KW: What do you think about Attorney General Eric Holder’s recent statement that he believes there is a racial animus behind much of the criticism of him and President Obama?

JC: I was glad to see him finally getting there. I’ve felt that way a long time. I’ve even said it publicly and been chastised for it, but I’ll say it again, a lot of it is racial animus. I ask anyone who disagrees with me to just read some of the hate mail that comes into my office. Or listen to some of the phone calls. I’ve had college student interns working for me who arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed hang up the phone crying after taking calls because people are so racist and cruel. So, don’t tell me that it’s got nothing to do with race. With some people, it’s got everything to do with race.

 

KW: What do you think of the Republicans suing President Obama?

JC: I think they’re playing to their base. These guys know full well that even if the lawsuit had any merit, which I don’t think it does, he’d be out of office before it worked its way through the courts. But this is their way of sending a signal to their base. There are a lot of people who have endorsed the narrative that there are certain things people of color aren’t supposed to be doing, and one of those things is running the United States of America as President. These are people who are going to work hard all day, every day, trying to make factual this narrative that there are certain areas of our society and of our economy that ought to be shut off from people of color.  

 

KW: Since you’re from South Carolina, I need to ask you about the 2010 Democratic primary for the U’S. Senate when this unknown black man named Alvin Greene, ostensibly a Republican plant, miraculously won the nomination by a landslide over a credible candidate. I suspected computer tampering. What did you think?

JC: I always felt that, too.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

JC: [Laughs] I can’t think of one, but that’s a good question.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

JC: Grits.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

JC: Kindergarten.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

JC: A 74 year-old who is not disappointed with his life.

 

KW: How frightening was it for you to be arrested and even convicted, when you were a college student activist, just for trying to integrate a lunch counter?

JC: Those were very trying times with a great deal of apprehension, although I don’t think we ever operated out of fear. We knew that segregation was unfair, and that we were going to challenge it, and that’s just what we did. 

 

 

 

 

KW: Well, I salute you for service in the Civil Rights Movement, because you could’ve very easily been beaten, blacklisted, imprisoned or even slain.

JC: Thank you. And some people were martyred, and some, like Congressman John Lewis, did get hurt. But we never thought about those things.

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time? 

JC: Reading and in contemplation.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

JC: “The Warmth of Other Suns” was the last one I read cover-to-cover. That was a great book.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679763880/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Let's say you’re throwing your dream dinner party—who’s invited… and what would you serve?

JC: I would love to sit at a table with Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Warren Buffett and Matthew Perry, the great civil rights attorney and judge mentioned in my book quite a bit.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

JC: Omniscience.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

JC: Perseverance.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

JC: Like I said before, get yourself prepared, educationally and emotionally, and develop mental toughness. Don’t ever give up.

 

KW: Lastly, what does family mean to you?

JC: Oh, it means a whole lot. Not a day goes by when I don’t communicate with one or all of my daughters. My wife and I already exchanged several emails today. And I spoke to my brother John on the phone this morning, and to my brother Charles last night. We are a pretty closely-knit family.

 

KW: Thanks again for this opportunity, Congressman Clyburn, I really appreciate your taking time from your extremely busy schedule to speak with me.

JC: Thank you, Kam. I think it’s important for me to communicate with the public at-large, even on those occasions when I know it’s not going to be pleasant.

To order a copy of Blessed Experiences, visit:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/161117337X/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20


Interviews
UserpicBrendan Gleeson (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
28.07.2014

Brendan Gleeson

The “Calvary” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

It’s Gleeson Season!

Dublin-born Brendan Gleeson is a former teacher who left the profession to pursue a career in acting, his first love. His rise to fame began when he appeared in Jim Sheridan's THE FIELD, followed by a number of small roles in such films as FAR AND AWAY and INTO THE WEST.

He landed his first starring role in I WENT DOWN, which was followed by an acclaimed outing in THE GENERAL. But it was his role as Hamish in BRAVEHEART that brought him to the attention of Hollywood.

In 2009 Brendan was nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA awards for his work in Martin McDonagh's IN BRUGES opposite Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes. That same year, he won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the HBO movie "Into the Storm."

His screen credits also include PERRIER'S BOUNTY, GREEN ZONE, THE GUARD, SAFE HOUSE, ALBERT NOBBS, THE VILLAGE, COLD MOUNTAIN, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BREAKFAST ON PLUTO, TROY, BLACK IRISH, THE TIGER'S TAIL, BEOWULF, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2, TAILOR OF PANAMA, COUNTRY OF MY SKULL, 28 DAYS LATER, GANGS OF NEW YORK and several installments of the HARRY POTTER franchise. In just the last year, he’s appeared in EDGE OF TOMORROW, THE GRAND SEDUCTION, and THE SMURFS 2.

Here, he talks about his latest out as Father James Lavelle in Calvary, a modern morality play written and directed by John Michael McDonagh.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Brendan, thanks for the interview.

Brendan Gleeson: Not at all, Kam. How are you?

KW: Fine, thanks. I’ll be mixing in questions from fans with my own. Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I have visited the South of Ireland and loved it, including the capital, Dublin. What does it mean to you to advocate for the Irish language, Gaelic?

BG: Yeah, people often ask, why are you interested in the Irish language when it’s dying? If your momma’s dying you wouldn’t want her to die alone. So, I think the Irish language is a great gift, and it’s still hanging in there, if people want it. It’s a connection to a long, rich, deep culture. There’s 2,000 years of it. And when it’s lost, it’ll be gone for good. Those doors are not going to be open anymore. I value it, and it’s up to everybody to wise up about it. It’s not something I necessarily want to revive as the spoken first language of the country. I just think it’s fantastic, and a great cultural gift to have.    

KW: Patricia also asks: What message do you want people to take away from the movie?

BG: I don’t know. I think everybody has their own relationship with this movie, which is the triumph of it, really. Different elements of it access different people in different ways. From my point of view, I would hope there’s a sense that the struggle is being carried on to maintain some life in the world in whatever way that manifests itself, whether religiously, spiritually, or just philanthropically, and that people are worth it in the end. But I don’t know. There’s an awful lot of pain. One of the achievements of this film is to make clear that child abuse is a life sentence. That it’s not something you can just get over and forget after receiving an apology. 

KW: What was the difference in being directed by John Michael McDonagh, whom you also worked with in The Guard, as opposed to being directed by his brother, Martin, who directed you in In Bruges?

BG: Not a whole lot, to be quite honest. They’re both very calm, very assured, very prepared, and very cinematic in their thinking. They’re also very actor-friendly and collaborative. So, I love working with either of them, frankly. That’s not to say that they’re simply two sides of the same coin. While they have similarities in their working style, their worlds are very different.

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: Brendan how hard was it to perfect that County Sligo accent?

BG: [LOL] I didn’t have to, because my character wasn’t from there.

KW: Patricia also asks: How would you describe your character in Calvary, Father James Lavelle?

BG: As somebody who believes the best, in spite of all the evidence. [Laughs heartily] I just came up with that one. He’s someone who’s committed to optimism, despite all evidence to the contrary. He insists on it. And I think people need to know that that kind of struggle, and that kind of beauty, and that kind of optimism is possible in the world, because we’ve got a lot of cynicism confronting us everyday making it easy to feel that there’s nothing worth believing in. 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: Brendan, you have courageously tackled a controversial subject in Calvary. Are you concerned about any political blowback you might receive from the Catholic Church as a consequence?  

BG: No, not at all.

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: This movie looks incredibly heavy. Irish people have suffered a lot throughout world history, have had front row seats to a lot of other peoples’ suffering – like the Irish mariners ensnared in the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade – not to mention the Potato Famine, the Troubles, and the discrimination against Irish immigrants in the United States in the 19th and part of the 20th Century. There were also the horrible atrocities committed by Roman Catholic nuns who ran the “homes” for unwed mothers and the orphanages in Ireland, and the Church’s sex abuse silence. Do you feel that the Irish suffering serves as a symbol of a universal aspect of the human experience in a way which resonates with oppressed people of other cultures?

BG: I would hope so. I would hope that while we made a movie about faith, that it’s not necessarily only about Catholicism. And I’d also hope that the notion of disillusionment wouldn’t be seen as the exclusive province of the Irish. The context is the Irish landscape, and the Irish story of the moment, with all of the treachery in terms of the spiritual, economic and political leadership. There have been horrible shortcomings, with hurt and pain being inflicted upon people. But I don’t think that’s exclusive to the Irish. Many people find it difficult to believe in leadership anymore. What do you replace it with, though? That’s kind of what the movie’s all about. The idea of replacing flawed leadership with cynicism and despair isn’t a barrel of laughs, either. So, I hope the film is thought-provoking in a generalized way as opposed as to being read as simply specific to the Irish point-of-view. 

KW: Professor/Filmmaker/Author Hisani Dubose says: You have played so many rich characters. Which one has been your favorite?

BG: Comparisons are odious. So, I don’t really come out and put one against the other. But this one might have been the most challenging. This experience was certainly one of the top five in terms of recovery. It definitely stayed with me and took a little while to get over this one. So, I put Father Lavelle up there.

KW: What actor did you admire growing up?

BG: I was very fond of Gene Hackman.

KW: Kate Newell says: Brendan, I loved Calvary. I hope you've written your acceptance speech for the Oscars.

BG: [Chuckles] No, I think we can leave that on the back burner. Those expectations are awful because, if it doesn’t happen, then you suddenly feel like a loser. By the same token, when you do happen to win something, I never question it. I just take it at face value. But I hate the notion that there would be losers associated with any production where great performances have been recognized. I’d be honored if it happened, but I ain’t looking that far down the road.

KW: Kate was also wondering whether you’ve been back to Belgium since playing a hit man in In Bruges? 

BG: Back to Belgium, yes, but not to Bruges. I think I might find it difficult to walk through Bruges without having to stop quite often. At some stage, I might like to go back since I had a great time there. But I think I have to let it sit for a little bit.

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Brendan, you’ve played extraordinary fantasy roles and amazing biographical roles—thank you for Mad-Eye Moody and Winston Churchill. 

BG: Cheers! Thank you, Harriet!

KW: She asks: What’s the difference in preparing to inhabit a role that doesn’t exist except in the fantasy world versus portraying an icon that is already so clear in everyone’s mind?

BG: Well, there’s a certain freedom in both that doesn’t accrue to the other. The freedom in playing an historical figure is that you don’t have to suspend disbelief. This stuff happened. As they say, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” Otherwise, a lot of the time, you would have to work very hard to convince people. For instance, who would think that after the Battle of Dunkirk there could ever be a resurrection of the fortunes of the British in the Second World War? But the fact that it did happen releases you from having to prove it. It happened. And it can be incredibly interesting exploring how life can be so extraordinarily surprising in that way, turning expectations on their head, and trying to figure some version of how that might have happened, and how people may have responded in the face of overwhelming odds like that. With a fictional character, by contrast, you start with a blank canvas, you have the truth of the imagination to guide you. And you can bring it anywhere you want. They’re just different challenges, but they each have their own freedoms, as well as their own limitations, if you like. I try to find the freedom possible in each type of role, but in different ways.

KW: Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

BG: Does she mean a remake of one of my own films, or of other films? I generally don’t like to do remakes. I don’t really want to second guess any film that’s achieved what it set out to do. You need to have a legitimate reason beyond just wanting to make money from a remake, like a desire to bring a story to a broader audience. Regrettably, so many of them are ill-advised. I just did a remake of The Grand Seduction, which was a whimsical story set in Newfoundland. I made an exception for this one even though it was, beat for beat, the same story, because it was set in a different place where I’d never been, and I wanted to find out more about Newfoundland.

KW: Professor Dubose would like to know whether getting an independently-produced Irish film like Calvary wide distribution in the U.S. is dependent on having a prior connection to the Hollywood film industry.

BG: No, I don’t think there was any American money in this film to begin with. What happens is you make your film, and then take it somewhere like Sundance, where the distributors can discover it. Sometimes, it’s nicer to have money from the very beginning, because that makes things easier. But the path most independent films take is that they’re made first, and then they’re sold.

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

BG: An autobiography of boxer named Joe Egan that somebody sent me. I read it very quickly because it was given to me. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/095503941X/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

Another one was “In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex,” which I read as part of my research for the upcoming Ron Howard film based on it.     

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0141001828/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

BG: It depends on who I’m playing. [Laughs heartily again]

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

BG: Oh, I prefer not to cook anything.

KW: What do you like to eat?

BG: Almost anything you can imagine.

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

BG: Reading a little book that went, ”Mommy horse and daddy horse are proud as they can be, because they have a baby horse and baby horse makes three.” I remember saying, “That’s me!” I know I was three at the time.

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

BG: Good roles, like this one in Calvary, and making important films with people who know more than I do. That’s what interests me now. I’ve done a lot of projects that need development where there’s been inexperience involved, which I loved, but at this point in my career, I want to work with people who allow me to learn.

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

BG: Do it!

KW: Thanks again for the time, Brendan, and best of luck with the film.

BG: Okay, Kam. Cheers! Thanks a lot.

To see a trailer for Calvary, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iBJbcHq-oU 


Interviews
UserpicKeith Robinson (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
28.07.2014

Keith Robinson

The “Get on Up” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Here’s to You, Mr. Robinson!

In a world where talent takes you far, Keith Robinson is ahead of the game. He’s a true triple threat -- having already mastered acting and songwriting, he’s now positioning himself to take over the music world with a velvety voice.

Before he made his way to Tinseltown, the Kentucky native set his sights on music, and attended the University of Georgia. Upon coming to Los Angeles, Keith had a chance meeting with a talent manager who jumpstarted his acting career. Since then, he’s thrived, landing an incredible 50+ projects in television and film while continuing to pursue his musical career-- often placing songs in the acting projects he stars in.

Keith may be best known for his critically acclaimed performance as “C.C. White” in the Academy Award-winning feature film, Dreamgirls. His big solo in the musical, “Patience,” which he also performed live at the Academy Awards, earned an Oscar nomination in the Best Song category. 

After Dreamgirls, he released his debut album, Utopia. On the acting side, he subsequently starred in This Christmas, Dear John, 35 and Ticking, and Hopelessly in June. .

Here, Keith talks about his new film, the James Brown biopic Get on Up, where he co-stars opposite Chadwick Boseman,Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Jill Scott and Dan Aykroyd..

 

Kam Williams: Hi Keith, thanks for the interview.

Keith RobinsonThanks for having me.

KW: What interested you in Get on Up?

KR: As a musician, I was heavily influenced by James Brown's music. 

KW: What was it like working with Tate Taylor and such a star-studded cast?

KR: Tate is a really cool director because he has a clear vision of what he wants but still gives his actors freedom to collaborate in the process. That's rare. Working with a cast where everyone is really talented puts you at ease, actually. 

KW: How would you describe your character, Baby Roy?

KR: Baby Roy is the young exuberant one who just really loves to perform and be on stage as much as possible. He's what I like to think as the artist who still has those stars in his eyes and believes it's all about the music and hasn't been tainted yet. [LOL] 

KW: What message do you think people will take away from the film?

KR: That James Brown is the epitome of perseverance. You can never underestimate the magnetic power of self belief.  

KW: Are you a James Brown fan? What’s your favorite song of his?

KR:  Absolutely. "I'll Go Crazy," which I recently remade. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005OH17VA/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20 And "It’s a Man's World," of course.  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004HZDJSO/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

KW: Your big break was when you landed the role on TV as the Green Ranger on the Power Rangers. Did you have a martial arts background?

KR: Not at all. I was just a good athlete and I had been in a few fights.  

KW: You were signed by Motown while you were still a student at the University of Georgia. What prompted your move from music to acting?

KR: I never really made a "move" from one to the other. Acting came second once I moved to Hollywood on a chance audition for the "Power Rangers." I've been doing both ever since. 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

KR: Hmmm... I think I've heard them all at this point. [Laughs] 

KW: Would you mind saying something controversial that would get this interview tweeted?

KR: [LOL] Reality shows disgust me. Specifically, the ones that make black people look trifling and super melodramatic. You know who you are. 

KW: Have you ever had a near-death experience?

KR: Only in my sleep, thank God.

KW: Have you ever accidentally uncovered a deep secret?

KR:  Yep. 

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

KR: Yeah, I've been afraid--usually right before a movie drops. [Laughs some more]

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

KR: Yesterday. 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

KR: Twizzlers and naked body surfing.

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

KR: Fifty Shades of Grey. I had to see what all the fuss was about… and learn a few new tips. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345803485/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

KR: "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper. It's on in the background right now. 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00137T7LM/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

KR: Salmon.

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

KR: Progress.

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

KR: A handsome dude that's come a long way with a long way to go. 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

KR: Permanent financial security.

KW: Let's say you’re throwing your dream dinner party—who’s invited… and what would you serve?

KR:  Too many to name but it would be the fifty most influential people in the world. It'd be a potluck. I got the salmon and Twizzlers.

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time? 

KR:  Eating with family, making love to my girl, and praying. 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

KR: A derby horse or a dolphin.  Everybody loves them.

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

KR: Me and my brother locking the babysitter outside.  Still not sure how we did it. 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

KR:  It made me never underestimate the physical power a heartbreak can have on you. 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

KR:  I have on nicer clothes.  

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

KR:  Reading minds. I would always get what I want.

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

KR: Uptown Saturday Night.

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

KR: Consistency, discipline, and self-belief.

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

KR: Consistency, discipline, and self-belief.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

KR: Boys and Girls Club. 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

KR:  As an amazing multi-talented artist who told the truth, and as a humble brother who loved his friends and family unconditionally. 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Keith, and best of luck with the film.

KR: Appreciate it, Kam.

To see a trailer for Get on Up, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guOS6ev6hQ0


Interviews
UserpicZach Braff (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
21.07.2014

Zach Braff

The “Wish I Was Here” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Zach to the Future!

Zach Braff was born in South Orange, New Jersey on April 6, 1975. He attended Columbia High School in Maplewood where he was friends with hip-hop diva-to-be Lauryn Hill.

Zach studied film at Northwestern University where he earned a B.A. before heading to Hollywood. As an actor, he’s best known as Dr. John “J.D.” Dorian on Scrubs, the Emmy-winning sitcom which enjoyed a nine-year run on network TV from 2001 to 2010. As a director, he made an impressive debut in 2004 with Garden State, a semi-autobiographical offering which he also wrote and starred in.

For Zach, Wish I Was Here is the culmination of personal filmmaking at its best. As the movie’s co-writer, director, star and producer, he was involved in nearly every aspect of the picture’s creative development. A decade ago, in Garden State, he perfectly portrayed the plight of a young man trying to find his place in a crazy world.

This go-round, he and his co-writer brother, Adam, examine what it means to have a family today. Zach plays Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor with a wife (Kate Hudson) stuck in a soul-crushing job. The couple have two kids (Joey King and Pierce Gagnon) who are being forced out of private school due to financial constraints, since Aidan’s dad (Mandy Patinkin)is facing life-threatening health issues. 

Despite such harsh realities, the picture nevertheless poetically weaves a wonderful tapestry of an enchanting world worth living in. This is in no small part thanks to the power of the imagination which has fueled Zach’s own evolution from a wide-eyed kid from New Jersey into a gifted filmmaker capable of connecting with his audience emotionally.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Zach, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity.

Zach Braff: Oh, thanks Kam. It’s nice to talk to you.

 

KW: I loved the film. Garden State made my Top Ten List for 2004, and Wish I Was Here is definitely one of my Top Ten favorite films of 2014 so far.

ZB: Thanks, man. You just put a smile on my face.

 

KW: Everybody in the small group I saw it with cried at the end and all the way through the closing credits.

ZB: That’s a good sign.

 

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you and they sent in more questions than we could ever get to. Let me start with one who just said: He’s incredibly adorable and incredibly talented. Have fun!

ZB: [LOL] I don’t think that’s a question.

 

KW: Director Kevin Williams asks: Why a decade between movies?

ZB: It was just so hard. I tried my best, but I didn’t want to put out a picture that I wouldn’t want to put my name on. I didn’t want to let my fans down, and all the scripts that were coming my way were really commercial and felt like something we’d already seen a thousand times. A couple times I had movies put together, only to have the project fall apart because we lost a star or I lost the money. There are so many pieces that have to line up. And I was also still doing Scrubs, so I just couldn’t work it out with a piece of writing that I was willing to put my name on until I was able to collaborate on this original script with my brother.     

 

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: I watched Garden State almost every night for a year when I was in college. Often we see the final product but aren't aware of the creative process that goes into a script or filming. What does your scriptwriting process look like?

ZB: Well, it was different for Garden State, because I wrote that on my own. This one, I wrote with my brother, so we got together for about a month to hammer out the characters and the outline of the story. The main character’s sort of a combination of us. My brother’s about a decade older than I am. We wanted to write about a guy in his mid-thirties, so we were able to attack it from the angle of two men born ten years apart. He’d work on one scene while I’d work on another. Then we’d switch scenes and sort of give each other notes, and debate what was right and where it should go. And little by little, through all these conversations, the whole script took shape.   

 

KW: To what extent is this film autobiographical, given that it was written by you and your brother, and it’s in part about their relationship?

ZB: A lot of it is… the search for spirituality… the struggle to question how long you’re allowed to pursue a dream, especially when you have mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay. All of those things that my brother and I are asking. It’s also about relationships between fathers and sons and mothers and daughters.  We all have those battles with our parents where we want to be our own person but they’re still saying something else. A lot of it is autobiographical, although our father couldn’t be more supportive of our pursuing the arts, whereas the father in the movie is pretty against it. 

 

KW: Peter Brav says that while watching the film, he thinks he spotted a flaw, namely, a brochure at a Jewish funeral home offering the option of an open casket.

ZB: If that’s the case, it would be a prop master mistake, and I apologize for that. 

There is no option for an open casket at a Jewish funeral. For Peter to have detected that he must be able to speed read and have zeroed in on the pamphlet. The casket is always closed in Judaism, although the family is allowed to view the deceased before the ceremony, if they so choose.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles was wondering what auteur message this film and Garden State seek to deliver?

ZB: I believe, personally, that this experience we have on Earth is finite, and that there is nothing else. I know not everyone agrees with me, but that is my personal belief. So, I think that the message is both about trying to celebrate the present, trying to get out of our heads, and about being present with the people we love. For me, that’s the great quest of life, the struggle to be in the moment. That’s why the film is called Wish I Was Here, meaning I wish I was here in the moment.

 

KW: Why the grammatically incorrect title?

ZB: I have a two-fold answer. First, it’s a play off the classic postcard salutation, “Wish You Were Here,” but switched around to reflect the perspective of the individual sending it. Second, the premise of the film revolves around a father who’s homeschooling his kids but doesn’t know how to teach them grammar. We see his daughter [Joey King] correct her mom [Kate Hudson] on the proper use of “who” and “whom,” and that’s something that he would get wrong as well.

 

KW: Hadas Zeilberger asks: How would you compare the experiences of shooting Wish I Was Here and Garden State? How many members of the cast and crew worked on both films?

ZB: I tried to reunite all the top creative heads from Garden State, and I got some of them. Others weren’t available. Both my cinematographer [Lawrence Sher] and my editor [Myron Kerstein], who do amazing work and are really good friends, are back for the film, and that was really crucial to me. And my producers were the same. As far as the cast, Jim Parsons is back and Michael Weston, who played the cop in Garden State, is back. And I tried to find as many cameos as possible for people I like to work with. In terms of the shooting, this one was unique because of the crowdfunding aspect of it. We had our incredible backers visiting us on set, serving as extras, and generally hanging around. That was fun because it gave us a chance to show them how movies are made. Ordinarily, you and the crew just get so caught up in doing it that you don’t ever pause to explain the process to people it’s foreign to. But here, you’d look over and see an electrician showing a backer why we are hanging a light a certain way. Or you’d look over and see Kate [Hudson] saying to someone else, “Oh, yeah, this is where my little hidden microphone goes.” The process was very educational for a lot of people.

 

KW: Kate Newell and Larry Greenberg had a similar question. They ask: Would you use Kickstarter again for your next film project?

ZB: No, this was always meant as an experiment, not as the permanent way in which I plan to finance my films. It was sort of like, “Hey, wouldn’t this be a crazy idea if this worked?” The dilemma in holding onto your artistic integrity is removing any corporate or other sort of involvement that might influence the art. The question for us was: What would it be like if we took that out of the equation? That was my vision, and it worked. So, it proved to be a wonderful experience, although it was always conceived as a one-off experiment.

 

KW: Hadas also asks: Are you friends with Donald Faison in real life?

ZB: Yeah, he’s my best friend. He truly is my best friend, and we do everything together. He’s so supportive of me that he’s been promoting the movie and making the rounds even though he only has a smart part in it.

 

KW: Lastly, Hadas would like to know how you got your hair like that?

ZB: [Laughs] My hair? People always like to talk about my hair. It’s just bed head. I often take showers at night. So, when I wake up, my hair’s crazy.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says:You've had an extraordinarily diverse and interesting career.  If you had to choose one or two of your favorite types of work could you do that, or is it the variety of your professional activities that gives you most satisfaction?

ZB: That’s a great question, Grace. I always think it’s good to shake things up. You know, I’m doing a big Broadway musical [Bullets over Broadway] right now at the same time that I’m releasing this indie movie. They couldn’t be more different from each other. But that’s what makes being a creator of entertainment so much fun. Shaking it up! I would be incredibly bored if I just did the same thing over and over. I like trying new things and really being brave. Doing the crowdfunding was a brave experiment, and singing on Broadway is another brave experiment. I like to attempt things that I’m fearful of.

 

KW: Grace also asks: Where do you see your career being ten years from now?

ZB: Well, I hope it won’t be ten years before I make another movie. My hope is to be making a lot more movies in the next decade. It’s certainly what brings me the most joy.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier aks: What was the most challenging scene to shoot in Wish I Was Here?
ZB: Probably those fantasy sequences, because they were very elaborate and we didn’t have much time. We shot the whole movie in 26 days. The fantasy sequences involved a lot of special f/x and a costume built by a great company called Legacy Effects, and all sorts of camera toys. Those were the most challenging, especially since I had to direct from inside the suit, which was really hard. But I did have a body double for when my face wasn’t onscreen,

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

ZB: Wow! That’s a great question… [Pauses to reflect] But I’ve been asked so many questions that I can’t think of one.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

ZB: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/031622135X/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

ZB: I can’t cook, so I’ll say ice.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

ZB: Someone who’s extraordinarily tired because he’s doing eight shows a week on Broadway while he’s releasing a film.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

ZB: I don’t even know. But I can remember my earliest movie memory. My father used to somehow get a hold of 35mm prints and project them on our living room wall way before I could understand them. My earliest movie memory is of my parents having a dinner party and showing Annie Hall which, to this day, is one of my favorite films. 

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Zach, and best of luck both on Broadway and with Wish I Was Here.

ZB: Thanks for all your support, Kam. That really means a lot to me.

To see a trailer for Wish I Was Here, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCponfeWNOI


Interviews
UserpicRosie Perez (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
15.07.2014

Rosie Perez

The “Handbook for an Unpredictable Life” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Everything’s Coming Up Rosie!

Rosie Maria Perez was born on September 6, 1964 in Bushwick, Brooklyn where she was raised in a Catholic orphanage after being abandoned by her mom and taken from her aunt. She made a most memorable screen debut as Spike Lee’s girlfriend, Tina, in Do the Right Thing, and later landed an Oscar-nomination for a nonpareil performance in Fearless. Her many other credits include White Men Can't Jump, Won’t Back Down and The Counselor.

 

Rosie serves as the Artistic Chair of Urban Arts Partnership and sits on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Here, she talks about her career and her autobiography, “Handbook for an Unpredictable Life.”  

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Rosie. I’m honored to have this chance to speak with you.

Rosie Perez: Absolutely, Kam.

 

KW: I really enjoyed the book!

RP: Oh, you’re one of the few journalists who actually read it before speaking to me. That’s wonderful!

 

KW: What inspired you to write your autobiography?

RP: I didn’t really know at first. I kept asking myself, “Why am I doing this?” because I’m such a private person. Then, one day, the head of programming at my charity, the Urban Arts Partnership, said she was excited that I was writing it, and she hoped I’d be giving copies to the students. My first reaction was “No,” since the subject-matter was really heavy, and because of some of the language I was using. But she then reminded me that I’d already shared my stories with them, and I almost burst into tears. I realized, “Oh my God! That’s why I’m writing it.” Those students had been the first people, outside of my inner circle, to hear my story. It happened when I participated in one of our programs called Life Stories, where we encourage the kids to open up and share so they can understand their lives. One day, I was challenged to share my story with them. That‘s where finding the inspiration and strength to write this book began.   

 

KW: I found it very moving, especially since I had no idea about any of it. I just thought of you as that bubbly, talented, attractive actress I’d seen in movies and on talk shows.

RP: And I am that person, but I’m also this one. And the reason I decided to share with the students was because I saw them come into the Academy so burdened by life every day. When you are a low-income, poverty-stricken, Title 1 kid, you have so much to endure just waking up. So, you may have a bad attitude or a chip on your shoulder before you even get to school. You may arrive so anxious, angry, hungry or apathetic that you may say to yourself, “Why should I pay attention in class?” You might be beaten-up on the way to school, because you live in a bad neighborhood. Still, I had to inform them, especially the seniors, that they didn’t have the luxury of bringing all that baggage into the world which they would be stepping into as adults. I’d say, “You need to come to terms with it, or let it go. One or the other. And if you can do both, then you’re golden.” If you are unable to get past that baggage, the opportunities that should be yours will not be yours.

 

KW: Well, I applaud you for overcoming so many obstacles. After all, the odds of making it in Hollywood are long enough for someone coming from a privileged background.   

RP: I hear you, since the odds were supposedly great. But you know what? I knew I was going to be successful from day one. From day one. That’s why it throws me whenever someone says it was such a fluke that I was successful.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

RP: I would say tenacity and perseverance. You have to be like a dog with a bone. You can’t just let it go. And number one is belief. You have to believe in yourself. You need to have the audacity to be great.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

RP: Wow! No one’s ever asked me that question. I wouldn’t try it, but the only one that popped into my head is A Woman Under the Influence, the John Cassavetes film starring his wife Gena Rowlands. Her depiction of mental illness frightened me. Her performance shocked me, because it was so simple.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

RP: No, I can’t think of anything, although that question is probably out there.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

RP: Me! I see me, and the reality of me gets clearer as I get older, and I’m loving it.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

RP: The crib, the peach bedspread, and the French doors at my aunt’s house when I was 2.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

RP: Pollo guisado, it’s a Puerto Rican-style chicken stew.

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

RP: Oh, I don’t have a favorite.

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

RP: To go to college.  

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

RP: “White Girls” by Hilton Als. Blown away! http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1936365812/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20  

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

RP: To be honest, “Drunk in Love” by Beyonce’. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00HFWYA3E/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

RP: That my husband [Erik Haze] and I will be in premium health until we take our last breaths, so that we could enjoy every single second of our lives together.

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time? 

RP: With my husband and my family. It wouldn’t matter what we were doing. We’d probably be telling each other how much we appreciate each other while watching boxing and eating a good meal. Of course, it would turn into a party. 

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

RP: A horse.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

RP: I have no idea.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere anything that you promised yourself you’d do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

RP: Yes, to go back to school and get a degree.

 

KW: What was it like to skyrocket to fame?

RP: It was both difficult and wonderful. It was quite difficult for me because, being raised in a home, I’d come to hate being pointed at whenever we went out in public in a group. It’s still uncomfortable for me to be stared at, although I’ve learned to deal with it better. It makes me self-conscious. 

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

RP: I’m more guarded and shy on the carpet. At home, I’m the silliest cornball who talks way too much and wants to be quiet and left alone at the same time. And I love to entertain, but in a small, intimate way. But I feel like I can be myself on Craig Ferguson’s show. I have so much fun on his couch, because he’s an idiot. That man cracks me up. I think there’s a kinship in our silliness. I dance like he does in my living room all the time.  

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

RP: You might think it was being abandoned by mother. But no, it was being taken away from my aunt at the age of 3, because I was self-aware by then and I knew what was going on. That was my biggest heartbreak, and it informed a lot. I didn’t want it to be my whole story as an adult. So, I’ve learned to heal that heartbreak and move on.

 

KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?

RP: Yeah.

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

RP: About an hour ago during a meeting at my charity. I laugh a lot. It’s disgusting how much I laugh during the day.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

RP: [LOL] I don’t know that I would encourage anyone to follow in my footsteps.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

RP: As someone that gave back, because the people I remember the most in my life are the ones that gave. 

 

KW: Thanks again for being so forthcoming and so generous with your time, Rosie, and best of luck with both the book and your career.

RP: Thank you, Kam. I really, really appreciate it.

 

To order a copy of Handbook for an Unpredictable Life, visit:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0307952398/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20


Interviews
UserpicBobb'e J. Thompson (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
08.07.2014

Bobb’e J. Thompson

The “School Dance” Interview

with Kam William

 

The Chat Heard ‘Round the World

Kicking off an impressive career in front of the camera at the tender age of five, Bobb’e J. Thompson rose to fame as a child actor well before his teens, initially with a small but colorful and energetic supporting role as the pint-sized Tupac in My Baby's Daddy (2003). He subsequently appeared in television and film efforts such as The Tracy Morgan Show (2004), Shark Tale (2004), That’s So Raven (2004), and Joey (2005).

Bobb’e contributed to OutKast mainstay Bryan Barber's offbeat, inventive musical drama Idlewild (2006) before teaming up with Vince Vaughn in the holiday comedy Fred Claus (2007). He then starred in the acerbic farce hit comedy Role Models as the hilarious, wisecracking Ronnie Shields, for which he earned an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Performance in 2009.

2009 proved to be a breakout year for Bobb’e. He appeared in Land of the Lost with Will Ferrell and the family comedy Imagine That opposite Eddie Murphy. He was also a semi-regular on NBC's 30 Rock, stealing scenes and showing perfect comic timing in his role as Tracy Jr., the son of Tracy Morgan's character.

Next, Nike recruited Thompson for multiple commercials as the fast-talking Lil Dez, who gives NBA greats Kobe Bryant and LeBron James a run for their money while babysitting. He became the first Spokes Kid for Sony PSP in their multi-commercial campaign Marcus Rivers Don’t Play That and the youngest star to host WWE Monday *ight Raw, following his onscreen appearance opposite Big Show as fight promoter Mad Milton in Knucklehead.

Tyler Perry jumped at the opportunity to work with Bobb’e, casting him as M.J. Williams in the television series For Better or Worse. But the role of “Cal Devereaux” in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs showed a sweeter side closer to his real-life personality.

Besides his film work, Bobb’e has cultivated favorable attention for his prominent contributions to the youth-oriented urban dance video JammX Kids: Can't Dance Don't Want To, which afforded him the opportunity to show off his flair for urban music and footwork. And his hosting gig on the Cartoon Network show Bobb’e Says ranked number one on all television among its primary target demo, boys 6-11.

Here, Bobb’e reflects upon his starring role as Jason, the main character in Nick Cannon’s directorial debut, School Dance.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Bobb’e, thanks so much for the interview.

BJT: Thanks for having me, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in School Dance?

BJT: Honestly, I kinda liked the fact that I would have the chance to play a character that’s the opposite of what I’m used to playing. Jason isn’t as outspoken and foul-mouthed. I liked having an opportunity to channel my abilities in a different direction.

 

KW: Did you feel any pressure to do a good job and carry the movie as the main character, given that it’s Nick Cannon’s directorial debut?

BJT: I don’t know what pressure feels like. I went in with my head clear ready to do my job, because I knew everybody else was coming to do theirs. I was working with a team, so as long as I was ready to do my part, I was confident that the pieces were going to fit together as they should.

 

KW: What was it like working with a cast with so many great comedians? Kevin Hart… George Lopez… Katt Williams… Mike Epps…  

BJT: And Lil Duval and Luenell. We had some heavy hitters. We had fun on set. Everybody was upbeat and in good spirits. We cracked jokes and laughed but, by the end of the day, everybody got their work done. We were all about business when it was time to get on camera. And when the camera’s rolled, it was crazy! Everybody was cracking jokes and having fun, man.

 

KW: The movie reminded me of a musical, comical version of Romeo and Juliet. 

BJT: Yeah, that’s kinda what Nick was going for when he pitched it to me. Like a West Side Story with a modern twist to it. I went, “Yeah, that’s dope!” And we made it happen. That’s how we wanted it to be perceived, so I’m glad you saw it that way. 

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: How did you prepare for the role and how challenging was it playing your first lead in a movie?

BJT: It wasn’t really hard for me. It didn’t take too much preparation. I knew I wasn’t Ronnie from Role Models this time around. And I had great guidance from Nick to tone it down whenever I started to slip back into that character. 

 

KW: Patricia also says: You started acting at 5.  What does acting mean to you and what advice do you have for young people who want to be part of the film and television world?

BJT: When I first started, acting wasn’t something that I wanted to do but it’s become a passion over the years, and I have a divine love for it now. If you want to act, I advise you to stay in school, because you need your education, too, since this is a business. I’d also say, follow your dreams. Never give up! Stay persistent!

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles observes that in the movie, your character says, “I’m working on it, bro.” She asks: Is the real Bobb’e similar to Jason?

BJT: No. I’m kinda the exact opposite. He dresses like a nerd. I dress nice. And If I’m interested in a girl, I’ll approach her. He has no swag at all.

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: What are your dreams and aspirations as an artist?

BJT: I think when it’s all said and done, I need 5 Grammys, 6 Oscars, a few Emmys and a couple of NAACP Awards. The whole 9 yards. My dream is to be one of the wininngest entertainers ever. I just want my work to be recognized as well as the effort I put in.  

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: What were Nick Cannon’s instructions about how Jason should relate to Kristina DeBarge’s character, Anastacia.

BJT: There were no directions about how we should relate because we were coming from two different sides of the tracks and we only had to build chemistry later on.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

BJT: Reporters never ask me about my real passion, my music.

 

KW: Okay, then tell me about your music. 

BJT: I just finished a mixtape that’s available at www.DatPiff.com . And I also have a video out on Youtube entitled “OMG.”

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

BJT: The last time I sat down to watch School Dance.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

BJT: Eating sweets, grapes, strawberries, cherries and stuff with a lot of sugar.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

BJT: Burgers and fries. I’m an easy guy.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

BJT: Michael Oher’s “The Blind Side.” It’s a great book.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007CGTKYM/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

BJT: It was one of my songs, but I’m not sure which one. I don’t want to sound conceited, but I listen to myself all day. I critique myself a lot. 

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

BJT: Polo, Ralph Lauren.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

BJT: I see an ambitious young man who will one day have it all.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

BJT: To bring my grandmother back so I could share all this with her.

 

KW: Let's say you’re throwing your dream dinner party—who’s invited… and what would you serve?

BJT: I’d invite Carmelo Anthony, since he’s my favorite basketball player. And Beyonce’ and Jay-Z, Puffy, and my boy Rich Homie Quan. And K. Michelle or Keyshia Cole or to be my date… whichever one of them ain’t busy at the time.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

BJT: A lion.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

BJT: It’s really funny. I was chasing my big brother around the house when I was really, really little, about 3 years-old. He slammed the door in my face, and I got a black eye. [LOL]

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

BJT: I don’t promote at home. On the red carpet, I’m in full promotion mode. [Chuckles]

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

BJT: I’d like to be able to fly. L.A.’s got too much traffic.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

BJT: A nice smile. I think everybody who’s successful has nice pearly whites.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

BJT: Yeah, let’s remake the Home Alone series. We could take it to the ‘hood and show you how a little black boy would handle some robbers. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

BJT: When my grandmother died, it made me value my days more, and work harder to achieve everything I told her I was going after.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

BJT: Follow your dreams, stay in school, and honor your mother and your father. That’s pretty much it.

 

KW: The “Realtor to the Stars” Jimmy Bayan question: Do you have a favorite city where you’d like to live?

BJT: I’d like to live in Miami.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

BJT: Yes, Juneteenth, back home in Kansas City.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Bobb’e, and best of luck with School Dance.

BJT: Appreciate it, Kam.

To see a trailer for School Dance, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qKXSL2N0RQ

To watch Bobb’e’s music video, “OMG,” visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PS79KWlR-w

To download or listen to Bobb’e’s mixtape, visit:

http://www.datpiff.com/Bobbe-J-PSA-Aint-Nobody-Fuckin-With-Me-mixtape.625973.html


Interviews
UserpicDinesh D'Souza (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
07.07.2014

Dinesh D'Souza

The “America: Imagine a World without Her” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

A D’Souza Lollapalooza!

 

Scholar, author, public intellectual and filmmaker Dinesh Joseph D’Souza was born and raised in Mumbai before coming to the U.S. in 1978 as an exchange student. He subsequently matriculated at Dartmouth where he co-founded, edited and wrote for a conservative periodical called The Dartmouth Review.

A former White House domestic policy analyst in the Reagan White House, he later served as President of The King’s College in New York City, and as a fellow at both the American Enterprise Institute and Hoover Institution. He’s also co-written and co-directed a couple of documentaries: “2016: Obama’s America” and “America: Imagine the World without Her” which is currently in theaters.

A bit of a bomb-throwing provocateur, the right-wing commentator’s controversial remarks on topics ranging from racism to feminism to colonialism have incurred the wrath of many on the left. He specifically targeted President Obama in incendiary tomes titled “The Roots of Obama’s Rage” and “Obama’s America: Unmaking of the American Dream.”

Dinesh has published over a dozen books in all, most recently, “America: Imagine a World without Her,” a companion piece to the aforementioned movie. Here, he shares his concerns for the country while delineating his political philosophy..

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Dinesh, thanks for the interview.

Dinesh D'Souza: No problem, Kam.

 

KW: What’s the inspiration behind America: Imagine a World without Her?

DD: Well, I’m an immigrant to the U.S., and I’ve constantly been thinking about America both from the inside and from the outside. And I’ve come to believe that we’re living at a critical time when the American Dream is in jeopardy and this American Era which began after World War II might be winding down. So, I wanted to make a strong, moral defense of the country, in both the book and the movie, against the people who have been strong critics of America.

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: You argue that Obama is “intentionally shrinking’ the United States” presence worldwide because progressive politics argue for it, but isn’t Obama actually expanding federal government spying powers on civilians and even approving targeted assassinations of American citizens in other parts of the world? And now he is asking for $5 billion to invest in training Syrian rebel troops? That doesn’t sound like “shrinking America’s presence in the world.”

DD: Well, that question’s confusing a couple of things and muddling them together. Obama’s policies can be summarized as follows: omnipotence at home, impotence abroad. So, the federal government is expanding its powers at home over the private sector and over the lives of ordinary citizens. The NSA’s spying is part of that. Abroad, Obama’s working to undermine America’s influence and power. Now, that is consistent with his actively trying to strengthen our enemies. He has done that to some degree. If someone is trying to shrink America’s influence, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do it by doing nothing. You can also be vigorous like Obama who has been very active on both the domestic and foreign policy fronts to achieve what has really been his consistent objective. 

 

KW: Why do you think there has been little outrage in response to the expansion of the Executive powers via the NSA and IRS? If this were the Sixties, the youth would’ve taken to the streets.

DD: In the Sixties, there was a big resistance to the Vietnam War. But what accompanied it was a tendency to view all of American history cynically through the same sort of jaundiced eye, and people began reinterpreting all American history as a series of misadventures and crimes and oppressions visited upon the innocent, the poor, the defenseless, the minorities, and so on. This created a new narrative in America. Let’s call it, “America the inexcusable.” And this narrative has been drummed into the minds of our young people, not only in college, but also in elementary and secondary education. And then it spilled out into the media, the churches and mainline media where it has metastasized. What’s happened is that a whole generation of Americans has been taught that theirs is a bad country. And it’s then very difficult for them to figure out how one can one be a good citizen in a bad country. So, part of the explanation for people’s emotional paralysis is not knowing how to deal with a person like Obama. On the one hand, he is the embodiment of American exceptionalism. His story is not possible anywhere but in America. And yet he doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism, and he doesn’t like it. If he thinks America is exceptional at all, he thinks it’s exceptionally bad, not exceptionally good. 

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman says: I have observed current college students who have no ability to verbally express an original idea or to continue a discussion based on a topic involving current events. Perhaps this generation is the "ADHD" generation and is incapable of doing more than parroting the latest tweet, I am not sure.  How would you encourage young people to become more involved in lively, in-person discussions and less involved in shouting in the cloud? By that I mean, how do you encourage dialogue, discussion and actively pursuing an endeavor with other human beings present and attempting to attain tangible results instead of simply texting and emailing about current issues?

DD: Well, I do think our culture has shifted a little bit away from the contemplative more toward the visual, more toward the emotional, and more toward the expressive. I don’t think there’s a lot that can be done about that. We just have to understand that it’s the product of technology and of the way people live now. That’s one reason I make movies in addition to writing books. There’s a big audience for books, but it isn’t as large as the audience for films. Books are an intellectual experience, and films are primarily an emotional experience. Primarily. We need both, and I think the way to motivate people is to speak to them in a way that they can understand, in a way that inspires and motivates them. If you watch our America movie, you’ll see that it’s different than the kind of rhetoric you traditionally hear. It’s a film that helps you experience and feel America, and it’s a film that helps you look at American history in a new way which builds rather than undermines patriotism.

 

KW: Did you have any hesitations about doing another documentary, given how the feds came down on you after you criticized the President in 2016: Obama’s America? Do you think that making that movie was what got you in trouble with the IRS?

DD: In my case, it was a campaign finance law violation. It had nothing to do with the IRS. There’s no question that I’ve been a prominent critic of Obama. I know for a fact that he was upset by that film, 2016. How do I know? I know because he started railing against it on his website, www.BarackObama.com. But I’m not intimidated by the fact that people in high places are opposed to me. I work hard to earn their discomfort and perhaps even their rage. So, again, with my new film, America, the Left is already out there screaming and trying their best in their clumsy, heavy-handed way to discourage people from seeing the film. It’s not really going to work, but it’s a strategy that I fully expect and am ready for.    

 

KW: Do you think that between the NSA and the IRS might have had an effect on the outcome of the 2012 Presidential Election the way that so many conservatives who applied to create 501(c)(3) non-profits were put through the wringer?

DD: I don’t know. I do believe that the Obama administration has reached a new low by using the instruments of the state against its political adversaries. Obama does not see people who disagree with him as well-meaning opponents but rather as enemies. That’s not something that Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton did as President, and it’s certainly not something that Reagan or either Bush did. Probably Obama’s direct descendant in this line is Richard Nixon. And Obama seems to have carried Nixonian tactics to a new low. So, we’ve turned a corner in American politics that doesn’t bode well for our future.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: According to the American Enterprise Institute, the Hobby Lobby ruling won't change much and isn't very important. Do you agree?

DD: It’s hard to say. I know a little bit about the ruling, of course. The issue of religious liberty is absolutely critical. America was founded on three different types of liberty: political liberty, economic liberty, and religious and civil liberty. It’s remarkable that, one-by-one, these strands of liberty are coming under fierce attack from the Left. And that’s particularly ironic because “liberal” derives from a word which means “liberty,” the free man as opposed to the slave. This liberalism which we’re saddled with today isn’t a real liberalism at all, but a gangster style of politics masquerading as liberalism. . 

 

KW: Cousin Leon Marquis asks: How can the Average Joe, making under $100,000 per year, survive and thrive in the new America that you envision?

DD: Well, it depends on what you mean when you say “you envision.” There’s one America that Obama wants, and there’s a very different America that I want. I want an America that is entrepreneurial, that has a strong private sector in which religious faith is respected and even nourished, in which there’s vigorous debate across the spectrum, and in which our universities teach real history instead of propaganda. That’s a very different kind of America, and they’re moving very resolutely towards their goal. Certainly the decline of America is a choice, though the outcome is not foreordained. But liberty is also a choice, and I’m doing my best to persuade the people of America to make the latter choice.

 

KW: Professor/Filmmaker/author Hisani Dubose says: You’re quoted at Salon.com as saying, "The cultural left in this country is responsible for causing 9/11 ... the cultural left and its allies in Congress, the media, Hollywood, the non-profit sector and the universities are the primary cause of the volcano of anger toward America that is erupting from the Islamic world." You also said the problem with colonialism in Africa and India is that it did not last long enough.  Do you not think that America's policies in Africa and Islamic countries are what have caused the "volcano of anger" toward the United States? Most of the dictators there were backed by the U.S.

DD: That question, unfortunately, is a little bit incoherent because it combined things I did say with things I didn’t say. For example, on colonialism, I don’t say it lasted too long in India. It lasted long enough there, like a couple hundred years. My point was that it lasted in Africa only for a few decades. The complaint was that the colonialists were there for too short a time to actually introduce Western values of democracy, separation of powers, and checks and balances, the kind of stuff that the Indians learned from the British which enabled India to establish a democratic society and to open universities based on the Western model which could teach people English and ultimately create the foundation for the technical explosion that is happening now. None of that development would’ve transpired in India if it hadn’t been for the colonial influence that first laid the groundwork for it. That didn’t happen in Africa where Western roots were too thinly planted. And as far as 9/11, obviously Islamic radicals were responsible for the terrorist attack. It would take a moron to blame someone else. They did it! But my point is that liberal propaganda around the world has helped to shape and encourage the idea that America is a shameless, amoral country. Islamic radicals have benefitted from that, and it has served to strengthen their recruiting efforts on the Arab street. 

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

DD: I’m in the process right now of reading Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment.” http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1495429113/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

DD: When you look in the mirror, what do I see? I see a reflection of myself.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

DD: Standing on the balcony of my house after my grandfather died when I was very young.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

DD: I don’t cook, but my favorite dish to eat is Chicken Tikka Marsala.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Dinesh, and good luck with the book and the film.

DD: Thanks Kam. Bye-bye.

To see a trailer for America: Imagine the World without Her, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7r3Ef7Ssy8

To order a copy of the book, “America: Imagine a World without Her, visit: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/162157203X/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20


Interviews
UserpicMichael Ealy (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
24.06.2014

Michael Ealy

The “Think Like a Man Too” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Mike on the Mic

For the last few years, Michael Ealy has been red-hot, jumping from TV to film and back to TV, seamlessly. He recently starred in the sci-fi television series, Almost Human, for which he earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Drama Series.

Earlier this year, he starred in the remake of About Last Night, and prior to that on the TV series Common Law. He also completed impactful, multi-episode arcs on CBS’ hit series “The Good Wife,” and on the Showtime series, “Californication,” while concurrently shooting the feature adaptation of the renowned theatre production, For Colored Girl’s Only, Who Consider Committing Suicide When The Rainbow Is Not Enough for Tyler Perry Studios and Lions Gate Films. 

Prior to that, he was handpicked by Will Smith to co-star in Seven Pounds, and by Spike Lee to join the ensemble of The Miracle at St. Anna. Michael’s riveting performance was lauded in this true story of four Buffalo Soldiers who risked their lives to save a young Italian boy while behind enemy lines.

A student of history and supporter of education, Michael participated in the History Channel’s documentary series The People Speak, based on Howard Zinn’s acclaimed book where one of the historical figures he portrays is “Malcolm X.” He earned a Golden Globe nomination for his lead performance on the Showtime mini-series “Sleeper Cell” where he portrayed Darwyn, a Muslim FBI agent sent undercover to infiltrate a terrorist cell in Los Angeles.

He was tapped by Oprah to star opposite Halle Berry in the Harpo Films telepic “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” The TV special received rave reviews and was viewed by over 26 million people. Michael earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for his portrayal of Teacake”.

The Silver Spring, Maryland native appeared in several stage productions after graduating from college, including the Off-Broadway hits Joe Fearless and Whoa Jack. It would not be long thereafter before Michael nabbed guest-starring television roles on “Law & Order” and “Soul Food.”And he was subsequently  cast in the films Kissing Jessica Stein and Bad Company

While visiting his friends in Los Angeles, Michael heard about auditions for Barbershop.  After placing a call to his manager and a few rounds of auditions, he landed the role of Ricky Nash,” a two-strike offender. In terms of the tabloids, the blue-eyed hunks was named one of People magazines’ “On the Verge” actors in the magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” 2002 and 2013 issues. Furthermore, he was named one of E! Entertainment Television’s “Sizzlin’ 16” of 2004 and appeared on the cover of Essence magazine's "Hollywood Screen Gems" for their April 2004 issue. 

Michael resides in Los Angeles with his wife Khatira Rafiqzada and their baby, Elijah.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Michael, thanks for the time, bro.

Michael Ealy: What’s up, Kam?

 

KW: Tim [Director Tim Story] managed to reassemble the whole cast for the sequel. How’d he make that happen?

ME: It’s a miracle that everybody’s schedule opened up. I think part of the genius of it was that they made the decision early, and said, “Next summer, we’re going to try to knock this out.” So, everyone kinda made sure that they were available. We also had such a good time making the first one that everybody jumped at the chance to come back and do a sequel with the same cast and same director. That’s an opportunity you just don’t get very often.

 

KW: And did you enjoy yourself as much the second go-round?

ME: I definitely did, although being in Vegas for two or three months obviously presented a whole new set of challenges, since it’s a place that most people visit for only two or three days. You had the heat and the extreme air conditioning. And also constant, constant stimulation, whether it’s people getting drunk out of their minds, couples getting married, people going to strip clubs, prostitutes or whatever. It’s Sin City! It’s hard sometimes to stay focused on your job when there’s so much going on around you, as well as people following you around. There were plenty of distractions. So, I wouldn’t say it was as easy as shooting in L.A. Location is a factor. If you have to go somewhere to work, it helps to be focused.

 

KW: As usual, I have a lot of questions for you from fans. Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: This isn’t your first sequel. You also did Barbershop 1 and 2. What is it about them that calls you back, and will you be doing Barbershop 3.

ME: [Chuckles] I think what happened on Barbershop also kinda happened on Think Like a Man, and the irony is that both pictures were made with the same director, Tim Story. It just doesn’t happen often that the movie you shot for $12 million ends up making $90 million. That’s very rare. So, when you catch lightning in a bottle like that, you jump at an opportunity to come back and do a sequel. You’re lucky if one out ten movies you make gets a sequel.   

 

KW: So, will you be doing Barbershop 3?

ME: I don’t even know whether that’s in the works.

 

KW: I spoke to Ice Cube a few weeks ago, and it looks like a go. It already has a page up at imdb.com, although no director has been named.

ME: Really? Well, they haven’t come to me yet. So, I don’t know anything about it.  

 

KW: What about Think Like a Man 3?

ME: I don’t see why not, if we can bring back the exact same producer, cast and director.

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: I'm a fan of yours, big time. I think the chemistry you have with Taraji [co-star Taraji P. Henson] in Think Like A Man is awesome. I appreciate the message your characters’ relationship sends to the audience that falling in love can be sexy and respectful.

ME: Thank you.

 

KW: She goes on to say:I'm a history buff and I love the TV series “Finding Your Roots” with Dr. Henry Louis Gates where he explores the lineage and genetics of some prominent people.  When I see you onscreen with those blue eyes, I wonder if you have personally researched your genealogy?

ME: I’ve definitely watched those PBS specials with Dr. Gates. I won’t lie, I’ve been curious, but I haven’t yet initiated a search of my family tree.

 

KW: Marcia would also like to know whether you have any plans to make any biopics about historical figures from the Maryland or Washington, D.C. area, like Benjamin Banneker, since you’re from Baltimore?

ME: That’s an interesting question because it was a dream of mine for the longest time to bring a film that I was starring in back to the DMV [D.C./Maryland/Virginia] for a screening or a premiere. And I’ve been blessed to be able to do that twice, for Think Like a Man and, recently, for Think Like a Man Too. And now, the next dream of mine, career-wise, is to shoot a movie that takes place there, to showcase the area for what it is. So, Marcia’s question is actually inspiring me to dig a little deeper and to consider playing someone from the area. So, yeah, I will give that some serious thought. If there’s someone I could portray, I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

KW: Marcia’s final comment is that she enjoyed both Unconditional and Miracle at St. Anna’s, and that she was having dinner recently with friends when they talked about how Spike [director Spike Lee] and the cast didn’t receive enough love for the film. 

ME: Yeah, we went to Italy and worked like crazy for three months to make that movie amazing. But sometimes, a picture gets lost in the system. I don’t know what happened, but the marketing campaign wasn’t there. You really can’t afford to worry about it, because it’ll depress you and take you to a darker place. However, we made a good movie, and you can still get it on demand. So, I really appreciate that comment. I don’t know what happened, but it didn’t work to our advantage.  
 

KW: That September release date didn’t help. Everybody’s focused on getting back to work and school after summer vacation.

ME: A lot of factors contribute to how a film fares, and sometimes that includes the release date.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I loved your performance as Dominic in the original Think Like a Man because it was realistic and reminded me of my ex who pretended to be a yuppie in the same way that Dominic lied to his girlfriend about what he did for a living to impress her. Is Dominic more authentic and confident about presenting his real self to the world and to his girlfriend in the sequel?
ME: Good question, Patricia. Yes, Dominic is absolutely much more confident. He now has two more food trucks, and his career as a chef is on the rise. I think anybody who’s doing well in the pursuit of their dreams is going to be a little more confident than what they were when they first started. What I like is that Dominic doesn’t cave to peer pressure from some of his closest friends who question his drive because he’s so in love with Lauren. He handles himself very well, and he’s very open with everybody, including Lauren, about his feelings. I respect that about the character.

  

KW: Patricia, whose native language is French, was also wondering whether you speak French.

ME: I do not speak French. I know enough Italian to function in a Spanish-speaking country. French is a language that I probably should know, and I’d like to learn, but I have to work on that. Sorry.

 

KW: What kind of kid were you? Did you dream of becoming an actor during your childhood?

ME: No, I had normal aspirations. When I was little, I very badly wanted to be Art Monk, the great receiver for the Washington Redskins. Then, in middle school, I decided I wanted to be an architect. I was looking at the work of Frank Lloyd Wright when I was in the 7th and 8th grade, and trying to decide whether architecture was for me. It wasn’t until I was about 19 that I settled on acting. I was already in college.

 

KW: Have you ever had a near-death experience?

ME: [Laughs] No, I have never had the type of near-death experience most people talk about but, where I’m from, you have one anytime you’re pulled over by the police. When I was growing up, racial profiling was rampant, and you didn’t always make it outta there. I’ve seen friends get beaten up and slammed against patrol cars.

 

KW: Yeah, when I was in college, I was profile-stopped over two-dozen times,

And the cops always used the excuse that I resembled a supposed perp to pat me down and search me.    

ME: Back in college, some friends of mine and I were stopped on our way to a party, allegedly because there was a shooting in the neighborhood, based on a description of the suspects being young black males. One of my buddies was in law school, one was in med school, and the others were upperclassmen. All upstanding citizens. We couldn’t have been further from the guys they were searching for. 

 

KW: Would you mind saying something controversial that would get this interview tweeted?

ME: I don’t think I can help you there. My goal is not to be tweeted about.

 

KW: How do you get through the tough times?  

ME: To put it simply, faith and family. That’s gotten me through a lot of the rough years early on, and they continue to serve as a rock in my life now

 

KW: Thanks again, Michael, I appreciate having another opportunity to interview you. Best of luck with the film.

ME: Okay Kam, I appreciate it, too. Always good to talk to you.

 

To see a trailer for Think Like a Man Too, visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8b6kVSZNLE


Interviews
UserpicAmma Asante (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
27.05.2014

Amma Asante
The “Belle” Interview
with Kam Williams

Amma's Good Karma!

Writer/director Amma Asante made an unusual entry into filmmaking. As a child, she attended the Barbara Speake stage school in London, where she trained as a student in dance and drama. 

She began a television career as a child actress, appearing as a regular in the popular British school drama “Grange Hill.” She fronted the ‘Just Say No” campaign of the 1980s and was one of nine “Grange Hill” children to take it to the Reagan White House. Amma went on to gain credits in other British television series including “Desmond's” and “Birds of a Feather,” and was a Children's Channel presenter for a year.

In her late teens, Amma left the world of acting and made the move to screenwriting with a development deal from Chrysalis. Two series of the urban drama “Brothers and Sisters” followed which she wrote and produced for the BBC.

Amma’s made her feature film directorial debut in 2004 with A Way of Life which won her 17 international awards including The BFI London Film Festival's inaugural Alfred Dunhill UK Film Talent Award, created to recognize the achievements of a new or emerging British writer/director who has shown great skill and imagination in bringing originality and verve to filmmaking. Additionally Asante collected The Times ‘Breakthrough Artist of the Year’ at the prestigious South Bank Show Awards for writing and directing the film.

At the BAFTA Film Awards in February 2005, Asante received the BAFTA Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a Writer/Director in a Debut Film. On the same night, she scored a double triumph at the 2005 Miami International Film Festival, winning the award for ‘Best Dramatic Feature in World Cinema’ and the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) prize for ‘Best Feature Film.’

Amma was born in London in 1969 and is married to Soren Kragh Pedersen, the Europol Chief of Media and Public Relations. Here, she talks about her new film, Belle, a fact-based, historical drama starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw about the daughter of an African slave and a British ship captain who was raised in England as an aristocrat.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Amma. I’m honored to have this opportunity.

Amma Asante: Thank you very much, Kam. It’s my pleasure.  

 

KW: I told my readers I’d be speaking with you, so I’ll be mixing in their questions with some of my own.

AA: Okay, cool.

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: Where did you find this story and what motivated you to turn it into a movie? 

AA: Well, the story comes from the painting that emerges at the end of the film.

Dido Elizabeth BelleMy producer [Damian Jones] sent me a postcard of the picture. I knew immediately that this was an unusual painting and that there was something very special about it, because I had recently been to an art exhibition in Amsterdam that was looking at the history of people of color in art from the 14th Century. What I learned from the show, without knowing that this postcard was ever going to fall into my lap, was that people of color were generally used as accessories in paintings. We were there to express the status of the main subject of the canvas. We’d always be positioned lower than and looking up in awe at the protagonist and never looking out at the painter. But in this postcard, everything was the opposite. There was Dido Belle staring out at the painter, positioned slightly higher than Elizabeth [her white cousin] whose arm was reaching out to Dido, and thereby drawing your eyes towards Dido. So, I saw an opportunity to create a story that would be a combination of race, politics, art and history. And it went from there, with lots and lots of research.

 

KW: I don’t agree with the assumption of Irene’s next question. Why did you focus on the love story instead of the historical significance?

AA: I disagree with her as well. I think the historical significance was to bring the two people in the love story together. What I tried to do was to use the legal case of the Zong Massacre and the painting itself as tools to explore Dido Elizabeth Belle’s journey. They feed into her being able to find her voice and into her coming to a place where she experiences self-love. So, I would say that that’s at the center of the film, the love story between Dido and herself. Everything else kind of sits around that idea of a young woman coming into her own.

 

KW: Irene was also wondering whether there might be a sequel in the works.

AA: [Chuckles] No, there isn’t. I feel like this painting fell into my lap because this story needed to be told by me. I believe I was blessed to have the opportunity to be able put this story together and bring it to the screen. But I feel that my role is completed now, and I’d have to leave a sequel to someone else.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I was very impressed that this elaborate costume drama/historical biopic was just your second feature film. 

AA: Thank you, Patricia. I knew that I wanted my second film to be big and lush and important, and that I wanted it to make a statement. That’s why it took those eight years to get from my first to my second feature. I always knew I had it in me. I just had to persuade the financiers as well. I think feature films are about the confidence you have in bringing your vision to fruition. 

 

KW: When I interviewed Gugu, she gave me the idea that you definitely had a vision of what you were trying to achieve, and also that she felt very comfortable in your hands.

AA: Oh, that’s nice of her to say. It was important to me for the cast to feel safe in my hands. I was very open to collaborating with them, but they also knew that I had a very, very strong vision for this story that I wanted to tell.

 

KW: She goes on to say:Given that I speak French, I am curious to know where the French last name of Dido Elizabeth Belle comes from?

AA: Dido was born to a West African woman who was sold into slavery. I named the film Belle to honor both Dido and her mother, Maria. But we don’t know how she came to have the surname Belle.

 

KW: Patricia says: I saw the movie in Quebec in English but I hope the movie will be translated soon into French and other languages to allow the Francophony and other cultures to discover it.

AA: Absolutely! The film has been translated ad is being released in France in a few months’ time.  

KW: Patricia also asks: Why do you think that the story of Belle remained unknown, despite the painting of her?

AA: That’s a very interesting question. I’m 44 years-old now, and I grew up not knowing anything about it. But young girls and boys in England today are being taught about Dido Belle. You can read about elements of her life in various books that have been published. What there wasn’t until our film was the quintessential story that pieced together Dido’s life. Since the film does contain some elements of fiction, Damian and I decided to commission Paula Byrne to write an absolutely historically-accurate version of Dido’s life in book form, also called “Belle.”

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How do you feel about the compliment that “The movie Belle has a woman’s touch and is a woman’s movie.”

AA: I like that compliment! And I thank whoever gave it. What I wanted to do was put a woman of color, front and center, in this movie combining a lot of themes that were relevant to both men and women. I actively wanted her to carry the weight of this movie because I’m a woman. And I actively wanted to explore many of the issues that affected her as a woman of color. That was very important to me. And although these issues affect some women of color, I don’t think they’re only of interest to women of color. They’re of universal interest. In addition, I’m a girl, and I celebrate being a girl, and it was really important to me to celebrate the beauty that I could create in a movie like this, aesthetically, in terms of the costumes and the production design. I wanted something big and lush and beautiful and unashamedly feminine. So, I take that as a big compliment, Harriet.

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

AA: Oh my God! You’d be forcing me to really nail my flag to the mast. But I have a few. Chanel! I love and adore Chanel. I’m a huge Christian Dior fan. And I’m also a huge Yves St. Laurent fan.  

 

KW: Three classics!

AA: I’m just a classic gal!

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving asks: What is your take on the blossoming genre of films about the African Diaspora during the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade? Do you expect to see more films about this aspect of history made?

AA: I think we will because, every so many years, a filmmaker returns to the subject. Interestingly, I also sense that a wider feed is coming through in these stories. I cried watching The Butler, because I understood that with all these wonderful films like Mandela, 12 Years a Slave and Half of a Yellow Sun that a beautiful tapestry of our history was in the process of being woven all over the world. I found that very inspiring and started to weep because I realized that Belle would be a part of that tapestry. What I hope is that this wider pattern that’s emerging isn’t just a fad but evidence that we’ve turned a corner as filmmakers of color and that we’re moving forward in our confidence and in the film industry not being afraid of our telling these stories and in giving us the opportunity to bring our vision to the screen.

 

KW: Lisa also asks: Did you find Tarantino’s Django Unchained gratuitously violent?

AA: I don’t think it’s for me to comment on how other directors choose to bring their visions to fruition. You can watch Belle to see what I think my film needed to communicate its message about slavery. For me, I found it unnecessary to show any great violence. However, Quentin Tarantino did find it necessary for his film, and I have to respect his decision as one filmmaker respecting another. I’ll leave it at that.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to direct?

AA: Well, there is. And I just bought the rights to the project two days ago. It’s a remake of a fabulous French film. I can’t give it away, but stay tuned.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

AA: My earliest childhood memory I actually injected into Belle. It’s of me sitting on my dad’s lap. I remember him saying to me, “You don’t understand what I’m saying to you right now, but know that you are loved.” That’s where that line comes from in the movie where Dido’s biological father leans down to say the same thing to her. Belle is also dedicated to my father who died unexpectedly during the making of the film. It’s a movie that means a lot to me because I made it not only for little girls around the world who grew up to see themselves reflected in a film like this, but also for my father because it was the kind of picture he would love, even if his daughter had nothing to do with it. So, my earliest memory of him is in the movie.

 

KW: My condolences, Amma. Is it true that your father was an accountant, your mother was a housekeeper, and that they also opened a deli?

AA: Yes, that’s correct. After my parents arrived in England, it took them a decade to get a foothold. It meant that they had to work non-stop. My mother would do two cleaning jobs in the morning before opening her deli, and then do two more cleaning jobs in the evening. Her whole day, from 4:30 AM until 9 PM was spent working, as was my father’s, between the office and the shop.

 

KW: You became a TV star as a teenager. How did you avoid the problems that destroy the lives of so many child actors?

AA: Again, I would honestly have to credit my parents, Kwame and Comfort, who ensured that my feet as well as my siblings stayed firmly on the ground. So, I was very well-rooted. I also learned the value of money from a very young age. I thank God for that.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

AA: Jollof rice, a very popular Ghanain dish I learned from my mother. It’s a mixture of rice and vegetables that you can make with either chicken or beef. It’s great because it was designed to give a child or an adult all the nutrients they need in one dish. And it is my absolute favorite!

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

AA: I see the woman I knew I wanted to be as a child. When I was a young girl, I had a vision of the woman I wanted to be. And I often reached out to women of color in America for inspiration. My mother would regularly buy Essence and Ebony. I would look at those magazines filled with images of professional, intelligent women of color who knew who they were, who enjoyed who they were, and who were surrounded by other people who enjoyed who they were. When I look in the mirror, I’m really glad that that’s what I see today, but it took awhile to get here.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

AA: I would have to say “No.” But before Belle, I would have answered “Yes.” The great thing about this movie is that I’ve put so much of myself on the table, and put so much of my guts into the movie that I’ve really worn my heart on my sleeve, and everybody has really gotten access to my heart and my head. Many of the questions from your readers have been great. But I would like to turn the question around and ask you: Is there any question you have for me that you might be too shy to ask?

 

KW: Funny you should ask. I do have a few I’d decided against. Here’s one: Would you mind saying something controversial that would get this interview tweeted?

AA: [LOL] Yes, I would mind.

 

KW: Another one I was planning to pass on was the Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

AA: I really can answer that one. Sitting in the back row of a full audience watching one of my movies, and hearing them cry and hearing them laugh in the right moments, particularly when they laugh at a line I’ve stolen from one of my family members and put in the film. That excites me a great deal. And that’s an honest answer.

 

KW: I also hesitated to ask you the Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

AA: My first big heartbreak has made me an irrepressible romantic. I was lucky enough to date my first love for five years. We had a very romantic, very dramatic teenage love affair. And it has impacted me because I have married a man who is simply the grownup version of my first love. So, I believe my first love was just preparing me for the man I’m married to today. And it has also impacted the way I write, because there will always be a love story in every movie I write. Always! I think having a positive first love experience before the heartbreak made me a more confident in who I am, a more confident female today. That might be controversial. 

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

AA: A child. I’ve been trying for a child with my husband for a long time, for over eight years. And if I could have one wish instantly granted, it would be to be pregnant with a healthy baby.

 

KW: I know his name is Soren. What type of name is that? Swedish?

AA: Close. He’s Danish.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

AA: A panther! Dangerous and beautiful.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

AA: The ability to inspire, to transfer our passion to other people and to bring them along with us in pursuit of our vision. I have to be able to inspire investors, actors and crews on a daily basis. What I recognize in other successful people is a similar ability to make their passion infectious.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Amma, and best of luck with Belle.

AA: Thank you, Kam. It’s been great to talk to you.

To see a trailer for Belle, visit


Interviews
UserpicPatricia Heaton (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
20.05.2014

Patricia Heaton

The “Moms’ Night Out” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

A Greetin’ from Heaton!

Two-time Emmy Award winner Patricia Heaton is best known for her roles as Debra Barone in the hit series Everybody Loves Raymond and as Frankie Heck in the current ABC comedy The Middle. Patricia, who also starred with Kelsey Grammar in Back to You, was named one of the Funniest Women on TV by TV Guide.

 

Her movie credits include Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Beethovenand Space Jam while, on stage, she starred off-Broadway in the Theresa Rebeck play The Scene. Inspired by their four sons, Patricia and her husband, David Hunt, co-founded FourBoys Films where she has served as a producer of Amazing Grace, as well as an executive producer of her new film, Moms’ Night Out.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Patricia. Thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity.

Patricia Heaton: My pleasure, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in Moms’ Night Out?

PH: I thought it was a fun, family movie that really tried to portray people of faith as real people, not cartoon caricatures. Yet it was funny in the way that good comedy tends to exaggerate real situations. I just appreciated how it offered a nice, refreshingly-different take on people of faith. So many of the faith-based films have been more like sermons than movies. We wanted to bridge that gap a little, and bring it a little more mainstream. 

 

KW: I understand, because a lot of people have low expectations of a film once it’s been pigeonholed as faith-based. 

PH: I definitely think that, because of the movies that have come before, there’s a prejudice against Moms’ Night Out. This is a tough business to begin with, and that’s just one more of those things that you have to deal with. I believe we did a really great job. It’s not meant to be a how-to guide on how you’re supposed to live your life or raise your family. It’s really just a fun comedy that’s intended to be a great night out for the family and an inspiration to moms everywhere, and to honor moms and the hard work they do, whatever kind of mom they are. 

 

KW: Why did you decide to executive produce the film?

PH: It’s a little hard to do a PG film these days where both the kids and the grandparents will feel comfortable and have a good time. This was an opportunity to do just that.

 

KW: How did you prepare to play Sondra, a mother, friend and counselor married to a mega-church pastor?

PH: I did some research, and I found it interesting to learn that the #1 word that pastors’ wives use to describe themselves by is “lonely.” At first, I was a little taken aback by that, but of course it made sense. Everyone comes to pastors’ wives for advice. But you really can’t confide in another member of the congregation in that way when your husband is the pastor of the church because you’re expected to maintain a certain decorum. So, I thought that was a fascinating dilemma my character faced, being a confidant to all, but not having somebody she could turn to herself. Every actor wants to have something that their character’s struggling with, even in a comedy, so that made me want to play Sondra.

 

KW: Did you worry about audiences recognizing you, and then perhaps expecting Sondra to behave more like Debra Barone or Frankie Heck, two iconic characters you’ve played on TV?

PH: No, I think this was far enough away. First of all, being on the big screen gives you a different field to play in that people aren’t expecting. And I worked hard to make her as different as possible. I gave her a slight Southern accent which helped define the character as different from Debra and Frankie.

 

KW: I know that you like to tweet. How would you describe Moms’ Night Out in 140 characters or less?

PH: I would just say that everyone should visit #MNO because it’s a very entertaining movie full of laughs that’s fun for the whole family. That might be longer than 140 characters.

 

KW: What message do you want people to take away from the film?

PH: I think that being a mom is the hardest job in the world and often, if you’re not running a business or working outside the home, you feel, as a mother, like you’re forgotten or not appreciated. So, we wanted to make sure we made a Mother’s Day movie that would let women know that the work they’re doing in raising their kids is really important.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

PH: Omigosh! The best classics I would never want to touch. On the Waterfront is one of my favorite old movies. When a film is made as well as that, you just don’t want to touch it. So, I’d have to think about that question. I’m not sure.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

PH: I’m the fourth of five kids. My mom used to put my playpen out in the front yard with me in it, so she could get work done in the house. [Laughs] I remember being a little bored, very early on, being cooped up in that playpen. 

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams says: Thank you for all of your great work over the years and for being an artistic inspiration. As a well-known conservative, do you think that there is an industry "black list" for conservatives and Republicans who “come out of the closet,” so to speak? Would you recommend that a filmmaker or actor who is conservative keep their political views hidden so as to not hurt their chances for success? I didn't do that and am always wondering whether it was a mistake.

PH: I think that what is respected the most in this industry is good work, talent and professionalism. That’s how I’ve always tried to conduct myself. And I’ve worked very hard at my craft. That’s the most important thing. Those standards were established long before I ever uttered a political opinion. Doing so can be polarizing, but it doesn’t seem to have affected me, because I always have a good job. You have to gauge what purpose there would be in expressing any belief. Will it accomplish anything good? What I find right now is that the country in general and Hollywood in particular have become very polarized the last few years. It’s not that you have to hide your true feelings, but it’s best to behave very professionally when you come to the workplace. I think that what people respect more than anything else is when you’re a professional and the best at what you do.     

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: You have managed to balance your career, marriage and having four sons.  What is the secret of that successful balance? What has given you the most satisfaction in life?

PH: I’ve been very fortunate that the jobs that I’ve had have basically allowed me to be a full-time mother to my kids. The working hours on Everybody Loves Raymond were such that I could either bring my kids with me to work or be home with them. That’s kind of happened to me all the way along. So, I feel very blessed that I was able to enjoy being a mom while fulfilling my acting goals. In terms of satisfaction, the most important thing to me is my family, for sure. As an actor, you’re very aware that all these jobs come and go and that even a very successful, hit show is going to end after seven or eight seasons. There’s no security. The only security is in your family. That’s why it’s very important to keep your family close and make them the priority.

 

KW: Harriet also asks: How has your deep Christian faith informed your choices of roles and your approach to the characters you portray?

PH: Well, I’m very fortunate in that I’ve never had to turn something down on television because of content. Most everything I’ve been offered has been very high quality and not anything I would feel uncomfortable being a part of. I’m sensitive about what projects I pick because I feel responsible to my kids and to impressionable young minds for whatever I’m putting out into the world. So, I take a look at things from that perspective. I feel that if you’ve been given the gift of being an actor, that gift is from God and needs to be put to a good use. 

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: What interested you and your husband in producing Amazing Grace, the movie about British abolitionist William Wilberforce? I loved that film, by the way.

PH: My husband is British, and he’s always thought that William Wilberforce would be a great person to do a movie about. Very few Americans know who he is. He’s really wanted to bring that story to the screen for years.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

PH: No, there are more questions that I wish they wouldn’t ask me. [LOL]

 

KW: The Pastor Alex Kendrick question: When do you feel the most content?

KB: Oh, my goodness! I feel very much content at home when I have all my family around me, and also when I’m onstage.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Patricia, and best of luck with the film.

PH: I really appreciate your getting the word out about it and taking the time to talk to me, Kam, because it’s a movie that people really enjoy when they go see it.

To see a trailer for Moms’ Night Out, visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leb6Vnhbp1A 


Interviews
UserpicTerry Crews (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
19.05.2014

Terry Crews

The “Blended” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Crews Control!

Since retiring from the NFL, Terry Crews has traded in his helmet and cleats to pursue an acting career while also becoming the ultimate family man and fitness enthusiast. Over the past several years, omnipresent Terry has been seen almost everywhere, whether as the pecs-popping pitchman for Old Spice,  portraying the overworked dad on “Everybody Hates Chris,” a tough guy in “The Expendables” film series, the loveable goofball in “White Chicks,” Will McAvoy’s bodyguard on HBO’s “The Newsroom,” or randy congressman Herbert Love in “Arrested Development.”

2014 has been a busy year for Terry, who has already appeared in Tyler Perry’s “The Single Mom’s Club,” and in “Draft Day” opposite Kevin Costner. And later this year, he will be starring with Sly Stallone in “Reach Me,” and reprising the role of Hale Caesar in the “The Expendables 3.”

Terry is currently a series regular on the Golden Globe Award-winning TV sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” playing Sgt. Terry Jeffords, whose ripped exterior belies a sensitive and beleaguered interior. Crews also just added author to his resume with the release of his first book, “Manhood.” And it was recently announced that starting this fall he will be serving as host of the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”

Here, he talks about playing “Nickens” in his new movie, “Blended,” co-starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Terry, thanks for the interview.

Terry Crews: Oh, you got it, Kam.

 

KW: Congrats on the Golden Globe for your TV show, Brooklyn Ninety-Nine.

TC:  Thank you! It blew me away when we got that Golden Globe. What an honor! I had no idea.  It’s an awesome show and one of the best things I’ve ever done.

 

KW: And you get to play a complex character in Sergeant Terry Jeffords. 

TC:  That’s the best thing, that [scriptwriters] Mike Schur and Dan Goorhore created real people everybody can recognize. That’s real cool! 

 

KW: I loved Blended, and I’m not a fan of Adam Sandler’s lowbrow brand of humor. But this one is different and kept me laughing non-stop.

TC: That’s great! And it touches your feelings along the way, too. That’s the thing. What’s so good about the Adam-Drew [Barrymore] collaborations is how she tempers him. It’s the real deal. Their 50 First Dates was the first comedy that I ever caught feelings on. I was like, “Whoa! I’m feeling the romance here. I want them to get together. Why do I care so much?” And I got emotional about it. That is what they bring, a magical combination that works every time.

 

KW: I liked the two of them in The Wedding Singer, too.

TC: They’re a great combination. My wife does that for me. By myself, I’m a hard pill. But, wow! My wife makes me look real good, because she smoothes my rough edges. That’s why I say, “Take your wife everywhere. It’s a good thing.” [Laughs]

 

KW: You provide the comic relief throughout this movie. Just when we’re about to forget about Nickens, he pops up again with that Greek chorus.

TC:  You know what’s wild? Adam called me up and before I’d seen a script, he said, “Man, I wanna do this movie with you that we’re shooting in Africa. Are you down, brother?” I had no idea what was going on, but I was like, “Let’s go! This is awesome!” I’m a card-carrying member of the Happy Madison Productions family. Adam put me in The Longest Yard, Click and The Benchwarmers. Every time he calls, it leads to nothing but great things. That’s why I just said, “Let’s do it!” We didn’t really have this character all straightened out. We sort of figured it out as we went along. He came up with a great idea. He said, basically, “Let’s make him the South African Tom Jones.” Once we had that, we were off and running.

 

KW: Had you been to Africa before?

TC:  No, that was my first time, and I loved every minute of it. I traveled all over South Africa. I was in Cape Town, Soweto, Sun City and Johannesburg. I would’ve visited Durban, too, but we just didn’t have the time. We met the most beautiful people and ate the best food! And we went on safari in Madikwe which is near Botswana. It was amazing. Some people say Sante Fe is spiritual, but you haven’t experienced anything until you’ve been to Africa. You know the world is bigger than you are after you see Africa. 

 

KW: I was surprised that they shot the film in Africa at all, since it’s a romantic comedy that could’ve been made in Hollywood, not a drama that called for an exotic location.  

TC:  I think the moviegoers are tired of always seeing L.A. and New York. Come on! I think you can only do but so much here. It’s about time that the rest of the world is represented in entertainment. Africa is a huge continent. The world is gigantic. We get a little insulated. New Yorkers never go anywhere because they think everything’s already in New York. You can to Disney World or watch Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, but you have to travel to Africa to have the real experience. And if you ever do go, it will change your life. I was changed. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done.

 

KW: What do you think about the 300 schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria? 

TC:  Oh man, what can I say brother? I have four daughters. I consider myself a feminist. My whole life has been about standing up for women, for anybody really, who’s been abused. So, I’m outraged about the way they kidnapped and are mistreating those young ladies. That’s sick! All I can think about is what if someone took my daughters from me. It hurts. My heart is still breaking. You can post or tweet about it, but it’s not going to rest, until we find them and get them back home safe and sound. But nothing will change, until really righteous men stand up and say, “This is wrong! Females cannot be treated this way. Women are not property. Women are not second-class citizens.” Women all over the world deserve pay equal to men, a voice equal to men, education equal to men, and to be respected. We’ve got to realize that we’re all the same.

      

KW: Since you’re a former pro athlete and you live in L.A., I also have to ask you what you think about the L.A. Clippers. Should the owner be forced to sell the franchise for what he said?

TC:  Wow! This is what I think about Donald Sterling. We need to forgive him.

 

KW: Forgive him?

TC:  Let me tell you why. We’re all guilty of what he did. I’ve said things about my wife which would make people think I was a horrible person, if somebody had recorded me. You say things in anger that you’d never normally say. If someone secretly records you in your own home, you’re going to offend somebody. Taking Donald Sterling’s team away from him, because people don’t like what he said doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t know Donald Sterling. I don’t like him. We’ll never hang out. But let people vote with their dollars. You have to recognize that this is a dangerous precedent. If you don’t forgive, you’re setting yourself up to be judged forever. And as soon as you say something somebody doesn’t like, they can take what you own away from you. I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I just don’t believe in a system that doesn’t allow you to apologize, change and move on.   

 

KW: That’s an interesting take. You surprised me. Food for thought.  

TC:  It’s the new McCarthyism. It’s just not right. What I’m saying is that everybody has done it. You might not have said something about black people, but you might have said something worse than what Donald Sterling said, something horrible about your wife, your kids, your best friend, or someone else. If you can’t turn around, say “My bad. I’m sorry,” and be forgiven, then what do you do now? Are we going to hold everybody to that standard? People like to throw stones, but I say “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” We have to give mercy to get it.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette asks: What advice would you give your teenage self just coming of age, if you could travel back in time?

TC: I would say, “Terry, behave like a king.” Because, when I was young, I spent a lot of time behaving like a fool. And fools get mad when people try to give them good advice. They actually get angry at ‘em. [Laughs] Because by being a fool, you start messing up everything, and all of a sudden you want to blame everybody else. You’re a victim! It was my mother… It was my father… It was my wife… It was society… It was my being a black man… It’s endless. But when you behave like a king, you make no excuses, because it’s your court, your world, and you’re responsible for everything in your circle. That’s what I would tell my younger self. “Dude, behave like a king, and know it’s up to you.” That’s the deal. And I say it to young men now.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

TC: Wooooo! Kam, that’s a big question. There are so many. I wanna be Radio Raheem, if they ever remade Do the Right Thing. [Chuckles] Yeah, I would love to play Radio Raheem. [Laughs some more]

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

TC: Wow! What superpower? Flight! It’s gotta be flight, because I love to travel. 

 

KW: Is there any question I haven’t asked you that you wish I had?

TC: No, I’m good.

 

KW: Then thanks again for the time, Terry. Good luck with Blended and your many projects. And I look forward to speaking to you again soon.

TC: Oh, thank you, Kam. You got it, my man. Take care.

To see a trailer for Blended, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w168vuhjRo   

To order a copy of Terry Crews’ book, “Manhood: How to Be a Better Man,” visit:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0804178054/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

To see several Old Spice ads featuring Terry, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCl5uyn5K7k


Interviews
UserpicA Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose
Posted by Kam Williams
12.05.2014

Anika Noni Rose
The “Half of a Yellow Sun” Interview
with Kam Williams

Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose currently stars alongside Denzel Washington in the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun. Her outstanding performance has not only earned her critical acclaim but also a Tony award nomination.

She recently starred as Whoopi Goldberg’s daughter in the made-for-TV movie, A Day Late and a Dollar Short. On the big screen, Anika starred as ‘Lorell Robinson’ in Dreamgirls which went on to receive an AFI ensemble award, as well as SAG award nomination for outstanding cast.

In addition, she voiced ‘Princess Tiana’ in the animated feature The Princess and The Frog, as Disney’s first African-American ‘Princess.’ The film received three Oscar nominations and Anika became the youngest inductee ever to be honored as a Disney Legend. Anika’s many film credits include: Imperial Dreams, For Colored Girls, Just Add Water, As Cool as I Am and Khumba.

No stranger to television, Anika most recently starred in the Hallmark special The Watsons Go to Birmingham and appeared on some of the highest-rated network shows such as CBS’s The Good Wife and ABC’s Private Practice. Furthermore, she guest starred on CBS’s Elementary and FOX’s The Simpsons (voice of Abie’s long lost wife). Other TV credits include: the A&E mini-series Stephen King’s Bag of Bones opposite Pierce Brosnan, HBO’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency for which she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series." And she received NAACP Image nominations for her work on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and on Hallmark Hall of Fame’s Mitch Albom’s Have A Little Faith, too.

Anika won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Caroline, or Change. She starred in Deborah Allen's Broadway revival of Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, opposite James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad.

Born in Bloomfield, Connecticut on September 6, 1972, Anika received her MFA from American Conservatory Theater and holds an honorary Doctorate from Florida A&M University. Here, she discusses her new film, Half of a Yellow Sun, co-starring Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor.      

 

Kam Williams: Hi Anika, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity.

Anika Noni Rose: Thanks so much, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in making this movie?

ANR: I read the book when it came out, and I loved it! That book really excited me and moved me. And I read a lot! I remember thinking back then that it would make an amazing film. So, I was beyond thrilled when the call came asking whether I might be interested. 

 

KW: I have a lot of questions for you from my readers. Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Is your character Kainene very close to the character in the novel or were a lot of liberties were taken in the script?

ANR: She’s very close to the character in the novel. I tried to keep her as tight to what Chimamanda [author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie] described as possible. The only differences, I think, are the physical differences between our bodies, and there’s nothing I could do about that. [Laughs]

 

KW: Patricia also asks: Did you need a coach to capture the Nigerian accent? How challenging was it to sound authentic?

ANR: The answer is “Yes,” but the coach was British, because they mention in the book that she has an English accent.

 

KW: Was that the first time you visited Africa?

ANR: No, I’ve been to Africa many times. I spent six months in Botswana shooting The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. I’ve also been to Morocco and a bunch of other places. But it was my first time in Nigeria. It was intense and I loved it, but it was a lot of hard work, because we were bringing a style of shooting that country wasn’t familiar with. So it was really a learning set, and a learning environment, because the City of Calabar certainly wasn’t ready for what we were bringing. But everybody was welcoming and stepped up to the plate, and it was a great time.

 

KW: How was your shoot different from the ordinary Nollywood [Nigerian film industry] set?

ANR: I’m not very familiar with Nollywood. What I do know is that they’ll finish a film in two weeks. So, it’s a very different way of shooting a feature film. It’s a bit more labor intensive, and it’s a different film language.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: The novel Half of a Yellow Sun tells a gripping, but often very gritty, story. How does the film maintain the integrity of the story without potentially turning off the audience with visual details of the atrocities and suffering--especially given the stream of rather remarkable films like 12 Years a Slave, Hotel Rwanda and Django Unchained?

ANR: I think you’ll just have to see it, Harriet, to know how it affects and moves you. Anytime you depict war, it’s difficult to watch humanity debase itself in atrocious ways. But I think a good job was done.    

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Did you read the N.Y. Times article about the super-rich 1% in Lagos? How do you feel about the kidnappings of hundreds of young girls in Nigeria? Do you feel that the issues addressed in the film from 50 years ago still have had a ongoing effect on Nigeria?

ANR: That’s a lot to answer. I don’t think the issues in the film were dealing with Boko Haram. That’s a completely different situation. In terms of the 1%, and the have’s and have not’s, the film does show some of that.

 

KW: Professor/author/filmmaker Hisani Dubose says: I'd like to know how long your journey has been to get where you are and how hard was the transition for you from Broadway to film?

ANR: I have been acting professionally since 1997. I didn’t feel that the transition was extraordinarily difficult, style-wise. The first film I did was not a great film, but I had a great time, and I learned a lot about things that were important to me, primarily, “Where is the camera right now?” and “What is the angle?” the big film I did was Dreamgirls, where I was lucky to be able to bring Broadway to the screen. But I did not feel like there was a huge difference between how I do what I do onstage and onscreen

 

KW: Editor Helen Silvis asks: How did you survive in New York without a job? What tip can you share for ambitious, aspiring actors?

ANR: I was sort of lucky because I was only unemployed for three months when I first moved to New York. What actors do, when they’re not working, is file for unemployment, because you’re sort of still working when you’re auditioning all the time. Once a play ends, you file for unemployment which will assist you while you’re pounding the pavement looking for your next gig. Hopefully, that next job will come through, before your unemployment runs out. And that’s the trick used by most actors. [Chuckles]

 

KW: Troy Johnson says: I had the opportunity to see you recently, during a presentation you and several other actors from the new Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun which was hosted by WYNC in New York City.  What was the most interesting experience you’ve had so far doing this show?

ANR: Audiences seem to think of it as a black play, which it is. But it is also universal. What’s been phenomenal is having the lights come up at the end and seeing that the people moved by the play are from all different backgrounds. That proves the relevance of this piece today for everyone.    

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: You've had an extraordinary career in acting and singing. What has been your favorite performance to date?

ANR: Oh, I don’t know. That’s hard to say. It would be easier for me to say which I didn’t like, because there are so fewer to pick from. I loved Caroline, or Change, and Cat on a Hot tin Roof and doing Dreamgirls, but I haven’t gotten to a place where I can say “This is my all-time favorite!” because I’m not done yet. [LOL]

 

KW: Librarian Larry Williams asks: How did you feel when you won the Tony Award for Caroline, or Change?

ANR: Mind-blown and totally euphoric.

 

KW: Larry would also like to know how you prepared for A Raisin in the Sun. Did you go to Chicago to get a sense of the neighborhood where it is set?

ANR: No, although I’ve been to the Southside of Chicago before. But this is a completely different time, so I don’t know whether a visit would’ve been more helpful than just looking at pictures from the actual period. I just read the script over and over, and watched a lot of interviews with Lorraine [author Lorraine Hansberry]. I listened carefully to what she had to say about her characters, and utilized that as much as possible. And I read her autobiography, too.

 

KW: In a recent interview, you said that you meditate before going onstage. Doing eight shows a week on Broadway, how do you keep up your energy? Is there a special diet or fitness regimen you follow?

ANR: Ugh! I try to work out regularly, but it’s difficult right now because it’s award season, and we have so many extracurricular things scheduled outside of the theater. When I’m on stage, I tend to drop weight, because your metabolism is so high. I eat regularly. I take care of myself. I can’t do a show without eating. I don’t want to end up skin and bones, so I’m sort of careful about that. I make sure I sleep as much as possible. Anybody who follows me on Twitter knows that’s a big challenge. [Laughs] Mondays are sacred to me. That’s the only day I have off. I used to go to the gym on Monday, but I don’t even do that anymore. I just want Monday to be a day when I can roll out of the bed when I feel like moving my foot and just let the day be what it is.

 

KW: What’s it like working opposite two great actors recently, Denzel in Raisin, and Chiwetel in Half of a Yellow Sun.

ANR: I’ve been lucky, because I’m working with a slew of great actors, LaTanya Richardson and Sophie Okonedo are also on the stage and Thandie Newton’s in the film. So, it’s been really wonderful and a great journey, because these are terrific people I enjoy working with. 

 

KW: Does it ever make you nervous to hear that a certain celebrity is in the audience? Were you excited when the Obamas came to see Raisin?

ANR: I don’t like people to tell me who’s in the audience. It doesn’t make me nervous, but it will always affect a show and how you take in whatever’s going on around you. So, I never want to know. However, when the Obamas were there, the energy in that theater was fabulous. The audience was cheering before we even started. It was really invigorating! It had me jumping up and down backstage. We did a phenomenal show, and the Obamas came backstage during intermission, and they were just lovely..

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

ANR: Me! [LOL] A girl from Connecticut who’s living life, and trying to do the best she can, and who’s feeling blessed and full and striving!

 

KW: Well, I really enjoyed the film and hope to see you in Raisin soon, too.

ANR: Thanks, Kam. Take care.

To see a trailer for Half of a Yellow Sun, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq2dNtP-2hU&list=UUJT0RwcR7HRLljiEEvF4x9A


Interviews
UserpicProfessor Robert Legvold (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
07.05.2014

Robert Legvold

Interview with Nicholas Antoine

 

The New Russia-West Cold War

Dr. Robert H. Legvold is the Marshall D. Shulman Professor Emeritus at Columbia University's Department of Political Science, and is a specialist in the international relations of post-Soviet states. He is currently a contributor at Foreign Affairs Magazine.

 

Q. How would you summarize the current relationship between Russia and Ukraine?

A. Well, the relationship between Russia and Ukraine is particularly tense, strained and dangerous. The history is longstanding. Ukraine had been incorporated into what became Imperial Russia in the 17th Century. It was a critical part of Imperial Russian history and then later the second most important portion of the Soviet Union. Moreover, their relationship is also based on a deep sense of cultural linguistic identity. And so, given that close identity, since the breakup of the Soviet Union the orientation of Ukraine has been important to every Russian leader.

In recent years, Russia has felt that a large part of western Ukraine has been leaning towards the European Union and away from efforts to pull parts of the former Soviet Union together into a new kind of Russian-oriented integrated structure. Naturally, Russia has seen this as a great loss to both their cultural identity and their contemporary goals. All of this is now compounded by the current political and economic failure in Ukraine.

 

Q.So is Russia's concern over Ukraine more cultural than ideological?

A. My point is that there is a long history and cultural identity between Russia and Ukraine. They are, if you will, Slavic brothers. That’s the context, and so Russia’s immediate concern is Ukraine’s orientation. Is Ukraine going to remain roughly within Russian orbit? Will it be a country where Russia’s business community has important influence? Will Russia be able to count on their support in foreign policy and regional projects? Or is Ukraine going to defect to the West and become part of the E.U. and maybe even NATO, which Russia continues to define as an adversary? Now that everything has collapsed, I believe we are in what I call a new Russia-West Cold War.

 

Q. How would you characterize this new Cold War?

A. Obviously it’s very different from the first one. The original Cold War was universal in the sense that it dominated the entire international system. This time, China won’t be a part of it. Nor will India. And it won’t have the same kind of ideological basis of capitalism versus communism. Certainly, one hopes that it won’t also be under the continuous dark shadow of the threat of nuclear war.

However there are still similar characteristics, which is why I think people are wrong to dismiss the current tensions among Russia, NATO, and the United States. The old Cold War was very serious and this one will be too. The reason I call it a Cold War is not just because the consequences are serious, but because the tendency of each party is to see problems as a result of the nature of the other side. And while there may continue to be brief moments of cooperation, the relationship between Russia and the West is no longer ambiguous. Each side sees the other as an adversary.

 

Q. Is Vladimir Putin a 21st Century dictator?

A. Well I would say that Putin has gone in an increasingly authoritarian direction. The Russian political system itself is certainly more autocratic than it is democratic, but it’s not a dictatorship in the same way the Soviet Union was. Putin is not Stalin or Hitler, but he is scarcely a Jeffersonian democrat. He claims the system remains democratic, but I think very few people, especially those who would like to organize effective political parties or enjoy completely free press, would agree. However it is a projection of our imagination for us to assume that he is determined to hang onto power in the most dictatorial fashion and aggressively reconstitute what used to be the Soviet Union. That’s not who Putin is.

 

Q. What's the possibility of a full Russian invasion into Ukraine?

A. Well, it’s not that Putin has a plan that ends with a Russian invasion and seizure of Ukraine. But what he does, in my view, will be determined by unpredictable events. That's why this thing is so dangerous. We don't know what's going to happen next in Eastern Ukraine. Right now pro-Russian forces have seized many Ukrainian towns and are trying to control them. It's uncertain whether military clashes will escalate. The next uncertainty is what happens in Donetsk, where they evidently intend to hold a referendum on May 11th.

It's not clear what the outcome of the vote will be. Will there be demand for substantial autonomy within a federalized Ukraine, or will there be an effort to annex the Donetsk region to Russia? If it is the the latter (and it could certainly be a controlled election) then what will the Russians do? And if there is escalating violence, and we've seen it now spread to Odessa, the Russians have said they would have to protect Russians in Eastern Ukraine. If they start doing that, even with partial military efforts, what happens if the Ukrainian military responds? Or if this situation spirals upwards into a full-blown civil war and the Russians become fully involved, what will NATO and the U.S. do? This situation is so dangerous because, as you can see, it's so unpredictable.

 

About the Author

A business enthusiast and biography buff, Nick Antoine holds an A.B. in History from Princeton University and is currently a research associate for a financial firm in the Chicago area. He is the founder of graham + west, a blog that presents insights into American culture through highlights from interviews with leading authorities in business, art, science, sports, and politics. You can visit his site at http://www.grahamandwest.com/


Interviews
UserpicGaga over Gugu
Posted by Kam Williams
06.05.2014

Gugu Mbatha-Raw
The “Belle” Interview
with Kam Williams

Born in Oxford, England on June 30, 1983, Gugu Mbatha-Raw trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Her first professional role was as Celia in an open air production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Gugu subsequently landed roles at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre where she performed the title roles of Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, the latter opposite Andrew “Spider-Man” Garfield.

Her other stage credits include the critically-acclaimed Big White Fog at the Almeida Theatre and David Hare’s Gethsemane, a production at the National Theatre that later toured the UK. Gugu made her West End debut as Ophelia in Hamlet opposite Jude Law, which was brought across the pond to Broadway in 2009 where it became a  big hit at the Broadhurst Theatre.

Her television credits include “MI-5,” “Dr. Who,” “Spooks,” “Marple: Ordeal by Innocence,” “Bonekickers” and “Fallout.”  In 2008, she was selected as a ‘Star of Tomorrow’ by the showbiz industry magazine Screen International. A couple of years later, Gugu starred as Samantha Bloom in the NBC-TV series, “Undercovers,” for which she was nominated for an NAACP award for in the Best Actress in a Television Series category.

On the big screen, she found her first major feature film work in Larry Crowne, directed by Tom Hanks and co-starring Julia Roberts, followed by Odd Thomas alongside Willem Dafoe. She also recently finished filming Jupiter Ascending with Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis.

Here, Gugu, who divides her time between L.A. and London, talks about playing the title character in Belle, a biopic about Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761-1804), the orphaned offspring of an African slave and a British ship captain who was raised in England by her father’s rich relations.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Gugu, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw: Thank you, Kam.

 

KW: I loved the film. Have you read my review yet?  

GMR: No, I haven’t seen it. I always get a little bit scared reading reviews, but I’m sure I’ll read it at some point. [Laughs]

 

KW: I have a lot of questions for you for you from fans. Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: What interested you in the film and how did you feel about the idea of playing Dido Belle?

GMR: There were so many wonderful things that drew me to this project. First and foremost, the historical elements, the fact that this character really existed and that the script was inspired by a real painting. That was fascinating to me because, as a biracial girl growing up in England, I’d never really seen any historical characters who looked like me depicted on film before that weren’t being brutalized or playing slaves. It was refreshing to know that there had been a biracial girl in the aristocracy. I felt that that was a perspective on history that had been so much overlooked, and a story that needed to be told. I was also drawn in by the romance, the beautiful love story at the core of the drama, having grown up with Jane Austen’s classics like “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility.” I just thought that would be a fascinating period to explore. And besides being a period drama, we have so many contemporary themes in this film, such as race and class and gender and identity which, as is shown in the news nowadays, are still issues we’re struggling with daily. So, I felt that Belle had a wonderful number of layers that made it a fascinating project.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: Is the prejudice we see in Belle at all relatable in today’s more enlightened times?

GMR: Yeah, I think Belle is incredibly relatable, not only insofar as the issue of race, which is probably, on the surface, the most obvious one, but also in terms of the ambiguity and nuances of racism. After all, Belle’s position was ambiguous. She was the daughter of a slave, but her father was in the aristocracy. I think that affords us the opportunity to explore those gray areas, the little slip-ups and subtle comments that are made in society. To me, that’s very contemporary, as is the issue of identity. I think, irrespective of your race, everybody has moments in life where they don’t fit in, or where they try to puzzle through who they really are or to find the courage of their convictions. I think this story really is about finding the courage to be your true self. And I think that is an eternal, universal theme, and a very inspiring one. So, yes, Grace, there’s a lot of contemporary stuff in the film, despite its being set in the 18th Century.   

 

KW: Grace has a follow-up: What research did you do in preparation for this role? Did you study 18th Century history to become more familiar with the culture of the period in which Belle is set, or did the screenplay supply sufficient background information? 

GMR: For me, the script was definitely the starting point, because, although it was inspired by a true story and historical fact, the way I often connect with a character is on a human emotional level, and this script had those subtleties and nuances to it. Because I had grown up with Jane Austen novels and period dramas, I was very familiar with that period and that world already. On a personal level, I took some piano lessons and I listened to music of the period, like Handel, which helped me appreciate the elegance and sumptuousness of that style. And the cast also took some etiquette classes with Amma [director Amma Asante] to help us understand the bows, the curtseys and the manners of the time, which was really fascinating. I also spoke with Amma about Dido’s trajectory, her growing from this naïve, quiet and quite accepting girl into a strong woman with political and romantic awakenings. For me, working with Amma was very rewarding, because she had done a tremendous amount of research. There were a lot of documents which she had sourced which provided context for the story. So, like I said, the script was the starting point, and we leapt off from there into the characters’ relationships.   

 

KW: What message do you think people will take away from Belle?

GMR: I really hope people will be inspired by the history of it, and the fact that it’s a true story. The message, for me, at its core, really, is “Be who you are!” Don’t worry about society’s conditioning and the labels that are put on you by external forces. Hold onto your true self. The journey that Dido goes on is about learning to be comfortable in her own skin. I think that’s an inspiring message that we always need to be reminded of in today’s image-obsessed world.  

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: Given your being biracial, was this an especially emotionally-demanding role?

GMR: Well, it’s an emotional story and I try to put myself into whatever character I play. Obviously, this film is about race and identity, and I am biracial everyday. [Laughs] Yes, Harriet, it was fun to explore those themes, especially the identity theme which is very contemporary. And yeah, it was an emotional experience, because it’s essentially an emotional journey that Dido goes on, from her moments of self-harming, despair and frustration. And that starting point really gave us somewhere to go in terms of her becoming comfortable in her own skin and developing the confidence to stand up for herself. So, yes, it was a very, very emotional experience. But that’s what I respond to in any role, the human condition and the human connection.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Did you feel any pressure to do justice to Belle?

GMR: Absolutely! Because I had never played a real person before and since this was an incredibly refreshing tale to me. Even though there wasn’t much evidence about Dido, factually, I felt this was a terrific opportunity to shed light on a period of history that has somewhat been overlooked and certainly has never been seen from this perspective before. A woman of color… in the lead… of a period drama… [Laughs] And she’s not a slave… she’s not being brutalized… She’s being brought up as an heiress in a genteel society, at least one that’s seemingly genteel on the surface. To me, that that was just such an inspiring new perspective. And because it was based on historical fact, I did feel a responsibility to make Dido as much of a living, breathing human being as possible, first and foremost.

 

KW: Lisa Loving asks: Do you see Belle as part of an emerging trend of historical films revisiting the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade from a fresh perspective?

GMR: I hope so. I think that what makes Belle unique and different from recent films about the slave experience in the United States is that this one is about the British perspective. And not just the British perspective, but also a female perspective. I think there are so many more stories to be told surrounding this period of history and the legacy of the slave trade. It feels wonderful to be a part of a canon of films exploring this issue. I only hope that it opens the doorway for more stories to be told like this, so that we can celebrate our heritage and history.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Do you recall your initial reaction years ago when you first saw the postcard of the painting which inspired the script?

GMR: Yes! When I saw the postcard, I was intrigued by Dido, because she had such a light in her eyes, and such a mischievous, almost vivacious gaze. My reaction was, “Wow! This girl really looks like she’s got a personality,” unlike other persons of color in period portraits who were usually depicted in those days as an ornament or to signify the status of their white counterpart. They’d be positioned almost like a pet in the painting. By contrast, Dido seemed to have so much life about her. That was what attracted me to her as a person to play. But it was only after shooting the film that myself and Sarah Gadon, who plays [Dido’s cousin] Elizabeth [the other subject of the portrait] got to see the real painting in the flesh which was a magical experience after having spent all that time staring at the postcard and inhabiting the character. So, to see the actual painting was very special.

 

KW: Bernadette also asks: How do you define yourself as a performer, given that you’ve done stage, TV, film, and even radio?

 

GMR: Well, I try not to limit myself. The actors that inspire me are the comedians and the people able to shape-shift into different roles and into different media. That ensures your longevity as an artist and prevents you from getting bored with yourself and, hopefully, prevents people from getting bored with you. [LOL] So, for me, it’s about variety and working with inspiring, creative people. I try not to define myself. Other people are going to do that for you anyway. [Laughs some more] I like being free to take on any project that inspires me and to trust that the work will speak for itself.  

 

KW: Lastly, Bernadette would like to know whether you ever worked with a female director before Amma Asante.

GMR: Amma Asante is a unique person in several regards, independent of being male or female. I think I might have worked with a couple of female directors in television, but never before with one on film. Amma is incredibly talented, incredibly articulate, and had such a crystal clear vision from the outset of this world we were creating. She was very inspiring! She has a lot of heart, and was very detailed in her directions and notes. I loved working with her and, being a woman, she obviously put a lot of herself into this interpretation. And Belle not only had a female director, but a female scriptwriter and even a female composer. I believe having a female point-of-view was wonderful for such a female-centric story being told in a voice that hadn’t been heard before. So, I am hopeful that this will open the door for more female-driven films. 

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: What kind of direction did Amma Asante give you about Dido Belle's relationship with Lady Elizabeth Murray?

GMR: This is something that Amma was very passionate about. Even though they were only cousins biologically, they were nevertheless very much a sisterhood. I know that Amma herself has a sister she’s very close to, and the intensity of sisterhood was something she very much wanted to explore in the film, not only because the starting point was the painting where they are depicted in such an intimate way with a feeling of affection, but also because of a desire to create a Jane Austen “Sense and Sensibility” dynamic in exploring the depth of that bond. Consider the scene where they have a fierce argument and are saying the most horrible things to each other. I think you can only really explore in that fashion with intimate family. So, yes, Amma was constantly nurturing us to create a sisterhood bond, and Sarah Gadon is such a fun and lovely actress to work with that it was pretty easy to achieve. And we’re the best of friends now.    

 

KW: Sweet! I’m glad I mentioned Jane Austen in my review. I must have picked up on what Amma was going for.

GMR: Absolutely! That world of Jane Austen was definitely an inspiration to Amma and to myself as well.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Gugu, and best of luck with Belle.

GMR: Thank you very much, Kam. Bye!

To see a trailer for Belle, visit 


Interviews
UserpicEmma Stone (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
28.04.2014

Emma Stone

The “Spider-Man 2” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Spidey’s Flawless Stone

Emily Jean Stone was born on November 6, 1988 in Scottsdale, Arizona where she started acting at an early age. With her striking beauty and sincere talent, the Golden Globe-nominated actress (for Easy A) has claimed her place as one of Hollywood’s most sought after actresses.

She recently wrapped filming a still untitled Cameron Crowe project opposite Bradley Cooper and Alec Baldwin which will be released on Christmas Day 2014. She also finished shooting the Woody Allen film Magic in the Moonlight in which she stars opposite Collin Firth, set for release later this year, too.

Besides The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Emma will soon be seen in the dark comedy Birdman, starring opposite Zack Galifinakis, Michael Keaton and Edward Norton. Previously, she lent her voice to the hit animated film, The Croods. And she will soon reprise her role as the voice of Eep for the sequel, which will hit theaters in July of 2017.

Emma’s additional film credits include the period drama Gangster Squad; Easy A, the award-winning drama The Help;the romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love; Friends with Benefits; Paperman; the animated comedy, Marmaduke; Zombieland; the romantic comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends Past; The House Bunny; The Rocker; and the ensemble comedy Superbad.

 

When not filming, Emma is an advocate for Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. Laura Ziskin, the late producer of The Amazing Spider-Man, started the organization and got Emma involved.

In addition to SU2C, Stone is also an ambassador for Gilda’s Club New York City. Named for Gilda Radner, the late comedian and original cast member of SNL, Gilda’s Club offers a place where people dealing with cancer can join together to build social and emotional support. Stone has become an active member in the Gilda’s Club community and continues to do so by engaging with their younger departments for children and teens.

Here, she talks about her latest movie, Spider-Man 2, where she reprises her role as Spider-Man’s love interest Gwen Stacy.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Emma, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Emma Stone: Oh, thank you, Kam!

 

KW: I’ve admired your versatility and so much of your work, from Superbad to Zombieland to Easy A to Crazy, Stupid, Love to The Help to Gangster Squad to Spider-Man.

ES: Thanks.

 

KW: Now, I have a lot of questions for you from fans which I’m going to mix in with my own. Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier would like to know how it was reuniting with the cast and crew to do Spider-Man 2.

ES: It was so great! I had never worked with the same cast and crew twice in a row before. So, I had a really good time. We had a nice rapport and trust among all of us, and with the new cast members as well, like Dane [DeHaan] and Jamie [Foxx]. It was a blast!

 

KW: Patricia also asks: Are you at all like Gwen? 

ES: In some ways, yes, since I find things about myself that can relate to every character that I’ve played. So, yeah. But in other ways, maybe not as much. [Laughs]

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: What’s the difference between a screen romance with a super-hero and one with an ordinary leading man?

ES: Well, I think Peter Parker in some ways is both because he’s a regular high school student, now college student, who happens to have this other life as Spider-Man. It’s sort of one and the same and this point. They’re pretty symbiotic. They’re inseparable!

 

KW: Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

ES: No, not one I could think of off the top of my head. If there’s a classic I’m tempted to redo, it’s because I loved the original so much. But I wouldn’t really want to mess with it.

 

KW: Lisa Loving asks: Did you ever wish you had a superpower in the film, considering the fact that several other characters did? Or were you happy not to, since superheroes and villains tend to be jerkier than normal people?

ES: I feel like Gwen’s mind, her intelligence is her superpower, and her heart, too. I think if there’s any superpower I’d want her to have it would be invisibility, so she could advise Spider-Man while remaining unseen, and not get so swept up into his antics.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: How different was acting in Spider-Man 2 for you from the original, and is Spider-Man 3 in the works?  

ES: I know Spider-Man 3 is in the works. They’re already working on it now. Spider-Man 2 was different in the sense that the original was kind of just setting the table of the story while the second movie was sort of getting into the feast. So, it felt like we were all finding our footing on the first movie and getting to know each other and what kind of story we wanted to tell in our version of Spider-Man. Now, in the second one, we knew what the tone was, so we were able to dive deeper into the real heart and meat of the story.

 

KW: Grace also says: Watching a panel discussion you were on about the Spider-Man costumes, I heard that you are opposed to gender stereotypes. Is that the case?

ES: [Chuckles] It’s interesting how that whole conversation, which was just a simple conversation, has become a big deal. No, I don’t really believe in gender stereotyping, but I was genuinely just asking for a clarification of the definition of it in that circumstance.   

 

KW: A lotta guys didn’t exactly send in questions, but asked for dates or just went on about you, like Gil Cretney who said: “Love that girl!” and Richie the Intern who gushed: “She’s really attractive!”

ES: [Giggles] That’s nice!

 

KW: Obama biographer Dinesh Sharma asks: Why did you recently refer to yourself as a “bland, basic bitch” in Vogue?

ES: [LOL] Because that was a comment I read about me once, and I thought it was kind of funny.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Who was your favorite superhero growing up?
ES: I loved the Tim Burton Batman movies, so I’d have to say Michael Keaton. I also enjoyed Beetlejuice, so I guess Michael Keaton characters were my superheroes.

 

KW: Bernadette also asks: Is there someone who does superhuman things in real life that you admire?

ES: Lot’s of people! Anyone who’s making a huge impact or speaking out about what they believe in or who’s brave enough to be themselves is a superhero to me.

 

KW: Pat says: I love the character Pippi Longstocking.  Would you consider playing her onscreen? I think you would be perfect for the part.

ES: Well that’s very nice of you to say, Pat. Of course I would!

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

ES: Hmm… That’s a good question. [Pauses to reflect] I don’t really have one that I revisit. It’s kind of a haze of memories of the first house my family lived in, like being in the living room and the bedroom at about 2 or 3 maybe. But I don’t really remember anything too vividly.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

ES: I like to bake, but I haven’t gotten all that great at cooking. So, pasta is usually my “go to” dish. I’m really good at making Kraft macaroni and cheese. [Chuckles]

 

KW: Do you spice it up, or just follow the instructions on the box?

ES: I don’t use any milk, but I add too much butter for human consumption. It’s pretty damn good! It’s my dad’s college recipe. He ate it every day for a year.

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

ES: I don’t really have one favorite. I have a few.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

ES: I just finished re-reading The Four Agreements. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005BRS8Z6/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20   

I’m reading Lolita now for the first time. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003WUYRB8/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20 

And I’m trying to get back into The Goldfinch. I started reading it, but put it down after about 150 pages. I’m going to try to finish it, because people seem to really love that book.  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00BAXFECK/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

ES: “Cigarettes and Coffee” by Otis Redding. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00J40M2B2/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

ES: I’d wish for an infinite amount of wishes. 

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

ES: I don’t know. That’s a good question. I’d have to think about it. [Chuckles]

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

ES: My face.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere anything that you promised yourself you’d do when you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

ES: No, because I never thought it was going to become a reality. It’s all been pretty nuts!

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Emma, and best of luck with the film.

ES: Thank you very, very much, Kam. It wasnice to talk with you.

To see a trailer for Spider-Man 2, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbp3Ra3Yp74


Interviews
UserpicTaraji P. Henson (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
21.04.2014

Taraji P. Henson

The “From the Rough” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

You Gotta See Taraji!

Taraji P. Henson earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress opposite Brad Pitt in David Fincher’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. She is a 2011 Emmy-nominee for Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries for Lifetime’s TAKEN FROM ME. Taraji also starred as Detective Joss Carter in the highly-rated CBS crime drama PERSON OF INTEREST. She was a series regular on BOSTON LEGAL and enjoyed a recurring role on ELI STONE

On the big screen, she starred in the #1 box office hit THINK LIKE A MAN, as well as in its upcoming sequel, THINK LIKE A MAN, TOO. And in September, she’ll be starring opposite Idris Elba in NO GOOD DEED.

Taraji’s additional credits include LARRY CROWNE, THE KARATE KID, DATE NIGHT, I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF, PEEP WORLD, THE GOOD DOCTOR, SOMETHING NEW, NOT EASILY BROKEN, HURRICANE SEASON, THE FAMILY THAT PREYS SMOKIN’ ACES and ONCE FALLEN. In addition, she received rave reviews for her work in TALK TO ME and HUSTLE & FLOW, making her singing debut performing the Academy Award-winning song “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp” on the Oscar telecast.

Taraji is well remembered for her role as Yvette opposite Tyrese in BABY BOY, and collaborated with director John Singleton a third time on FOUR BROTHERS. Plus, she was featured in Jamie Foxx’s music video “Just Like Me” and also appeared in Estelle’s “Pretty Please.”

Born and raised in Washington, DC, the Howard University graduate resides in Los Angeles with her son, Marcel. She dedicates much of her spare time to helping disabled and less fortunate children.

Here, she talks about her new film, FROM THE ROUGH, an inspirational biopic where she portrays Catana Starks, the African-American trailblazer who became the first female to coach an NCAA Division-1 men’s team when she accepted the reins of the golf squad at Tennessee State.  

 

Kam Williams: Hi Taraji, thanks for the interview.

Taraji P. Henson: Oh, no worries, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in this film?

TPH: Well, first of all, I’d never seen a movie about a female coach before, outside of that Goldie Hawn comedy from years ago, Wildcats. And I had certainly never seen an African-American woman portrayed this way in a drama. That was the first thing that interested me. Then, when I read the script, I went, “Wow! What an amazing story!” She had all the odds stacked against her, yet she and her team won. And it was all because of the tenacity and belief and passion that she instilled in her players.      

 

KW: I had never heard of Catana Starks before seeing this film. Why do you think she’s so unheralded?

TPH: Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe, because she didn’t coach at an Ivy League or big name school, but at an historically-black university. That’s another reason why I did the film. I felt the world needed to know about this woman, which is what we’re trying to do now.  

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Are you an athletic person?  In other words, what are the similarities and differences between you and Catana Starks?

TPH: [Chuckles] I’m not really an athlete, though I’m quite capable of playing one on TV or film. [LOL] I’ve been to the driving range, and I do have good hand-eye coordination, but that’s about it. I’m not going to try to play basketball.

 

KW: Patricia also asks:What does Catana Starks mean to you and how did you prepare for the role?
TPH: She means the world to me, because she proved that you can accomplish anything in life as long as you believe, have faith and work hard. How did I prepare for the role? I spent a lot of time at the driving range and talking to Dr. Starks before filming. Because she wasn’t a recognizable figure, I wasn’t worried about walking or sounding like her, I just wanted to bring her essence to life. And that’s all she was concerned about too.    

 

KW: Has she seen the film? What did she think of it?

TPH: Yes she has, and I think she’s quite happy about it.

 

KW: Patricia closes by saying: I really enjoyed your performance and your character, Lauren, in Think like a Man. I can't wait to see Think like a Man Too this summer. Is there anything you can share about the sequel without spoiling it?
TPH: We go to Vegas, and one of the couples is getting married, but I can’t say who it is. It is hilarious! Some people say it’s funnier than the first one. But you be the judge, Patricia.

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: You've had a successful career in movies and television. What aspect of your work has given you the greatest satisfaction?

TPH: What gives me the greatest satisfaction is the number of people I can affect with my gift, with what I do. That’s the most important thing to me, more important than any trophy or award. 

.

KW: Grace has a follow-up. Do you want your son to have a life in show business?

TPH: I want him to find his own passion, whatever that is. I just want him to be happy and successful in whatever he decides to do.

 

KW: Robin Beckham of PittsburghUrbanMedia says: It was recently reported that Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan are making a sequel to Karate Kid. Will you be rejoining the cast as Jaden’s mother?

TPH: I hope so, if that rumor’s true.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says:I'm really sorry you got killed off on the TV show Person of Interest. You work with ease in movies, music and TV. Which of these media is your favorite and how does it best show your talents?

TPH: I would have to say movies are my favorite. I love doing TV, too, but it’s always rush, rush, rush. With a feature film, those moments and scenes get a chance to breathe, because you don’t have to accomplish as much in one day.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker/professor and author Hisani Dubose says: Not many African-American actors have the juice to greenlight a project. She’s wondering whether you are in a position to get a project that you like greenlighted? 

TPH: I’m getting there. Hopefully, the success of From the Rough will help, because you first have to prove that you’re bankable at the box office, before you can greenlight anything. So, I hope to have that kind of leverage after this film.

 

KW: Could you say something controversial that would get this interview tweeted?

TPH: I don’t know. I could say a lot of things.

 

 

KW: When I asked Marlon Wayans that, he said, “Yeah, I could, but it might end my career.”

TPH: Yeah, totally. [Chuckles]

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

TPH: Life! Just waking up everyday, and having another chance to get it right.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

TPH: “I Declare” by Joel Osteen.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0076DD5HE/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

TPH: Probably a bird. I like anything with feathers that can fly.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

TPH: I think I’d like to be able to control the weather, like Storm [the character from the X-Men]. 

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere anything that you promised yourself you’d do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

TPH: Yes, visit Africa. I haven’t done that yet. 

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

TPH: A charity that my best friend since 7th grade started called Art Creates Life. [ http://www.artcreateslife.org/ ] She raises money to take inner-city children to Africa. Isn’t that crazy? I donate and I support that organization, but I’ve never been to Africa myself. I’ve sent a lot of kids there, though.

 

KW: That’s funny! The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

TPH: It proved to me that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

TPH: I’m pretty much the same. I’m consistent. There aren’t two me’s. There is only one me. I can only be myself, and that’s who I always am whether I’m at home or on the carpet.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Taraji. I really appreciate it. Good luck with the film.

TPH: Thank you so much, Kam.

To see a trailer for From the Rough, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKYfKidQnOQ     


Interviews
UserpicKen Burns (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
15.04.2014

Ken Burns
“The Address” Interview
with Kam Williams

Gettysburg Revisited!

 

Ken Burns has been making documentary films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated BROOKLYN BRIDGE in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made.

 

Burns was the director, producer, co-writer, chief cinematographer, music director and executive producer of the landmark television series THE CIVIL WAR. This film was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television, prior to BASEBALL, and attracted an audience of 40 million during its premiere in September 1990.

 

The New York Times called it a masterpiece and said that Burns “takes his place as the most accomplished documentary filmmaker of his generation.” Tom Shales of The Washington Post wrote, “This is not just good television, nor even just great television. This is heroic television.”

 

The columnist George Will said, “If better use has ever been made of television, I have not seen it and do not expect to see better until Ken Burns turns his prodigious talents to his next project.” The series has been honored with more than 40 major film and television awards, including two Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a Producer of the Year Award from the Producers Guild, a People’s Choice Award, a Peabody Award, a duPont-Columbia Award, a D.W. Griffiths Award and the $50,000 Lincoln Prize, among dozens of others.

 

Some of Burns’s other films include THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE (2013), THE DUST BOWL (2012), PROHIBITION (2011), THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA (2009), THE WAR (2007), co-directed with Lynn Novick, JAZZ (2001), LEWIS AND CLARK: THE JOURNEY OF THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY (1997), and BASEBALL (1994).

 

Burns was born in Brooklyn, New York on July, 29 1953, and graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1975. Here, he talks about his latest film, THE ADDRESS, a current-day documentary chronicling the herculean effort by students at a school for boys with severe learning disabilities to memorize the Gettysburg Address in order to recite it at an assembly of parents, friends and teachers.     

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Ken, thanks for another interview. Like last time, I’ll be mixing in question from readers with my own.

Ken Burns: Fine, fire away, Kam.

 

KW: What was the source of inspiration for The Address?

KB: I live in Walpole, New Hampshire and, for the past 35 years, made all the films there. And across the Connecticut River, which divides New Hampshire from Vermont, is the tiny town of Putney. Over a decade ago, the Greenwood School, which is located there, invited me to be a judge in their annual contest judging the recitation of the Gettysburg Address. I just wept at the fortitude and inspiration that these boys and their struggles represent.

 

KW: The movie made me cry.

KB: It made me cry, too, just the other day when we had the premiere in Brattleboro which is the quote-unquote “Big City” nearby, with a population of maybe 8,000 people. I kept saying, “Somebody else should be making this movie. This is cinema verite, not the kind of thing that I do.” But I came back each year as my schedule permitted, and the more I came back, the more I felt that I just had to put my money where my mouth is and just do it. So, we embedded for abut three months, and it was a life-changing experience to watch these kids undergo their own life-changing experience. And then we had the idea to share it and say, “Hey, everybody can memorize the Gettysburg Address.” If you go to www.LearnTheAddress.org, you’ll find all the living presidents reciting it, as well as a lot of other figures in government, in the media and in Hollywood. And thousands of citizens and school kids from all over have memorized it... Alabama… Utah… Hawaii… from all around. It’s really wonderful!

 

That’s what the tears are for, from seeing the faculty lovingly teach and take care of these kids while the boys also assist each other. Each child has his own limitation, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to help each other. Seeing them overcome them makes our day-to-day problems seem kind of puny. Then, of course, this is all set against the context and backdrop of arguably the greatest speech every given in the English language, one that was doubling-down on the Declaration of Independence, the 2.0 version of it. And we haven’t had a new version since. It’s the one we still operate on today. Lincoln needed to write the 2.0 version, because Jefferson’s 1.0 had that inherent contradiction of tolerating slavery while proclaiming that all men are created equal. Jefferson himself was a slave owner. I think what the Gettysburg Address does is yank us into the future, however painful the moment might be, while commemorating the dead in the greatest battle on American soil.

 

KW: Your film has certainly inspired me to memorize it.

KB: I want you to. I’d love you to add your recitation to the website. You’ll feel so great. It’ll be very moving. A lot of people have broken down during their first attempt to record it because of the sheer emotion and power of the words. Just today, I was asked to recite it on camera by a reporter, and I was moved to tears not by my accomplishment but by my trying to invest those words with some meaning.    

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: What is it about the Gettysburg Address that makes it stand out to you as one of nation's most powerful and memorable speeches?

KB: There are no proper nouns… It’s really short… It’s presidential poetry… Lincoln uses the word “here” many, many times. He moves it around in an attempt to rivet you to the place to make you appreciate what it is. And yet, with “Four score and seven years ago” he’s acknowledging the past, meaning the Declaration of Independence. He’s telling you where we are, “We’re engaged in a great Civil War,” but he’s also pushing us forward, saying we could have a new birth of freedom, and we did, just as we did at the first anniversary of 9/11 when among the very few speeches delivered was the Gettysburg Address, as if the words were medicine, which is precisely what they were.       

 

KW: Grace also asks: Do you think that the children who had to memorize the Gettysburg Address really understood the underlying issue of slavery and the necessity of the Civil War to keep our nation together? 

KB: Yes, Grace. I think you’ll see this quite clearly in the dynamics in the classroom in the film as it unfolds. Two of the youngest students, Kevin and Geo, have one of the most sophisticated conversations I’ve ever heard by kids that young about secession and slavery. It’s very clear that they’ve used the Address as a tool not only to overcome the difficulties of whatever diagnosis they have… dyslexia… executive function… dysgraphia… ADHD… the whole alphabet soup of stuff, but it’s a way to bind together their entire educational experience… History… English… Remedial Class… I have no doubt in my mind that, all across the board, the Gettysburg Address takes up a lot of space and gives a lot of meaning for a tiny speech. Then I learned that the school had never been to Gettysburg in its 35-year history. So, I built into my budget the renting of a bus and hotel rooms for the entire school, and I gave them a tour of the battlefield for an entire day.  

 

KW: I don’t remember the film mentioning that the school had never visited Gettysburg before?

KB: No, I left that out. I didn’t want to toot my own horn. We took them there as a kind of epilogue.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Can you share the students’ sentiments when they accomplished the goal of mastering the speech?

KB: There was a wide range of reactions. For some, it was relief. Many of the boys knew the speech cold, but only felt comfortable reciting it in front of a couple people. The notion of saying it in front of an audience of 250 was terrifying In fact, some of them had issues connected to anxiety and what’s called executive function. So, there was often a release, followed by a sense of accomplishment. There was great pride and joy. Sometimes, there was the utmost confidence. One boy read it with such passion that I think all of us in attendance cried because he had imbued it with so much meaning, as I think you and your readers will feel as you take on this task. If you tape it up next to your mirror, where you can see it every morning, you might curse me for a few days until you get it. But then, it’ll be on your hard drive permanently and a source of great benefaction and meaning for the rest of your life. You’ll have both your own unique response to the Address and at the same time it will bind you to everybody else.        

 

KW: Patricia also asks: What is the most important thing you learned from the kids?

KB: As the Greenwood School’s psychologist, Tom Ehrenberg says in the film, “We’re a country that thinks we celebrate individuality, but it really celebrates conformity.” And when we see different, other, we don’t deal with it. We just avert our eyes. And these kids have been bullied and marginalized and worse. They’ve been driven to schools like Greenwood as their last refuge of hope. What I found each boy taught me was the preciousness of each individual life. Each boy taught me how smart they actually were. Each boy taught me that perhaps it is unfair to apply the same general metrics to everybody. When you look at the boys that way, my heart was enlarged. I tell you, Kam, I already had four daughters, but I now feel like I have 50 adopted sons.      

 

KW: Patricia would like to know what Abraham Lincoln means to you.

KB: He’s the greatest president in our history. He was the guardian of our republic at its greatest crisis, our Civil War. Lincoln was there to guide the struggle, to take on the weight of it, to keep the country together, and to do it with such extraordinary charity that his goodness and thoughtfulness about who we were and what our potential was goes hand in hand with that melancholy and sense of moral outrage about slavery’s still existing in a country which had declared that all men are created equal. He had a sort of Old Testament fervor, as though he was throwing lightning bolts. I refer you to his second inaugural where he’ll turn around and then give you a kind of New Testament “sea of enveloping love” which reminds you of the much more important things in life than nations.         

 

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: What are the essential ingredients for the recipe for a great documentary?

KB: I think it’s always a good story, a good story, a good story, first, second and third. The word “history,” which is what I do, is mostly made up of the word “story.” That’s what we’re responding to. We tell stories to each other all day long. That’s what we’re looking for when we say, “Honey, how was your day?” We edit and superimpose. What you’re looking for is the best of a good story that appeals on so many levels, as I think the story of the Greenwood School and these boys does. Yes, it’s about the Gettysburg Address, but it’s also about something that mirrors it in a very profound and human way. And I’m just grateful to be caught up in the whirlwind of the Greenwood School.

 

KW: Harriet also asks: Is there another series of yours that you'd like to revisit the way you did with Baseball when you did The 10th Inning?

KB: No, I’m very happy to be working on a big series about Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, another big series about the History of the War in Vietnam, and one on Country music, as well as biographies of Ernest Hemingway and Jackie Robinson. Baseball is the only one I want to keep coming back to. I hope there’s an 11th Inning and a 12th Inning down the line, God willing and funding willing.   

 

KW: Jim Cryan says: I really enjoyed Prohibition. Did making that documentary have any effect on your alcohol consumption?

KB: [LOL] I am periodically a teetotaler, Jim, but I definitely drank during the production just to offset the absurdity of the only Amendment to the Constitution that limits human freedom rather than enlarging it.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams asks: Why do the government archives in Europe charge money and a lot of it for archival footage and photographs, whereas our National Archives and Library of Congress do not? It is really disheartening for independent documentarians without big budgets. 

KB: I couldn’t agree with you more, Kevin, and all I can say is “God bless the United States of America!” These are the people’s archives, and so the people get free access to them.

 

KW: Lisa Loving asks: Have you ever dreamed of becoming a futurist?

KB: You know what, Lisa? The best indicator of the future is the past. If you don’t know where you’ve been, you can’t know where you are or where you’re going. You’ll find that people who understand history are the best futurists you can imagine. 

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Ken, and best of luck with The Address and all your other projects.

KB: Thank you, Kam. Take care.

The Address premieres on PBS on Tuesday, April 15th @ 9 pm ET/PT (check local listings)

To see a trailer for The Address, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR2MIxjB_4c  

To learn more about the Gettysburg Address and to video record yourself reading or reciting it, visit: http://www.learntheaddress.org/


Interviews
UserpicWayans Weighs-In on HH2
Posted by Kam Williams
13.04.2014

Marlon Wayans
“A Haunted House 2” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Born in New York City on July 23, 1972, Marlon Wayans graduated from the High School of Performing Arts before matriculating at Howard University’s Film School. He started out in Hollywood on TV as a cast member of the Emmy Award-winning variety series, In Living Color. Next, Marlon created and starred in the hit sitcom The Wayans Bros.

Some of his other noteworthy screen credits include: The Ladykillers, Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2, Little Man, White Chicks, Norbit, Behind the Smile and Dance Flick. The versatile thespian also exhibited an impressive acting range while delivering a powerful performance as a drug addict in Requiem for a Dream.

More recently, Marlon starred opposite Channing Tatum in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. And last summer he appeared in The Heat, a blockbuster featuring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.

Here, he talks about his latest film, A Haunted House 2, a sequel spoofing the Paranormal Activity franchise.  

 

Kam Williams: Hi Marlon, thanks for another interview.

Marlon Wayans: You got it, bro.

 

KW: Why did you decide to make A Haunted House sequel?

MW: Because the audience really, really enjoyed the first one. And I also felt like I could find a nice, natural progression for my character, Malcolm. Plus, comedically, I knew I could match or exceed what we did in the original, and make a bigger, broader movie that could appeal to a wider audience just by making some adjustments and by adding a few pieces to the puzzle. One of those pieces was Gabriel Iglesias, and another one was Jaime Pressly.   

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How do you rev up a sequel so the faithful return for more while simultaneously enticing some newbies?

MW: I think you have to make sure you have a little bit of the old, while adding something knew. We kept Cedric the Entertainer, Affion Crockett and Essence Atkins and, like I said, we added Gabe and Jaime, and also Ashley Rickards. I think you have to stick with the integrity of the comedy or lack thereof, and keep in stride with the humor of the movie. I don’t believe you try to sell it out. Instead, you just keep your tone and your sense of humor, because that’s what they bought into the first time. It’s all about being authentic to whatever that movie is, and not reaching too hard. 

 

KW: Harriet also asks: Is there a remake of a classic film you'd like to star in?

MW: I’d love to redo Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

 

KW: Paranormal facilitator Kate Newell asks: Have you had any paranormal experience in real life?

MW: No, I haven’t, but I wish I had.

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: Is it important to you not to get killed off in the first five minutes, as so often happens to black actors in horror films?

MW: Yeah, it’s very important to me, being I’m a black actor, and I don’t want my black ass to die in the first five minutes.

 

KW: Irene has a follow-up. Is storytelling in the horror genre different from storytelling in a typical comedy?

MW: Yeah, it is. But this is more of a typical comedy, because it’s a horror comedy with parody moments. It’s not a parody-parody, but what is kind of parody-esque is the pacing of how we tell the jokes. I’m throwing out five jokes a page. But what I’m not doing is going, “Here is the location, and here’s what’s funny about it.” It’s kind of grounded in reality, and once it’s grounded, we take the ceiling off and go crazy places with the comedy.    

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: What's the most difficult thing about your work? And what's the most fun, aside from making a successful movie?  

MW: It’s always fun. I love my job, man. There’s no greater job for me in the world. I was born to do this. I think the most difficult aspect of the job is not having much time off, or time to sleep, or time to just chill. Sometimes, fame can be a little hard.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: I have been working so much on my own films and other people’s projects that I haven't had time to make a reel. How important is it for a director to have a reel that highlights their work?

MW: I think it is pretty important because producers and studio heads need to see that before they’re going to take a chance on you. You always need a piece of wok that represents you, because no matter what you say your execution will be, people need to see you execute. So, a reel is very important.

 

KW: Could you say something controversial that would get this interview tweeted?

MW: Wow! Probably, but it might also ruin my career. [Chuckles]

 

KW: Have you ever had a near-death experience?

MW: Falling off a roof. I only fell one story, but I still saw my life flashing before my eyes.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

MW: My guiltiest pleasure would probably be coconut sorbet and wine.

 

KW: The Michael Ealy question: If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be?
MW: Jesus Christ.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

MW: Probably a lawyer.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

MW: None! What you see is exactly what you get. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

MW: The ability to bring people back to life.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

MW: The Wayans family. [LOL]

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key qualities do you believe all successful people share? 

MW: Hard work, a belief in themselves, and they never stop trying. A good work ethic is the greatest talent.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Marlon, and good luck with the film.

MW: Anytime, Kam. Thanks.

To see a trailer for A Haunted House 2, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ1CsG-bJqc 

 


Interviews
UserpicBridget Moynahan (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
08.04.2014

Bridget Moynahan
The “small time” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Bridget’s Blue Blood!

Kathryn Bridget Moynahan was born in Binghamton, New York on April 28, 1971, though raised in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. The statuesque beauty was signed by the Ford Modeling Agency which led to a successful career as a cover girl on Glamour, Vogue and other leading magazines.

After adding acting to her repertoire, Bridget made a memorable feature film debut as Rachel in "Coyote Ugly." Much more than just a pretty face, the versatile thespian followed that breakout role with a string of powerful performances which established her as one of Hollywood's favorite leading ladies.

She has appeared in blockbusters opposite many of Hollywood's finest leading men, including Nicolas Cage in "Lord of War," Will Smith in "I, Robot," Colin Farrell in "The Recruit," John Cusack in "Serendipity," Greg Kinnear in "Unknown," Tim Robbins in "Noise" and Ben Affleck in "The Sum Of All Fears."

Among her many television roles, Bridget portrayed Carrie's rival and Mr. Big's wife on "Sex and The City." Today, she is best known for playing prosecutor Erin Reagan-Boyle on the nighttime drama Blue Bloods opposite Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg.

Here, she talks about new film, “small time,” a coming-of-age drama co-starring Christopher Meloni, Devon Bostick and Dean Norris.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Bridget, thanks for the interview.

Bridget Moynahan: Great, Kam. How are you?

 

KW: Fine, thanks. I’m a big fan of “Blue Bloods.” Congratulations on the success of the series.

BM: Thanks. We’re all excited that it’s going into its fifth season. I, for one, have never worked on a show this long, so it’s kind of exciting.

 

KW: Despite the presence of so many stars in the cast, I’ve really come to almost believe you’re really one big family. Such great chemistry!

BM: Yeah, and I think that happened for all of us on day one. We were kind of introduced to each other right before a family dinner, and we had to jump right into it, and it all seemed to fall into place. It’s also unique to shoot the show right in the city [New York], since we all live here. It’s so different from being away on location when you’re away from your family and away from home. In that situation, the cast tends to spend more time with each other. Here, we all go home to our families after work every day, but when we come back, it’s almost like it’s an extension of our family life. 

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: Did you got to court or have a lawyer as an acting coach in preparation to play a prosecutor?

BM: We do have a couple people we rely on to ensure that it’s as credible as possible. We’ve had two on set over the years that I’m able to consult speak to about how a situation might be handled, because we do want to make the show as honest and as accurate as possible. We do our best and I work with them often. For me, a lot of it is learning the language of lawyers, because they have many words I would not use in my everyday life.   

 

KW: Well, I’m an attorney, and I’ve always found this show not only more credible but more enjoyable than any of the other nighttime legal dramas.

BM: That’s a good sign. Thank you!

 

KW: Lisa Loving says: In so many of our local communities, the police are mistrusted and even despised. Yet we LOVE watching TV detectives! Do you ever think about that disconnect?

BM: I do, because I think that many forget that police officers are people with real lives. They struggle with the same things that you and I do. They might be behind on their mortgage. They might have a family member who’s sick. So, they’re dealing with all that stuff, while also putting their lives on the line everyday. For us! Many of us don’t pay attention to them until we get a ticket for speeding, running a light, or letting a parking meter run over. It makes you angry, but they’re just doing their job. I think people love watching our show because you get to see the human side of their lives, their personal struggles, and also how the job and certain cases might affect them. It encourages you to think about what they see on a daily basis and how that might affect them. I’m sure that something most people don’t ordinarily think about when interacting with a police officer.  

 

KW: I had fun watching “small time.” Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier would like to know what interested you in the film?

BM: I really like to try to do something on my hiatus, and it was really nice to find a script that was so well-written. The characters just popped of the pages, and Joel [director Joel Surnow] did a really fine job of casting those roles. I had been late in getting on the Breaking Bad bandwagon, so I was unaware of Dean Norris’ role in that until literally six months ago. I’m kinda bummed that I didn’t know more about him at the time of the filming, because I’m now such a huge fan of the show. As far as ‘small time,” I was thrilled to be able to do that project. I recently saw it and was pleasantly surprised at how well it came together. So, I’m really excited for Joel, because this is his feature film directorial debut, and he did a great job.

 

KW: How did you prepare to play Barbara?

BM: I just thought it was really important to work on the relationship between her and Christopher Meloni’s character [Al], because there was so much history in there, and so much conflict. I think they loved each other, but there were circumstances that she didn’t know whether it was worth sticking around for the “maybe” or the “what if,” since they might always be living that way. So, I think they really cared for each other, and they shared a son, and did the best they could. It’s just a kind of a nice reflection of life, not so different from many lives today. I think it’s a story that many people could recognize and relate to.  

 

KW: The film was written by Joel, but inspired by a true story. Did you meet any of the people it was based on?

BM: No, I don’t think I met anyone connected to the story.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

BM: I think a true classic should never be touched, but I think it would be fun to be in a remake of Casablanca, or even of West Side Story.

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

BM: I have such a wide range. I’ve been wearing a lot of Martin Margiela lately. I’m sitting in my dressing room right now, so I’m looking at all my costumes. It’s funny, because we mix a lot so I might end up wearing some designers out of my character’s price range. But we do try to keep her clothes in a bracket of what would be affordable for someone in her type of job. It’s a wide range, but I do try to keep it realistic. Nowadays, you can great knockoffs of the higher-priced designers anyway.  

 

KW: also, a lot of TV characters in New York live in upscale apartments with expensive furniture they shouldn’t be able to afford, judging by their jobs.  

BM: I know. I have a new apartment in my storyline, and looking at it, I asked, “Where did we get this furniture?” But it was actually affordable, even though it looks nicer than my own apartment. [LOL] They were very conscious about that.

 

KW: You said you’re in the dressing room. When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

BM: Right now, I can’t see anything, because it’s covered with my lunch bag, which are meatballs. I have two places I get them from in this neighborhood. These are from The Meatball Shop. 

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

BM: Swedish meatballs. My son loves them, and that’s what he gets.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

BM: I can’t really say. I’m not one of those people who can’t remember stuff from back when I was 3 years-old. I have friends who can, but I can’t. Sorry.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Bridget, and best of luck with the film and the TV show.

BM: Thank you so much, Kam.

 

To see a trailer for “small time,” visit


Interviews
UserpicTishuan Scott (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
31.03.2014

Tishuan Scott
“The Retrieval” Interview
with Kam Williams

Great Scott!

Tishuan Scott was born on October 27, 1979 in Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia as an Oprah Scholar, where he matriculated towards earning his Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Psychology in 2002. He then attended the University of California at Los Angeles’ School of Theater, Film & Television as a Lloyd Bridges MGM/Outer Limits Fellow, where he received his Master of Fine Arts in Acting in 2006.

Tishuan was recently seen as “Kenieloe,” a Ghanian guru, in Andrew Bujalski's 2013 Alfred P. Sloan Sundance Award-winning film ”Computer Chess” and as “Moses Washington” in the Lifetime Network TV movie “Deliverance Creek.” Here, he talks playing “Nate,” a freedman gravedigger for the Federal Union Army, in “The Retrieval.” He landed the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) 2013 Special Jury Prize for Acting ­ Breakthrough Performance in that Civil War Era adventure.

Kam Williams: Hi Tishuan, thanks for the interview.

Tishuan Scott: It’s my pleasure. Thank You, Kam, for the interview.

KW: Congratulations on winning the Breakthrough Performance at the South by Southwest Festival.

TS: Thank You! I love SXSW! I love Austin!

KW: What interested you in The Retrieval?

TS: The story, writing, characters, and relationships. It’s history.

KW: It explores the themes of trust and betrayal during slavery, just as 12 Years a Slave. How would you compare the two pictures?

TS: The films’ singular comparison is that Solomon Northup is a free man who is enslaved for profit through the brutal trade and oppression of the system of slavery, and my character, Nate, a freedman, is sought after to make a profit, a bounty, by the patty-rollers who seek to re-enslave him. Both films share an insight to the great capitalization of the African-American male life, to be debased as worthless, yet so extraordinarily invaluable. There are also grander contrasts between the two films, however: 12 Years: 1841; The Retrieval: 1864. 12 Years: Pre-Emancipation Proclamation; The Retrieval: Post-Emancipation Proclamation. 12 Years: Brutality; The Retrieval: Humanity.

KW: 2013 was a banner year film for black film: 12 Years a Slave, 42, Fruitvale Station, The Butler, etcetera. What effect do you think that will have on Hollywood in terms of opportunities for African­Americans in front of and behind the camera?

TS: I believe it transcends Hollywood. It’s bigger than that! Our film has played in Toronto-Ontario, Calgary, Montreal-Quebec, Brazil, Australia, France-Deauville, Serbia, Greece, Germany, London, Istanbul-Turkey, Belgium-Ghent, Egypt-Luxor, and all over the U.S. in a myriad of film festivals, clearly displaying that there is an international and national interest and demand to see dark chocolate-skinned folks on the silver screen to observe and immerse an audience in the forgotten histories of who we are as a people and what we were as a nation. This canon of films will inspire many indie filmmakers and, hopefully, Hollywood to realize that our wealth is in our history, that we have so very many stories yet to be told. All five films have African-American male leads. You left out Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – that makes six! That is exemplary and thrilling, but there are also stories with African-American women that must be told. We need African-American female lead actresses in films, in tandem with African-American male leading actors.

KW: How do you pick a role?

TS: I don’t believe I pick them. I think the universe sends me what’s for me. What attracts me specifically to roles is the heart of the character. How does the story move me? What is the character’s journey or driving force? Where is the character headed? Why is the character headed there? There absolutely and unequivocally has to be depth.

KW: You got both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in theater before starting your career. Do you recommend that route to aspiring actors?

TS: Yes. I met Samuel Jackson at our 2001 Morehouse College Gala: Candle in the Dark. I tell people what he told me. “Take your time. Get your education.”

KW: Are you also interested in writing and directing?

TS: Yes.

KW: The Harriet Pakula­Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

TS: I don’t care for remakes. There’s soooo much undiscovered material out there; old and new. I want to be original. August Wilson’s “Fences,” Gloria Naylor’s “The Men of Brewster Place,” Richard Wright’s “The Outsider,” “Black Theater USA – Plays from 1847-1938” has a myriad of material yearning to be on the stage and screen! Those are classics to me.

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

TS: Would you like a free home renovation and free lawn landscaping?

KW: Would you mind saying something controversial that would get this interview tweeted?

TS: Legalize marijuana President Obama! Think of how many African-American males who would have to be freed from prison and how many it will save from ever being incarcerated!

KW: Have you ever had a near­death experience?

TS: Yes. I’m thankful for 9 Lives!

KW: Have you ever accidentally uncovered a deep secret?

TS: Yes. The United States of America: 1863­1963.

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

TS: Today. It’s the kind of laugh where you throw your head back and laugh to the sky.

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

TS: Jolly Ranchers, watermelon and apple-flavored.

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

TS: Essays actually. W.E.B. DuBois’ “Criteria for Negro Art,” “The Guiding Hundredth,” “On the Wings of Atlanta,” and “On Our Spiritual Strivings.” Nietzsche’s “On the Pale Criminal” and “On the Three Metamorphoses.” Solomon Northup’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE was the last novel that I read. But it was in August before I reread the aforementioned essays.

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

TS: Italian.

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

TS: A hummingbird. Monarch butterflies. Seeing my garden growing. Good food and family dinners.

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

TS: My reflection. And I love it!

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

TS: I wish for recycling to become a major industrial agriculture.

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time?

TS: Surrounded by my family and the best of my friends on a tropical island with exotic palms, our skins glistening in the sun, feet promenading through the hot sand, eating mangos and strawberries and dark chocolate and sushi, drinking mango and rum, listening to music inspired by drums, and dancing and laughing.

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

TS: A peacock!

KW: The Ling­Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

TS: Playing with my Superman and performing sermons for my mother, granny and auntie with my Little Golden Book, a small glass of orange juice and a napkin to wipe the sweat from my unwrinkled brow. My most memorable lines they say were, “Just like Jeremiah said, ‘It was like fire, shot up in his bones’!” and “Lawd, thank you for the washing powder!”

KW: The Melissa Harris­Perry question: How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

TS: I discovered that the heart is a breakable thing, but also discovered my capacity to love another person.

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

TS: Flying.

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share?

TS: A passion for what they do, an undying zeal and fervor to never give up and accept and embrace failures as the building blocks to the pyramids of success.

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps? TS: Join SAG-AFTRA! And keep your head to the sky, for it is the stars, the ancient and everlasting stars that will guide you.

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

TS: Zarathustra, Ubermensch and Herald of the Lightning!

KW: Thanks again for the time, Tishuan, and best of luck with The Retrieval.

TS: I think I heard someone before say, “Luck is for the godless.” Wish me Godspeed! Amen Ra.

KW: Godspeed it is then, bro!

TS: Thanks, Kam.

To see a trailer for The Retrieval, visit


Interviews
UserpicRap Mogul Reaps Benefits from Meditation Regimen
Posted by Kam Williams
17.03.2014

Russell Simmons
The “Success through Stillness” Interview
with Kam Williams

Master entrepreneur and visionary Russell Simmons has influenced virtually all aspects of business and media: in music with the cofounding of the immensely successful Def Jam Recordings; in the fashion industry with the trailblazing Phat Pharm, Baby Phat, Run Athletics, and Def Jam University clothing lines; in television with HBO’s Def Comedy Jam and Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry; on Broadway with the Tony Award-winning stage production Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam; in digital with All Def Digital, All Def Music, and Narrative; as well as numerous other ventures in the financial services industry, mobile communications, and philanthropy.

A native New Yorker currently residing in Los Angeles, Mr. Simmons is the proud father of two daughters. Here, he talks about his new book: Success through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Rush, thanks for the time.

Russell Simmons: My man, how you feel?

 

KW: Great! How about you brother?  

RS: I’m doing fine. I’m still moving around, Kam. I’m in Texas at the South by Southwest Music Festival announcing All Def Digital’s partnership with Samsung. We’re building a platform to put a song out every week for 52 weeks called ADD52.

 

KW: Why’d you start All Def Digital?

RS: To give all this black talent a chance by exposing them to Hollywood, which is very segregated. Hollywood is full of very liberal people, but it still has an infrastructure that needs to be broken. So, my idea is to integrate black stars into mainstream stars. It hasn’t been explored properly. That’s what Im doing in Hollywood. And that’s what All Def Digital is doing. I’m probably going to shoot TV 10 pilots this year.

 

KW: Any ideas you care to share at this point?

RS: One’s a detective show for J.B. Smoove. Another’s a remake of a classic black movie that would star Chris Tucker. And I have a pilot called The Re-Education of Oliver Cooper starring the white kid from Project X where follows a black girl to a black university, like in Legally Blonde. I have so many fun projects. Another one, written by the guy from Friday [DJ Pooh], has kids from Compton growing weed in a house in Bel Air.

 

KW: Recently, Ride Along, did very well, despite its having a black principal cast. It was #1 at the box-office a few weeks in a row.

RS: Yeah, but 86% of its audience was made up of people of color. That tells you that the full potential of many black stars won’t be realized until their audiences are fully integrated. No one wants to sell to just 12% of the population for the entire length of their careers. It creates a difficult and less-profitable environment. But Hollywood has lived with that limiting mantra, and only a few black stars have managed to break through. It’s a whole world which needs to be changed. Fortunately, Hollywood is open to change. It’s just a question of how to go about doing it. 

 

KW: Good luck with that. Let’s talk about your new book. AALBC’s Troy Johnson asks: How long have you been practicing meditation and how has it helped you?

RS: 20 years. Sitting in stillness has got to be the greatest asset I have in terms of attaining happiness. Nothing increases happiness like quiet time. The truth is, the only moments that make you laugh or happy are seconds of stillness. At the shock of a joke, everything disappears but the present moment. When you read a book, and it’s really, really beautiful, you’re so engaged you forget to breathe. If you’re in a car accident, and everything moves slowly, you can be shocked into the present. The past and the future disappear. Here’s another great example. If you play basketball, you get into the zone. You can’t miss. That’s the expansive mindset we’re all seeking. But that only comes when the mind is quiet and separate from the noise. And the greatest tool to eliminate the noise is meditation.  

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: With people connected increasingly to their "apps" and the 24-hour cycle of often-disturbing news, it is more necessary than ever to have quiet and Stillness in our lives.  She asks: Did you write this book somewhat as a reaction to the noisy, always-connected culture we live in?

RS: The always-connected culture isn’t as much a contributor as Grace might think. The nervous mind, the monkey mind, will create its own noise. It doesn’t need a new toy. Sometimes, a new toy, a new technology, will focus you. The world is always trying to draw you out, so you always have to remember to go in. I didn’t write this book in reaction to the 24-hour news cycle, because “be still and know” has been taught for thousands of years before the development of this technology. The research shows that if you meditate, the mind becomes still, and they can see the functionality and gray matter in the brain increase, the nervous system calm, the immune system improve and a reduction in stress. So, quiet time is the key. We have hundreds of thousands of kids around the country meditating through the David Lynch Foundation. What I want to do with this book, and I’m giving all the profits to charity, is to teach people to meditate. All it takes is a little bit of patience. It’s a simple guide. And the more people meditate, the more it increases the positive vibrations turning the planet into a positive, happy place. The more you do that, the greater service you are to God. I introduced Oprah and Ellen to their TM [Transcendental Meditation] teachers. They both thanked me, and spoke publicly about it, which is great because they can spread the word. Ellen has been a great supporter. Russell Brand has done the same. I’ve shared meditation with a lot of hip-hop artists, inmates, and returning war veterans with PTSD, as well. I feel like this dharma, this service is part of my job.      

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman gives a shout out from a fellow Hollis native!

She asks: What were you most astonished to discover as a result of meditating? 

RS: Coming out of my first yoga class, I was astonished that there were nothing but hot girls there. Just 55 girls, Bobby Shriver, who’s a buddy of mine, and myself. I came out of class, I was so high. I been sober 26 years, but I’m an ex-druggie. I want to talk a little bit abut two things: clarity and cloudiness. Both of them quiet the mind. One quiets it, the other numbs it. either way, there’s less thought, and the less thought, the more happiness. And when the mind is totally still, there’s only bliss. I got a piece of that reality from my first yoga class, from smiling and breathing in every difficult pose. I went, “Oh my God! I’m clear! I love this!” If I keep doing this, I’m going to give away my money. But a more happy mind leads to quietness and clarity. And that clarity helps you have a greater capacity to do more and to become more successful and more giving. So, running all my different companies has turned out to be a lot easier because I mediate twice a day and go to yoga every day.

 

KW: Bernadette also says: I sat a 10-day Vipassana course many years ago and afterwards, I was encouraged by a film called Doing Time, Doing Vipassana which was about meditation courses offered in prisons. The results were very encouraging. She asks: What do you think of meditation methods taught to prisoners?  

RS: I think it’s very important. I’ve gone into prisons to meditate with inmates. It’s something I plan to do with Tim Robbins soon. I owe him a call about that.  

 

KW: Bernadette asks: If you could focus all of your resources to solve one problem in our society, what one would it be?

RS: At the core of everything that is hurtful to humanity is a lack of consciousness. Unconscious behavior is at the core. Think of the 40 billion animals we abuse and eat who are born into suffering. It’s a karmic disaster. An animal products diet is like smoking 20 cigarettes a day. What I would do to change this planet is have everyone meditate and look inside. Then we’d have a happier, more service-oriented, less-needy world.

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says this book looks great. I know a crabby person whose life changed when he started meditating. She asks: Are there ever limits to an individual's ability to follow your advice? Are there certain kinds of stress, difficulty or even grief that is so staggering that it becomes impossible to cope with through meditation?

RS: Meditation helps everything, Lisa. But I couldn’t guarantee that someone could get off their medication. But I suspect that meditation instead of Ritalin would change the life of any kid with ADD.

 

KW: Editor/legist Patricia Turnier says: Some people are reluctant to try psychotherapy.  They will instead deal with their stress and pain by taking drugs and/or alcohol. Do you think that meditation can be beneficial to them?  
RS: Absolutely, because when you sit quietly and look inside, things that seem so difficult on the outside become a lot easier to digest. Concerns that might’ve caused a lot of anxiety just come and go. That happens to me everyday. I watch my thoughts, not only on the mat, but all through the day.

 

KW: Troy Johnson asks: Are you happy about how hip-hop has evolved over the past 40 years?

RS: It hasn’t changed that much at all, actually. It’s been great. It keeps getting better in some ways.

 

KW: Troy says: Many music fans think that the best hip-hop music is being produced by underground artists. Are there any you’re excited about?

RS: At All Def Digital we’re developing tons of them.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: Have you and the artists you work with benefited from the turmoil in the music industry?

RS: I don’t see it.

 

KW: Professor Hisani Dubose has a couple of questions for her music technology majors at Bloomfield College. How has the internet changed the music industry? What do artists have to do these days to get a record deal?

RS: You don’t need a record deal. You’ll have the industry begging for you, when you build your buzz. I signed Jay-Z because he was on fire. I wasn’t a genius. The record was great. I put it on The Nutty Professor soundtrack and we signed him. People build themselves up before you even have to deal with them. It’s always marketeers building their own careers. Nowadays, if you’re a great artist, you don’t have to leave the house, which is a really big difference. You’re closer to the artist. And the artist can be closer to their artistry without having to always worry about branding themselves or building something image-wise.

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

RS: “My Nigga” by YG.

I probably shouldn’t even say that, because everybody gets mad. But it is my favorite record. I was just listening to it in the car. I live in hip-hop. I don’t find it to be offensive. I know there’s a debate about it. I probably shouldn’t say this to national black distribution, but they have to live with it, too. They ain’t gonna change young people. All they’re going to do is make ‘em say it more. That particular YG record is the biggest record, and I like it. That’s not helpful, is it? It’s the truth. I’m a full disclosure kind of person. Another song I just listened to was “Mere Gurudev,” a devotional record by Krishna Das.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

RS: I read “The Yoga Sutras” every day. 

And also the “The Bhagavad Gita.” 

Those two books sit by my bed. And I’m currently reading “The China Study.”

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

RS: different reflections at different times. I really, really try to be a good servant. It makes me happy when I’m a good giver without expectations.

 

KW: What are you up to next?

RS: The main thing is I’ll be going to Chicago to work with [Mayor] Rahm Emmanuel to put meditation in the schools.

 

KW: Thanks again for the interview, Rush, and best of luck with the book, the TV shows, and the meditation initiative.

RS: It’s a great pleasure as always talking with you, Kam.

To order a copy of Success through Stillness, visit


Interviews
UserpicNia Long (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
10.03.2014

Nia Long

“The Single Moms Club” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Nia Expounds on Everything from Movies to Motherhood

 

Stunningly-attractive leading lady Nia Long returned to the big screen last fall in the highly-anticipated sequel The Best Man Holiday where she reunited with original cast mates Taye Diggs, Terrence Howard, Morris Chestnut and Harold Perrineau. Early last year, she joined the all-star cast of Showtime’s “House of Lies” alongside Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell.

 

Nia made her film debut in Boyz n The Hood, a poignant picture portraying social problems in inner-city Los Angeles. She subsequently starred in Friday opposite Ice Cube and Chris Tucker, as well as Love Jones, which won the prestigious Audience Award at Sundance. Nia’s notable film roles also include Soul Food, Alfie, The Best Man, Are We There Yet?, Big Momma’s House 1 and 2, Stigmata, The Broken Hearts Club and Made In America.

 

Nia’s portrayal of Officer Sasha Monroe on the hit crime drama “Third Watch” netted her a couple of NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Drama series. Her other TV accomplishments include “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Boston Legal,” “Judging Amy,” and “Big Shots.”

 

In addition to her film and television work, Nia’s passion lies in serving her community. With her family roots firmly planted in Trinidad, Long’s long term goals are to connect women in the US to those of the island and to mentor young girls to regain their self-esteem.

 

Additionally, she lends her support to Black Girls Rock, an organization that promotes the arts for young women of color and encourages dialogue on the ways women of color are portrayed in the media. And in 2012, she was named an official surrogate to the Barack Obama reelection campaign.

 

Nia loves to cook fresh, farmer’s market meals with a twist of her Trinidadian heritage. When she’s not juggling between her career and motherhood, she enjoys staying active by doing Pilates, boxing, hiking, and horseback riding.

 

She also takes pleasure in traveling and experiencing different cultures throughout the world. One of her favorite locations to visit is Jamaica, a place she calls her second home where she can reflect and refuel.

 

Here, Nia talks about co-starring as May in The Single Moms Club opposite her son Massai, as well as Amy Smart, Zulay Henao, Tyler Perry, Terry Crews, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Cocoa Brown.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Nia, thanks so much for the time.

Nia Long: Of course, Kam. How are you?

 

KW: Great! And you?

NL: I’m good!

 

KW: What interested you in The Single Moms Club?

NL: The title alone. I think it’s a world we haven’t explored on film. And I feel that single mommies don’t get enough praise and accolades. I’ve had first-hand experience. My mother was a single mom. As far as I’m concerned, mommies, in general, rule the world. And single mothers just take it to a whole other level. 

 

KW: Congratulations on the latest Essence Magazine cover!

NL: Oh, thank you!

 

KW: I don’t how many that makes. I’ve lost count. Besides this one, which of your Essence covers is your favorite? The August 2012 issue with your sons?

NL: Honestly, it’s so hard, because each Essence cover represents a different special moment in my life. So, I can’t really judge them. It’s hard to judge yourself, too. But I do love the one with my boys. That was probably the closest one to me myself. This one is about keeping it sexy in my 40s, so I’m not mad about that either.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: How was it having your son, Massai, play your son, and what acting advice did you give him?

NL: I actually sent him to my acting coach, Betty Bridges.

 

KW: Todd’s mom. [Todd Bridges of the TV show Different Strokes]

NL: Yes. She worked with him for several days. And then, my own mom recorded him on her iPhone. It was one of those situations where I didn’t want to be a part of process, because I felt it was important for him to go through the process and earn it. So, we sent the video over to Tyler. When we didn’t hear back after a couple of days, I was like, “Omigosh! What if he doesn’t get this job? How am I going to break the news to him?“ Fortunately, Tyler thought he was great and he did get the job. At the end of the day, I was really happy with the outcome of the scenes. Working opposite him was such a gift, and something I’ll have on film forever. I don’t know whether a star was born, but I’m sure it was an experience that can only help benefit his development as a young man.      

 

KW: Director Rel Dowdell says: In the movie there's a poignant scene where your character, May, has the chance to say disparaging things about her son's father to her son, but doesn't. Did that scene have any special resonance with you, since your real-life son was playing your son?

NL: Well, my son’s dad is committed, and involved, and amazing. We’re actually really good friends. But I think it’s dangerous to speak negatively to the child about your ex or the absent parent, because, believe it or not, they learn very quickly who the other parent is. And it’s important that they develop their own attitudes and opinions about that other parent based on their experiences, not based on what someone has said about them. Fortunately, there’s mostly more positive than negative. When there isn’t, that’s just the way life happens. You just don’t want your child to ever feel like they have less of an opportunity to succeed based on the circumstances in which they were born. I try to be optimistic about everything. There are no victims in my home.   

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: What would you say is the overall message of The Single Moms Club?

NL: Try to find fellowship… And try to find sisterhood… And try to find that village that can help you support your journey and your kids and your experiences. Never lose a sense of yourself throughout the process, and still pursue your dreams as a mom. Listen, when all is said and done, don’t be afraid to get out there and date, and have a little bit of fun. We’re still women… we’re still feminine… and we still have needs.

 

KW: Patricia says: You have been in the entertainment industry for decades. I’ve followed your career since Boyz n the Hood. What is the secret to your longevity?

NL: Probably my last name. [Chuckles] No, I feel it’s that I don’t ever give up on myself, and I’d rather run a marathon than a sprint. Personally, I think I’m a slow learner who’s getting better every year, every moment, every project. I’ve met so many amazing people along the way. And there’s no gimmick with me. What you see is what you get. The journey might be longer, but it’s definitely been sweeter. I can look at myself in the mirror every night knowing I’ve never ever pretended to be someone I know I’m not for the sake of this industry. I believe that it’s important to live by your truth in order to be able to sleep peacefully when you rest your head at night. I’ve gone off and taken breaks, not necessarily by choice, but life has a way of giving you breaks, even when you don’t want them, especially in this industry. So, I’ve had a chance to raise my children and to be a mom, and to come back to do more in film and television. I really cannot complain.  

 

KW: Editor Lisa Loving asks: What is the most surprising thing you’d like people to know about you?

NL: That I’m really, really silly and slightly clumsy. I had to re-teach myself how to walk in high heels after the birth of Kez. [Chuckles]

 

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden asks: Do you have a dream role you would like to play?

NL: I would love a good drama, maybe a period piece.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

NL: I’ve never really thought about that. I think classic films are classic for a reason. It’s always sketchy to redo one, especially if you’re trying to make it contemporary. That’s really just not the way to go. [LOL]

 

KW: Eddie Cibrian, who played your love interest in The Best Man Holiday, is also in The Single Moms Club. Did it feel weird that your characters weren’t romantically-linked this time around?

NL: No, I never actually saw him on set, because we didn’t have any scenes together. But it was sort of funny seeing him in the film. I was like, “Omigosh! I totally forgot!”

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

NL: I know this sounds shallow, but a good pair of new shoes really gets me going.

 

KW: What do you want that you don’t have yet?

NL: That question’s so loaded! [Laughs] I’d say more choices, more options, more opportunities that force me to grow as an artist and challenge me to grow in a way that I haven’t as of yet. 

 

KW: Congratulations on the success of The Best Man Holiday and on the announcement that another sequel is in the works.

NL: Thank you.

 

KW: But will we ever get to see a Love Jones sequel?

NL: I have no idea. There have been a lot of rumors, and some bad versions of scripts. I don’t know what’s going to happen. All I do know is that unless it’s right, we won’t do it.

 

KW: What does Love Jones’ write/director Theodore Witcher have to say?

NL: I haven’t seen or spoken to Ted in a long time? He’s a smart man, though.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

NL: Definitely a cat.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

NL: [Breathes deeply, sighs and reflects] That was a big heartbreak, and I wasn’t that young either. I would say that I learned that the heartbreak wasn’t as much about me as the fact that he wasn’t right with himself. I see where his life has taken him, and realize that the handwriting was on the wall. There were things that I had blamed myself for, but it was really more about his choices, his needs and his journey as a person. His desire for too much of everything made it a challenging relationship.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

NL: I would love to have the ability to see inside everyone’s heart before I heard them speak or even saw their faces. 

 

KW: You’ll be playing a lawyer on The Divide, a dramatic TV series debuting this summer. Have you started shooting the first season yet?

NL: We have been shooting in cold Toronto. We only have one more episode to go. I’ve been working with Tony Goldwyn, Richard LaGravenese and an amazing group of actors. I play a strong, successful mom.

 

KW: What’s the show about?

NL: All of us have moments in our lives when we have to choose between what we know is right and what we feel obligated to do. I think that’s the theme of the show. What is your divide? What are the things you struggle with?     

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

NL: At home, it’s all about my babies and no makeup. On the red carpet, it’s: Am I standing up straight? 

 

KW: We’re out of time, Nia, and I still have a million more questions for you from fans. 

NL: I’m so sorry. We can do another one soon, Kam.

 

KW: Thanks Nia.

NL: Take care.  

 

To see a trailer for The Single Moms Club, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQNOvfixtpo


Interviews
UserpicRebecca Da Costa (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
26.02.2014

Rebecca Da Costa

“The Bag Man” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

From the Runway to the Red Carpet!

Born in Recife, Brazil, supermodel-turned-actress Rebecca Da Costa studied at the Rui Barbosa School where she pursued her love of theater by writing, directing and starring in a number of plays. At the age of 14, Rebecca was discovered during a model search, and she debuted at Milan Fashion Week a couple of years later en route to gracing runways all over the world for Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, Escada and Hugo Boss, to name a few.

The statuesque beauty also became the face of campaigns for Chopard, Swarovski, Nokia and L'Oreal. However, a visit to Los Angeles prompted a permanent move to the States, where Rebecca decided to focus on her true passion, acting.

Her first lead role was in an indie film titled L.A. I Hate You, and her credits came to include a stint on HBO's "Entourage" as well as starring roles in Free Runner, Mine Games and 7 Below alongside Val Kilmer and Ving Rhames. More recently, she wrapped shooting the horror flick Breaking at the Edge with Milo Ventimiglia and Andie MacDowell in which she stars as a bi-polar, pregnant woman in fear for her unborn child's life.

Rebecca currently resides in Los Angeles where, in addition to her modeling and acting career, she devotes her time to such philanthropic efforts as Kids with Autism and Common Ground HIV. To relax, she enjoys dancing, cooking healthy, Brazilian dishes and regularly practicing Transcendental Meditation in order to maintain a healthy mind and body.

As a planetary citizen who has lived on several different continents, Rebecca is fluent in many languages, with Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and English among them. Here, the versatile thespian talks about staring as the femme fatale in the neo-noir thriller The Bag Man opposite Robert De Niro and John Cusack.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Rebecca, thanks for the interview.

Rebecca Da Costa: No problem, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in The Bag Man?

RDC: When I went to audition for the film, they didn’t give me the whole script, but I liked my character Rivka’s dry sense of humor. She seemed so witty in the scenes I read. It seemed like a big challenge, and that was one of the first things that caught my attention.

 

KW: Were all the big names already attached to the picture at that point?

RDC: When I first got the phone call that I’d booked the job, I didn’t know that John [Cusack] and [Robert] De Niro were attached. But when they gave me the news, I was like “Oh my God!” It was too much for me. And Sticky Fingers, Crispin Glover and Dominic Purcell later joined the cast.    

 

KW: How was it working opposite Cusack and a legend like De Niro?

RDC: It was a mind-blowing experience because I grew up watching those guys. To act opposite them was surreal. But at the same time, you naturally forget who they are after a few days since you’re so focused on getting each scene right. You couldn’t concentrate if you let yourself think, “That’s Robert De Niro.” Still, he was amazing to watch. It was the best acting class I ever had.  

 

KW: I know you like writing and directing. What sort of project might interest you in that regard?  

RDC: I’d like to direct children’s movies in ten years or so, because I love everything connected to their universe. But that’s a long-range plan because, right now, I’m just focusing on my acting career.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

RDC: I’d love to do a musical, because I love singing and dancing.  

 

KW: You’ve taken a very circuitous route from Brazil to Hollywood. You were discovered in you mid-teens, and moved to Milan as a model, right? 

RDC: Yes, I lived in Europe for seven years, in Italy… France… Germany… Austria… Everywhere! Then I moved to New York to work as a model, but I also started taking acting classes. Right after that I moved to L.A. and my career really started to take off. 

 

KW: Are you tempted to move back to Brazil? It’s hot right now, between the World Cup and the next Summer Olympics.  

RDC: I love my country, and I go back to visit my family four or five times a year, even though it’s a very long trip. I’ll definitely be going back for the World Cup, because I’m a very big soccer fan. And I hope to attend the Olympics, too. In my dream world, I’d like to live in both New York and Brazil.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

RDC: That’s such a good question. Let me think… I can’t think of one right now.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

RDC: I do this fish dish in the oven with vegetables and brown rice that’s very easy and very healthy and very nice. It only takes about a half-hour to make. I also like to cook and to eat black beans, rice and meat, a traditional Brazilian dish. It’s very similar to a Cuban and Mexican food. That’s what Brazilians have for lunch every single day. It may sound boring, but it’s really, really delicious. [Chuckles] 

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

RDC: I will go with Dolce & Gabbana because it just dresses my body-type  beautifully.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

RDC: That my career was going so well that I could live on a desert island. That way, I could shoot a movie, and then hide on my private island. [Giggles] I love my privacy so much that I closed my Facebook account for years. I just reopened it a few months ago at the suggestion of my publicist. But I prefer to be private and even unavailable at times. I’d rather not even turn on my computer sometimes. The world we live in right now, everybody can know where you are in a second.     

 

KW: Why an island?

RDC: I love the beach and the ocean! I’m very spiritual, and that’s where I feel very connected to a higher power. 

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

RDC: Oh, wow! It depends. Today, when I look in the mirror, I see somebody who’s very tired because, for the past few days I’ve just been so busy. From the minute I wake up until the minute I go to sleep, I have so many things to do. But it varies. Sometimes, I look in the mirror and I feel sad. Other times, I feel proud, because I was a very active child with so many dreams that I’m living now. But when I’m down or having doubts, I look in the mirror and ask myself, “What would 10 year-old Rebecca do, if she were facing this trouble?” That really helps me.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

RDC: Oh God, that’s so deep. I can remember playing with classmates at a school playground at around 4 years of age.   

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

RDC: My best career decision was to move to L.A. I went there to visit a friend, and decided to move there. I remember praying about it to get some guidance. I’m not religious but, as I mentioned before, I am very spiritual. I like to pray to God for guidance. I think it helps me. I remember very clearly being back in Manhattan three days later when I got the phone call that somebody was interested in renting my apartment. I felt so happy as I strolled through Central Park listening to music because I knew I was now free to move. And, from there, everything started happening in my life.    

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

RDC: It impacted me very much. I think it might have been what made me turn to acting. My first big heartbreak was with my father. As the oldest daughter, I was very attached to him. Unfortunately, my mother divorced him, and he wasn’t a part of my life anymore, by his choice, of course. That influenced who I am today, including the roles I choose.   

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

RDC: I love watching Brazilian soap operas. [LOL]

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time? 

RDC: Funny you should ask, because just the other day I dreamed that the world was collapsing, and the first thing that came to my mind was: Where’s my mother? I would take a plane to be close to my family.  

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the runway or on the red carpet?

RDC: On the red carpet, you’re pretty much posing playing a role and answering very generic questions. But in real life, I’m very open and anybody who takes the time to get to know me is going to see that I’m very easygoing, and that I’m a homebody who loves cooking, and relaxing with family and friends. Perhaps people might not sense that from seeing me on the red carpet.  

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

RDC: To be invisible. [Laughs]

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

RDC: I think you really need to ask yourself if it’s really what you want for your life. And if you decide it’s what you want to do, then focus on it and go for it with 100% of your power. Believe me, I’ve been very lucky, but I still face obstacles every day. I’m acting in English which is not my first language. So, it’s hard. But you have to have that conviction in your heart that this was what you were born to do, and just keep going. Don’t stop!

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity? I know you’re already doing great work with Kids with Autism and Common Ground HIV.

RDC: The HIV cause is very close to my heart, first of all because I had a cousin with AIDS who passed away a few years ago. Also, I think it’s so unfair that people who are HIV+ are still stigmatized. Come on! We need to support them. And I want to get more involved with children’s charities that touch me.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

RDC: I like that question. More than anything, I want to be remembered as a good person who had a great deal of dignity, and also as an actress who was really hard working and who believed in her dreams.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Rebecca, and best of luck with the film.

RDC: Thanks Kam, this has been an entertaining interview, because it allowed me to show a side of myself that I don’t think people have seen before. 

 

To see a trailer for The Bag Man, visit:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKBLfwVEKP8


Interviews
UserpicAbout Regina and Kevin Hart
Posted by Kam Williams
11.02.2014

Regina Hall & Kevin Hart
The “About Last Night” Interview
with Kam Williams

Regina Hall began her acting career in the late 1990's while simultaneously earning a master's degree from New York University. With numerous film and television credits to her name, Regina has since emerged as one of Hollywood’s most sought after comedic actresses.

Last fall, she was seen reprising her role in the sequel The Best Man Holiday, alongside Terrence Howard, Taye Diggs, and Sanaa Lathan, which opened #1 at the box office. In June, she will again star opposite Terrence J, Gabrielle Union, Taraji P. Henson and Michael Ealy in the sequel Think Like a Man Too.

The versatile thespian additional credits include Scary Movie (and three of its sequels), Paid in Full, Malibu’s Most Wanted, First Sunday, Law Abiding Citizen, Death at a Funeral, Love & Basketball and Disappearing Acts. Her television credits include the role of Deputy D.A. Evelyn Prince on “Law & Order: LA” and Coretta Lipp on “Ally McBeal.”

Something Kevin Hart is an expert at is selling shoes. And if there’s one thing Kevin can do even better than selling shoes, it’s comedy. He began his first career sizing men and women for footwear, when a chance, electrifying performance on amateur night at a Philadelphia comedy club changed his life forever. He soon quit that job as a shoe salesman and began performing full-time at such venues as The Boston Comedy Club, Caroline’s on Broadway, Stand Up NY, the Laugh Factory and The Comedy Store in Los Angeles.

However, it was a memorable appearance at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival that led to roles in Paper Soldiers, Scary Movie 3 and Along Came Polly, which starred Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. Kevin has worked nonstop ever since, and 2013 was no exception, including Grudge Match, opposite Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro, and Let Me Explain, a stand-up comedy film chronicling the best of his world concert tour of the same name.

This year, he’s already had a #1 hit movie in Ride Along, which has grossed over $100 million and counting. And among his earlier film credits are Little Fockers, Death at a Funeral, Fool’s Gold and The 40 Year-Old Virgin.

Here, Kevin and Regina discuss their new film, About Last Night, a remake of the classic romantic comedy released back in 1986.

 

Kam Williams: Hi, Kevin and Regina, thanks for the interview. I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak with you.

Regina Hall: Hi, there, Kam. We appreciate it, too.

Kevin Hart: How you doing, man?

 

Kam: Great! Kevin, how does it feel to be back in Philly?

Kevin: Oh, it’s always good, Kam. It’s my hometown. Home is always good.

 

Kam: What interested you two in About Last Night?

Kevin: What interested you, baby?

Regina: Well, I loved the script. I’m always thrilled whenever I see a good script. And of course, when I then heard that Kevin was going to be my co-star… that sealed the deal. Need I say anything more? How about you, Kev?

Kevin: Like you, the script, first of all. I also liked that this was a different type of role for me, and that the original movie was so amazing!

Regina: A classic!

 

Kam: What factors played a role in doing a remake?

Kevin: The fact that we’d be following in its footsteps was huge. But we also wanted to follow more closely the lines of the original play it was based on, “Sexual Perversity in Chicago.” We modernized it and made this version a little edgier to fit audiences of this generation. So, all the pieces of the puzzle were there, it was just a question of putting them together.

Regina: Yeah, it was already there on the page. We just adapted it in a way to make it fresh, contemporary, sexy and fun. We also kinda followed the journey of two couples as opposed to one, so you get to see us explore the dynamics in the friendships between the men and the women, as well as in the couples’ relationships. It ended up feeling great!

   

Kam: Was it hard juggling egos on the set?

Kevin: Not at all. It was basically just four good people.

Regina: Four friends, really.

Kevin: There weren’t any jerks. Everybody came with the same agenda which was to make a great film. And when you all have your eyes on the prize, in this case to turn in a quality product and to turn in a complete product, at the end of the day, you can’t ask for a better support group than what we had.  

 

Kam: Who’s in your target audience?

Regina: Everybody!

Kevin: This is a universal film, with the exception of certain younger age groups, since this is an adult film.

Regina: Yeah, it’s R-rated. But it’s for singles… couples…

Kevin: It’s a movie that so many people are going to be able to relate to.

 

Kam: Kevin, you’re already on a roll with Ride Along breaking records for a January opening.

Kevin: Thank you!

Regina: #1 for three weeks in a row!

Kam: With About Last Night opening you’re competing against yourself.  

Kevin: Hey, that’s a good thing, especially since this is a different look for me. People walking out of this movie are going to know that I have levels, that I’m serious about my acting career, and that I’m willing to challenge myself. This product is a great representation of that.   

 

Kam: Does this picture have a message?

Kevin: Yeah, it actually does. The movie shows that couples weather their crises differently, and that each is going to solve their problems in the unique way they see fit to. But when you’re in love, love makes you do crazy things, and can take you down a whirlwind of a road. These are two couples that experience that, and we show how men talk to men and how women talk to women about their problems, and how it all comes full circle.   

Regina: Mmm-hmm!

 

Kam: Regina, what’s up next for you?

Regina: I’ll be joining this gentleman again in June for the release of Think Like a Man Too.  

Kevin: After that I’ll be in a movie called Wedding Ringers.

Regina: Which is hilarious, by the way. I’ve seen a few excerpts. It’s another hit.

 

Kam: Is it a little like Wedding Crashers?

Kevin: No, it’s more like a modern version of Hitch.

 

Kam: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

Kevin: Yeah, how tall are you?

 

Kam: Okay, how tall are you?

Kevin: I’m a good 6’6” on a Friday.

Regina: No, he’s 6’5”. [Chuckles]

 

Kam: How about you, Regina? Is there any question no one ever asks you?

Regina: People are obsessed with my bra size. Would you say I’m a 34D or a 34F?

Kevin: I’d say F. [Laughs]

 

Kam: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

Kevin: You know what? The most exciting thing in the world to me is that I’m doing what I love to do, and that I’m successful doing it. Pursuing my dream and executing it is exciting to me.

Regina: I’m just excited about life. Life is really good right now with my family and friends, and being able to work with people I respect.

 

Kam: I’ve asked Kevin this before. Regina, what is your favorite dish to cook?

Regina: That’s a hard question, because I’m a really good cook.

Kevin: You make a mean hot dog.

Regina: I do dice a nice hot dog. I also make great lamb chops. And I make really good yams. There isn’t much I can’t get into that kitchen and do.

Kevin: She also makes a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Regina: Thanks. You’ve got to have just the right balance of peanut butter and jelly.

Kevin: And that jelly’s coming from scratch!

Regina: That’s true.  

Kevin: Kam, have you ever had jelly from scratch?

Kam: No, I havent.

Kevin: Then you got to get to Regina’s house.

 

Kam: Invite me, and I’m there! The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

Regina: Swimming into my mama.

Kevin: Mine was touching a dead mouse by accident.

 

Kam: Well, thank you both for the spirited tete-a-tete!

Regina: Thank you, Kam.

Kevin: Thanks, man.

 

To see a trailer for About Last Night, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QEfDr1OE8Q      


Interviews
UserpicDinesh Sharma (FILM REVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
03.02.2014

Dinesh Sharma

“The Global Obama” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Sharma on Obama!

Dr. Dinesh Sharma is a cultural psychologist, marketing consultant and an acclaimed author with a doctorate from Harvard University. He is an Associate Research Professor (Honorary) at the Institute for Global Cultural Studies, SUNY-Binghamton; a senior fellow at Institute for International and Cross-Cultural Research, NYC; and a columnist for Asia Times Online, Al Jazeera English and The Global Intelligence, among other syndicated publications.

His recent articles and opinions have appeared in the Wall Street Journal Online, Wonkette.com, Free Lance-Star, Far Eastern Economic Review, Middle East Times, Middle East Online, Epoch Times, Biotech Law Review, Health Affairs, Media Monitors, DC Chronicles, Fredricksburg.com, MyCentralJersey.com, International Psychology Bulletin, and other journals. Dr. Sharma has been profiled domestically and internationally including in L'Echo, DeStandaard, Luxembourg Wort, 352 Lux Magazine, The Eastern Eye, Asian Affairs, Cincinnati Herald and The Skanner, to name a few.


On TV, Dinesh’s work has been favorably reviewed on Politics Tonight (WGN News), Urban Update (WHDH Boston), City Line WABC Boston, KITV Hawaii, Bay Sunday San Francisco, and many other shows. On Radio, he has been featured on Conversations on the Coast in San Francisco, Reality Check FM-4 Vienna, South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC) and numerous other talk shows. 

Furthermore, he has been a consultant in the healthcare industry for major pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device clients for about a decade. He is the author of “Barack Obama in Hawaii and Indonesia: The Making of a Global President,” which was rated as among the Top 10 Books of Black History for 2012 by the American Library Association, Book List Online. Here, he talks about the follow-up book, "The Global Obama."

Kam Williams: Hi Dinesh, thanks for the interview.

Dinesh Sharma: Any time. It’s very nice of you to conduct this interview. You reviewed my earlier book and the new book, “The Global Obama.” So, I really appreciate it. 

KW: What interested you in writing another book about Obama?

DS: Well, first, Barack H. Obama is a landmark presidential figure as the first black, multiracial, multicultural president from Hawaii and the Pacific. In the first book, Barack Obama in Hawaii and Indonesia, as you know, I documented, with ethnographic interviews, the childhood and adolescence of this history-making president. The idea was to show that the childhood of a historical leader speaks to the historical times and, in turn, shapes the future in some important ways. When I lectured around the world for the first book, I realized that he was more popular abroad than at home. I had known that from some of the early surveys by the Pew Research Center and The Economist. But when I toured throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, this was really brought home to me. So I wanted to do a book on that trend and try to explore some of the reasons for this finding. Given that no author has an expertise in all areas of the world, I decided to make this an edited book, with help from friends who span the globe. In the new book, we have covered five continents and more than twenty countries.   

KW: Was it a harder sell, since the President’s bloom has fallen off the rose, at least domestically?

DS: It wasn’t a hard sell with the publishers or the reviewers. Most reviewers got the purpose of the project right away and supported it. In fact, the book is part of a series that is headed by James MacGregor Burns, who wrote the classic book on leadership and coined the term “transformational leadership,” Georgia Sorensen, who worked in the Carter administration, and Ron Riggio, a professor of leadership at Claremont McKenna College. Given that Obama is a relevant historical figure despite the negative polling trends domestically, he has many more admirers than detractors at home and abroad. In fact, the publisher wanted us to focus on his leadership style within a cross-cultural context, which is the theme of the new book.

KW: How do you explain his enduring popularity overseas?

DS: I think it has partly to do with his international biography and global moorings in almost all continents--Africa, Asia, Europe and the US, of course.  Professor Ali A. Mazrui calls him “the child of three continents.” But if you include his Irish or European ancestry from his mother’s side of the family, he may be called “the man of four continents” or the global president, a symbol of the changing times.

KW: What were you most surprised to learn about him in the course of your preparing this book? 

DS: When I prepared the manuscript, the sheer enormity of the challenges the U.S. faces abroad were mind-boggling. It became clear to me that the job of managing all of these conflicts simultaneously is, indeed, very difficult, especially, if the U.S. wants to remain the global leader in the 21st Century. That’s why China does not necessarily want to be in the position of a global superpower. The other BRIC countries, Russia, India and Brazil, are not anywhere near being global superpowers. Countries around the world expect the U.S. to deliver, be engaged, and respond to their needs.  Presidential leadership is a really tough job, does come not easily. “To those much is given, much is expected,” to paraphrase President Kennedy.  

KW: What has been your most special moment in your visits to the White House?

DS: Hard to say, but I think watching the President in the East Room when he hosts some of the sports teams, stars from the NBA, WNBA, and NFL, after they have won a championship. Obama is a sports aficionado! You can really observe that when he’s around athletes. He gets a kick out of it.  His inner-jock self comes out and his language becomes very jocular.        

KW: What’s it like to be a member of the press corps accompanying President Obama on a trip? 

DS: Very interesting. As an immigrant from India who lived in Chicago for many years, or even as a graduate student at Harvard in psychology and human development, I didn’t think or imagine that one day I would be covering the first black president at the White House.

KW: You traveled to various places where Obama grew up while researching your first book about Obama. Where did you think the seed of his presidential destiny was planted?

DS: Hawaii. His parents met there and he attended one of the elite preparatory schools on the island, Punahou Academy. Hawaii was the last state to join the Union in 1959 after the attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II. Obama’s father arrived there as an exchange student in 1959 and Barack was born two years after Hawaii became part of the U.S. It shaped not only his inner-most self, his destiny, but also his vision of America as reflected in his saying, “There is no Red America or Blue America, only the United States of America.” As the first majority-minority state, you could say that Hawaii shaped Obama’s identity indelibly. They both grew up together, in parallel, and are now leading America towards being a blended nation, demographically. 

KW: What will be the focus of your next book about Obama?

DS: Not clear yet, but something to do with American identity, politics and culture in the era of globalization, similar to what I have been writing about lately.

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

DS: No one has asked ever said to me, “You’re not African-American, so why are you so obsessed with Obama? Why is Obama your muse?” Or, “Aren’t you tired of Obama yet? You know his polling numbers are falling.”

KW: Would you mind saying something controversial that would get this interview tweeted?

DS: President Obama will be an even bigger statesman in his post-presidency, while working for Africa’s development.

KW: What is your secret wish?

DS: To smoke a cigar with the President on the roof of the White House But, alas, he does not smoke anymore.

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

DS: “The Future” by Al Gore, “A Singular Woman” by Jenny Scott, “Legal Orientalism” by Teemu Ruskola, and I just started reading “The Great Soul” by Joseph Lelyveld.  

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

DS: Fish Curry.

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

DS: To attend Harvard, and recently the decision to write two books on President Obama, in that order. Hopefully, more to come!

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

DS: There is no limit to what one can do!

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

DS: That both my children will be well-educated, well-read and well-travelled.

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

DS: Dogged determination – consistency and persistence in performance.  It’s not just enough to have good ideas, one has to deliver.

KW: The Michael Ealy question: If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be?

DS: There are so many – I would like to have met Freud, Jung, Gandhi, Nehru, Lincoln, Churchill, Martin Luther King, Mandela, Claude Levi-Strauss, Dali, Margret Mead, Camus, Foucault, Sri Aurobindo, Krishnamurti, other Indian Philosophers. And the list goes on. As you can see, I think intellectuals are historical figures, too, because they can change the world with the power of their ideas.   

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to write about a president?

DS: Always follow your path, or the road less travelled.

KW: Thanks again for the time, Dinesh, and best of luck with the book.

DS:  Thanks very much, Kam.

 

To order a copy of The Global Obama, visit: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1848726260/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20

 

To order a copy of Barack Obama in Hawai'i and Indonesia, visit:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0313385335/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20


Interviews
UserpicAlice Walker (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
29.01.2014

Alice Walker

The “Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Alice in Walkerland!

Alice Walker has been defined as one of the key international writers of the 20th Century. She made history as the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the National Book Award in 1983 for her novel The Color Purple — one of the few literary books to capture the popular imagination and leave a permanent imprint. The award-winning novel served as the inspiration for Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film and was adapted for the stage, opening at New York City’s Broadway Theatre in 2005, and capturing a Tony Award for best leading actress in a musical in 2006.

An internationally celebrated author, poet and activist, Alice’s books include seven novels, four collections of short stories, four children’s books, and volumes of essays and poetry. She has written many other best sellers, too, among them, Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992), which detailed the devastating effects of female genital mutilation and led to the 1993 documentary Warrior Marks, a collaboration with the British-Indian filmmaker Pratibha Parmar, with Walker as executive producer.

In 2001, Alice was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame and, in 2006, she was honored as one of the inaugural inductees into the California Hall of Fame. In 2007, her archives were opened to the public at Emory University.

In 2010, she presented the keynote address at The 11th Annual Steve Biko Lecture at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and was awarded the Lennon/Ono Grant for Peace, in Reykjavik, Iceland. Alice donated the financial award to an orphanage for the children of AIDS victims in Kenya.

She has served as a jurist for two sessions of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, and writes a regular blog on her website: www.alicewalkersgardens.com. Here, she talks about her career and about the documentary “Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth” which premieres on PBS on Friday, February 7th at 9 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings)  

 

Kam Williams: Hi Alice. I’m so honored to have this opportunity to interview you.

Alice Walker: Oh, I’m so glad to be talking with you, too, Kam.

 

KW: The only time I came close to meeting you before now was back in the Eighties one summer, when I was invited to a party out in the Hamptons that you were rumored to be attending. 

AW: Oh, I did have a few friends near there, one in Montauk, another on Fire Island. But oh, that was a long time ago. 

 

KW: I’ll be mixing in my questions with some from readers. Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: how do you feel about having the biopic coming out about you?

AW: Well, it’s very interesting because I almost never do anything for Black History Month, because I feel it’s just another way to separate us. It’s amusing to me that it would be coming out as a Black History presentation on PBS. But on the level of the film, I like it. And I love the producer [Shaheen Haq] and the filmmaker [Pratibha Parmar]. I think they were incredibly devoted. They did it on a hope and a prayer, and at one point had to rely on crowd-sourcing because of the huge expenses.

 

KW: I learned so much about you from the film. For instance, I was surprised to hear that Howard Zinn had been a professor of yours in college.

AW: He was already teaching at Spelman when I arrived as a freshperson. Then, I took his class the following year, because I had gone to the Soviet Union and wanted to learn more about Russia, and I think he was the only person in all of Atlanta who knew anything about Russian literature, which I loved. He was teaching Russian literature, the language, and some of the politics. We became really good friend when I took his class, but then he was fired.  

 

KW: For doing more than just teaching.

AW: He helped us desegregate Atlanta. That was moving because he took a lot of abuse for that. He and Staughton Lynd, a fellow professor who was also from the North, stood with us. They were certainly behind us. In fact, they often stood in front of us. This had a huge impact on me. But one of the reasons I was very careful about speaking about the relationship I had with him and Staughton was because, in a racist society, if you acknowledge a deep love for and a deep debt owed to white teachers, they tend to discredit your own parents and your own community. And I was very unhappy about that because I come from somewhere and from specific black people in the South, including my parents, who built our first school, and rebuilt it after it was burned to the ground. And they used to bake pies and cakes to raise money to keep it going. So, I learned to struggle from a very early way in a way that was truly indigenous to the South. You have to keep at it! [Chuckles] 

 

KW: The film also left me with an appreciation of your deep connection to nature. I have that, too. I go for a walk in the woods every day. It’s very spiritual to me.

AW: The forest is the first cathedral. I felt that from the time I was a child. I credit my mother with that. I used to think it came from her Native-American side. Whichever it was, she instinctively connected with nature, and taught me that. Church just could not hold my spirit. It was a beautiful, little church, too. As sweet as could be. It was at a bend in the road, with a big, oak tree sheltering it. Still, I wandered right out the window, mentally and emotionally, got into the trees, and never left.      

 

KW: Kate Newell says: I'm more than awestruck about this opportunity to ask you a question. How did you feel about the screen adaptation of The Color Purple? 

AW: I was worried about the film at first, because I’d never had a movie made of any of my work on a big scale like that. There had only been a couple of small, student efforts before that. The Color Purple was so overwhelming that I actually brought a magic wand to New York City for the premiere, and pointed it at the screen in the hope that movie didn’t embarrass all of us. Lo and behold, it turned out to be a beautiful picture. The audience was so into it, gracious and emotional, laughing when they should be laughing, crying when they should be crying. I got to feel it as a living work of art, as something useful. My interest in creating anything is that it be useful. People can love the beauty of it, but they should also use it to grow, to deepen.    

 

KW: What was it like dealing with the blowback for the next several years coming from critics who said The Color Purple was anti-black men?

AW: It actually lasted for a decade. How could you imagine that people could be mad at you for so long? I felt a great deal of weariness. But because it wasn’t the first time that I had been heavily criticized, I learned that you just keep going and turn to other things. Which I did. I went on to write “The Temple of My Familiar” which may be my favorite of my novels, because it was a miraculous gift that I had no idea how I got it. I had a dream one night that I went down into a non-existent sub-basement of my little house in Brooklyn. There was a trap door and I went down further and found these indigenous South American people speaking Spanish and making all these incredible things. I didn’t speak a word of Spanish but I sensed that I was being guided to a new focus. And to make a long story short, I ended up going to Mexico, I learned one word, “leche,” which means milk, and I started writing this novel. So, the blowback, in a way, faced me in a new direction which was very interesting.     

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What did you think of the stage version of The Color Purple? 

AW: I so loved working with the musicians. It was just wonderful! It was great and I felt like it was such a tonic for people to see it.

 

KW: Dinesh Sharma says: In my new book, "The Global Obama," Professor Ali Mazrui refers to the President as a "great man of history."  Professor Henry Louis Gates of Harvard agrees. You have written several essays about Barack Obama. How do you feel about his presidency thus far? 

AW: I’m very disappointed in Obama. I was very much in support of him in the beginning, but I cannot support war. I cannot support droning. I cannot support capitulating to the banks. I cannot support his caving in to Netanyahu [Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu]. There’s a long list of this administration’s initiatives that I find unsupportable. I think many black people support him because they’re so happy to have handsome black man in the White House. But it doesn’t make me happy if that handsome black man in the White House is betraying all of our traditional values of peace, peoplehood, caring about strangers, feeding the hungry, and not bombing children. I’m very disappointed. More than disappointed, I think I’ve actually returned to a kind of realism about how the world works. That’s helpful. Because in a way, no matter who’s in charge of the corporation that the United States is, the direction in which it is taken seems to be inexorable. So, you just get the job of being the front man for four or eight years. Now, most people realize that’s what you are.      

 

KW: Talking about being a good or bad president is like talking about being a good or bad rapist. 

AW: [LOL] That’s a very good thought.

 

KW: I think the black community sort of got checkmated in terms of its own agenda. And very vocal folks who try to hold Obama accountable are having their blackness questioned or their blackness revoked, like Tavis Smiley.  

AW: That’s okay. It’s better to have your blackness taken away than to stand there and lie about who you actually are. That’s the trap. In fact, Cynthia McKinney just sent me a piece by somebody about how, for the first time in history, black people are supporting the wars, the military strikes on Syria, and other awful things, as if they woke up and became entirely different people. It’s totally distressing! Look at the NDAA [The National Defense Authorization Act], look at the Patriot Act, look at the NSA, and the ruthless droning of civilians. I pretty much lost it when they droned the grandmother who was teaching her grandchildren how to pick okra. It seems to me the ones who are the real threat are the ones who are in power.

 

KW: Film director Rel Dowdell asks: Did Danny Glover fully personify the character Mister in The Color Purple?

AW: No. I love Danny, and he did a good job, but no. Mister is a small man. Danny is huge! And that matters, because what I was showing was how even a small man can be a terrorist in the home because of all the patriarchal weight that he brings to any situation. That would’ve been very powerful. In a way, making Mister so big undercut that message because we’re kind of afraid of big people anyway, because they take up so much room. I felt that at times there wasn’t enough subtlety in his abuse of Celie and her sister, Nettie, because what I’ve discovered and observed is that often it’s the subtle oppression that deeply wounds the soul. The parting for instance, which is so horrendous, where Nettie leaves, and is forced out by Mister. In the novel, that’s handled with a lot of restraint. Filmed with that restraint it would’ve been just as powerful, even with a little Mister, just by virtue of his being a man and having patriarchy as his backup.  

 

KW: Are you interested in writing your own screenplay?

AW: At this point, no, because I have gone back to writing poetry, which I absolutely love. And I write on my blog, which I enjoy. And life being what it is, every once in a while I’ll have a book which will have developed without my actually having paid that much attention to that part of it. I’m really only interested in each day’s gift.  

 

KW: I was struck by something you said in Beauty in Truth: “The pain we inflict on children is the pain we later endure as a society.”

AW: Boy, is that scary, when you consider what we’re doing to children all over the planet. They’re the ones who are truly being terrorized by all the madness adults are perpetrating. 

 

KW: Generational warfare. In the U.S., we even have it here between the prison industrial complex and the indentured servitude of the young via college loans they can never repay.

AW: They’re supposed to be slaves. And those that aren’t just slaves, can become drug addicts. And the drug addicts that are caught get put into the prison system to make a profit for the people who own the prisons. It’s all worked out. 

 

KW: Novelist and short story writer Suzan Greenberg was wondering whether you had any idea that your short story "Everyday Use" would be so widely anthologized?   

AW: I did not, and I’m puzzled that it is, because it’s not the story that I would’ve picked to be anthologized so widely. I think it’s chosen partly because it reinforces some people’s notions of the Deep South, Southerners and black people. That story has its own power, but it also permits a kind of distance, as if it happened in the far past. I think that’s why people use it opposed to more gritty stories like “Advancing Luna“ or “Laurel,” which come out of the struggle in the South in the Sixties but are very modern in terms of their sense of white and black people grappling with issues of interracial rape and interracial love. I think it’s hard for people to read those stories as dispassionately.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: You have been a successful authoress for decades. Only about a dozen female laureates have won the literature Nobel Prize since its inception. Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin had to adopt the pseudonym George Sand to become a French novelist and memoirist. Historically, it has been difficult for women to thrive in the literary world and the word “writeress” has been excluded or erased from some dictionaries. How can we break the glass ceiling as authoresses and have our voices heard more?

AW: You can start by not tacking that “ess” onto the end of everything, because you’re either a poet or you’re not, and either a writer or not. You don’t have to accept someone else’s idea that you need to have a tail that shows that you’re wearing a dress. [LOL] You are what you are. If you’re an actor, you’re an actor. You don’t have to be an actress. As far as a glass ceiling, I feel that all you can do is give it your absolute best with whatever gifts the universe has given you. And if you make it in some way that other people can recognize, that’s fine. But even if you don’t quote-unquote make it, you’re fine, if you’ve given it your whole heart and soul. You’re totally in sync with your purpose and with the universe. And that’s fine.  

 

KW: Patricia also says, you learned to read at a very young age. You were in the first grade when you were four years-old. Illiteracy is still an ongoing issue around the world. Do you think that exposing a child as early as possible to education can be a determinant in decreasing the level of illiteracy on a global scale?

AW: I know from having had a child, and from having been a child myself, that children will copy you. So, the best way to get them to read, is to read. The best way to get them to do anything is to do it yourself, and they will absolutely copy you. That way, you don’t have to worry about what’s supposedly age appropriate, a child will pick something up when the child is ready.    

 

KW: It was heartbreaking in Beauty in Truth to hear you talk about being estranged from your daughter. It was very touching.

AW: Hmmm… I like hearing that it was moving, and provocative in a way, because these things do happen to us. The very thing you think will never happen to you, happens! And then you get to see, oh, that’s because life is alive! [LOL]

 

KW: Toni Banks says: Thanks for “Meridian.” It’s my favorite work of yours. She asks, was the novel biographical fiction?

AW: Not really. There was a young woman in SNCC [the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee] whose name was Ruby Doris [Smith-Robinson].  She was someone I didn’t really know, but I heard about how she was having such a really hard time with the men in the organization. That was one of my early introductions to patriarchal behavior which undermines progress. If the men are going to try to keep the women down, everybody’s going to be stuck back there somewhere. So, she was a person I was thinking about, and I also wanted to write about the sort of spiritual and inspirational work that a lot of people in the movement were doing.   

 

KW: Reverend Florine Thompson says: Thank you for making the color purple the sacred. If there was no color purple, what other color might you drape yourself in?

AW: Well, I don’t really drape myself in purple, although people have sent me some of everything in purple. So, I get purple shawls and coats and hats and bathrobes and boots… You could pick any color, although purple is kind of rare. The point about the color purple is just that to really see a color is so remarkable! Anything that you can see that is beautiful is a gift. Blue… green… black… yellow… All these colors are amazing.

 

KW: Reverend Thompson also asks: What's the most important thing you've found in your mother's garden?

AW: Patience, because what gardening teaches us is that if you plant things, they’ll come up. But you have to be willing to wait for them to bear fruit because things are seasonal.  

 

KW: Finally, Rev Thompson asks: What advice might you offer young adolescent females searching for positive self-identity?

AW: Love yourself. Just love yourself. In fact, the love of the self cures every kind of problem you have with yourself. For instance, if someone calls you nappy-headed, it rolls right off your body, if you love nappy hair.

Or if someone calls you buck-toothed or too black, that won’t be a problem if you love being buck-toothed or black. If you love it, then so what. The development of self-love cures many of the ills that people suffer from.

 

KW: Thanks again Alice, it’s been a privilege.

AW: Thank you, Kam

To see at trailer for Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth, visit


Interviews
UserpicTaboo (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
21.01.2014

Taboo

The “Jamesy Boy” Interview

with Kam Williams

The Taboo to Pursue!

Born in L.A. on July 14, 1975, Jimmy “Taboo” Gomez began dreaming about show business at an early age. The versatile fourple threat is a multilingual rapper, singer, dancer and emcee who got his big break in 1995 when approached by will.i.am to form the Black Eyed Peas.

Among the popular hip-hop group’s hits are the Grammy-winning “I Gotta Feeling,” “Let’s Get It Started,” “Boom Boom Pow” and “My Humps,” to name a few. Besides music, Taboo is also the designer of his own line of footwear, Taboo Deltah, and has added acting to his bag of tricks.

Here, he talks about his latest outing as Guillermo in Jamesy Boy, a fact-based tale of redemption co-starring Ving Rhames, James Woods and Spencer Lofranco. Although he wants to make more movies in the future, he is currently focused on his own solo album releasing later in the year, as well as on an upcoming tour with the Black Eyed Peas.

Kam Williams: Hi Taboo, thanks for another interview.

Taboo: Thank you.

KW: Like last time, I’ll be mixing in my questions, with some from my readers. How did you get interested you in acting?

T: Well, I had actually been taking acting classes prior to joining the Black Eyed Peas in ‘96. In fact, I originally thought it was going to be my introduction to the entertainment world, because Black Eyed Peas was more of a local, L.A. underground band. I kept up with the acting classes as a safety net, until we took off a couple of years later, after the release of our first album. Once we started touring, I had to put acting on hold, although I still wanted to act. Fast-forward to 2005, when I made my feature film debut playing a character named Ramirez in Dirty, with Cuba Gooding, Jr., Clifton Collins, Wyclef [Jean] and a couple other people. Then I did a movie called Cosmic Radio and, after that, one called Streetfighter. And now, Jamesy Boy.

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicWronged Role Model Discusses Restoring Her Reputation
Posted by Kam Williams
12.01.2014

Shirley Sherrod

The “Martin Luther King Awards Dinner” Interview
with Kam Williams

           
Shirley Sherrod is best known as the African-American government official fired in 2010 by the Obama administration for allegedly making racist remarks about a white farmer. However, a right-wing blogger had edited a video of her remarks to create that false impression.

 

Shortly after being dismissed as the Georgia USDA State Director of Rural Development she was cleared by the administration, and President Obama apologized to her. Nevertheless, she decided to not return, opting instead to write a book her autobiography, “The Courage to Hope: How I Stood Up to the Politics of Fear.”

When Shirley was 17, her father was killed by a white man in Georgia but no charges were ever lodged. A cross was burned in their yard shortly thereafter. The death of her father fostered her lifelong commitment to fight for the civil rights of poor and minority farmers.

She is currently a leader of the Southwest Georgia Project, an organization she helped start years ago. The organization works primarily with female farmers, trying to get more women involved in agriculture, and also marketing vegetables to local school systems.

In 2011, under the leadership of Shirley and her husband, Charles, New Communities, an agricultural cooperative modeled after the Israeli Kibbutz concept, bought a large farm in Georgia. They are establishing an agricultural training center there, as well as a program bringing local blacks and whites together in partnership to promote racial healing.

 

In a famous quote from Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago notes that, "Who steals my purse, steals trash… But he that filches from me my good name… makes me poor indeed.” Here, Shirley talks about the tarnishing and restoration of her reputation, and also about delivering the keynote speech at the 26th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Dinner in Glen Burnie, MD on Friday, January 17. [Tickets may be purchased by phone at 410-760-4115 or at www.mlkmd.org.]

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Ms. Sherrod. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Shirley Sherrod: Thank you, Kam.

 

KW: You’re delivering the keynote speech at the annual dinner in honor of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. What did Dr. King mean to you?

SS: Well, Dr. King has long been my hero. I didn’t get to work with him much, but my husband did in the early years. Dr. King gave his life, really, to the struggle for everyone. And he believed in non-violence. That’s what I’ve tried to do in terms of my life and my work, following the teachings of God.

 

KW: In your biography, you talk about how your father was murdered by a white man when you were 17. How did that tragedy shape you?

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicThe Cumberbatch Kid Comes of Age and is All the Rage
Posted by Kam Williams
10.12.2013
 

Benedict Cumberbatch
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Interview
with Kam Williams

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born in London on July 19, 1976 to a couple of accomplished actors in their own right, Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton. A chip off the old block, Benedict followed in his parents’ footsteps after studying theater at the University of Manchester and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

The versatile thespian’s impressive list of credits includes outings as Stephen Hawking in Hawking, as William Pitt in Amazing Grace, and as Vincent Van Gogh in Van Gogh: Painted with Words. He also appeared in Atonement, The Other Boleyn Girl, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the Hobbit and War Horse.

This year alone, he’s starred in The Fifth Estate, 12 Years a Slave, August: Osage County, Star Trek into Darkness and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. And on television, he reprised his title role in the PBS Masterpiece series Sherlock Holmes.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that busy Benedict was just named Artist of the Year by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In addition, he was on the cover of Time Magazine in October and was ranked #1 by Empire Magazine on its 2013 list of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars.

Here, he talks about life, career and his latest film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, where he does double-duty as the voice of both Smaug and the Necromancer.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Benedict, I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Benedict Cumberbatch: That’s alright, Kam. I appreciate your taking the time.

 

KW: I loved both of your performances in this film.

BC: Thank you.

 

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you, so I’ll be mixing their questions in with my own.  

BC: Sure.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams says: Congratulations on being the "It" actor of 2013. How does it feel to be one of the hottest actors out there? 

BC: It’s fantastic! I’m very wary though, wanting to build a career based on longevity. My eyes on the prize is doing this for the next forty-odd years, I guess, judging by McKellen’s [Hobbit co-star Sir Ian McKellen] standards. He’s a man in his early seventies still giving extraordinary, sensational, entertaining, inventive and energized performances. So, I’m thrilled that it’s been such a great couple of years for me, but I’ve been working professionally for over a decade now. Yes, I’m trying to enjoy this moment, but at the same time, I’m sort of focused on my long-term goal of carving out a career that’s for life, rather than being a flash in the pan. And I think the projects I’ve been picking have given me a good grounding for that.

 

KW: No doubt!

BC: I know Kevin’s question is very benign. Honestly, it’s very satisfying, and I’m very, very happy about how successful the last few years have been. It‘s a lovely reward for the hard work and faith put into me very early in my career. It’s great for the people who supported me early on to see the success I’m enjoying now. It feels like there’s a lot of goodwill behind the support from them. This is an odd profession, and sometimes people get jealous, but I haven’t really experienced any of that. Everyone’s been really happy for me, which is really, really great.    

 

KW: Kate Newell says: I feel a lot of pressure to be freakishly astute, since you’re so brilliant, especially as Sherlock Holmes. Your characters are always the smartest person in the room. Would you ever take a part that's all about brawn?

BC: Hell yeah! I absolutely would, Kate. Over the summer, I did a short film called Little Favour which I think you can still find on iTunes. In it, I play a character called Wallace who’s smart but he’s not the smartest. He gets taken over by circumstances and there’s quite a bit of brawn going on in that. And there was both brawn and brain in Khan. [The character he played in Star Trek into Darkness] But, yeah, I love the idea of playing something stupid or romantic. I’m not the smartest man in the room. I listen, and I learn, and I observe, but I’m always playing characters with intellects profoundly superior to mine. That’s great fun, even though it’s as much a fantasy for me as for the people watching me. [Chuckles] Sherlock’s extraordinarily intelligent; I’m lazy and ignorant by comparison. I like mixing it up, and I’d love to do some more brawn, so I’m all up for that, Kate.

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls was wondering whether you like the “motion capture” style of acting you employed in The Hobbit? Does playing Smaug and the Necromancer give you more freedom and artistic license, or less?

BC: It’s really thrilling! We started both characterizations with motion capture physical work in the theater space they call the volume, where all your motions are picked up on these sensors from the reflectors on this weird, rather embarrassing gray jumpsuit you wear. I loved it! The first time I stepped off the volume I felt like a complete knob. Everyone fussed over me, offering me coffee or juice. They treated me like a colleague who’d just arrived at the office, ignoring the fact that I was wearing a gray onesy with dots on it, had my face painted like an aborigine, and had a headset on with a camera in front of my eyes. Once I got over feeling so self-conscious, thanks to their treating me normally, I had so much fun. I felt like a kid. It’s really freeing. You have no marks to worry about, and very few technical restrictions, especially for something that’s so bound in technology. You don’t have to worry about your hair, makeup, continuity, or even other actors. There’s no one you’re affecting other than your own performance. If you get a line wrong, you go straight back and start again. So, you really can use your imagination and do whatever you want. It’s really kind of like playing, and being a kid again. It’s wonderful! And they gave me this great tool in the final session, a device which lowers your voice by a couple of octaves, which means you can color it, tone it, and pitch it with more detail. That was great fun to play with.

 

KW: How familiar were you with The Hobbit before signing on to do the trilogy?

BC: My dad read it to me originally when I was young. So, it was the first imaginary landscape I ever had in my head from the written word. It gave me a passion for reading, thanks to my dad’s performance of the book. My memory of his performance was a jumping off point for my portrayals. Even the cerebral characters I play seem to have physical quirks. They’re all “physically inhabited,” for lack off a better expression. For instance, Sherlock Holmes has very particular physical gestures which are drawn out in such detail. Conan Doyle [Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle] is amazing in the way he has Watson describe Sherlock’s posture, mood swings, his hand gestures, and so forth in the novels.  

 

KW: Who would have ever guessed that someone was going to come along and eclipse Basil Rathbone in the role?

BC: Oh, thanks, but I wouldn’t go that far. I don’t think anyone’s going to eclipse Basil or Jeremy Brett, for that matter. I get away with it because it’s a modern era version. I think the criticism might be harder, if we were set in the Victorian era. What I think is beautiful about ours is that it’s done with such love and reverence for the original stories. So, it’s new, but like an old friend at the same time.  

 

KW: True. I was very impressed with how richly you developed your role as Stephen Hawking, despite his being confined to a wheelchair and having very limited mobility.

BC: Thanks. That was a very physical performance, about a man besieged by neuromuscular disease in his early twenties. Even in cerebral roles that are seemingly intelligent and nothing else, I think it’s so important to wrap your characterization in a physical form as well.

 

KW: Kevin also says: You were outstanding playing Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate and really brought him to life for the audience. 

BC: I really appreciate the compliment, Kevin.

 

KW: How did you prepare to play a person who is very much alive and in the public eye?

BC: It was tricky. There’s a huge amount of footage of Julian online, but he’s usually in presentation or defending mode, talking about his cause, or the revelations which Wikileaks have brought about. There’s none of Assange relaxing or in private mode. There’s none of the personality I tried to give him behind closed doors. That made it very hard. And obviously he didn’t want me to have access to him in preparing for the role, because he felt the film was going to be damaging to his cause. I think it’s been anything but, but there you go. So, I had to imagine myself into certain aspects of his character for our version of events. That involved extrapolating based on clues in his biography, his public persona, photographs, and other accounts of him by people who encountered him during that extraordinary period from 2007 to 2010 that we charted in the film. So, it involved a lot of research but, sadly, no contact with the man himself.      

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I thought you were great in The Fifth Estate. What is your assessment of Julian Assange?

BC: That would be difficult for me, because I genuinely don’t know him well. To authenticate an opinion, I really would have to meet him. I know that might sound perverse because I played him but, honestly, I don’t think it would be fair for me to judge the man. I realize that makes me a bit of a hypocrite because I was portraying him a certain way, but we were always open to the fact that this was an interpretation, not any kind of exact evidence of who the man was. So, my assessment of him is a professional one, really, of what he’s managed to achieve, and the idea that he came up with, which set the world alight and continues to inspire others like Snowden [NSA leaker Edward Snowden], about the secret goings-on that are done in our name with our tax dollars on behalf of big business or politics. He launched the revolutionary idea that citizens can start to claim back a paradigm for questioning power structures and those in authority through an anonymous, whistle-blowing website. That’s a very powerful social tool. He came up with the idea. He came up with the algorithms to protect sources. It’s begun a fascinating revolution in how we deal with data and revelations and structures. From that point of view, he has my utmost admiration, even though I’m yet to meet the guy. I understand from those who adore him, he has a great sense of humor which rarely gets an airing because he’s dealing with such serious issues. I know he’s a man of fierce determination, and now living under the strain of house arrest in the Ecuadorean embassy as a “political exile,” as he calls himself. I’d love to meet Julian, and time permitting, and his will permitting, I’m sure it will happen at some point. Even though he’s been very critical of the film, he’s been very polite about me and my work, and I feel the same way about him. I am also full of admiration for Chelsea Manning [formerly PFC Bradley Manning]. Regardless of which side of the argument you’re on, he stood up for something he felt wasn’t right. That was an extraordinarily brave thing to do, and I think he was unfairly punished for it. It’s a really big deal what he did, and he did it for the betterment of all us, including the soldiers on the ground, as well as the civilians caught up in those conflicts.

 

KW: Patricia also says: I enjoyed your work in 12 Years a Slave. What does Solomon Northup’s story mean to you?

BC: It means a great deal to me, because even though it’s from an earlier time, let’s face it; it’s not about a very distant past. There are still huge inequalities. There’s still nearly the same amount of slavery, if not more, in the world today, as there was at the height of the slave trade. As for Solomon, a free man with a family who was dragged away from his domestic environment and had his freedom taken away from him, that terrifying story of his barbaric treatment is a universal one which is a warning to all of us. The story serves as a metaphor for the fear of having your family taken away, and for being abused in such a horrific way. I lost it a lot of times watching that film, particularly when seeing the grace of the man when he finally makes it back home aged, changed, forever brutalized, and yet he apologizes to his family for his long absence. That was such a profoundly moving moment capturing the triumph of dignity over the disgraceful behavior of those involved in the slave trade.    

 

KW: Patricia would like to know what movie projects your company, SunnyMarch, has in the works.

BC: Well, Patricia, we’re very busy at the moment, but we’re working on it. We’re sort of amalgamating material and options right now. I’m very excited about all the offers and interest and support pouring in through crowd-funding, and about having a lovely gap coming up when I’ll finally be able to sit down with books and scripts and talk to my partners about how we take the company forward. That’s a long winded way of saying, we don’t know yet, but we’re working on it. You’ll know about it, when it happens. We’d like to go in a lot of different directions.  

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

BC: That’s a good question, Harriet. Boy, something with Bogie in it! I’d love to do a noir. The Big Sleep. Or Casblanca! Why not? You can’t remake Casablanca. Maybe The Great Escape. I think Steve McQueen is so cool. But a classic film is a classic film, and perhaps the fantasy of being those characters should be left alone. You’re treading on very thin ice.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

BC: The middle of the series of five Patrick Melrose novels by Edward St. Aubyn.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

BC: A really lovely, super fruit and chicken salad.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

BC: The same person I saw the last time I looked, only a lit bit older, and a little bit wiser, too, hopefully.

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

BC: I have to say Spencer Hart, because they’ve been so supportive of me. They’ve got a Rat Pack, Old World, sort of Hollywood glamour about them but with an English twist. You just can’t get smarter than a Spencer Hart suit in London. Having said that, I’ve very much enjoyed the Alexander MacQueen which I’ve worn in the past, and Dolce & Gabbana which I wore last night. They’re better known. I think if I’m going to give a shout out to anyone, I think it should be to Spencer Hart.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

BC: Falling off a swing and cracking my head at about 4 or 5 in my grands’ [grandparents’] garden in Brighton. I can recall seeing the horizon tip, and then feeling this thudding pain in the back of my head. Wait, I have even earlier memories of clouds whisking by while sitting in the pushchair on the roof of my parents’ flat. I loved it! I just loved staring at the clouds and dreaming away. 

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Benedict, and best of luck with all your endeavors.

BC: Bless you, Kam. Bye now.

To see a trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, visit

 

Interviews
UserpicKasi on Call
Posted by Kam Williams
04.12.2013

Kasi Lemmons
The “Black Nativity” Interview
with Kam Williams

A proven talent as an actress, writer and director, Kasi Lemmons continues to tantalize creatively with her thought provoking body of work. Her work as an actress includes roles in Silence of the Lambs opposite Jodie Foster, and Spike Lee’s School Daze, as well as Hard Target, Fear of a Black Hat, Candyman and Vampire’s Kiss.

Kasi’s magical directorial debut, Eve’s Bayou, was the highest-grossing independent film of 1997. The film won the Independent Spirit Award for ‘Best First Feature’ and received seven NAACP Image Award nominations, including Best Picture.

Her sophomore offering, The Caveman’s Valentine, opened the 2002 Sundance Film Festival to audience and critical acclaim. And, in 2008, she received an NAACP Image Award for directing Talk to Me.

Her guest teaching and speaking credits include Yale University, MIT, UCLA, USC, the Los Angeles Film School and the University of Pristina Film School in Kosovo. Currently, Kasi is an associate arts professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Here, she talks about her adaptation of the Langston Hughes musical Black Nativity, which stars Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Mary J. Blige, Nas, Tyrese, and her husband, Vondie Curtis-Hall.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Kasi, thanks for the interview.

Kasi Lemmons: No problem.

 

KW: What a powerful film! I don’t remember ever seeing a musical that had the audience weeping after the first song.

KL: Yeah, well, that’s Jennifer Hudson. She’s incredible.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How daunting a task is it to adapt a Langston Hughes stage classic to the screen?

KL: It was very daunting. One of my foolish qualities is to jump boldly, and then think about it later. It was daunting, but I also felt honored, and took the opportunity very seriously. I wanted to pay homage to someone who was such an important literary figure in my life. I think Langston Hughes would be proud of the picture, yet it’s a contemporary story about a family living in Harlem. I named the lead character Langston, put a little bit of poetry in there, and some Langston Hughes quotes, and, of course, his stage play, Black Nativity.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: Some directors make faithful adaptations; others feel free to take license with the source material. Which approach did you employ here?

KL: Black Nativity certainly lends itself to reinterpretation. It was kind of designed to be infused with the creativity of whoever is putting it on, and every performance is a little bit different. So, this is definitely my version of Black Nativity. It has its own story, which is a family story. Hughes’ Black Nativity informs it, and is contained within it.

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: What did it take to contemporize Langston Hughes Black Nativity?

KL: Just imagination. In my case, I decided to make it a contemporary story very relevant to today’s audience. 

 

KW: Rel Dowdell says: The film is very poignant.  Were there any emotional
moments on set where tears just flowed after you yelled, "Cut!"

KL: Yeah, quite a few actually, especially when it had to do with the music and people were singing, and also the big scene at the end. We were all crying. Absolutely!

 

KW: Two of your cast members, your husband, Vondie, and Forest Whitaker arealso directors. Did that ever pose a problem on the set?

KL: No, they both came as actors, and were very able to the actor-director process. They came to play, and that’s what we did. However, I did occasionally ask each of them for their advice as fellow filmmakers, because their opinions mattered to me. 

 

KW: I was very impressed with how moving the songs were and how their lyrics enhanced the storyline.  

KL: Yeah, the songs are very much a part of the story, and not separate

 

KW: In a movie with so many stars, I was surprised that you took a big chance by casting an unknown, Jacob Latimore, in such a pivotal role. How did you come to cast him as Langston?

KL: I knew that there was a good chance that I would end up with a newcomer in that role. I love working with young artists. Jacob was the first kid that I auditioned. After he walked out, I turned to my husband and said, “I think that’s the kid. I don’t know if I have to look any further. He’s the one!” He’s a real star.

 

KW: You live in Harlem and, so I’m sure you’re aware that it has been undergoing a lot of change lately. Why did you set the film there? 

KL: It is gentrifying very fast, and I feel proud to have photographed it where it is right now. I’m interested in the history of Harlem and in modern Harlem. It’s a very interesting place.

 

KW: Did you encounter any racism growing up in Newton, a suburb of Boston? I always ask that of any black person who’s lived in Boston, because it was the most racist city I’ve ever lived in, shockingly so.

KL: Oh, sure, I encountered it when I was growing up, and it has kind of made me who I am, although I came to love Boston. It’s a complicated city. Some of the smartest people in the world are in Boston. How many institutions of higher learning are in that one area? It’s a pool of intelligence. It’s a great town. You can encounter racism anywhere. I have a lot of nostalgic feelings about Boston. It was a cool place to grow up. 

 

KW: What message do you think people will take away from?

KL: I think the movie has a very clear message. It’s about a family in crisis facing some of the very familiar struggles we face in our communities. It’s really about love, redemption, forgiveness, faith and family, the things that have gotten us through so many hard times, and that continue to get us through them. When times are hard, we need each other. That’s what the movie’s about. And I you’ll leave the theater inspired and ready to enjoy your family.     

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

KL: I see Kasi. [Chuckles] I don’t over-think my existence. I see me. I’m a very imperfect person, like most of us are. I’m also a very busy person. I have a family. I have a career. I’m a professor at NYU. I have a full life for which I feel grateful every day. 

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

KL: Standing on the back porch of my home in St. Louis watching the petals fall from a rosebush at about the age of 2.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

KL: Gumbo. I make a really mean gumbo around the holiday season. I have it down pretty good now.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

KL: Reading a novel with a glass of wine. I love to read voraciously. I always have. And I love to lose myself in a good book.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

KL: I’m reading a lot of books at once. Some of the books lying around my bed right now are a biography of Bob Marley, “The Keep” by Jennifer Egan, “The History of Love,” “The Black Count,” and “Miss Ann in Harlem.” It’s a wonderful book about the white women of the Harlem Renaissance.

 

KW: Are you going to bless us with your next film sooner?

KL: I would like to. Honestly, I do spend most of my time between films trying to get the next one made.

 

KW: Do you think the fact that this has been a banner year for black films will make it easier for African-American directors to find funding?

KL: Yes, because the films are performing, and Hollywood is all about the money.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

KL: That my family would be happy, and safe and well.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere anything that you promised yourself you’d do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

KL: I haven’t written a novel. [Chuckles] I am overdue for that. I’ve been wanting to write one for a very long time.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

KL: I’d probably be a musician.

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

KL: I like Kanye, Jay-Z, R&B, classical, jazz and all kinds of music, but I’d say soulful World Music is my favorite.

 

KW: Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to do?

KL: If I like a film, I usually appreciate the way it was made the first time. But my cousin would very much like me to redo The Wiz one day.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

KL: Perseverance is what I tell my students. It’s important that you keep your dream alive, because you’re going to encounter a lot of obstacles, and no one is going to dream big for you. You have to have the fortitude and the resilience to stick with your own dreams. That can be hard.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

KL: As someone who tried to be great. I don’t know if one ever gets to greatness, but I’ve put in a good effort, and will continue to do so. 

 

KW: Well, you’ve achieved greatness in my book, Kasi, and best of luck with the film.

KL: Thanks, Kam.

To see a trailer for Black Nativity, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfhupIQ1JnE


Interviews
UserpicA Long Walk with Naomie
Posted by Kam Williams
25.11.2013

Naomie Harris
The “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” Interview
with Kam Williams

As a critically acclaimed actress in film, television, and theatre, Naomie Harris is making more of a name for herself with each of her successive, luminous performances. Last year, she starred as Bond girl ‘Eve’ opposite Daniel Craig in the 007 feature Skyfall.

She also appeared in Danny Boyle's production of Frankenstein at The National Theater in London alongside Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch. In the The First Grader, she played 'Jane,' a first-grade teacher in Kenya who fought for the right of an 84 year-old man to be educated, even if it meant learning in a classroom with six-year-olds.

The London-born actress enjoyed her first major breakthrough performance in 2002 in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, and she went on to receive further critical acclaim for her role as 'Tia Dalma' in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Her other major film credits include Miami Vice, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story; Street Kings; and Sex & Drugs & Rock and Roll.

After earning a degree in social and political science with honors from Cambridge University, Naomie trained at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Here, she talks about her latest outing as ‘Winnie Mandela’ opposite Idris Elba in Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom.

Kam Williams: Hi Naomie, I’m honored to have another opportunity to speak with you.

Naomie Harris: Oh, no, my pleasure, Kam. 

 

KW: What interested you in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom?

NH: I’d made a film produced by Anant Singh and David Thompson and directed by Justin Chadwick called The First Grader. And while promoting that movie in Toronto, they asked me whether I wanted to do Mandela. I said, “Yeah!” because I really wanted to work with the same team again and also because I wanted to be part of a film honoring Nelson Mandela’s life.    

 

KW: What did you know about Winnie Mandela when you accepted the role?

NH: I actually had no idea who Winnie Mandela was. Obviously, I knew she was Nelson Mandela’s wife, but I thought the role was basically going to revolve around her supporting him. I had no idea that she was a political activist in her own right, and that she was integral to the anti-Apartheid movement.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: What did it mean to you to portray Winnie Mandela and what is your vision of her?

NH: Since, as I said, I was unfamiliar with Winnie Mandela, for me, this project was really more about a celebration of Nelson Mandela. And he, for me, represents this incredible iconic figure. But in terms of who I discovered Winnie to be once I did all my research, which was pretty intense and fairly in depth, I found her to be the most complex character I’ve ever played. She’s almost seven different characters in one. She’s done some controversial things that are very difficult to justify. She’s also a woman of immense compassion. And she’s a person of the people. In South Africa, she’s known as Mother Africa, and is loved and admired by many for having helped hundreds of thousands of people. So, she’s complex, and very hard to define in a brief space of time.    

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: What kind of research did you do in creating the role?

NH: I read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom,” I watched documentaries about the Apartheid era, I interviewed people who knew Winnie, I read biographies about her, and even got to sit down with her and ask her questions about her life.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: Did you spend any time with Winnie’s daughters Zenani and Zindzi Mandela in preparation for the film?

NH: Yes, I had an opportunity to go out to dinner with both Zenani and Zindzi.

 

KW: Obama biographer Dinesh Sharma asks: Did you actually shoot on location in the prisons in Joburg, Robben Island and Pretoria?

NH: No, we had an extraordinary set designer. When you watch the movie, it looks like we shot on Robben Island and those other places. But it was all replicated in studio. However, we did shoot in South Africa, in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and in the actual courthouse where the trial took place. So, there are some historical moments which were filmed on location in the same places where they originally happened.    

 

KW: Kate Newell asks: What was the most surprising thing you learned about Winnie that you didn't know going into the film?

NH: Learning how integral she was to the anti-Apartheid movement, and that Nelson Mandela might not have become the Nelson Mandela we know today without her. Also, learning about the contributions of so many women who sacrificed their lives was very educational for me.

 

KW: Patricia also asks: What do you want audiences to remember most about the movie?

NH: I hope that they remember this extraordinary period in history that should never, ever be repeated. And I hope that they take away from the film that freedom was hard won. I want people to remember to cherish their freedom. In terms of Winnie, it’s not my place to judge her and some of the actions that she’s taken. What I wanted to do was show with as much compassion as possible a comprehensive and detailed portrayal of how she started out in life, why she made the choices she made, and who she ultimately became. I hope to bring some understanding to the woman.  

 

KW: Kevin Williams asks: Did you have any reservations about playing Winnie? Many actresses might have declined the role given her tarnished image. 

NH: No, it’s not like I always want to play saints. The sinners are actually much more interesting to play, because they’re more complex. And as an actor, that’s what you’re always looking for, complexity and layers.  

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

NH: Wow! If I could sing, I would do the remake of West Side Story or The Sound of Music, because I’m obsessed with musicals. But unfortunately, I can’t sing or dance, so I don’t see that happening anytime soon. [Chuckles] 

 

KW: Harriet also asks: Was it a blessing or a bane to be cast as a Bond girl?

NH: Definitely a blessing. Definitely! I’m very proud of my role as Eve, and really enjoyed the experience. And it’s been a great boost for my career. So, 100% a blessing.

 

KW: Rel Dowdell asks: Do you find that opportunities are opening up in Hollywood for actors and actresses of color from outside of America?

NH: Yeah, I find that America has always embraced international talent. That’s why so many people from all around the world have come to Hollywood to make films. It’s a big melting pot, and I’m very grateful for that. If I’d stayed in England, I doubt if I’d enjoyed the kind of career that I’ve had. 

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

Last time we spoke, you were reading, “How to Leave Twitter.”

NH: I recently began reading the Steve Jobs biography, but I haven’t finished it. It’s still sitting by my bedside.

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

NH: Now that’s interesting! I just got off a plane, and on the flight I watched 20 Feet from Stardom which featured a fantastic collection of songs from the Sixties and Seventies. 

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

NH: That’s really interesting as well. A challenge. Playing a completely different role, something that makes me almost feel scared. That’s exciting for me. 

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

NH: Saying “Yes” to doing 28 Days Later, although there’s no way I would have ever turned it down. That role, for me, was really the catalyst for everything.

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time? 

NH: Nothing dramatic, eating with my family and my closest friends because that is my favorite thing to do.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere anything that you promised yourself you’d do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

NH: I never ever thought about becoming famous. I just wanted to become an actress and make great movies and to play roles that challenged me. So, I never made that sort of commitment to myself.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

NH: My first big heartbreak? Gosh, I only dated him for about three weeks and ended up being heartbroken for a year. It was awful! That taught me that the heart is quite fragile, and to look after and cherish it, and to not give it to just anybody.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

NH: At home, I like comfy clothes, so I ‘m pretty casual in the way that I dress. But on the red carpet, I like to glam it up and really push the boundaries in terms of fashion.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

NH: [Whispers] Wow! That’s really interesting. Any superpower? That would be amazing. [In normal voice] I would like to have the power to heal the sick.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

NH: I’d definitely be a novelist. I like the idea of creating an imaginary world with imaginary characters, which is somewhat similar to what I do as an actress. 

 

KW: The Pastor Alex Kendrick question: What do you wish other people would note about you?

NH: Nothing. I like the idea of being mysterious and people not knowing too much about me. I think it’s nicer if they focus on the characters I play as opposed to on me as a person.

 

KW: Pastor Alex also asks: What motivates you at this stage of your career?

NH: Playing inspirational characters who really have a voice and something meaningful to say.

 

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

NH: I’m always afraid! There’s a great book called, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway,” which is how I feel is the best way to live. We all feel afraid of so many things, but when you do them, you realize they’re a lot less scary than you thought. 

 

KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?

NH: Happiness isn’t a constant state. One has moments of happiness throughout the day, but we’re meant to experience anger, joy, sadness, pain, excitement, a full range of emotions. 

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

NH: I have a good laugh everyday. And just before this interview, I was laughing while dancing to imaginary music.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

NH: Dark chocolate. I know sugar isn’t good for you, but every now and then I succumb and have a bit.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

NH: As somebody who lived life to the fullest.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Naomie, and congratulations on your tremendous performance, one not to be forgotten during the upcoming awards season.

NH: I really appreciate that, Kam. Nice to speak to you again. Take care.  

 

To see a trailer for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, visit


Interviews
UserpicAnn Coulter (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
18.11.2013

Ann Coulter
The “Never Trust a Liberal over 3” Interview

 

If You Like Ann Coulter, You Can Keep Ann Coulter, Period!

Ann Coulter is the author of nine New York Times bestsellers — Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America (June 2011); Guilty: Liberal “Victims” and Their Assault on America (January 2009); If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans (October, 2007); Godless: The Church of Liberalism (June 2006); How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) (October, 2004); Treason: Liberal Treachery From the Cold War to the War on Terrorism (June 2003); Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right (June 2002); and High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton (August 1998).

She is also the legal affairs correspondent for Human Events and writes a popular syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate. She has both been a frequent guest on such TV programs as The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Hannity, The O’Reilly Factor, The Glenn Beck Show and HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, and been profiled in publications like TV Guide, the Guardian (UK), the New York Observer, National Journal, Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle magazine.

She was the April 25, 2005 cover story of Time magazine and in 2001 was named one of the Top 100 Public Intellectuals by federal judge Richard Posner. A Connecticut native, Coulter graduated with honors from Cornell University School of Arts & Sciences and received her J.D. from University of Michigan Law School, where she was an editor of the Michigan Law Review.

Ms. Coulter clerked for the Honorable Pasco Bowman II of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and was an attorney in the Department of Justice Honors Program for outstanding law school graduates. After practicing law in private practice in New York City, she worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she handled crime and immigration issues for Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan. From there, she became a litigator with the Center for Individual Rights in Washington, D.C., a public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual rights with particular emphasis on freedom of speech, civil rights, and the free exercise of religion.

Here, she talks about her new book, Never Trust a Liberal over 3.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Ann, thanks for another opportunity to interview with you. Guess I made that short list of reporters you’re willing to give a second shot.

Ann Coulter: Thanks for having me, Kam!

 

KW: What inspired you to write Never Trust a Liberal over 3?

AC: Two things: First, I wanted to write a fun book, not exclusively about politics, to lure conservatives back into the arena. Second, you win an argument with liberals, they wait a week and then go right back to saying the same thing. Instead of writing the same columns over and over again, I thought I’d just include a bunch of my favorites over the last decade, proving, for example:

The August 6 PDB [Presidential Daily Briefing], titled “Bin Laden Determined to Attack!” was as informative as a memo titled “Waitress Determined to Succeed in Hollywood!” If Bush had followed every lead in that memo, there would have been bomb-sniffing dogs outside the federal courthouse on 9/11.

Valerie Plame was not an undercover agent and her husband, Joe Wilson, was a boob.

Waterboarding as practiced in Guantanamo was never considered a “war crime.” MSNBC commentators who said so were apparently reading “Little Women” rather than military histories as children.

 Amanda Knox was guilty.

 Troy Davis was guilty.

 Liberals tell amazing lies about guns and everything else.

 

KW: Besides liberals, whom you refer to as “porn surfers,” “liars” and “welfare suppliers,” you make incendiary remarks about everything from Muslims to illegal aliens to gays to African-Americans. You really know how to burn a bridge.

 

AC: That was just to rhyme!  (But thank you!) I don’t think I have an unkind word for any of them. Oh wait, except Muslims. I’ve been cross with them since 9/11 2001. I can't remember why but it was something bad.

 

KW: What do you think about the Obamacare roll-out?

AC:  The roll-out has gone much better than I ever dreamed it would. Six people in America signed up on day one? Beat that, free market capitalism!

 

KW: What do you think of program itself? Have you read the whole law?

AC: I’ve read more of it than Nancy Pelosi has. It’s a disaster. Harvard graduates just cannot shake the idea that they know better than everyone else what’s best for us and that they’re capable of running a mammoth, unwieldy government program providing each one of us with the precise health insurance we need, at a good price, with no waste or fraud. Trust them, they worked it all out on paper their junior year.

 

KW: Do you think it’s important that the President promised, “If you like your health insurance, you can keep your insurance,” or is it no different from President Bush saying, “Read my lips: no new taxes,” and then reneging on that guarantee after getting elected. 

 

AC:  Big difference! Bush was making a promise about future behavior, Obama knew what he was saying was a lie when he said it, but he had to say it or the law wouldn’t have passed, even on a strict party-line vote, without both houses of Congress ever voting on the same bill. The Obamacare bill was written. The mandates for all insurance to cover whatever HHS Secretary/gender-feminist Kathleen Sebelius considered important was in that bill. Other insurance plans were made illegal in the bill Obama was touting at the very moment he was claiming it would allow you to keep insurance you liked. But he had to lie in order to get the bill passed. By contrast, Bush made a promise about his future behavior and then broke it. For that to be the same as what Obama did, Bush would have had to campaigned for a specific bill that raised taxes by assuring Americans the bill would not raise taxes.

 

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing again, and a lot of them sent in questions.

AC:  Excellent!

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams asks: Why do you think so many liberals, even outside of New York City and Los Angeles are so unaware of their own bias, if not prejudice, against conservatives and in particular female and black conservatives?

AC:  They’re in the liberal cocoon. Liberals could live their whole lives never having to hear an actual conservative opinion other than the idiotic arguments written for conservative characters on Aaron Sorkin’s little teleplays. As I wrote in my book, Slander, conservatives couldn’t block out liberal opinion if they wanted to, short of going into a coma, in which case they’re not going to be much help fighting Democrats. We’re bombarded with liberal propaganda 24/7, from the early morning shows, Hollywood movies, documentaries and sitcoms, all major newspapers, fashion magazines, the sports pages, public schools, college professors and administrators, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.  Unless liberals specifically seek out Ann Coulter books and columns, which I highly recommend, or tune into Fox News or conservative talk radio, they have no idea what conservatives are thinking. As the saying goes, a fish doesn’t know what water is. Speaking of the sports pages, I have a solution to the furor over the “Washington Redskins” name!  They should rename themselves the “Maryland Redskins.” I’m a problem-solver, and you’re welcome.

 

KW: Yale grad Tommy Russell asks: Do you think liberals and conservatives fit so neatly into the prescribed categories you and other conservative pundits assign to them?

AC: What do you mean by “liberals” and “conservatives”?  I believe you are assigning them to precise categories! I’ll explain why you do that.  It’s impossible to talk without labels. “Dog” is a label, but that doesn’t mean it’s meaningless, nor does it mean there’s no difference in a Shih Tzu and a Doberman.

 

KW: Tommy also asks: Do you think the Republican Party is in the midst of a meltdown and permanent recession of significance in national politics now that Tea Party candidates are as energized as ever to push their radical agenda forward after the failed budget standoff and to push out the remaining moderately conservative members of Congress; and core libertarian values of freedom of choice, that could apply to such issues as the legalization of pot, clash with party identity politics and therefore are not supported at large and are visible contradictions for voters who might support a more harmonious party platform?

AC:  I discuss this in my new book – it’s not exactly the “Tea Party” per se, but again that is a useful label and I get your point. I speak at a lot of Tea Parties, know a lot of them, and I think I am one. The vast majority of Tea Partiers want to win. We didn’t ask our candidates to mull about rape and abortion on the campaign trail. We want them talking about repealing Obamacare, protecting our second amendment rights and locking up the rapists, not giving them the vote, as Democrats would like to do. But there is an element on the right often mistaken for Tea Partiers, whom I would describe more as dilettantes for whom politics is a matter of acquiring a sense of belonging -- usually a liberal trait. They choose candidates not based on who is the best candidate for the race, but to, say, announce to the world something about themselves: “I am pure! I will not compromise my principles and vote for a pale pastel Republican!” That’s great, a Democrat won because you wouldn’t vote unless Christine O’Donnell was on the ballot. Of course, they’re not the only ones causing problems for the GOP. As I also describe in the book, we have the greedy consultants and ego-driven candidates who run for office just to get a TV show or increase their speaking fees. And we have the “establishment Republicans”-- again, an imperfect label -- pushing widely unpopular ideas on our candidates, such as amnesty.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How does naming, blaming and shaming clear the air for a dialogue that leads to reconciliation, so government can work again as the people who elected their representatives can rightly expect?

AC:  I love that Harriet Pakula-Teweles has asked me a question about naming. Naturally, I do none of these things. I cut through the nonsense with the blinding light of truth. But you do make an important point that I think a lot of people don’t understand. What I and other commentators do is attempt to move the public opinion. We try to change minds. That is absolutely NOT what a candidate is supposed to do.  Leave the jaw-dropping statements to us. Take gun laws. I suspect it would have been madness for a Republican candidate to have supported concealed carry permits in, say, 1990. The public hadn’t been persuaded yet. After John Lott’s important book, More Guns, Less Crime, came out, public opinion changed dramatically. Now a majority of people support concealed carry laws. Public intellectuals move opinion, public officials try to reflect it.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: Should women have suffrage in Presidential elections?

AC: Would that they did not!  Sadly, Larry, that ship has sailed. The most we can hope for is strong marriages. Married women vote Republican; single women vote Democratic. That’s why liberals promote policies to break up families. Every social malady is a victory for the left. A couple gets divorced and liberals say, “Yay! Another Democratic voter!” A child is born out of wedlock and liberals say, “Yay! Another Democratic voter!” A person gets addicted to drugs and liberals say, “Yay! Another Democratic voter!”

 

KW: Kate Newell says: I wonder what created your initial distrust of liberals? I think we are mostly quite nice, intelligent people!

AC:  I’m sure you are Kate, but in kindergarten a liberal told me I was “greedy” for wanting to keep my own lunch, stole it from me and then promised I could keep my lunch box if I liked it -- period! -- but stole that too, and then she enlisted half the class to steal money from the other half, by assuring them lifetime jobs and cushy pensions. By the way, most people in the Tea Party are nice, but that hasn’t stopped liberals from hating them.

 

KW: Jeff Cohen asks: Is it really necessary to capitalize on the over the top villainizing of liberals? Doesn't that kind of behavior harm constructive dialogue

AC: Au contraire! It is the very essence of constructive dialogue!

 

KW: Keith Kremer says: With the government fractured among Democrats, moderate Republicans and the Tea Party, it appears that compromise is a foreign concept and there is little hope that anything will get done. With that said, aren’t you part of the problem with your hard line stances and abhorrence of the other side?

AC: No.  I am the solution.

 

KW: Keith’s also wondering: Who’s the last Democrat for which you’ve cast your vote?

AC: In a high school mock election, I voted for Joe Lieberman for Senate from Connecticut.

 

KW: Gil Cretney asks: Do you really believe the hate message you make your living delivering?

AC: Be honest, do you really believe that question?

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman says: I see you've maintained your license to practice law in New York and that your registration is due to be renewed this year. Do you ever find yourself scrambling to maintain the number of required CLE credits due to your heavy book tour, speaking engagements and the like?  

AC: No.

 

KW: Bernadette has a follow-up: Would you recommend that young women go to law school today, given the economy and the practice of law in general and the current lack of advancement opportunities for women?

AC: Noooooooooooooo! We have way too many lawyers, the price for them has plummeted and you will have a miserable and unsatisfying life. Unless you get into Harvard Law. You could be in a yurt on the Mongolian Plateau and they’ll say, “Oh you must be smart. You went to Harvard Law.”

 

KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?

AC: Not at the moment -- this interview is taking way too long. [Chuckles]

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

AC: After hearing Gil’s question about “Do you really believe it?”

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

AC: Watching Rachel Maddow smirkingly launch one of her soon-to-be-disproved-conspiracy theories, for example, the census worker in Kentucky who was killed by an anti-government nut -- it was suicide; the Minnesota bridge collapsed because of Republican budget cuts -- it was structural problems having nothing to do with maintenance; gun rights supporters were holding a rally to celebrate Timothy McVeigh -- which also happened to be the anniversary of the Battle of Concord and Lexington; and so forth.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

AC: Last week: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Charles Dickens’s The Boardinghouse, a real snooze. This week, in anticipation of the de Blasio mayoralty, I just started re-reading Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities.  Before the book tour began, I was half-way through Fuller Torrey’s new book, American Psychosis: How the Federal Government Destroyed the Mental Illness Treatment System, which is fantastic. For decades now, Torrey has been warning America what would happen if the dangerously mentally ill were deinstitutionalized, and it’s all come true.  Today, the only place we can put mental patients is on MSNBC.

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

AC: I can't remember the name of the song but it was from Michelle Obama's rap CD about getting in shape and eating right. [Chuckles] 

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

AC: Mango colada. No, vodka tonic. Wait, make that a Martini.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

AC:  The prospect of finishing this interview. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

AC: Herve Leger.

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

AC: Agreeing to this interview. It’s been a life-changing experience. [Chuckles]

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time? 

AC: Waiting in line for my Obamacare doctor. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

AC:  A beagle because then I could live in a classic six on Park Ave just for being cute.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

AC:  Nixon’s wage and price controls. I exclaimed to my entire kindergarten class: HE DID WHAT? 

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere anything that you promised yourself you’d do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

AC: I never wanted to be famous and the only part I like is that it means people are reading my books and listening to me on TV and radio.  Also, I’ve met some nice people I otherwise might not have.  Other than that, I’d rather not be.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

AC: I’ll let you know.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

AC:  The USA.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

AC: A servant problem.  [LOL]  My real answer is hard work.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

AC:  Professional baseball player.  

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

AC:  Don’t try to imitate anyone. The next William F. Buckley wasn’t a bow-tied Yalie from Greenwich, Connecticut, it was Rush Limbaugh. The next Rush Limbaugh wasn’t a pioneering talk radio host from the heartland, it was Matt Drudge. The next Matt Drudge won’t be a brilliant Internet scourge, it will be… who knows?  

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

AC: For my books.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Ann, and best of luck with the book.

AC: Thank you, Kam.

 

To purchase a copy of Never Trust a Liberal Over 3, visit

 

Interviews
UserpicJeremy Lin (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
28.10.2013

Jeremy Lin
The “Linsanity” Interview
with Kam Williams

Oh, the Linsanity!

Jeremy Lin was born in Los Angeles, California on August 23, 1988 to Taiwanese immigrant parents. Encouraged by his father, he developed a love of basketball at an early age.

Raised in a Christian family, Jeremy’s faith guided and supported him as he chased his hoop dream of playing basketball in the NBA. Known for his relentless work off court and on, the young phenom led his Palo Alto high school team to a state title against nationally-ranked Mater Dei, an overwhelming favorite.

Despite his All-State level play, however, no Division 1 college recruited Jeremy. So, he enrolled at Harvard University, which does not offer athletic scholarships.

Undrafted by the NBA out of college, he nevertheless impressed scouts in the summer league going up against the No. 1 draft pick. He was eventually signed—but later cut—by the Golden State Warriors.

A brief stint in Houston ended unceremoniously on Christmas Day, 2011. Jeremy was subsequently picked up by the New York Knicks. In early 2012, on the verge of being cut again, he rose to prominence as a starter, unlikely team leader and improbable NBA sensation.

“Linsanity” was born! He’s been the Houston Rockets’ starting point guard since landing a three-year, $25 million deal. Whether facing racial taunts as a child, or being underestimated on the court, Jeremy Lin consistently points to his faith as his means of dealing with both disappointment and success.

Here, he talks about Linsanity, the new documentary chronicling both his commitment to Christ and his meteoric rise to superstardom.

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicKeke Palmer (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
22.10.2013

Keke Palmer
The “Crazy Sexy Cool: The TLC Story” Interview
with Kam Williams

Krazy about Keke!

Born in Harvey, Illinois on August 26, 1993, Lauren Keyana
Parker has been wowing audiences since the tender age of 9. Keke
first received great acclaim when she starred as the title character in
the sleeper hit Akeelah and the Bee, opposite actor Laurence Fishburne
and Angela Bassett.

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicDr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
15.10.2013

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
The “The African Americans” Interview
with Kam Williams

Gates Unlocked!

Born in Keyser, West Virginia on September 16, 1950, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African-American Research at Harvard University. He is the author of 16 books, has made 12 documentaries, and is the editor-in-chief of The Root, a daily online magazine.

In 1981, he was a member of the first class awarded “genius grants” by the MacArthur Foundation, and in 1998, he became the first African-American scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal. He was named to Time’s 25 Most Influential Americans list in 1997, to Ebony’s Power 150 list in 2009, and to Ebony’s Power 100 list in 2010 and 2012.

Here he talks about his new PBS series, The African Americans, and its companion book of the same name. The show is set to premiere on Tuesday, October 22nd at 8 pm ET/PT. (Check local listings)

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicJa Rule (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
14.10.2013

Ja Rule

The “I’m in Love with a Church Girl” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Giving Ja a Holla!

            Born in Hollis, Queens on February 29, 1976, Jeffrey “Ja Rule” Atkins began rapping professionally while still in his teens, although he really made a big splash in 1999 with the release of “Venni Vetti Vecci.” That solo album went platinum on the strength of the single “Holla Holla,” thereby kickstarting an enviable musical career which has produced a half-dozen more studio lps while netting the popular hip-hop artist four Grammy nominations and counting.

            He also collaborated on hit songs with everybody from J-Lo (“I’m Real”) to Christina Milian (“Between Me and You”) to Ashanti (“Always on Time”) to R. Kelly (“Wonderful”). Meanwhile, he expanded his repertoire to include acting, appearing in such films as The Fast and the Furious, Scary Movie 3, Assault on Precinct 13 and Shall we Dance, to name a few.

            No stranger to controversy, Ja also became embroiled in some famous feuds, most notably, with rival rapper 50 Cent. He was recently released from prison after spending a couple of years behind bars for tax evasion and gun possession.

            Here, Ja talks about his new film, I’m in Love with a Church Girl, a faith-based tale of redemption chronicling the real-life reformation of drug dealer-turned-pastor Galley Molina. 

             

 

Kam Williams: Hey Ja, thanks for the interview.

Ja Rule: What’s happening, killer?

 

KW: I appreciate the opportunity.

JR: Me too, Kam. Thanks for having me.

 

KW: I’m originally from your neck of the woods, St. Albans.

JR: [Laughs] No doubt, no doubt! Queens in the building!

 

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you, and they sent in a lot of questions. Reverend Florine Thompson, who is also from Queens, asks: What interested you in I’m in Love with a Church Girl?

JR: First of all, I just enjoyed reading the script. Second, I also liked a lot of the parallels between me and the character Miles Montego. Those similarities convinced me that I would like to be a part of the project.

 

KW: Florine would also like to know whether making this film has influenced your spiritual relationship with your Higher Power?

JR: Absolutely! I’ve always been a spiritual person who believed in a Higher Power. So, I’ve always had my 1-on-1 with God, even if I wasn’t much of a religious person. But I would definitely have to say that this movie brought me even a little closer to God.

 

KW: Lester Chisholm asks: Has the experience of working with Pastor Molina on this production enhanced your life?

JR: Definitely! The movie is Galley’s life story. Galley Molina’s a great inspiration and role model for a lot of young kids out there.

 

KW: Documentary director Kevin Williams asks: How did you prepare for the role?

JR: One of the things I did was I went to church with Galley to study him, because I thought I’d be doing more preaching in the film.

 

KW: Was it weird playing him with him right there on the set?

JR: No, that’s part of the beauty of doing a true story, having the person that the picture’s about there. I felt fortunate to be able to get his advice about how to approach the character and his input about how this or that scene should play out. So, it was great to have Galley there. 

 

KW: What was it like working with this cast, Adrienne Bailon, Stephen Baldwin, Vincent Pastore, etcetera?

JR: Adrienne and I have known each other for a long time. Me and Stephen, too! And Vincent and I worked on two films together prior to this one. So, it was great just being around everybody again and spending time together on the set! 

 

KW: What message do you think people will take away from the film?

JR: This is really an inspirational film which is all about connecting with people who aren’t that much into church, although it’s for church people, too. That’s the beauty of the film.  

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: Do you think if gangsta rappers really fell in love with ‘Church Girls’ they might stop saying horrible and abusive things about females in their songs?

JR: [LOL] Maybe… maybe… She may be onto something. [Laughs some more]

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: Do you thing that reggae is at the root of what is happening today in EDM [Electronic Dance Music] and trip-hop?

JR: Trip-hop? I don’t know if I ever heard of trip-hop. [Asks his friends if they know what it is.] I’m in a room of hip-hop heads, and nobody ever heard of it. But EDM, absolutely!

 

KW: Marsha Evans says she’s a resident of Kew Gardens, and a friend of Reverend Run. She says congrats on your daughter’s starting at Hampton.

JR: Aw, thank you!

 

KW: She says she’s run into Alan Hevesi [former NYS Comptroller] a few times at the local foreign film theater and that he smiled when she mentioned your name. She’d like to know whether you’ve applied any of the financial advice you received from him while in prison? 

JR: [Chuckles] Heavy D, that’s my boy. Alan Hevesi and I forged a great relationship while in prison. I’m glad he’s home now. He’s an older man, so he belongs home, not behind bars. But I definitely benefitted from his knowledge. I used to pick his brain a lot while we watched the New York Knicks on TV.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

JR: No, I think I’ve been asked everything under the sun.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

JR: My reflection. [LOL] No, that’s a tough question. I see a man that’s in the process of growth, going from one end to another.

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

JR: A minute ago. I have one everyday, Kam.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

JR: Chocolate lava cake.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

JR: I’m a breakfast type of guy. Don’t get me wrong. I can cook, I’m kinda nice on the burner, but I enjoy making breakfast. I do it all… Scrambled eggs… French toast… Pancakes… Breakfast is my thing.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

JR: Hellbound on His Trail by Hampton Sides.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0307387437/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

JR: Oh man, we were just playing something in there, but I can’t recall what it was.

 

KW: What’s up for you next, musically?

JR: Actually, I just dropped two new records called “Fresh Out da Pen” and “Everything.” They’re available on iTunes.

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

JR: That’s a difficult question. It’s tough to say, because I like a lot of them.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

JR: I’m an adrenaline guy. I like to do stuff that gets my blood pumping, like roller coasters or jumping out of planes. I’m into all that crazy stuff.

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

JR: The best decision I ever made, period, was to get into the music business.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

JR: It’d be a toss-up between world peace and ending poverty.

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time? 

JR: With my family.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

JR: A lion.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

JR: Hmm… Playing with this very noisy popper toy when I was about 4. It looked like a lawnmower, was round at the bottom, and had little balls in it that would go “Pow! Pow! Pow!” We lived in a tiny apartment, so as you can imagine, there was no escaping the popper. [LOL] My mother had to hide it from me.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

JR: Invincibility.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

JR: Selfishness. To be the best at what you do in any field, and to accomplish the goals you set for yourself, you have to be somewhat selfish.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

JR: I’d probably be an athlete, either basketball, football or boxing. I was good at those sports.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

JR: My own, the L.I.F.E. Foundation.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

JR: Walk carefully! Tread light!

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

JR: As an artist who was really passionate about his work. And as an inspiration. I do what I do to inspire people.

 

KW: Can you give me a Ja Rule question, I can ask other people I interview?

JR: Yeah, here’s a good one: If you had to spend all of your money in a month, how would do it? [Chuckles]

 

KW: That’s a great one. Thanks, Ja, and best of luck with the film.

JR: Sure, Kam, thanks a lot. 

To see a trailer for I’m in Love with a Church Girl, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEmqu0zNkT8     


Interviews
UserpicBill Hader (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
26.09.2013

Bill Hader

The “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Don’t Mess with Bill!

Actor, writer, comedian, producer and repertory player Bill Hader recently finished his eighth and final season on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 7, 1978, he was heralded by New York magazine as “SNL’s new secret weapon” when he first joined its ensemble cast.

Known for his uncanny impersonations and a biting sarcasm delivered with an eviscerating deftness, Bill received Emmy nominations in 2012 and 2013 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on the show. He won an Emmy Award in 2009 for his work as a producer on Comedy Central’s “South Park.”

On the big screen, he enjoyed a full slate of film work in the summer of 2007 that included Knocked Up and Superbad. The very next year, he found great success as Jason Segel’s compassionate step-brother in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He also delivered memorable performances in Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder. In 2009, He appeared in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Adventureland.

Last year, he co-starred Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black 3, which grossed over $624 million worldwide. He’s also voiced several animated characters in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Turbo, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Doogal, and Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil.

Bill lives in Los Angeles with his wife, filmmaker Maggie Carey, and their two daughters. Here, he talks about his latest outing reprising the lead role of Flint Lockwood in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Bill. I’m honored to have this opportunity to talk with you.

Bill Hader: Oh, thanks, Kam.

 

KW: I loved Cloudy 2. How was it being Flint Lockwood again?

BH: A lot of fun. I don’t feel like the first one ever ended. Because the filmmaking process is so long, you kind of go right into the second one.

There was probably a year or so lag time for me, but it’s really cool. I love it.  

 

KW: I got a lot of questions for you from fans, so why don’t I jump right into them. Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How different is the preparation for an animated versus a live-action role?

BH: I would say the biggest difference is that you’re just in a studio by yourself when you’re making an animated movie. You don’t have anybody to play off of. 

 

KW: Marian Greenberg asks: Do you think it will be possible to teach the foodimals to befriend instead of fight humanoids so they can all live happily ever after in peace?

BH: Marian, you’ll get your answer when you see the film. 

 

KW: Marian also says she thinks that, if there is a Cloudy 3, Flint should save the world by changing takers into givers. Do you agree?

BH: I can’t say, because I don’t exactly understand what she means.

 

KW: Kate Newell says: Bill Hader is a god in our household. SNL is the only show we watch together. She’s wondering how many takes you needed to do Stefon without totally cracking up.

BH: Aww, thanks, Kate. Well, on SNL you only get one take. And it always happened. And I was never once able to keep a straight face.  

 

KW: Let me ask you about leaving SNL. Are you feeling any regrets or any pangs of emotion, especially right now since the new season is about to kick off?

KW: Not really. I’m not sad, just excited to watch the show and see what the new people are doing. I already watched some of it online and it’s really good.

 

KW: Alison Kruse What advice do you have for a novice improv student?

I just tried out for my school's improv group and didn't get in this time around.

BH: Oh, don’t worry, that’s totally fine, Alison. You’re on your way with the first step, which is dealing with failure. You’re going to have to deal with failure constantly. The best thing to do is to get out in front of an audience as much as you can, and learn from the experience. Steve Martin wrote a book called “Born Standing Up,” which is really great. He talks about how he kept a notebook on his act about what did and didn’t work. It’s a process. It’s not like you get up on stage and you’re immediately a genius. It takes a long time. So, don’t be discouraged.  

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1416553657/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: Kim Lister asks: How did you come up with the character Mr. Hollywood for the James Franco roast? It was hilarious! 

BH: Oh, that was created with my Stefon writing partner John Mulaney. I wanted to do a character that could talk about various things. And I asked what if I came out as the embodiment of Hollywood? That attitude is something I like to do. And then, yeah, John and I wrote it.  

 

KW: Kim also asks: Who was your favorite sketch character to play on SNL?

BH: I love playing Herb Welch, the old reporter who hits people in the face with the microphone.

 

KW: Amy Lister and Patricia Turnier ask: Do you have any advice for an aspiring comedienne who’d like to make it onto SNL? 

BH: I’d offer them the same advice I just gave Alison.

 

KW: Marcy Held asks: What was it like growing up in Oklahoma? Who were some of your early influences? What did you watch when you were a kid?

BH: Growing up in Oklahoma, there wasn’t much to do. Play sports, do a lot of drugs, or read and watch movies, which is what I did. When I was a kid, Monte Python was big. And early Woody Allen movies. 

 

KW: Marcy would also like to know whetheryou always wanted to be a performer?

BH: No, I was into writing and directing. I was a bit of a reluctant actor. I would always ask friends to shoot or direct their movies, but then they’d want me to be in them.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: What's it like writing for South Park? Is Cartman a jerk off-camera?

BH: Oh, yeah, yes he is. [Chuckles] No, I’m basically helping those guys out with their ideas, but I don’t actually sit down and write any stuff with them. The way I contribute is basically by just sitting in a room pitching ideas to Trey [Parker, South Park co-creator and voice of Cartman] and he runs off and writes it. It’s a great process that’s a lot of fun and that I learn a tremendous amount from.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman says. You’ve done a lot of voice work in animated films. Not just Cloudy 1 and 2, but Turbo, Monsters University, Doogal, Ice Age 3 and Hoodwinked 2. She asks: When you are doing animation, do you want your character to resemble you physically?

BH: Not necessarily. You know, they have a video camera on you in the studio while you’re performing. And in the case of Flint Lockwood, I see a lot of me in him, like how I talk with my hands. So, sometimes they do it, but I never request it.  

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: Do you feel any special joy in bringing a children's book to the screen, especially being a father?

BH: Yes, I do. I loved that book growing up. It’s almost like a little poem or fable. And I love being a part of bringing it to the big screen.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0689306474/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: A fan of the franchise asks: Do the watermelophants represent the increase in childhood obesity in America?

BH: I have no idea.

 

KW: Here’s another question: Do the mosquitoasts leave their stingers in and cause the spread of malaria? I’m amazed that anyone’s thinking that way about the film.  

BH: [Chuckles] Yeah, I agree. And I don’t think the writers of the movie intended that deep an analysis. 

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

BH: “Black Swan Green,” a novel by David Mitchell.  

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0812974018/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

BH: I can’t. I can’t cook. I can barely make a bowl of cereal.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

BH: A very tired dad.

 

KW: I’m not surprised since you have 1 and 4 year-old daughters.If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

BH: Sleep. [Chuckles]

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

BH: I don’t know.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

BH: I don’t consider myself famous.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

BH: There really is no difference other than my having some makeup on.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

BH: The ability to fall asleep.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

BH: Being able to deal with failure and being wired to pursue your passion because you enjoy the process of creating something, even if you aren’t living in New York or L.A. and work in a hardware store. 

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

BH: I don’t know.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

BH: Directing.

 

KW: Harriet: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

BH: Not really.

 

KW: What’s on the horizon for you, comedies like Superbad, Knocked Up, Adventureland and Forgetting Sarah Marshall?

BH: Well, I just did a couple of dramas, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby and The Skeleton Twins.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

BH: I’ve done stuff for Standup for Cancer which is great, but I don’t personally have one.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

BH: Just as a good guy.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Bill, and best of luck with the film.

BH: Thanks, buddy.

To see a trailer for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNiVB_d_z4k


Interviews
UserpicNewt Gingrich (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
24.09.2013

Newt Gingrich

The “Crossfire” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

What’s New with Newt!

Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on June 17, 1943, Newt Gingrich spent 2011 and 2012 as a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. His broad policy agenda focused on energy development, national security, scientific advancement, and immigration reform.

Speaker Gingrich served the Sixth Congressional District of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1978 to 1999. He is well-known as the architect of the “Contract with America,” a popular set of proposals that led the Republican Party to victory in 1994 when it captured a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years.

Gingrich was elected and served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. Under his leadership, Congress passed welfare reform, the first balanced budget in a generation, and the first tax cut in 16 years. In 1995, he was named TIME Magazine’s “Man of the Year.”

Recognized internationally as an expert on world history, military issues and international affairs, the Speaker served as a member of the Defense Policy Board, as well as a distinguished visiting scholar at the National Defense University, and as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

A former college professor of history, environmental studies, and geography, Gingrich is the author of more than two dozen best-selling historical novels and public policy books including, To Renew America, A Nation Like No Other, Gettysburg, and Victory at Yorktown: A Novel. His next book, Breakout, will be released in November 2013.

Gingrich and his wife, Callista, also host and produce historical and public policy documentaries at Gingrich Productions. Their recent films include Nine Days that Changed the World, Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny, and Rediscovering God in America.

Gingrich received his B.A. in history from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here, he talks about his new duties as co-host of CNN’s Crossfire, a political talk show airing weekdays at 6:30 pm ET [Check local listings]

 

 

Kam Williams: Hello, Mr. Speaker, I’m honored to have this opportunity. Thank you.

Newt Gingrich: Well, thank you, Kam. I’m delighted to have a chance to chat with you.

 

KW: What interested you in hosting Crossfire?

NG: I used to appear on Crossfire back when it was a brand new show and I was a junior member of Congress. The early Crossfire episodes were very factual, idea oriented, and people felt like they learned a lot from them. You’d get a couple of smart guests on there with a couple of smart hosts, which really made for an entertaining program. So, the opportunity to go back and try to create a space in America where you know that at 6:30 every evening you’re going to hear interesting people have an intelligent discussion about a very important issue and stay on that issue for the whole half-hour is just a very exciting challenge.      

 

KW: Filmmaker Kevin Williams says: I thought you were very good in the presidential primaries and intellectually honest on the issues involving race, politics and the GOP. Do you have any plans to run again?

NG: Oh, I have no idea. At the present time, I’m simply focused, in a sense, on trying to be a teacher to the country, and to learn about and talk about a lot of stuff.

 

KW: The show was launched a week early because of the conflict in Syria. How do you feel about that?

NG: I had deliberately set aside two full weeks to prepare prior to the premiere but, when I got off the plane, they said, “Congratulations! You’ve just lost a week of preparations.” [Laughs] So, we’re running really hard right now, getting used to being a host. I’ve always been a guest, but never a host of a show before. And for a guy like me, there’s a lot to learn. Nonetheless, I think it was a very smart decision, because Syria is a perfect example of the kind of debate we want to have on Crossfire. It’s very serious… there are honorable and intelligent people on both sides… and it creates a real opportunity to lay out a series of proposals, so that people can have a better insight as to what’s at stake.

 

KW: What makes Syria so interesting is that you have some Republicans, like Rand Paul, opposing intervention, and others siding with President Obama?

NG: And it’s the same way with the Democrats. This is one of those unusual issues where you really have people on both sides wrestling with their conscience and trying to do the right thing. 

 

KW: How has the transition been going from being guest to being a host?

NG: It’s quite a challenge. I’ll give you one example. In reading a teleprompter, you have to time it to exit at exactly the right moment. You can’t start too soon or too late, and you’re watching the floor director, so you don’t make a fool of yourself. I never appreciated what the Wolf Blitzer’s, the Sean Hannity’s and the Greta Van Susteren’s of the world went through. So, I now have much more respect for how they do their jobs.

 

KW: In his documentary, Fear of a Black Republican, Kevin called you the Conservative Elvis and asked you: “How should we go about recruiting more African-Americans into the Party?” Your response to Kevin was: “Knock on their doors, go to their clubs and their churches and talk to ‘em!” You also said that activists shouldn't worry about getting money from Party bigwigs and that they should just to go out and find average citizens to help recruit African-Americans.  With so much focusing coming up on minorities and the black vote post-President Obama, why isn’t the Republican Party listening to the advice you offered in the film?

NG: Oh, I think they are. If you look at what Reince [Priebus] has been doing as Republican National Committee Chairman, he has clearly been going out and meeting with the NAACP, and attending local listening sessions around the country. We also have an African-American Speaker of the House in Oklahoma [T.W. Shannon] who is only in his thirties. He’s a very attractive, young Republican leader who Reince took to the summer meetings in Boston to introduce to people and say, “Look, here’s an example of what we’re going to be working on. This is the type of guy who represents our future.” So, I think he’s really trying to maximize our reach out not only to African-Americans, but to Latino-Americans and Asian-Americans as well.

 

KW: I’d like to ask you a few personal questions in order to color you in for my readers?

NG: Like green and orange? [Chuckles]

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

NG: I’m actually going back and re-reading Daniel Silva’s novels, beginning with the first. He’s written 16 now. And my grandson and I are starting to work our way through C.S. Forester’s Hornblower series, because he took sailing course this summer, and I thought I’d introduce him to the Royal Navy in the Age of Napoleon. He’s 12, so we’re working on that together. I’m also nibbling on a lot of different books in parallel. I’m also currently reading Winston Churchill’s “The Story of the Malakand Field Force,” which he wrote in about 1898.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0486474747/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: I had no idea Churchill was already writing books back in the 19th Century.

NG: Listen, Kam, if you want to get a better understanding of part of the long conflict we’re in, read Churchill’s “The River War.”  Churchill was an astonishing figure who really made the generals mad when he was serving in the army because, even when he praised them, they were upset that he felt that he had the right to judge them at all. 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1620874768/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: I’m not much of a student of British history, but isn’t it true that Churchill ultimately went out in disgrace?

NG: No, no, he went out in 1915 because of the mistakes in the Gallipoli campaign, most of which were not his fault, but for which he was nonetheless held responsible as First Lord of the Admiralty. He later came back into public life around 1930, but became isolated in the Conservative Party. He reemerged only because of the rise of Hitler. If Hitler had not been such a real danger, Churchill would’ve ended his career as a complete failure. What really happened at the end of World War II was people were very grateful to Churchill, personally, for having won the war. But they did not think the Conservative Party was reliable to solve the peace, so they voted for the Labor Party because they wanted subsidized housing, subsidized food, and all the things we call the modern welfare state, including the national health system. So, Churchill lost power, even though he’d been a great war hero. He then came back again in 1951 in his mid-seventies, and served until about 1955. He’s one of those people you can study endlessly. For instance, he invented the tank while he was serving as First Lord of the Admiralty. Here’s a guy who was extraordinarily wide-ranging. He learned how to fly a plane in 1913. His pilot was killed in a plane crash later that summer. He was the impressive type of individual we’d love to have on Crossfire.

 

KW: Who are some of the guests you’re hoping to get?

NG: Over time, we’re going to have an amazing range. You obviously want cabinet officers, because they can defend the president’s positions. You also want senior leaders in the House and Senate, as well as really smart, really knowledgeable people who are making a name for themselves in very specific areas. And you also want people who might have served in the past, such as an ambassador who’s an expert on a hot topic. Or someone who may not be a political figure, but is in the field and really knows what they’re talking about, like a medical doctor on Obamacare. If I had to coin a slogan for the show it would be, “When facts matter, you should turn to Crossfire.”  

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

NG: That’s a really good question! Wandering around and finding things on a little farm of one of my relatives located about a half-dozen miles outside of Harrisburg.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

NG: If I were to stop and do other things, my two favorite hobbies are paleontology and wild animals. A couple of years ago, [my wife] Callista and I climbed 9,500 feet in Rwanda to watch mountain gorillas and take pictures of them. That was one of the most thrilling days of my life. We both love to travel so we might end up doing a travel series introducing you to places we’ve been and things we’ve done.

 

KW: The Michael Ealy question: If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be?
NG: Obviously, from my perspective, I would have to say Christ. But if you eliminated religion, probably Julius Caesar.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

NG: Cheerful persistence. You’re gonna make mistakes. You’re gonna fall down. You’re gonna fail sometimes. But you have to get back up.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

NG: The one that I’m personally involved with is creating a scholarship program at the Museum of Natural History. 

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

NG: As a good father, a good grandfather, a good husband and a good citizen.

 

KW: Well, thanks again for the time, Speaker Gingrich, and best of luck with the show. I’ll be tuning in.

NG: Great! Thanks, Kam.


Interviews
UserpicSteve McQueen (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
24.09.2013

Steve McQueen

The “12 Years a Slave” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

God Save McQueen!

            Artist and filmmaker Steven Rodney McQueen was born in London on October 9, 1969. His critically-acclaimed directorial debut, Hunger, won the Camera d’Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. He followed that up with the incendiary offering Shame, a well-received, thought-provoking drama about addiction and secrecy in the modern world.

            In 1996, McQueen was the recipient of an ICA Futures Award. A couple of years later, he won a DAAD artist’s scholarship to Berlin. Besides exhibiting at the ICA and at the Kunsthalle in Zürich, he also won the coveted Turner Prize. He has exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Documenta, and at the 53rd Venice Biennale as a representative of Great Britain.  

            His artwork can be found in museum collections around the world like the Tate, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Centre Pompidou. In 2003, he was appointed Official War Artist for the Iraq War by the Imperial War Museum and he subsequently produced the poignant and controversial project Queen and Country commemorating the deaths of British soldiers who perished in the conflict by presenting their portraits as a sheet of stamps.

            Steve and his wife, cultural critic Bianca Stigter, live and work in Amsterdam which is where they are raising their son, Dexter, and daughter, Alex. Here, he talks about his latest film, 12 Years a Slave, which recently won the People’s Choice Awards for Best Film and Best Director at the Toronto Film Festival.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Steve. Thanks for honoring me with the opportunity to interview you.

Steve McQueen: Thanks so much for the interest, Kam.

 

KW: I’ve loved all three of your feature films, this new one, and Hunger and Shame as well. They are so different from each other and yet quite remarkable and memorable, each in their own way. 

SM: Thank you. Well, I do my best. I’m just happy that people are responding to the films as positively as they are. To be honest with you, it’s one of those things where we’re just happy to get them made. When you get to make something, you always hope people will go and see it. And we’re very, very pleased by the response to 12 Years a Slave. It’s kind of humbling and remarkable.

 

KW: Your work reminds me of Ang Lee’s in terms of its quality and versatility in the way that his movies are each phenomenal yet so very different from each other.

SM: Wow! That’s a huge compliment. What can I say? He’s a master. Ang Lee is a person I really admire and look up to. I love so many of his films, especially Ride with the Devil, Sense and Sensibility, and The Ice Storm.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: What does it mean to you to be in charge of adapting Solomon Northup’s memoir? How do you explain that his autobiography was buried for around a hundred years contrary to those of some of his contemporaries like Frederick Douglass?

SM: I feel tremendously honored but I also feel a tremendous responsibility because through this film we can bring Solomon Northrup’s memory to the surface. His story was buried for so long. When the book first came out in 1853, it was a phenomenal best seller for its time, and sold 27,000 copies in 18 months. But what happened was Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published the following year, and that was it for 12 Years a Slave. It fell into obscurity. Academics knew about the memoir but it otherwise became lost. To me, it was always like the American equivalent of The Diary of Anne Frank. That’s why it became my passion to get this film made. 

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: In a film described as a historical drama, how do you establish a healthy balance between history and drama?

SM: By relying on the book. As a filmmaker I was interested in illustrating the history of what slavery was about, which was slave labor. In the background of one frame, for example, you see sugar cane. In the second plantation, you see logging. And on the third location, we see corn. So, at the same time you’re following Solomon’s adventure of trying to get home, in the background you simultaneously see the horrors and pains of what slavery was about. 

 

KW: Fellow director Rel Dowdell asks: Do you feel that the great success of Django Unchained improves your very visceral film’s chances for a warm reception?

SM: I think that film was very helpful, of course, in making people aware by getting the subject-matter on film. So, I couldn’t say it didn’t help.

 

KW: What interested you as a Brit in an African-American story?

SM: The story’s not just an African-American story. It’s a universal story. It’s a world story. My parents are from the West Indies. My father’s from Grenada which is where Malcolm X’s mother was born. My mother was born in Trinidad which is where Stokely Carmichael, the man who coined the phrase “Black Power!” was born. Sidney Poitier was born in the Bahamas. I’m part of that diaspora of people displaced by the slave trades. I’m part of that family. It’s our story. It’s a global story.

 

KW: My grandparents were born St. Croix, St. Kitts and Barbados. Do you eat any West Indian food like curried goat, callaloo or roti?

SM: Yeah, all of that. And then, when you go to New Orleans, you find similar dishes. We’re all family! 

 

KW: How did you settle on Chiwetel as Solomon Northrup?

SM: Chiwetel was always the one I wanted to make the movie with because there’s a certain humanity and gentility about him that I needed for the lead role. Solomon was a person who maintained his humanity whatever his circumstances, and I needed someone of that same caliber, because he would be tested to the breaking point. I needed an actor who could hold up during those moments of extreme stress.  

 

KW: Why did you use the great Michael Fassbender in each of your films?

SM: I think Michael is the most influential actor of his generation. He’s like a Mickey Rourke or a Gary Oldman. People want to be him. Actors want to act with him. Students choose to pursue acting because of him. I was very fortunate to land him for Hunger. We’ve been close friends ever since. He’s an amazing actor I willl always want to work with. 

 

KW: How did you assemble such a top-flight cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Brad Pitt, Quvenzhane Wallis, Paaul Dano, and newcomer Lupita Nyong’o.

SM: I had huge help from the casting director, Francine Maisler. She did an incredible job. We auditioned over a thousand girls for the role of Patsey. And we ended up with Lupita who hadn’t even graduated from acting school yet. But she auditioned for us, and that was it. A star was born!

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

SM: The last one I actually read was a children’s book I read to my son last night called something like “Teacher Goes to School.”  

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

SM: Pasta, because it’s easy.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

SM: I see all the lines in my face from tiredness.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

SM: Borrowing roller skates from a next-door neighbor when I was about 3 or 4 years-old.  

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

SM: Meeting my wife.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

SM: World peace. It might sound corny, but that’s the truth.

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours left to live, how would you spend the time?

SM: With the people I love.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you could be another animal, which one would you choose?

SM: A dolphin.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

SM: I learned that life is a long and difficult road, but you have to keep going, or you’ll fall by the wayside. 

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

SM: Am I famous? 

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

SM: As a person who tried.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Steve, and best of luck with the film.

SM: Thank you. Take care, Kam.

To see a trailer for 12 Years a Slave, visit:

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/post/3764/12-years-a-slave-official-hd-trailer/  


Interviews
UserpicSharni Vinson (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
19.09.2013

Sharni Vinson

The “You’re Next” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

 Vinson’s Vision

 

Born in Sydney, Australia on July 22, 1983, Sharni Vinson was raised in Cronulla Beach in New South Wales where she began singing, dancing and acting at a young age. She is best known for playing the role of Cassie Turner on the long-running Aussie TV soap opera “Home and Away.”

At just 17, she was signed to Roadshow Music to become a member of the R&B band, Foxfire IV. In 2008, she relocated to Los Angeles and was immediately embraced by the entertainment industry, booking guest roles in “NCIS,” “CSI: NY,” “My Boys,” and the pilot for “Austin Golden Hour.”

After an extensive search for a leading lady with amazing dance ability, Vinson landed the coveted lead role of ‘Natalie’ in Summit Entertainment’s Step Up 3D, which was released in August 2010. The plot revolves around a tight-knit group of New York City street dancers who found themselves pitted against the world's best hip hop dancers in a high-stakes showdown that would change their lives forever.

In 2011, Sharni starred in Blue Crush 2 for Universal Studios, the follow up to the hit film about a group of girls who worked as waitresses and chamber maids to finance their passion for surfing. Last year, she starred in the action- thriller BAIT 3D, a disaster flick about a freak tsunami which traps shoppers inside a coastal supermarket along with a herd of hungry sharks.

Besides performing, Sharni is also an accomplished athlete, having represented New South Wales at the National Swimming Championships.  Here, she talks her latest film, You’re Next, a horror flick co-starring AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Nicholas Tucci and Wendy Glenn.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Sharni, thanks for the opportunity to interview you.

Sharni Vinson: No, thank you so much, Kam.

 

KW: I really loved You’re Next. In fact, I’d have to say it’s the best horror flick of 2013 so far, in a great year for scary movies including The Conjuring, The Purge, and a few others.

SV: That’s great!

 

KW: And in my review, I don’t reveal any of the shocking developments, since this is a picture that has to be seen cold, with no knowledge of its unpredictable twists and turns.

SV: I agree. The element of surprise is everything.

 

KW: How would describe You’re Next in 25 words or less?

SV: As not your typical home invasion horror movie. It takes place at a family reunion where things quickly turn very dramatic. Basically, we all have to fend for our lives in the house. I don’t know if I can say too much more than that without spoiling it.

 

KW: That’s perfect. I loved your breakout performance. Your character Erin’s spunkiness very much reminded me of Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of The Hunger Games.

SV: Thank you. We wanted to keep the character likable, relatable, and still very strong and tough, so she’d be a very positive, female role model. There’s nothing in her that’s out of the ordinary in the sense that she’s not a superhero with superpowers. She’s just doing what she has to do in order to get the job done. I like the role for me and for the general audience because I think it shows how important it is to learn self-defense. So, I hope people can come out of this film getting into that more.   

 

KW: I know you were a nationally-ranked swimmer as a teenager, so you’re already very athletic. But did you have to do any specially training for this physically-demanding role?

SV: Not really, because there wasn’t any time. We shot this film over four weeks, and I only had three days of training in the lead-up to rolling the cameras. So, it was very important to the producer and director to find a girl who was already physically capable of stepping into a role like this. And thanks to my swimming and dancing and very competitive sports upbringing, I had that physicality ready to go. So, we were more or less focusing on certain exact skills like reaction time, boxing, agility exercises, and how to twirl a knife and a fireplace poker.  That was really a lot of fun. But overall, we devoted more time to developing the mentality of the character than her physicality. 

 

KW: I noticed that a number of your fellow cast members, like Joe Swanberg and Amy Seimetz, are members of the Mumblecore movement here in the U.S. Are you familiar with Mumblecore?

SV: I really am not. It’s really a whole new experience for me, which has been so great, because Amy and Joe and Ti [West] are not only amazing actors but also incredible directors to this specific horror genre. It was mind-expanding to be able to work with them on a project of this scale. Having them on the set, made the director’s [Adam Wingard] and the rest of the cast’s work so much easier. I thought I was learning from the best with them. 

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How do you prepare for and detox from a blood-and-guts thriller?

SV: It’s funny, because so many people assume it must have been a horrific experience making this movie. But because we were there every day, shooting on a night schedule from 5 p.m. until 7 a.m., bonding as a cast and watching how the prosthetic department put the props and blood and gore together, it was actually so much fun. It wasn’t scary because we were privy to the inside gag of how you create movie magic. And that just became the running joke on the set. You can’t help but laugh when you’re eating dinner at 1 in the morning next to someone with an arrow sticking out of his back. It was all so light off-camera, yet when we would roll, we would literally snap from a laughing, singing and joking moment into a totally serious mood. So, it never was scary during the film, just very entertaining because we were having such a great time.  

 

KW: You started out as a singer in the R&B group Foxfire IV. Are you still singing? 

SV: I started out learning all the different aspects of the entertainment industry: singing, dancing and acting. It was very much put to me from a young age that it benefits you to be a triple-threat in the business. I come from a line of performers in musical theater, my mom and my grand-mom, who encouraged me to train in all three areas of the arts. So, now it’s second nature in me, and I always keep those options open. At different points in my life, one has overtaken the others, but the great thing about acting is that you can find a way to incorporate any skill you have into a role. I’ve done a dance movie, maybe now we can do a musical. That would be really cool.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

SV: Oh, man, that’s hard to say, because anything classic-classic almost should not be touched. But sometimes you feel the passion that you’d like to be in that movie yourself. I’m not suggesting it needs to be remade, but if they ever redid A Chorus Line, I’d love to play Valerie. Who knows? Maybe one day. [LOL]

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

SV: No, I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately that even I wouldn’t have ever thought of.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

SV: “Conversations with God.”

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399142789/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

SV: “Blurred Lines” with Pharrell and Robin Thicke.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00DFBVJQA/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

SV: Anything with a lot of garlic and a lot of chili, like a Thai chicken vegetable stir-fry. You’d be lucky if you can find the other ingredients under all the garlic and chili I use. 

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

SV: Roberto Cavali.

 

KW: Haven’t you done modeling, too? 

SV: No, that’s a bit of a myth. I read that in the press a lot, but I don’t know where that came from.

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

SV: Moving to America.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

SV: The person I always wished I could be.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

SV: I would like to be able to fly.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

SV: Making all my cousins, even the boys, get dressed-up in these ridiculous outfits every Sunday, and then have them sing and dance for the family.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

SV: Yeah, I haven’t bought a house in Hawaii yet, and that’s been my dream for a dozen years now. I want my first house to be in Hawaii.

 

KW: You should’ve done a little house hunting when you made Blue Crush 2.

SV: I wasn’t there then. The original was made in Hawaii, but the sequel was shot in South Africa.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

SV: A mole. I already am a mole in every sense of the word. Nothing gets past a mole. They’re like spies and detectives. So, the question’s not if I were an animal, since I’m already a mole.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

SV: I already said I’d like to fly. Do I have to pick another? Invisibility would be a good one.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

SV: Something working with animals, like animal rescue. I’m very passionate about animals and the ocean. Maybe marine biology. 

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Do you believe that with great power comes great responsibility?

SV: Yes, I believe it’s very important to be a positive role model. And yet, no, to a degree because you also can’t merely live your life purely from the aspect of “How will this affect others?” It’s like a balance. You have to take the public image into account, but not let it rule your life.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

SV: I’m very involved with the Guide Dog Association in Australia. I have a chocolate Labrador, and we do the walk every year to raise money for that. I also work with the World Wildlife Foundation.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

SV: Never give up! Most of life’s biggest failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. If you believe that you were meant to do something, then you were. So, persist with it, have some patience, and stay true to your own beliefs. Don’t let others make decisions for you.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Sharni, and best of luck with You’re Next.

SV: I’m so glad you liked it, Kam. I really appreciate that.

To see a trailer for You're Next, visit: http://lionsgatepublicity.com/theatrical/yourenext/

Or: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufUQWpEkbf0    


Interviews
UserpicCuba Gooding, Jr. (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
03.09.2013

Cuba Gooding, Jr

The “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Show Me The Butler!

 

Cuba Gooding, Jr. was born in the Bronx on January 2, 1968, but raised in Los Angeles from the age of 4 on. Best known for his Oscar-winning portrayal of the charmingly-arrogant Rod “Show Me the Money!” Tidwell in Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire, he first found fame in 1991 when he received critical acclaim for his performance in John Singleton’s coming-of-age classic Boyz n the Hood.

 

Cuba followed-up that success with roles in As Good as It Gets, What Dreams May Come, and the Oscar-nominated A Few Good Men. The versatile thespian’s repertoire also includes roles in pictures ranging from Red Tails to Radio to Men of Honor to Pearl Harbor to American Gangster to Shadowboxer to Boat Trip to Snow Dogs to Norbit.

 

Among his upcoming big screen projects are Don Jon and the sequel Machete Kills. On television, he played the title character in the award-winning Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, as well as in Firelight, the highest rated Hallmark Hall of Fame movie ever.

 

A decade ago, Cuba’s extraordinary achievements were recognized when he was awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Here, he talks about his work opposite Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey in Lee Daniels’ The Butler.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Cuba, appreciate the time.

Cuba Gooding, Jr: Anytime, Kam. How are ya, buddy?

 

KW: Great, and you?

CG: Very well, thank you.

 

KW: What interested you in The Butler?

CG: Well, to give you a little history, Lee Daniels and I had been friends even before he was a producer, manager or casting director. When he offered me the role of the shadowboxer in Shadowboxer, I was invited into the editing room. We’ve done this thing throughout his career from Precious on, where he sends me screenplays that he’s considering. So, I feel like this is an invested relationship I have with him. He sent me this screenplay about five years ago, suggesting that I might be the butler.

 

KW: Were you upset when you didn’t land the title role?

CG: No, one thing led to another in casting choices, and now I couldn’t imagine this movie without Forest Whitaker playing the lead and Oprah playing his wife. I think they’re both deserving of Oscar nominations. Their relationship in the movie’s so powerful, and so is Forest’s with David Oyelowo’s character.  

 

KW: You did a great job, too.

CG: Thanks. It just feels so good to be involved again with a movie that’s socially relevant. I recently met a 27 year-old white male who admitted that he didn’t know about the sit-ins until seeing this movie’s scene with the kids being refused service in a segregated diner. And it hit me how we can so easily forget, because I’m in my forties. There’s such a disconnect from the next generation in terms of all the brutality. That’s why it feels good to be a part of this film which revisits that time period and talks about what transpired.

 

KW: Especially because it tackles the material from a fresh perspective.

CG: It’s interesting, too, because when Django Unchained came out, so many people were alienated by it, while others who thought it was just a really cool ride from Quentin Tarantino said, “Get over it!” If you look at the latter group, a lot of them were really young kids who had a disconnect from slavery. To them, all they saw was their hero being freed, shooting back, saving the day and getting his girl. It’s funny, I started dating my wife, who’s Caucasian with blonde hair and blue eyes, in 1987. I got hate mail when I did Boyz n the Hood saying stuff like, “I can’t believe your girlfriend is white.” But I hadn’t grown up in the South back in the days when blacks were lynched for even looking at a white woman. And when you look at what I did today, it’s elementary compared to the attention being paid to the issue of same-sex marriage. So, we’ve moved away for the better, but we just can’t afford to forget all the sacrifices and trials and tribulations.

 

KW: How much research did you have to do to prepare for the role?

CG: Well, I’d been researching and gathering information on the subject for several years for both this script and for a Martin Luther King story about Selma. So, it’s a time period I’d already become pretty well-versed in.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: How similar are you to your character in The Butler, Carter Wilson?

CG: I AM that guy! [LOL] Sometimes, I can be pretty goofy, and a bit of an exhibitionist. I don’t think I’m quite as free with the lips as he is, but I can tell a joke or two. Some of those lines I ad-libbed.

 

KW: How emotionally affected were you seeing the film for the first time?

CG: I was a wreck. I sat and hugged Pam [producer Pam Williams] like someone had died in the family. And, to be honest with you, Kam, it wasn’t so much the history lesson, but simply that my eldest son who’s 18 was going off to college, and I couldn’t get back to L.A. to see him off when he left because I was stuck in New York. The father-son relationship just hit me, man, especially the scene where Cecil Gaines says goodbye to his son departing for college. What I experienced wasn’t a feeling of sadness, but rather a realization of this higher calling in life, and how we’re all a part of this chain.    

 

KW: Speaking of your being in New York, Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How did you enjoy being on Broadway? What play were you doing, A Trip to Bountiful?

CG: Yes, sir, since February. I loved it. I actually started in theater, that’s where an agent found me in ’86, I was doing a Shakespeare festival. On the stage, if you don’t understand every word of what you’re saying, it is apparent in your countenance. So, I was always about living the character. Then I got stolen away by TV where I got my start as MacGyver’s sidekick for awhile which was easy to phone in. You know the guy, you know the peril, and you know how to save the day. So, I leapt at this opportunity to go back, and it reignited my creativity. Just to be across from Cicely Tyson on that stage every day, was great. My creative passion is back!

 

KW: Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

CG: That’s an interesting question I’ve never been asked. Just last night, literary, I was sitting around talking with some friends about those old movies with a Broadway theme. Maybe one of those.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

CG: Well, I smile a lot more on the red carpet.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

CG: I would fly. I’ve been dreaming about flying since I was 5 years-old.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

CG: Social work. Or maybe coaching kids sports. I’ve always been a people person. It would have to be something where I could help people.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

CG: The Boys and Girls Clubs of America is one of them. I have a few.

 

KW: Can you give me a Cuba Gooding, Jr. question to ask other celebrities?  

CG: Yeah, what still scares you?

 

KW: Thanks, and thanks again for the time, Cuba.

CG: My pleasure, Kam. 

To see a trailer for Lee Daniels’ The Butler, visit:

http://www.twcpublicity.com/video_popup.php?id=108


Interviews
UserpicDon Lemon (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
19.08.2013

Don Lemon

The “We Were There: The March on Washington” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Lemon Zest!

Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on March 1, 1966, Don Lemon anchors CNN Newsroom during weekend prime-time and serves as a correspondent across CNN/U.S. programming. Based out of the network's New York bureau, Don joined CNN in September 2006.

In 2008, he reported from Chicago in the days leading up to the presidential election, including an interview with Rahm Emanuel on the day he agreed to serve as President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff. He also interviewed Anne Cooper, the 106-year old voter Obama highlighted in his election night acceptance speech.

Don has covered many breaking news stories, including the George Zimmerman trial, the Boston Marathon bombing, the Philadelphia building collapse, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the Colorado Theater shooting, the death of Whitney Houston, the Inaugural of the 44th President in Washington, D.C., the death of Michael Jackson, and the Minneapolis bridge collapse, to name a few. And he anchored the network's breaking news coverage of the Japan tsunami, the Arab Spring, the death of Osama Bin Laden and the Joplin tornado.

Don began his career at WNYW in New York City as a news assistant while still attending Brooklyn College. He has won an Edward R. Murrow award for his coverage of the capture of the Washington, D.C. snipers, and an Emmy for a special report on real estate in Chicagoland.

In 2009, Ebony Magazine named him one of the 150 most influential Blacks in America. A couple of years later, he came out of the closet, and discussed his homosexuality in an autobiography entitled “Transparent.”

Don recently caught a lot of flak from a number of African-American pundits for agreeing with Bill O’Reilly’s criticisms of the black community, especially since he even suggested that the conservative talk show host hadn’t gone far enough.

Here, he talks about We Were There, an oral history of The March on Washington featuring the only surviving speaker Congressman John Lewis as well as Harry Belafonte, U.S. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton,  and other attendees. The special is set to debut on CNN on Friday, August 23 at 10:00p.m., 1:00a.m., and 4:00a.m.    

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Don, thanks for the opportunity to interview you.

Don Lemon: Hi, Kam. How are you?

 

KW: Great! And you?

DL: I’m not complaining, but it’s a crazy-busy day. I have to anchor, do my radio hits, prepare for my show tomorrow, make tapes, and do press for We Were There! 

 

KW: What interested you in doing a special about The March on Washington?

DL: We had been talking about it for awhile as the 50th anniversary approached, and I kept indicating that I would love to be a part of it. Somewhere, somehow, somebody heard that, Kam, and they said, “Don really wants to do this. Let’s have him do it.”

 

KW: Being an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Award-winner, I don’t think you’d have to beg too much.   

DL: Just because I’m here at CNN, I never rest on my laurels and presume I can coast now. I still throw my hat in the ring and push to have a voice. I am the face of this documentary for CNN, and I think that says a lot about how far we’ve come. Here I am a young African-American who has a voice at this major network. That is part of the fulfillment of Dr. King’s dream. 

 

KW: Does the documentary have a theme?

DL: There are, for me, a few different themes. People like John Lewis and A. Philip Randolph put their lives on the line to participate. So, the first theme that stands out to me is courage. The second theme was the hope they exhibited in “the teeth of the most terrifying odds,” as James Baldwin said. Thirdly, Bayard Rustin, who many call The Architect of the Civil Rights Movement, finally gets his due. I think that’s a fair characterization to some degree. He’s the silent, strong man who made The March happen. But because he was gay and people tried to use that against him is probably why we don’t hear so much about him.     

 

KW: I remember feeling admiration as a child for the folks from my neighborhood who were going down to The March on Washington, because of everyone’s palpable sense of concern for their safety.   

DL: I think admiration is a good way of putting it. Whenever I see John Lewis, I invariably say, “Thank you.” And I will never stop. I don’t know how he’s still standing, because what he endured took courage and strength that I don’t know that I have. 

 

KW: I interviewed Ellen DeGeneres the day after Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential Election. She felt his victory had been bittersweet because Proposition 8 had passed in California, banning gay marriage. The measure had succeeded with the help of the black community. I asked her whether she thought African-Americans would feel differently about homosexuality, if a famous black icon came out of the closet. How do you feel about that, as probably the most prominent black celebrity to come out?                                          

DL: I don’t consider myself a celebrity. I’m just a journalist. Frank Ocean is a celebrity. Yeah, I was in the forefront, and took a lot of heat for it. I think the President’s evolution in terms of gay marriage has helped change many people’s minds. I think it’s empowering for a person to live an authentic life. It can only help when prominent and successful people of color come out and live authentically, because younger people, who are being bullied and might be questioning whether they should continue to live, might have second thoughts about taking their own lives. So, yeah, I think any celebrity who comes out can only help a young person struggling with the stigma.  

 

KW: Do you think your coming out started a snowball among black gays?

DL: I don’t know. But I do think it helps the next person, because I get positive feedback every day from someone who has read my book.  

 

KW: See, you’re not just a journalist. Plus look at all the blowback from your recent remarks agreeing with Bill O’Reilly about the black community. 

DL: I don’t feel any blowback, but I will say this, whether you agree with whatever I said or not, at least I got a conversation started. That was my goal, and I think I accomplished it. I think if you’ve watched or read my work over the years, you know that I’m pretty much at the top in terms of taking on issues that have to do with African-Americans and profiling, and with race and racism. What I love about CNN is that, yes, we believe in diversity of bodies, but we also believe in a diversity of opinion. So, whether my bosses agree with what I said or not, it doesn’t matter. We’re in the business of journalism here. Journalism is about having a diversity of opinion. And just because I’m African-American does not mean I have to feel a certain way because I’m black. You don’t have true freedom until you allow a diversity of opinion and a diversity of voices. 

 

KW: I always feel that I’m black, so whatever my opinion on an issue happens to be is a black opinion.

DL: That’s a good way of putting it. [Laughs]

 

KW: But do you fear being pigeonholed as a buddy of O’Reilly?

DL: There are many things that Bill O’Reilly and I disagree about. I just happen to agree with some of what he had to say on this issue, but not all of it. Does that mean I co-signed his whole being and existence? No?

 

 

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

DL: Yes, what do you get from icons like Dr. King, Malcolm X and John Lewis? What I get from them is personal empowerment, personal responsibility, and that the only thing you truly own is your mind. And once you truly own your mind, you’re free. You can decide for yourself what is the best way to respond in the face of discrimination. How to carry yourself with dignity. What matters is how you think of yourself, and having presence of mind. Once you get that right, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of you, because you know how to carry yourself in the world. 

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

DL: The last two books I read were: “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander,

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595586431/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

and “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807014273/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

DL: Besides all the flaws, I see the kid that I once was. [Chuckles] Seriously, what stares back at me is someone who lives in a constant state of gratitude, regardless of what’s going on in my life. Just this morning, when I woke up, I walked into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and said, “Look how far you’ve come. I’m grateful for this day. And for those fat cheeks. And for the boldness that you have. And for the stances that you take. And I know that you’re going to be okay. And I want the next person who looks like you whether they’re 1 day-old or 15 years-old to be better than you and to have a better life.” I swear to God I just said that this morning in the mirror. So, it’s funny that you asked that question.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory in Baton Rouge?

DL: Sitting in my grandmother’s kitchen at about 3 or 4, watching her talking on a yellow telephone with a long cord. I spilled my drink, and my sister scolded me, “Every time you spill something!” And I asked my very understanding grandma’s permission to go to the bathroom. 

 

KW: Can you give me a Don Lemon question?

DL: Yeah, this question has gotten to just about everyone I ask. It even made Wendy Williams cry. It’s, “Who do you think you are?”  

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

DL: Sleep. I loooooove to sleep. I also like salty, plain potato chips and Lindt dark chocolate with a touch of sea salt. 

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

DL: Seafood gumbo, because I get to make it with my family over the holidays.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

DL: That we would not be so enamored with the slavery of equality, and be more enamored with the freedom of independence.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

DL: Being self-possessed. Having a strong sense of self.

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

DL: Leaving Louisiana.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

DL: Babies and puppies, because they’re so innocent, and they have their lives ahead of them.

 

KW: Makes me think of the saying: Youth is wasted on the young.

DL: To get back to O’Reilly and the whole saggy pants thing, it’s almost like, “Just take my advice, I’m an old guy. That’s probably not a good look. You might want to rethink that.” And then, invariably, something will happen to them in their career, and I hate to say, “I told you so, but…” I suppose people just have to go through things.

 

KW: Which reminds me of another saying: When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

DL: I like that. I’m going to use that on the air.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

DL: I think it’s great, if you want to follow in my footsteps, but I want you o be better than me, and you have to do it because you are passionately motivated by journalism and by a quest for the truth, not by a desire to be a celebrity. That’s not what this is all about. And you have to be thick-skinned, since you’re going to receive a lot of criticism, and that’s part of what being a journalist is. I feel really strongly about the oath that I’ve taken to inform and to tell the truth. I’m not a race protector, I’m a truth protector. The truth is the truth is the truth. And as long as you tell the truth, you’ll be okay in the end. A lot of people didn’t like Dr. King, either, especially the black establishment. So, you may not be liked, but you’ll be respected.     

 

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Don, and best of luck with We Were There.

DL: It’s been a pleasure, Kam.

To see a trailer for We Were There: The March on Washington, visit: http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/07/31/exp-we-were-there-the-march-on-washington.cnn.html  

To purchase a copy of Don Lemon’s autobiography, “Transparent,” visit: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0982702787/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20 

To read a transcript of Don Lemon’s remarks about Bill O’Reilly and the black community, visit: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1307/27/cnr.06.html


Interviews
UserpicForest Whitaker (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
12.08.2013

Forest Whitaker

“The Butler” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

This Forest’s on Fire!

Forest Whitaker is a distinguished artist and humanist. He is the founder of PeaceEarth Foundation, co-founder and chair of the International Institute for Peace, and the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation. A versatile talent, Forest is one of Hollywood’s most accomplished performers, receiving such prestigious honors as a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in The Last King of Scotland, as well as a Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for Bird.

 

Over the past decade, he has dedicated most of his time to extensive humanitarian work, feeling compelled by his social awareness to seek ways of using the film medium as a means of raising peoples’ consciousness. To that end, he produced the award-winning documentary Kassim the Dream, which tells the touching story of a Ugandan child soldier turned world champion boxer; Rising from Ashes, which profiles Rwandan genocide survivors’ attempt to qualify for the Olympics riding wooden bicycles; Serving Life, which focuses on hospice care for prisoners at Louisiana’s Angola Prison; and the Peabody Award-winning Brick City, which offers an unvarnished peek at inner-city life in Newark, New Jersey.

 

Whitaker was the 2007 recipient of the Cinema for Peace Award, and he currently sits on the board of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. In addition, he serves as a Senior Research Scholar at Rutgers University, and as a Visiting Professor at Ringling College of Art and Design, too.

 

Besides the aforementioned films, Forest’s impressive resume’ includes The Great Debaters, The Crying Game, Panic Room, Platoon, Ghost Dog, Mr. Holland’s Opus and Good Morning Vietnam. Here, he talks about his latest outing as the title character in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, a decades-spanning sage chronicling the life and career of an African-American who served eight presidents in the White House.      

 

Kam Williams: Hi Forest, I’m honored to have this opportunity.

Forest Whitaker: Oh, no, it’s a pleasure just to talk to you, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in The Butler?

FW: It’s an amazing story. And the script was beautiful in the way it followed this man who served eight presidents and portrayed his love for his family, as well as the love between him and his son. So, I saw it as offering a great challenge and opportunity. And I thought that Lee [director Lee Daniels] would do a wonderful job with the script as a filmmaker, so that was an attraction as well. And I had wanted to work with Oprah, so all of that came together to afford me this tremendous opportunity.   

 

KW: Did the film’s father-son relationship resonate with you when you reflected upon your relationship with your own dad?

FW: Yes, it’s hard to always understand and appreciate your father when you’re coming up, especially since my dad had three jobs when we moved to L.A. So, he was always working. Plus, coming from the South, from Texas, he had a certain way of disciplining that made it hard for me to appreciate, at the time. You don’t fully appreciate the reasons why or the sacrifices that were being made until a later age. In some ways it did parallel the journey of ultimate appreciation that we see in the movie of me towards my son and my son towards me.

 

KW: How did you prepare for the role of Cecil Gaines?

FW: I trained with a butler coach for quite some time. And I studied the history and, of course, tried to make that a part of my own emotional understanding of the time period and the presidency. In terms of the aging process, I particularly had to work on movement and mannerisms. I also tried to understand the dialect and speech patterns. And I worked on how I could communicate my thoughts more clearly without words. I wanted to fill myself up enough so that you would be able to feel my thoughts, even in scenes where I would say nothing.

 

KW: That hard work paid off. I cried about a half-dozen times during the film.

FW: It’s very moving because it deals with so many primal issues: loss, degradation, even joy. Lee painted a picture that allows you to get in touch with many different emotions.

 

KW: True. Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What was it like acting opposite Oprah?

FW: Oprah just really committed completely to the movie. She was startling, at times, in how deeply she was into the authenticity of the scenes. For instance, there was a big emotional moment that wasn’t shown completely in the film where she screamed and fell to the ground, letting out a piercing wail that went through my bones. It had me trying to figure out how to comfort her, because it’s hard to find the proper emotion to respond to pain that overwhelms.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: You are a great director, in addition to of course being an excellent actor. Personally, I love biopics, like where you played Charlie Parker in Bird. Is there a story about an icon that you would like to direct and star in?

FW: Yes, there’s a film I’ve been developing about Louie Armstrong that I’d like to direct and star in. I wrote the script and really believe in it. I think it’s something I’ll probably do next year, although I haven’t made a final decision about whether I should direct it or not. It’s a really special story.

 

KW: Leah Fletcher asks: How did it feel, when you were just breaking into the industry, to receive such a glowing acknowledgment from a seasoned and respected actor such as Sean Connery for your work in The Crying Game? 

FW: Leah, I didn’t even know ‘til now that Sean Connery had commented about my work in The Crying Game. A lot of Brits believe that I was British for quite some time after that film. So, I can see how Sean Connery might have said something. That’s nice.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: You produced the extraordinary Fruitvale Station. Is this a new role you see for yourself?

FW: The truth is, I produce one or two movies every year, both independent and studio films. I’ll continue to produce. In fact, I have a documentary that just came out about the Rwandan National Cycling team called Rising from Ashes.

 

KW: I loved it!

FW: Oh, you already saw it. Great!

 

KW: You can check out my review at Rotten Tomatoes. Bernadette also says: You are a true Renaissance Man. Besides acting, you write, direct, narrate and produce. You’re like a latter-day Oscar Micheaux.

FW: Oscar Micheaux reshaped the Black Film Movement. Those are some great shoes to fill. I can only take that as a compliment. Thanks, Bernadette. That gives me something to live towards, because it’s a lot.

 

KW: Director Rel Dowdell, who has made two low-budget films, including Changing the Game last year, would like to know how he can pitch you about a project.

FW: I have my company, Significant Productions, in Los Angeles. And I also have a company called JuntoBox Films Select, a crowd-sourcing film site which we produce movies out of. We just finished one with a first-time filmmaker, called Sacrifice. And we’re about to do another one in a month or so. Rel can reach out to either one of those companies.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

FW: [Chuckles] I can’t think of one.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

FW: Two things: The success of my children, and the work for social justice that I do with my foundation.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

FW: I see someone who is continuing to try to build his connection with the rest of the world.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

FW: That everyone could recognize themselves in the face of the other people that they see.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

FW: Either a leopard or an eagle.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

FW: My dad teaching me to ride a bike at about 5 or 6.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

FW: No, and my goals have expanded.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the difference between you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

FW: I’m the same person, just with different clothes on. I’m the same. 

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

FW: I’d be a spreader of love.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

FW: I’d either be a natural healer or a teacher.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

FW: Solutions Focus. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904838065/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

FW: Passion!

 

KW: Harriet also asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

FW: The Audrey Hepburn-Albert Finney film, Two for the Road. 

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

FW: Always tell yourself that you want to continue to grow, and you’ll be more connected to growth. 

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend that time?

FW: With my family.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Forest, and best of luck with The Butler, and I hope to talk to you about your upcoming independent project.

FW: Sure, Kam, and thanks again for supporting Rising from Ashes.  

To see a trailer for Lee Daniels’ The Butler, visit:

http://www.twcpublicity.com/video_popup.php?id=108

Or: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omJedbKwzLg 


Interviews
UserpicTwo-Time Oscar-Nominee Talks about His Latest Offering
Posted by Kam Williams
06.08.2013

Lee Daniels
The “Lee Daniels' The Butler” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Lee Daniels is best known for directing and producing the Academy Award-winning film Precious which was nominated for a half-dozen Oscars in 2010, including histwo for Best Picture and Best Director. Mo’Nique won for Best Supporting Actress while scriptwriter Geoffrey Fletcher landed another for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Lee’s production company, Lee Daniels Entertainment, made its feature film debut in 2001 with Monster’s Ball, the dysfunctional family drama for which Halle Berry would earn her historic, Best Actress Oscar. Last year, he wrote, produced and directed The Paperboy, an adaptation of the Pete Dexter novel starring Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, John Cusack, and Nicole Kidman.

Here, he talks about his new picture, The Butler, a civil rights epic recounting the real-life story of an African-American who served in the White House at the pleasure of eight presidents, from 1952 to 1986.

 

Kam Williams: Hey Lee, what a phenomenal film!

Lee Daniels: Did you like it?

 

KW: I loved it!

LD: Thanks, Kam.

 

KW: I was born in the Fifties so all of the ground you cover in terms of the father-son relationship and the Civil Rights Movement resonated with me and touched me very deeply.

LD: That makes me feel good. Thank you very much.

 

KW: So, what inspired you to make the movie?

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicSnoop Sets Sail as Smoove Snail
Posted by Kam Williams
31.07.2013

Snoop Dogg 
The “Turbo” Interview
with Kam Williams

Calvin Cordozar Broadus was born on October 20, 1971 in Long Beach, California where he was nicknamed Snoopy by his parents because of a striking resemblance to the Peanuts cartoon character. A promising rapper from an early age, he began performing in the 6th grade but was waylaid by brushes with the law in high school.

After a stint behind bars for drug possession, he took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg and launched his recording career with the help of hip-hop producer Dr. Dre. His 1993 debut album, Doggystyle, featuring his trademark, laidback vocal phrasings, was well-received and quickly went quadruple platinum.

Over the course of an enduring showbiz career, Snoop has released a dozen solo CDs and sold more than 30 million records. Last year, he tweaked his alias to Snoop Lion when he recorded a reggae album in Jamaica called Reincarnated.

A talented thespian, he’s also acted in a score of movies, most notably, Training Day, Baby Boy, Old School, Starsky & Hutch and, most recently, Scary Movie 5. Here, he talks about his latest screen outing as Smooth Move in Turbo, an animated adventure about a snail who dreams of entering the Indianapolis 500.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Snoop, thanks for the interview.

Snoop Dogg: My pleasure, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in Turbo?

SD: Well I’ve wanted to do a family movie for a while now. Being able to watch a movie with my family and some of the kids from my Snoop Youth Football League has always been a goal of mine, so when [director] David Soren reached out to me about Turbo I was all for it.  And my character is a smooth little snail…I thought it was a cool concept.

 

KW: How would you describe Smoove Move?

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicKevin Hart (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
09.07.2013

Kevin Hart

The “Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

A Heart to Heart with Kevin Hart

            Born in Philadelphia on July 6, 1980, Kevin Hart is one of the most versatile comedic actors in both television and film. He’s recently delivered memorable performances in Think Like a Man which grossed over 90 million dollars in theaters, as well as in Judd Apatow’s The Five Year Engagement.
            He previously appeared in Little Fockers, Death at a Funeral, Fool's Gold, Along Came Polly and The 40 Year Old Virgin. And his additional film credits include: Soul Plane, Not Easily Broken, Extreme Movie, Drillbit Taylor, Epic Movie, The Last Stand, Scary Movie 4, In the Mix, Meet Dave and Superhero Movie.

            Kevin’s stand-up DVD Seriously Funny went platinum four times, after the Comedy Central presentation of the same name became the highest rated comedy special of 2010. Last summer, fans across America were treated to Kevin’s side-splitting stand-up comedy in Let Me Explain, an international tour to nearly 100 cities across the United States, Europe and Africa. 
            Here, he talks about Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, a concert film shot mostly at his final stop, Madison Square Garden.  

 

Kam Williams: Hey Kevin, thanks for the interview. I really enjoyed this film.

Kevin Hart: Thank you, Kam, thank you.

 

KW: What inspired it?

KH: I had a helluva year. This tour pretty much exceeded my expectations of what I was going to accomplish. It started off in 5,000-seat venues and eventually escalated to larger arenas with 15,000 seats and more, once I got to major cities and left the country and began selling out in places like Oslo, Copenhagen and Amsterdam. The support that I received from my fans was unreal. 

 

KW: How do fans in countries like Norway and Denmark, where they speak another language, understand you? Did you talk slower or change your delivery for them?

KH: No, I don’t have to change anything. I think that’s the secret to comedy. You want to be universal and appeal to everyone. You want to put yourself in a position that no matter what you’re talking about, everyone can relate to it and understand it, because it’s an experience that everyone can go through. That’s what I pattern my writing material and jokes after. I’m trying to maintain a level of realness that my fans can appreciate.

 

KW: One of the themes of this show was convincing your fans that success hasn’t gone to your head. But isn’t life a lot different for you now than a couple of decades ago? After all, you’re from North Philly and started out as a shoe salesman.

KH: Well, things changed, but only to a certain degree. Just because your environment or living space changes doesn’t mean that your attitude necessarily has to change. By attitude, I mean the way you interact with others. You don’t have to treat people differently. You may be living a different lifestyle, but the person living that different lifestyle still can relate to anybody and have the same amazing personality of the guy from North Philly. The people around me haven’t changed. The people who have been in my life since the beginning are still in my life now. I think that has a lot to do with my staying grounded and humble despite the success I’ve achieved.  

 

KW: You talk a lot about dating in the movie. Is there a Kevin Hart relationship advice book in the works?

KH: [Chuckles] Funny you should mention that, Kam. I don’t know if I’m at the relationship advice stage yet. I do have a lot of information to share, and a book is definitely in the works, but I don’t know whether it’ll be geared towards relationships. 

 

KW: In the film you cried at the end of the concert at Madison Square Garden. What was the emotion that overwhelmed you at that moment?

KH: I never thought in a million years that I’d ever sell out back-to-back shows at The Garden. That’s not to say, I never expected my career to take off. Still, it was a “Pinch Me, Wake Me Up” moment. I was like, “Wow! I can’t believe this. That I’m actually here, and this is actually happening.” And in that moment, when I was about to thank my fans for supporting me, I noticed that they were standing up clapping. It was overwhelming, and became a very emotional moment when I tried to thank them.  

 

KW: I also liked how you had pyrotechnics going off onstage during the show periodically.

KH: [Laughs] That was my way of joking around by saying, “I’m about to jump into a different level, because I have fire.” Ain’t no other comedian ever had fire.

 

KW: When did you know you had made it?

KH: The beauty of it is that I don’t think I’ve ever really relaxed. I want to do too much within the business. And there’s so much you can achieve with a launching pad like stand-up comedy. You can literally go from acting to hosting to being a personality to…

 

KW: To the Real Husbands of Hollywood?

KH: [Chuckles] To the Real Husbands of Hollywood. It all depends on what you’re willing to invest time and effort in and put your mind to. That’s what separates winners from losers. Winners are the ones who want the most out of their opportunities.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

KH: [Laughs] No, I’m pretty much an open book. I’ve pretty much talked about anything I’m going through onstage. Between interviews and curious fans, I’ve been asked everything. And I always give answers. I don’t shy away from anything.

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

KH: I have good laugh every day. I enjoy life. I’m surrounded by love and positivity.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

KH: Creation, getting behind a project from start to finish, and being able to see it blossom into a success.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

KH: I can’t cook, but I can make a turkey and cheese sandwich like nobody else.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

KH: Seeing my kids happy.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

KH: “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.”

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061728977/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

KH: Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It.”

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0013D7YCK/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

KH: Right now, I’d have to go with two: Lanvin and Yves St. Laurent.

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

KH: Focusing on stand-up comedy 100%.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

KH: I see a man with drive and determination who wants to go down in history.  

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

KH: For a better-looking pair of feet.

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time?

KH: I would spend absolutely every last minute with my kids, telling them how much I love them and how much I would do for them.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

KH: A lion, the king of the jungle.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

KH: My mom and dad discussing taking us to Disney World at a time that they couldn’t afford it. I was probably about 5.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

KH: No, because I know how easy it is to put your foot in your mouth.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

KH: Going through my divorce has changed who I am in my understanding of what’s good and bad in relationships.

 

KW: You talk about the divorce in your act. How hard is that?

KH: Once again, that’s what separates the best from the crowd. Those who are willing to open up and show a vulnerable side are the ones who have gone on to achieve so many amazing things.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person you pretend to be on the red carpet?

KH: None at all. That’s who I am.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

KB: To be able to read people’s thoughts.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

KH: That’s a great question… Drive!

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

KH: Writing.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

KH: If they were ever to remake Goodfellas, I’d love to play Joe Pesci’s role.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

KH: Hard work and determination equals success. Nothing comes easy. Put your mind to something. The best feeling in the world is seeing the benefits and rewards of hard work.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

KH: I participate with so many, but my goal is to get my own off the ground once I slow down. It’ll be dedicated to my mom who I lost to ovarian cancer. 

 

KW: I’m sorry about your mom. The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

KH: As a good father, as a great person, and as a hard worker.

 

KW: Can you give me a Kevin Hart question I can ask other celebrities?

KH: Yeah, do you have any career regrets?

 

KW: Great! That’ll be “The Kevin Hart Question.”

KH: There you go.

KW: Thanks again for the time, Kevin. I really appreciate it. 

KH: Take it easy, Kam.

To see a trailer for Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, visit:     

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69cdWclv9I    


Interviews
UserpicSenator Rick Santorum (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
02.07.2013

Senator Rick Santorum

The “EchoLight Studios” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Presidential Candidate-Turned-CEO of Faith-Based Film Studio

            Born in Winchester, Virginia on May 10, 1958, Rick Santorum is ever the advocate for families, freedom, the United States and faith. The former Senator from Pennsylvania spent last year as a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.

            A grassroots approach to campaigning catapulted him to frontrunner status, as he won 11 states and over 4 million votes during the primary season. Earlier in his political career, prior to serving in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007, Rick served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to 1995.

            He is also the author of a couple of New York Times best-sellers, “American Patriots” and “It Takes a Family.” Rick and his wife of 23 years, Karen, are the parents of seven wonderful children: Elizabeth, John, Daniel, Sarah Maria, Peter, Patrick and Isabella.

            Senator Santorum recently spoke with me about taking the reins of EchoLight Studios, as CEO of the first vertically-integrated Christian movie studio to offer production financing, marketing and distribution across all releasing platforms.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hey, Senator Santorum, I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Rick Santorum: Hi, Kam. It’s very kind of you to take my call.

 

KW: How is your daughter Bella, and the rest of the family? 

RS: Thank you so much for asking. She is doing fabulously. She’s had a tremendous year since the campaign ended, and has been healthy, so I just feel like we’ve been extraordinarily blessed. Thanks again for asking. I have to tell you, that is the most common question I get when I talk to people. It’s very heartwarming for a dad who is very proud of his little girl.    

 

KW: Great! I’m happy to hear she’s doing well. So, what interested you in EchoLight Studios?

RS: I’ve always been interested in the idea of culture-shaping institutions, and film is obviously a huge shaper of the culture. I’ve long felt that folks who share my value structure have not done a very good job at getting involved in that space and creating content. When a friend of mine who is an investor in this company came to me and said, “Hey, I want to show you what I’m up to,” I got interested in it. And over the course of 8 or 9 months I got more and more involved to the point where I decided that it would be a good use of my time and energy to work with a unique company that is really structured like no other in the industry. It’s a vertically-integrated film company which not only has the money to develop and produce films, but has the capability to distribute them everywhere down the line, from theatrically to DVDs. It’s a full-service movie studio, and we’re very excited about it.          

 

KW: Does it seem to you that a certain secular political correctness has become the state religion which is backing people of faith into a corner where they no longer feel free to express their views without serious repercussions? Look at the blowback Chik-fil-A encountered when one of its executives cited the Bible in objecting to gay marriage. 

RS: You hear a lot about diversity from folks on the left, but diversity only seems to include things they want to talk about. Chik-fil-A is a great example. But on a whole variety of fronts you’re sort of ostracized if you don’t stand by the orthodox liberal point-of-view that the media seem to adhere to. You see this in a lot in films, too. I could cite example after example where they strip out controversial material because it mentions God or Jesus or faith or some moral teachings. It’s really sad that you can’t have real-life depictions of how people of faith live their lives, and have that reflected in movies without accusations like, “You’re a theocrat! You’re trying to preach to us.” No, this is how people live their lives. The sad part is that what Hollywood has done is sort of scrub faith out of the picture. It sanitizes any mention of God or faith or Christ.

 

KW: But what about The Bible miniseries which was such a hit on TV recently?

RS: A Biblical epic is another thing. That’s okay with them, because it’s just a Bible story. But if you’re interested in talking about how faith really works in people’s lives, and want try to tell that story grittily, truthfully and authentically, that’s missing. That’s a missing component in large part because of political correctness and a desire to appeal to a broader audience. Well, they don’t seem to worry about appealing to a broader audience when they promote other values inconsistent with where most of America is. They have no problem putting edgy stuff in movies that they know aren’t agreed to by most of the American public. But when it comes to faith-oriented fare, they stay way far away from it. So, what I hope to do with these faith and family films is to show faith in its authentic form. I don’t want to be pastor-in-chief. I don’t want to preach to anybody. A lot of our movies are going to be true stories, and we’re going to show the role of faith as it really is. And hopefully, it will feel natural and not forced. That’s what we have to do. We have to produce quality content. No one wants to see poorly-scripted, poorly-made, poorly-acted Christian content. We need to produce high-quality, compelling stories that have a heart.   

 

KW: Why is it that Congress can open each session with a prayer, yet it’s forbidden to do the same thing in public schools? It seems that we’ve ushered God out of most of the public square. 

RS: That’s true and, to me, it’s really a violation of what our Constitution says, and of what is essential for a good and decent society. A good and decent society allows everyone access to the public square, whether I agree with them or not. Sadly, someone who has a moral point-of-view that is informed by, say Friedrich Nietzsche [who pronounced “God is dead!’], has the right to advance their beliefs in the public square, while someone whose morality is informed by Jesus Christ can’t. They’re supposedly bad. What makes Nietzsche more legitimate under the Constitution than Christ? Nothing. The whole idea of the Constitution was to let people of faith as well as those of no faith have their voices heard and respected. I don’t vilify people because I disagree with them. I don’t assume they’re bigots or haters, but that’s the way people of faith are depicted now, when in the public square.  

 

KW: What did you think of President Obama’s recent statement about parochial schools he made while in Ireland?

RS: Sorry, Kam, I haven’t heard it. We’ve been on vacation, and I deliberately tuned out while away. I apologize.

 

KW: He basically dissed religious schools, saying they encourage division. As a product of Catholic schools, I was shocked, especially since they have done such a great job serving inner-city communities with poor public schools.

RS: That wouldn’t surprise me, but I’m not in a position to comment on it.  

 

KW: Well, when you’re up to speed, I hope we can chat again about this and some of the other issues of the day. Meanwhile, thanks for the time, Senator, and I look forward to reviewing the pictures you produce as CEO of EchoLight Studio.

RS: That sounds great. Thanks, Kam.

To order a copy of “American Patriots,” visit:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1414379080/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

To order a copy of “It Takes a Family,” visit: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/193223683X/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20


Interviews
UserpicFana Mokoena (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
30.06.2013

Fana Mokoena

The “World War Z” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

A Fan of Fana

            Born in on May 13, 1971, veteran South African actor Fana Mokoena garnered worldwide acclaim for his powerful portrayal of General Augustin Bizimungu opposite Oscar-nominees Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo in Hotel Rwanda. He previously worked with World War Z director Marc Forster on Machine Gun Preacher where he played John Garang, leader of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army.

            Fana’s other film credits include supporting roles in Safe House, Inside Story,  State of Violence and Man on Ground, for which he received an Africa Movie Academy Award. Here, he talks about his latest outing opposite Brad Pitt in World War Z where he reunites with Forster as U.N. Deputy Secretary General Thierry Umutoni.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Fana, thanks for the interview.

Fana Mokoena: Thank you.

 

KW: How is Madiba’s [Nelson Mandela] health holding up?

FM: I’m seriously worried about him but I've learned to let him go. It's hard.

 

KW: What interested you in World War Z?

FM: That it was a brave stab at the Zombie genre. We haven't seen one at this scale, and I immediately saw how it was going to work.

 

KW: How was it working with director Marc Forster?

FM: He trusted me with the work, and I found that refreshing. It helps you grow.

 

KW: What was it like acting opposite an icon like Brad Pitt?

FM: Awesome! Awe-inspiring! Awe-striking! It was incredible to watch him work.

 

KW: How would you describe your character, Thierry Umutoni?

FM: As a measured character. Hard-driven, but kind and compassionate. No drama.

 

KW: How did you prepare for the role?

FM: I first had to read the book to cover my basics. Then I had to understand the world of the zombie, and familiarize myself with what the end of the world means to my character personally.

 

KW: What message do you think people will take away from the film?

FM: I hope they take away the overarching message that the end of the world is all our responsibility.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

FM: I’m still reading my birthday gift, 'Speeches That Changed the World.’ It’s a compilation of speeches by some of the greatest men and women in history.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0857382470/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: Belated happy birthday! The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

FM: I’ve been going retro on Ephraim Lewis and the last song I listened to was “Captured.”

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002HAR/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20 

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

FM: I like our traditional dishes, but I can cook a mean pasta, too.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

FM: A sign: “Work in Progress.”

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

FM: Happiness and longevity.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

FM: The chicken and the doves we used to have at home.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

FM: Tenacity and integrity.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

FM: Art and graphics.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

FM: Citizen Kane, the second greatest movie ever made.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

FM: Just as a guy who worked hard.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Fana, and I will be keeping Mandela in my prayers.

FM: Thanks, Kam.

 

To see a trailer for World War Z, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md6Dvxdr0AQ  


Interviews
UserpicMichael B. Jordan (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
25.06.2013

Michael B. Jordan    

The “Fruitvale Station” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Emerging Actor Discusses His Breakout Role as the Late Oscar Grant

            Born in Santa Ana on February 9, 1987, Michael B. Jordan is one of Hollywood's brightest young actors. In 2012, he starred in 20th Century Fox’s box office hit CHRONICLE, a supernatural thriller that follows three Portland teens as they develop incredible powers after exposure to a mysterious substance. He also had a supporting role in George Lucas’ film RED TAILS, a World War II saga recounting the story of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen.

            Michael recently completed shooting ARE WE OFFICIALLY DATING?

opposite Zac Efron, Imogen Poots and Miles Teller. Before embarking on his film career, he was best known for his work in two of the most significant television dramas of the past decade.

            First, he received critical acclaim for his portrayal of the hard-shelled, soft-hearted, young urbanite Wallace in the HBO hit dramatic series THE WIRE. He then went on to star as quarterback Vince Howard on the NBC’s Emmy-winning FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.

            He also portrayed recovering alcoholic Alex on the third season of the NBC series PARENTHOOD. Blessed with the opportunity to begin a professional acting career early in his life, Michael caught the eye of Bill Cosby and was

cast in the recurring role of Michael on the series COSBY in 1999. Almost simultaneously, he appeared on the HBO series THE SOPRANOS opposite the late James Gandolfini.  

            In 2001, he was selected from hundreds of hopefuls to play Jamal in the feature film HARDBALL starring Keanu Reeves. A couple years later, he became the youngest African-American actor contracted with ABC’s daytime drama series ALL MY CHILDREN where he played Reggie, Susan Lucci’s character’s adopted son.

            Michael later moved to Los Angeles where he soon landed a lead in the independent film BLACKOUT, co-starring Melvin Van Peebles, Jeffrey Wright, and Zoe Saldana. In the fall of 2007, he was cast in the faith-based feature film PASTOR BROWN.

            He has enjoyed guest appearances on CSI, COLD CASE, LIE TO ME, WITHOUT A TRACE, and LAW & ORDER, and garnered NAACP Image Award Nominations for Outstanding Male Actor in a Television Daytime Drama Series in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Here, he talks about starring as the late Oscar Grant in FRUITVALE STATION, a critically-acclaimed picture which has wowed audiences at both the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals earlier this year. The movie recounts the shooting of the 22 year-old Grant in the back by a police officer on a train station platform on New Year’s Day 2009.    

 

Kam Williams: Hi Michael, thanks for the interview.

Michael B. Jordan: What’s up, buddy? Thank you for taking the time.

 

KW: That’s quite a powerful performance you delivered as Oscar.

MBJ: Thank so much, Kam.

 

KW: Congratulations on this picture’s winning at Sundance in January and then again at Cannes in June. Did you attend both film festivals?

MBJ: Yes sir, I did.

 

KW: Where did it get the longer standing ovation?

MBJ: At Cannes. It went on for about 7 or 8 minutes. It was overwhelming. I got chills all over. It was very intense. 

 

KW: What interested you in Fruitvale Station?

MBJ: Honestly, I remember hearing about the incident when it happened, and feeling very angry, upset and frustrated about not being able to do anything about it. I felt very helpless. I was coming off a project at the time, and I really wanted to do an independent film that was more of an intimate, character-driven piece. And it just so happened that what I wanted to do, Ryan’s vision [director Ryan Coogler] and the timing of his project worked out in my favor, man. All of the pieces seemed to fall right into place.

 

KW: Did you feel any pressure to deliver a great performance given that it’s the biopic of a person who has passed away and who left behind family, including a young daughter who barely got to know him?

MBJ: Of course, and I put a lot of that pressure on myself. I knew that Oscar’s daughter was going to see this film someday, and that was the only pressure I needed to do her father justice. But I felt a huge responsibility not only to his family, but to the whole Bay community, since the story is so important to them, too.

KW: Did you meet with his mother or any of Oscar’s friends and family members in preparing for this role?

MBJ: Yes, I spent time with his mother, his daughter, his girlfriend, Sophina, and his best friends. So, I got a chance to get to know Oscar a little bit better and to understand each of their relationships with him. It was very beneficial to the film.  

 

KW: Is there anything the family wanted people to know about Oscar?

MBJ: That he was a person, a flawed human being who made some mistakes just like anybody else. That was about it. They really trusted Ryan’s vision and what he wanted to do.

 

KW: Did you identify with this character at all, given how often young black males are subjected to profile stops and police brutality? 

MBJ: Yeah, I’m from Newark, New Jersey, so I’ve been in that sort of situation before. I could relate, since I used to catch the train back and forth between Newark and Manhattan all the time. You’d see transit cops interacting with intoxicated passengers during the holiday season in response to distress calls. It could just as easily have been me, or somebody else with a group of friends going to the city who might have gotten a little rowdy. Oscar was a product of his community. The problem is that people from outside of that community can be quick to judge us based on the way we look, talk and dress.

 

KW: How was it being directed by Ryan Coogler?

MBJ: He’s an incredible director, extremely talented and a natural born leader. And he was the ideal coach for me, because we’re so close in age. We speak the same language, being from the same generation. The story meant a lot to him because he’s from the Bay area. He’s very close to this project. Everything worked out. It was a perfect storm.  

 

KW: What was it like acting opposite an Oscar-winner in Octavia Spencer?

MBJ: That ain’t bad, either. Not too shabby. I learned a lot from her. She’s one of the most giving actresses I know in terms of getting you there. Whatever you need, she’s very selfless, no ego, and I think it shows.

 

KW: Is it weird that the cast has actors named Michael Jordan and Kevin Durand? Are you worried that people might mistake the picture for a movie about basketball?

MBJ: Oh man, that was the crazy thing.

 

KW: What message do you think people will take away from the film?

MBJ: I hope people feel angry, upset, or something that sparks a conversation about how we can be better people. A better father… a better brother… a better mom… a better sister… We have to start with the individual. So, I want people to leave the theater and think, “How can I be a better person?” That’s the only way things are going to improve. It may not happen in my lifetime, but if I can play a part in moving things along, then I feel I’ve done a good job.   

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

MBJ: Scaring my little brother who is deathly afraid of birds. It’s ridiculous because he’s 6’ 7” and weighs 290 pounds. But he hates birds. If you really want to have a good laugh, all you have to do is send him pictures of geese, ducks and stuff like that randomly. His responses are pretty funny and make me laugh out loud.   

 

KW: What are your favorite dishes to cook?

MBJ: My grilled lamb chops and homemade mashed potatoes. And my barbequed salmon, that’s pretty good, too. I love cooking! The first dish I ever learned to make was rainbow trout with couscous and raisins. It’s pretty incredible. I can cook that with my eyes closed now. 

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

MBJ: My Japanese animation.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

MBJ: [LOL] You’ve got some great questions, dude… No.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

MBJ: Snow Crash.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553380958/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

MBJ: Memories Back Then by T.I.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00CFK7W54/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

MBJ: Being around like-minded creative people. Watching a really good movie excites me, because it makes we want to get up off the couch and go shoot something and act in a scene. And music excites me because it puts me in a mind state, whatever that may be.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

MBJ: A man trying to figure it all out.

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

MBJ: Doing the movie Chronicle.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

MBJ: For more wishes.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

MBJ: I been waiting for that question. That’s one nobody has ever asked me. It was one day when my dad was outside washing the car. My older sister tricked me into sitting in the bucket. I remember getting stuck in the bucket, soggy diaper and all, and not being able to get out. That’s my earliest childhood memory.   

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Michael, and I look forward to speaking with you again in January when you get that Oscar nomination.

MBJ: I appreciate that, Kam [Chuckles] But don’t jinx me, dude.

To see a trailer for Fruitvale Station, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxUJwJfcQaQ


Interviews
UserpicAcross from Ross
Posted by Kam Williams
11.06.2013

Ross Mathews
The “Man Up!” Interview with Kam Williams

Born in Mount Vernon, Washington on September 24, 1979, Ross Mathews has traveled the world and established himself as one of the most in-demand television correspondents in the pop-culture arena today. Endearing and witty, undeniably funny and one of the hardest working people in show business, Ross has won the hearts of millions of Americans since his television debut as Ross the Intern on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

He can be seen as a regular panelist and occasional guest host on E!’s late-night talk show “Chelsea Lately,” and is a ļ¬xture on the E! Network’s live red carpet awards show coverage. While working on a variety of projects Mathews continues duties on “The Tonight Show.”

In 2009, he hosted and executive produced a daily web talk show for The Insider and CBS.com called “Inside Dish with Ross Mathews,” a show about covering Hollywood from the outside in. “Inside Dish” eventually became the official web show for the CBS hits “Big Brother” and “The Amazing Race.”

In 2011, he began a national college tour speaking about his experiences climbing the Hollywood ladder and discussing his humorous take on pop culture. Many of his tour dates were documented on E! News’ political series, “Pop & Politics.”

Leading up to the 2012 Presidential Election, Ross served as the official political reporter for E! News. He covered both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, where he interviewed such leading political figures as First Lady Michelle Obama, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former Republican Presidential nominee John McCain.

Ross recently released his first book, “Man Up: Tales of My Self Delusional Self-Confidence.” Featuring an introduction written by Gwyneth Paltrow, and afterword from Chelsea Handler, the memoir takes readers inside Mathews’ personal journey as a super fan, revealing the most embarrassing and hilarious moments of his small town life and big city adventures, and explains how he managed to turn an obsession with pop culture into one-on-one interactions with A-list celebrities.

Ross lives in Los Angeles with his partner Salvador, and their two rescue dogs, Louise and Mijo. When not working, he’s is a strong supporter of the Human Rights Campaign, speaking at many of its events, and receiving its Visibility Award in 2011. Here, he talks about his career, his autobiography, and the TV talk show he’ll be hosting in the fall on E! called “Hello Ross.”

Kam Williams: Hi Ross, thanks for the interview.

Ross Mathews: It’s great to talk to you, Kam.

KW: First, I want to let you know I was both thoroughly entertained by “Man Up!” and very moved by its self-empowerment theme. It’s a book I really savored and read slowly because it had substance and was thoroughly enjoyable.

RM: That makes me so happy I can’t even tell you. I can’t tell you how much I like hearing that, because it was a calculated decision to write the book which I took it very seriously. It wouldn’t be worth my while to just publish a trashy, bitchy, red carpet celebrity tell-all. I wanted my kids to be able to read it someday, and have them go, “Hey, that was pretty cool.”

KW: It was hilarious where you talked about interviewing celebrities on the red carpet, but it was also truly touching when you revisit the challenges you overcame in childhood and the support you received from your mother when you decided to come out. It gave me goose bumps.

RM: I’m going to call my mom and tell her you said that. She’ll love it!

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: What message do you want people to take away from your new book?

RM: The book is really funny, but it does have a message. I wanted to make sure the readers did take something away from it. I define “Man Up!” as celebrating what you are. So many people waste time hating what makes them different. But if you are really willing to own what makes you unique, then good things can happen. That would be the message I want them to come away with.

KW: Patricia also says: You have tried several different aspects of the entertainment business. Is there another you would like to try in the future? How about directing?

RM: I just did this tour playing theaters all by myself, which was really scary, but I ended up loving it. I always thought I was only good at a couple things and felt it was best to play it safe by staying in my wheelhouse. However, this tour challenged me in a way I kinda’ enjoyed, so you never know. Every Oprah has her Color Purple.

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Ross, it’s possible that, at first, most of your fans were laughing at you. But your “stick-to-it”-iveness eventually had them laughing with you. Good show! What are your plans to transition from Leno?

RM: I knew what I was, kind of like a high-pitched, gay cartoon with a Middle American TV audience. So, I had to get them to laugh with me by the end. In the early days, that was a struggle every piece. It was stressful, because I never knew whether I was going to get another assignment. But they did, and I’ve been doing Leno for twelve years, and I’ve developed a great relationship with the E! Network where I’ll be doing my new talk show produced by Chelsea Handler. It’s going to hit the airwaves in the Fall.

KW: Congratulations! What’s the show’s format?

RM: Yeah, it’s really cool. There are so many shows that look at Pop Culture and tear it down, saying, “Isn’t that lame?”“He’s stupid! or “She’s stupid!” But I love pop culture. I want to create a place that’s interactive where we can talk it out. It’s about the fans. When I have Gwyneth Paltrow on my show, I’ll interview her first, then go into the audience and let them ask her questions. I envision it as a place where Pop Culture and fans can come together.

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

RM: Omigosh! What are you wearing.

KW: Okay, what are you wearing?

RM: [LOL] Pajamas. I’m in a hotel room in Chicago.

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

RM: I’ve never thought about it, but no. In my experience, I always just leapt, and felt, “What happens, happens. I’ll be fine.” I do see fear in a lot of friends and in people who email me or tweet me. I don’t think fear ever really factors in with successful people. They just take the leap. I might feel fear over things I couldn’t control, like health, or in the middle of a disaster.

KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?

RM: Yes, very happy.

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

RM: I’m traveling with my partner of five years, Salvador, and we laugh constantly. We shared a good laugh in the elevator last night after I did an impression of someone.

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

RM: Happy hour and an early bedtime.

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

RM: “Then Again” by Diane Keaton . It was really good.

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to?

RM: “Whistle” by Flo Rida. It’s the ringtone on my cell phone.

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

RM: Nana’s Potatoes.

KW: Oh, yeah, the dish you cook every Thanksgiving with Corn Flakes on top. You share the recipe for it in the book.

RM: It sounds so trashy, but it’s my “go to” dish. It’s soooooo good!

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

RM: I’m obsessed with her show “Scandal.” I would be one of my dogs. They eat better than I eat... they have more clothes than I have… and go to the doctor more than I do.

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

RM: Achievement… Success... Crossing something off my life wish list.

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

RM: Here’s the thing. People think I’m a super-fashionista because I do E! and tell it like it is when I’m on the red carpet. But in real life, I’m content wearing slip-on shoes and a zip-up hoodie or a windbreaker. And I love a bargain.

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

RM: To just be myself the first time Jay Leno asked me to go out and cover an event. To take that risk and do it my way, a way no one had ever done it before.

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

RM: A double chin.

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

RM: Selfishly, to have my dad back. But, if it weren’t just for me, I’d like to eliminate poverty.

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, what would you do? Would you do the bad stuff, you never got a chance to do, or would you do good stuff to make sure you make it into heaven?

RM: I would go wherever mom was with my dogs and Salvador. And I would eat as much pizza as I could while watching Steel Magnolias. Pizza’s my favorite thing. But I rarely eat it, because I always feel horribly guilty afterwards.

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

RM: Playing in the fields behind my house with my brother at about 4 or 5. I also remember being tricked by my brother one New Year’s Eve, when my dad brought home a stuffed animal for us to share. My brother offered to let me play with it “until next year.” Then he took it back the very next day, saying, “Okay, it’s a new year, so now it’s mine.”

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

RM: I promised myself that I’d host an award show. I haven’t done that yet.

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

RM: My first big heartbreak was right after college. It really hurt and toughened me up so that everything after that seemed more doable. So, it sort of gave me some calluses on my heart.

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person you pretend to be on the red carpet?

RM: Funny! For me it’s all the same. It’s different for actors and actresses, because they have to have a certain air of glamour about them. My whole thing is that I’m a liaison for the fans, and if I pretended to be someone different, it would never work.

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

RM: A reverse-calorie superpower that would enable me to make fattening foods healthy.

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share?

RM: If you’re going to be successful, you’re going to be successful. Successful people don’t let anything get in their way. A square peg fits perfectly into a round hole for them.

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would that be?

RM: Hairstyling.

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

RM: Anyone who wants to follow in my footsteps should consider looking somewhere else, because my story was so unique. Most people who come to Hollywood get headshots, find an agent and go to auditions. Being an intern and getting plucked like I was is so rare. It doesn’t really happen.

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

RM: As someone who put something good out. That’s the whole reason I worked so hard on this book, and fought so hard to do it the way I did it. I wanted to plant a seed of positivity. When I was a kid, I didn’t know what it meant to be a successful, grown-up gay person, because I didn’t see it. The role models weren’t on TV for me back then. So, I would hope that I am sort of setting an example, and not just for gays. My message is a universal one of self-acceptance. Whatever you are, you need to love it

KW: Thanks again for the time, Ross, and best of luck with the book, the talk show and everything else.

RM: Thank you so much, Kam, for the fun interview.


Interviews
UserpicRochelle, My Belle
Posted by Kam Williams
03.06.2013

Rochelle Aytes
The “Mistresses” Interview
with Kam Williams

Born in New York on May 17, 1976, Rochelle Aytes is quickly establishing herself as one of Hollywood’s brightest starlets with an impressive film and television career on the rise. Rochelle is now starring on Mistresses, ABC’s new, nighttime soap opera premiering Monday, June 3rd at 10 p.m. ET/PT (Check local listings).

Based on the British TV series of the same name, the show co-stars Alyssa Milano, Jess Macallan and Yunjin Kim. It is a provocative, thrilling, drama that finds four women with scandalous romantic lives caught in storms of excitement and self-discovery, secrecy and betrayal, and at the mercy of the complex relationships they’ve created.

Rochelle will play the lead role of April, a young widow raising two daughters and running a high-end linen shop on Robertson Boulevard. She was previously seen as a series regular on a short-lived but very funny sitcom for ABC entitled Work. And she starred opposite Christian Slater on ABC’s The Forgotten.

She enjoyed a recurring role on the hit series Desperate Housewives and Detroit 187. In addition, she has shot guest leads on TV shows like White Collar, Dark Blue, NCIS: Las Vegas, Daybreak, ER, CSI: NY, and on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, as Allen Payne’s love interest.

Rochelle made her big screen debut in the summer of 2004 playing the love interest of Shawn Wayans in the romantic comedy White Chicks. More recently, she starred in a lead role opposite Blair Underwood, Tyler Perry and Boris Kodjoe in Madea’s Family Reunion.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Rochelle. Thanks for another interview.

Rochelle Aytes: Thanks for having me!

 

KW: Congratulations on landing a lead role on your own TV series! 

RA: Thank you, Kam. I am so excited for it to finally air.

 

KW: How would you describe the show in 25 words or less?

RA: Mistresses is about the lives of four women, each going through different versions of infidelity. Their longtime friendship is what gets them through extremely challenging times.

 

KW: Did you watch episodes of the British version of the program in preparation for the role?

RA: I have actually never seen the British version.

 

KW: What makes your character, April Malloy, tick?

RA: April is the more down-to-earth, motherly one of the girls. She gets so worked up over prank phone calls and starts to believe that it is the ghost of her dead husband.

 

KW: What message, if any, do you want the audience to take away from the series? 

RA: I hope that the audience is thoroughly entertained. Each story line is very relatable to the average person’s life and hopefully they will find comfort in knowing that they are not alone.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

RA: Coffee and wine.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read? 

RA: DeVon Franklin and Tim Vandehey’s book, “Produced by Faith.”

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1439171033/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

RA: A cheese omelette with spinach and peppers, and home fries!

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

RA: Planning a vacation on a beach somewhere!

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision?

RA: Working with my team. I have the best agent, manager, publicist, acting coach, and lawyer. Without them I wouldn’t have the opportunities that I’ve had.

 

KW: What was your first big break? 

RA: My first big break was White Chicks. I had only been acting for about two years and I certainly didn’t feel like I was ready for such an opportunity. It could only be the hand of God blessing me. I accept everything I’m given with great appreciation.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for? 

RA: To heal my mother. She has kidney failure and osteoporosis. It’s very sad.

 

KW: I’m so sorry to hear that, Rochelle. I’ll keep her in my prayers. The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, what would you do? Would you do the bad stuff, you never got a chance to do, or would you do good stuff to make sure you make it into heaven? 

RA: I would do the good stuff. I want eternal life with my father.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be? 

RA: A butterfly or a bird. 

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory? 

RA: I remember being very young and going to AA meetings with my father in Brooklyn. I thought it was fun because they served hot chocolate and cookies.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Is there something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

RA: No, but I promised to buy my mother a house when I became rich. 

  

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person you pretend to be on the red carpet?

RA: I feel like I am pretty much the same, minus the extra hair and makeup. I may turn the energy up a bit, but I’m a silly person naturally and I love to laugh and have fun, so I tend to carry that same energy onto the carpet.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose? 

RA: That’s a hard one! It’s a tie between flying and healing.

 

KW: The Michael Ealy question: If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be?

RA: Jesus.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?

RA: Yes--Pretty Woman. I love Julia Roberts and that red dress. I actually had someone duplicate it for my high school prom. [LOL]

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity? 

RA: Any one that has to do with saving children.

 

KW: Can you come up with a Rochelle Aytes question I can ask other celebrities? 

RA: If you could choose any other occupation what would it be?

 

KW: Thanks, and thanks again for the time, Rochelle, and best of luck with Mistresses.

RA: Thank you so much, Kam. I really enjoyed answering these questions. They were very thought provoking.

To see a trailer for Mistresses, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBE5pX6fLQk 


Interviews
UserpicZulay Henao (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
28.05.2013

Zulay Henao
The “Love Thy Neighbor” Interview
with Kam Williams

Hip Hip Zulay!

Zulay Henao was born in Medellin, Colombia on May 29, 1979, and moved to the United States with her family at 4 years-old with her parents. Living in New Jersey, she knew from an early age that she wanted to be an actress. However, Zulay didn’t follow the conventional route to fame. In fact, she took a pit stop and joined the United States Army after graduating from high school.

While stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, she found time to study at Methodist College. After completing her commitment to the military, Zulay decided to finally pursue her dream of performing.

She enrolled at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, where she would study for several years. It was during this tenure that her break came when she landed the female lead in Feel the Noise starring opposite music sensation Omarion.

It was then that Hollywood insiders began to take notice of her irresistible beauty and talent. She was hand selected by writer-director Tom Skull to star in his horror feature Grizzly Park produced by Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’s Belle Avery. Next would be the role that would really put Zulay on Hollywood’s radar – a starring role as Channing Tatum’s love interest in Fighting.

She would subsequently go on to star in John Singleton’s Takers alongside the star-studded cast of Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Michael Ealy, Hayden Christensen, Chris Brown, Matt Dillon, Zoe Saldana and Jay Hernandez. She also appeared in S. Darko, Boy Wonder and Hostel: Part 3.

No stranger to the small screen, Zulay’s TV credits include guest-starring roles on such series as Grey’s Anatomy, Army Wives, Law and Order: SVU and The Unusuals, as well as the made for TV movie Racing for Time. Next year, she will appear in Tyler Perry’s Single Mom’s Club alongside Amy Smart, Nia Long, Terry Crews and Eddie Cibrian.

Here, she talks about playing Marianna on Love Thy Neighbor, a new TV sitcom written and directed by Tyler Perry and airing on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network. The show premieres on May 29 at 9 PM ET/PT. [Check local listings]

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Interviews
UserpicReading, Writing and Rhee
Posted by Kam Williams
20.05.2013

Michelle Rhee
The “Radical” Interview
with Kam Williams

Michelle Rhee was born on Christmas Day, 1969 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A first-generation Korean-American descended from a long line of educators, she embarked on a career as a teacher in inner-city Baltimore soon after graduating from Cornell University with a BA in government.

However, her star really started to rise after she earned a Masters Degree in Public policy at Harvard University’s prestigious Kennedy School. She was subsequently recruited by NYC School Chancellor Joel Klein to help handle his stalled contract talks with the teachers’ union.

And on the strength of Michelle’s negotiations with UFT president Randi Weingarten, Klein recommended his feisty protégé for the top job in DC. Washington’s public schools were among the worst performing in the nation, and Rhee found a very receptive Mayor in Adrian Fenty, who gave his new hire free reign to overhaul his troubled system in accordance with her controversial reforms.

She would spend a stormy three years in the public eye as the embattled Schools Chancellor of the Washington, DC public schools. Employing a “kids first” philosophy, Michelle chopped heads in the top-heavy administration, firing dozens of dead wood principals, laying off hundreds of extraneous office workers and closing over twenty underperforming schools.

Although students’ test scores improved dramatically during her brief stint in the position, her anti-union stance proved unpopular. Mayor Fenty’s reelection bid was basically a referendum on whether the city wished to continue with Rhee’s scorched earth philosophy. When he lost, her days were numbered, so she handed in her resignation rather than wait around to be fired.

Michelle, a mother of two, is married to former NBA star Kevin Johnson, who is now the Mayor of Sacramento, California. Here, she talks about currently serving as CEO of StudentsFirst, a political advocacy organization she founded in 2010 to advance the cause of educational reform.

 

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Interviews
UserpicDelightful Banter with Boundless Brooks
Posted by Kam Williams
14.05.2013

Mel Brooks
The “Mel Brooks: Make a Noise” Interview
with Kam Williams

Mel Brooks, director, producer, writer and actor, is in an elite group as one of the few entertainers to earn all four major entertainment prizes – the Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar. His career began in television writing for Your Show of Shows and together with Buck Henry creating the long-running TV series Get Smart.

He then teamed up with Carl Reiner to write and perform the Grammy-winning 2000 Year Old Man comedy albums and books. Mel won his first Oscar in 1964 for writing and narrating the animated short The Critic,and his second for the screenplay of his first feature film, The Producers, in 1968.

Many hit comedies followed, including The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, History of the World Part I, To Be or Not to Be, Spaceballs, Life Stinks, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It. His film company, Brooksfilms Limited, also produced such critically-acclaimed pictures as The Elephant Man, The Fly, Frances, My Favorite Year,and 84 Charring Cross Road.

For three successive seasons, 1997-1999, Mel Brooks won Emmy Awards for his role as “Uncle Phil” on the hit sitcom Mad About You. Brooks received three 2001 Tony Awards and two Grammy Awards for The Producers: the New Mel Brooks Musical, which ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2006.

The Producers still holds the record for the most Tony Awards ever won by a Broadway musical. He followed that success with The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, which ran on Broadway from 2007 to 2009, and both musicals continue to be performed and enjoyed by audiences all over the world.

In 2009 Mel received The Kennedy Center Honors, recognizing a lifetime of extraordinary contributions to American culture. His most recent projects include the Emmy-nominated HBO comedy special Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again, a follow-up HBO special Mel Brooks Strikes Back! and a career retrospective DVD box set titled The Incredible Mel Brooks: An Irresistible Collection Of Unhinged Comedy.

Here, he talks about Mel Brooks: Make a Noise, an American Masters profile chronicling his illustrious career. The PBS special is set to premiere nationwide on Monday, May 20, 2013 at 9 pm (ET/PT). [Check local listings] And in June, Mel will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Film Institute (AFI) at a gala tribute airing on TNT.

 

Kam Williams: Hello, Mr. Brooks. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Mel Brooks: Thank you, Kam. Hey, what the hell is Kam short for?

 

KW: It’s short for Kamau, an African name.

MB: I’m so sorry to hear that. I thought it might be short for my last name, Kaminsky. I was hoping you just took my last name and shortened it to become part of the family. 

 

KW: [Chuckles] No, I took the name back in the Seventies during my brief career as a jazz musician. You started out as a jazz musician, too, right?

MB: I did, I did. We were both jazz musicians, so it’s like we already know each other. In the early Forties, before I went off to World War II, I was in a little five-piece group that played at those Borscht Belt resorts in the Catskill Mountains. One night, the comic at the Butler Lodge got sick, and his boss, Pincus Cohen, begged me to perform in his place. I told him, “That name is redundant. Pincus and Cohen, you don’t need ‘em both. We know you’re a Jew.” [Laughs] He said, “I’ve watched you doing rehearsals. I can tell you’re a funny guy.“ I knew all those dopey jokes, so I went up on stage, and that’s how I got into comedy. I was only about 15 at the time.      

 

KW: I’ve been to the Catskills a couple times. Do you remember the Nevele?

MB: The Nevele! It’s still there. That was a big place, a real hotel, not like the bungalows that Jews rented for the whole summer. In Yiddish, those cottages were called “kuchalein,” which translates to “cook alone,” meaning you do your own cooking. Those places always had a little playhouse that would seat about two hundred people. So, I’d get booked to play them for around fifty bucks, which was a pretty good salary for one night.

 

KW: Speaking of hotels, the first time I saw Blazing Saddles was soon after it was released at a hotel where you could rent first run movies. I was so captivated by it I had to watch it four times in a row, practically ignoring the woman I was supposed to be sharing a romantic evening with. True story.     

MB: That’s crazy! But it does sound like a true story.

 

KW: I have a million questions for you from fans, but let’s see how many we can get through. 

MB: Sure, sure.  

 

KW: These two people have related questions. Editor/legist Patricia Turnier asks: Where did you get the inspiration to make a musical comedy about Adolf Hitler? And Bobby Shenker asks: How did you manage to get backing for a picture as bold as The Producers?

MB: Those are  two good questions. I kinda backed into the number “Springtime for Hitler.” I worked for a guy who lived in his office. He wasn’t supposed to. But he had laundry hanging, a hotplate to make coffee, and he slept on the couch. I can’t tell you his name because he has grandchildren. But he was a great guy. I was like [the character] Leo Bloom. I had a job working fifteen hours a day for him, doing anything he needed. For instance, I put cards in barbershop and other store windows advertising Tito Guizar, a Mexican balladeer, who periodically played Town Hall. That’s where I got this story. He would raise more money than he needed to put on Off-Off Broadway plays, and he’d keep some of it to live on. Let’s say the play cost $2,500 to produce. He’d raise $3,000 and, if it did okay, he’d skim the difference off the top for living expenses. I once asked him, “Why don’t you put on a $100,000 play and raise a $1,000,000? You know every little old lady in New York. You could get the money?” He used to screw wealthy widows on the cracked leather couch in his office. True story. He was just like Zero Mostel’s character. You know what he said to me? “You’re going to go places. I don’t think that big.” But that was the seed of an idea for a play. And then I backed into Hitler after I asked myself, “What if somebody did do that, raised a million for a $100,000 play?” It would have to be a flop, because if it were a hit, they could never pay all those backers off. There came the idea that you can make more money with a flop than with a hit. Then I had to figure out what would be a surefire flop, and I brainstormed for days and days until I came with Hitler. I thought, nobody’s going to stand up and cheer for Hitler, especially not in New York with so many Jews. When I realized a scene of just him with his generals wouldn’t be festive enough, I decided it had to be a musical. And that’s when I wrote the song “Springtime for Hitler.”           

 

KW: Bobby also says: You married on of the most brilliant actresses of the 20th Century, Anne Bancroft. Is there a biopic in the works? Or at least a behind-the-scenes documentary about her outstanding performances in The Miracle Worker and The Graduate?

MB: So far, no. To be honest, Bobby, it’s certainly still too painful for me to be involved with it at all.   

 

KW: Ray Hirschman says: Hey Mel, how did you land such a beautiful wife? Was it your charm or your humor?

MB: I don’t know. I once asked her that. She said, “I never encountered anybody with so much energy. It’s daunting just to be with you.” When we were first married, she was a star and I was nobody.” I had been writing for Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” which became “Caesar’s Hour.” Lawrence Welk was on at the same time and, strangely enough, he got the ratings, and we went off the air in 1959. So, I was basically out of work for a couple of years when I met Anne on February 5, 1961. She was on The Perry Como Show, and I was collaborating on a Broadway musical called All American with Charles Strouse, the great composer who wrote the music for Bye Bye Birdie, Annie and All in the Family.  I wrote the book, and he wrote the score. I thought it was a pretty good show but it never really made it. Anyway, he was playing piano for Anne at The Actors’ Studio where she was presenting a song as Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady, and he invited me to accompany him to a dress rehearsal. She came out onstage in a beautiful, white dress. She was gorgeous! My tongue was hanging out. When she finished, I shouted out, “Hey Anne Bancroft! I’m Mel Brooks. I think I love you.” Everybody stopped and looked, and I ran over to her and we talked. She said, “I have your new record. You’re a genius!” referring to the 2,000 Year-Old Man comedy album Carl Reiner and I had just released. Afterwards, she said she had to go somewhere, and I made believe I had to go there, too. For the next week, I would find out from friends what restaurants, clubs and theaters she’d be frequenting, and I’d show up, and ask, “What is this, Kismet?” until she finally said, “Okay, you can stop the B.S. Let’s hang out together.” It was all good. We were literally in love and together from that day until she passed away on June 6th in 2005. We had a nice, long run.     

 

KW: Film student Jamaal Green says: Hi Mel! I am a huge fan of your work from Blazing Saddles to Young Frankenstein to Space Balls. But I would like to know, if you have any plans to do some new 2,000 Year-Old Man skits?

MB: Thank you for that question, Jamaal. However, I’ve become the 2,000 Year-Old Man now, and I have a 2,000 Year-Old Man brain. When I originally wrote it, I was in my thirties. I was young, and hip, and smart, and could think fast. I’m no longer there. Things have slowed-up incredibly. Synaptic connections are taking me to strange places in my brain. I think I probably could eke out one more. Carl, who recently turned 91 is hot to trot, but I’m not sure.    

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What was the hardest film to shoot because of laughing breaking out on the set?

MB: Blazing Saddles was pretty damn funny. The crew was constantly cracking-up and ruining takes. So, finally, I sent my assistant to Woolworths to buy a thousand white handkerchiefs. I gave one to everybody on the set. I told them, “If you feel like laughing at something, you stick one of these in your mouth, bite on it, and laugh through it.” Anytime I wasn’t sure whether a scene was working or not, I’d look over my shoulder, and if I saw a lot of white handkerchiefs, I’d know it was funny. That became my litmus test. The crew’s laughing could’ve ruined the picture, Bernadette, but we saved it with the white handkerchiefs. It also turned out to be a great way to test to see if something was funny.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Thank you, and Ann, for that incredible performance of “Sweet Georgian Brown” in Polish to open your re-do of “To Be or Not to Be.” On the NBC Today show, you said “Annie is funnier than I am,” and I remember that side-splitting, incredible thing with her eyes. How did she speak to and influence your projects?

MB: Harriet, she was incredible right from the first time I met her. I was writing The Producers. She immediately became my sounding board. I didn’t trust anybody else. I’d write something and show it to her. Then she’d mark it up with “This is brilliant!” or “Never let this go!” and once in awhile she’d say “This stinks!” [Chuckles] She was really responsible for getting the best out of me, like the trainer of a racehorse.

 

KW: Hollywood Hills realtor Jimmy Bayan says: Mel, you once said you and Anne were glued together from the day you met until the day she died. She obviously really "got you." Can you tell me, what made your marriage sizzle for so many years?

MB: I can’t, Jimmy. What is it, magic? Magnetism? Meant to be? Who the hell knows! We were very lucky. Fate may have had a hand in it.

 

KW: Roger Klein says: You are a great filmmaker. You are to movies what the Rolling Stones are to Rock & Roll.

MB: I was never recognized as a movie director, Roger. Never! They always talk about my being a great writer and comic, and an important producer, But I’ve never been saluted as a filmmaker, except by a few colleagues like Alfred Hitchcock. He once said to me, “Nobody appreciates your directing skills. High Anxiety is brilliant! The back lighting!” He thought of me as a wonderful director, but no one else did.

 

KW: Did it bother you?

MB: I never really got that upset about it because I was doing what I wanted to do. If you can do what you want to do in this life, the rest is gravy. Instead of going to work, you’re going to joy every day.

 

KW: And he was just as snubbed.

MB: [Laughs] Yeah, he was nominated for an Academy Award a number of times, but he never won one. And he might have been the best director who ever lived.

 

KW: Roger would like you to name some comedies that really make you laugh.

MB: Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, Preston Sturges’ The Palm Beach Story, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights, and Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last. Those are really my favorites. I thought The Hangover was really funny. But the sequel just exploited the first. 

 

KW: I gotta tell you, Mel, Get Smart is still my all-time favorite TV show. Was there ever a funnier sitcom?

MB: I don’t know. Buck Henry was very, very talented, and together we came up with some incredible ideas. He invented the Cone of Silence. And I think I invented the cell phone, because I dreamed up having Maxwell Smart talking on a shoe telephone.

 

KW: Harriet says: You set a very high standard for revamping old films, with To Be or Not to Be, Young Frankenstein, and The Producers. Do you have your sights on another old classic that you care to discuss?

MB: There’s a good-looking old lady who lives in Cincinnati that I have my eye on, but I’m not sure as far as show business. [Chuckles] Maybe musicalizing The Twelve Chairs, one of my overlooked films, for Broadway.

Or Blazing Saddles. They both cry out for music, and they both have good stories.

 

KW: Why do you think Blazing Saddles remains as fresh as ever?

MB: What makes it last so long is that there’s a black sheriff that everyone in that world of 1874 wants to see dead right away. But he endures and gains the respect of the townsfolk, especially the Waco Kid [played by Gene Wilder]. That’s the engine that drives it, and that’s why it’s still around. It’s around because there’s a tremendous amount of focused emotion in that movie.

 

KW: When I interviewed Quentin Tarantino about Django Unchained he attributed the demise of the Western to blazing Saddles. He said that you had parodied the genre so effectively that no one could take them seriously anymore. 

MB: [Laughs] I don’t know. Maybe he’s right. But I wouldn’t take credit for that.

 

KW: What’d you think of his movies?

MB: I love Quentin for what he does. He doesn’t give a [bleep]. Freedom… fantasy moviemaking. In Inglourious Bastards, he’s got Hitler and Goering and Goebbels all in a theater in France and he kills them all. With Django, I would have been a little upset if Abraham Lincoln was run over by a Buick on 43rd Street. But coming from Tarantino, I accepted it. He’s a genius who should be respected for his work.

 

 

 

KW: Harriet also says: The Critic is one my favorite works of art by you. How about getting it back out there so people who didn’t see it in 1963 can get a look at it on its 50th anniversary?

MB: Ooh, well thank you Harriet for being aware of it, for enjoying it, for getting it, and for understanding it. And, as a matter of fact, The Critic is in The Incredible Mel Brooks box set.   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008VIMLXM/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: Harriet says: Remember the rock Dr. Haldanish put his hand on and said, “I’m a psychiatrist?” Well, I put my hand on that same rock and said, “I’m a life-long fan of yours!”

MB: That’s very funny! Harriet, I love you! I really appreciate it. 

 

KW: Kate Newell asks: Have you ever considered working with Monty Python alumni? I think that would trigger a comedic cosmic shift!

MB: We should’ve gotten together because Blazing Saddles and Life of Brian were on the same bill at the Baker St. Theater in London for three years straight. And they actually sent me a check. I couldn’t believe it.   

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: How does playing yourself on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" compare to some of the amazing characters you’ve played like Moses and President Skroob?

MB: I have no judgment and no perspective. When I’m playing myself, I dissolve into the character as a person, so I can’t really criticize my performance. I don’t know whether I’m good or bad. But when I’m playing Tikon, the Russian servant in The Twelve Chairs, I would say, yes, that’s a fine performance. And when I was Goddard Bolt in Life Stinks, I think I was pretty good. It was close to me, but not me, in the performance. I also think I was wonderful singing “The Inquisition” in History of the World.     

 

KW: In preparing for this interview, I went back and watched a lot of your appearances on Johnny Carson. They were phenomenal!

MB: He was a great catalyst. He’d get the best out of you. And he was a great audience, too. Carson was the best.

 

KW: Patricia says: I have a passion for tap dancing that I did for almost 15 years. You have been influenced by Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. How can tap regain the status in movies that it once enjoyed?  

MB: That’s a very good question, Patricia. When people ask me, what’s your favorite movie, I’d like to say Jean Renoir’s La Grande Illusion to make myself sound like such an intellectual. But my favorite movie is actually Swing Time with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and then maybe Singin’ in the Rain. My very favorites are American musical comedies of the Thirties, and tap dancing was my favorite dance form. To see Astaire tap like a maniac with such grace and charm was very magical. It was very balletic. How can you forget the Nicholas Brothers? They’re very hard to beat. Or Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Shirley Temple’s duet up and down the steps. So, I agree with you Patricia. Tap is a glorious aspect of show business, and I’ll see what I can do about bringing it back.   

 

KW: Patricia also asks: What prepared you the most for your career in showbiz?

MB: I think the Show of Shows, because I didn’t spread my wings and do my movies until I had nine years of seeing the best comedy of its day with Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Imogene Coca, Howie Morris and Nanette Fabray under my belt, and, and of working with writers like Neil Simon, Woody Allen and Larry Gelbart. That set the stage for my going out on my own.

 

KW: Wow, what a group! I’d have to say Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple was my second favorite TV show of all time.

MB: Neil was one of my best friends.

 

KW: What is the best advice you can give to young people who would like to follow in your footsteps as a filmmaker?

MB: I have no advice for anybody. Something impels you, and you have to keep going. Something mysterious drives you, and you’ll have to take a thousand no’s before you get your first yes, and they let you do your stuff.

 

KW: Bobby says: One of my favorite comedies is Young Frankenstein. The casting was sheer inspiration. What could you tell us about your collaboration with Gene Wilder? With such a brilliant cast, was it a collaborative effort, or primarily carved out by you and Wilder?

MB: It actually came from Gene Wilder’s head. One day when we broke for lunch out in the desert during the shooting of Blazing Saddles, I saw him scribbling on a legal pad and on the top it says “Young Frankenstein.” And I said, “What the hell is that? What’re you doing?” And he explained to me his idea and asked me if I’d collaborate with him on it. I said, “Sure.” As far as the casting, there was a guy named Mike Medavoy who had in his stable of actors Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle and Marty Feldman. The only ones he didn’t have were Madeline Kahn and Teri Garr.  

 

KW: Wesley Derbyshire asks: For better or worse, how do you see comedy changing on the screen over the past half-century?

MB: That’s a good question, Wesley. I wish could answer it. Comedy is too vast a subject. I don’t know what it is. It’s reaching a place in us that is unrestrained. That place where we can no longer be a proper part of society, and just have to laugh. If you have the ability to reach it in yourself, you’ll reach it in others. But how it’s changed, I don’t know. All the sitcoms have gotten very sexual, but not necessarily funnier.

 

KW: I agree wholeheartedly, Mel. Thanks for being so generous with your time, and for sharing so many anecdotes, insights and remembrances. 

MB: It was my pleasure, Kam. Nice talking to you.

To order a copy of The Incredible Mel Brooks: An Irresistible Collection of Unhinged Comedy on DVD, visit:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008VIMLXM/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20


Interviews
UserpicCraig Robinson (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
07.05.2013

Craig Robinson      

The “Peeples” Interview

 

Craig Is Good “Peeples”

Born in Chicago on October 25, 1971, Craig Robinson is currently appearing in the final season of “The Office” on NBC, where he portrays acerbic Dunder-Mifflin employee Darryl Philbin. He is definitely a world away from his original career intentions; before deciding to pursue a comedy career full-time, Robinson was a K-8 teacher in the Chicago Public Schools.

He had earned his undergraduate degree from Illinois State University and a Master’s in Education from St. Xavier University. It was while studying education that he discovered his love of acting and comedy upon joining the famed Second City Theatre.

Craig made his mark on the comedy circuit at the 1998 Montreal “Just for Laughs” Festival. That year, he also won the Oakland Comedy Festival Awards and the Miller Genuine Draft 1996 Comedy Search. He soon went on to perform his act on “The Jimmy Kimmel Show” and on “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

His rise to success with “The Office” and his stand-up prowess quickly brought him to the attention of comedy maven Judd Apatow. Robinson made audiences question their notions of vanity, playing the sensitive bouncer in Knocked Up. He then kept audiences glued to their seats as one of the henchman hunting Seth Rogen and James Franco’s bumbling stoner characters in Pineapple Express, and made fans squirm when he co-starred with Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in Zack and Miri Make A Porno.

In 2010, Craig starred alongside Rob Corddry and John Cusack in Hot Tub Time Machine. The story follows three men as they visit the hot tub where they once partied, accidentally discover it is now a time machine, and travel back to their raunchy heyday in the mid-1980s. Fans’ voices spoke loudly, and early negotiations are currently in progress for a sequel.

Here, he talks about his first leading man role as Wade Walker in Peeples, a comedy co-starring Kerry Washington.

Kam Williams: Hi Craig, thanks for the interview.

Craig Robinson: Thank you for getting the word out. I appreciate it, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in Peeples?

CR: When I met with [director] Tina Gordon Chism, I was impressed with her passion about the project. She had lived this experience of dating someone from a family with so many secrets, and watching them unravel. So, she knew what she was talking about. And when she let me know that Kerry Washington was playing the love interest, I went, “Okay, I’m in! Let’s go ahead and do it.”

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: You’ve done some great cameo and support roles, but now landed a lead role here. Congratulations! So, in Peeples, your fans will see more of you. How was it playing a main character and working with [producer] Tyler Perry?

CR: I worked with Tyler before on Daddy’s Little Girls. He couldn’t be smarter or more laid back and cool. He’s always throwing out lines and is funny as hell. And he was shining his light on Peeples, too, lending his name to showcase Tina as a first-time director, and me as a first-time lead. I’m humbled and honored to work with him. He’s great!

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier would like to know what was it like to on the set with legendary actors like Diahann Carroll and Melvin Van Peebles?

CR: Diahann Carroll delivered a very moving speech at the start of the whole project, and Melvin pulled me aside on the set and told me to, “Stay strong!” in a way that carried considerable heft. These people are legends, and we couldn’t have been more thrilled about their participation in the movie and blessing it. It was superb.

 

KW: Patricia also says: Given that you are a singer, are you interested in recording an album one day?

CR: Yes I am. I have a sound. It’s called funk mixed with stank. That’s what I do.

 

KW: What’s it like having the same name as First Lady Michelle Obama’s brother?

CR: I was once dating a woman who got very upset after confusing the two of us when she found my picture next to his bio which indicated that he’s divorced with kids, and remarried. So, if you can imagine, that’s what it’s like.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: I'm just crazy about films with time travel.  Where there any special issues or tricky scenes when you played Nick in Hot Tub Time Machine?

CR: Yes, there was a special issue. Her name was Jessica Paré. She was topless with me in the hot tub. So, yes, that was a very special moment, and I watch the movie every night because of that scene. 

 

KW: Dinesh Sharma asks: Do you think that your role describes a challenge most black men face today, of trying to fit into upper-class black society? Or was the movie just Meet the Parents with an African-American twist?

CR: Peeples is definitely not Meet the Parents. It’s more a movie about family secrets. It does explore class issues somewhat, but it’s mostly about living your own truth. 

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

CR: I can bake the hell out of some chicken, my friend.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

CR: Celestine Prophecies.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446671002/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

CR: Butterflies by Michael Jackson. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005Q4JH/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

CR: JSLV, Just Live, it’s a company in California.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

CR: Craig Robinson… I see growth.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

CR: To be able hug my deceased family members, friends and godfather.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

CR: Banging on the piano while my grandmother was watching me. I’d run up to her and ask: “How was that, Grandma?” And she’d say, “That was beautiful, baby!” And I’d run back to the piano and play some more. I’m sure that’s why I still play today, because I was encouraged from such a young age, 2 or 3.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

CR: Determination!

 

KW: The Mike Pittman question” asks: What was your best career move?

CR: Choosing my manager, Mark Schulman.

 

KW: PBS President Neal Shapiro asks: If you could really time travel and live in another period, which one would you choose? 

CR: The Sixties, because it was the beginning of Rock & Roll. All the songs sounded alike, since they were using the same three chords, which would make it easy to hop out and rock.  

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

CR: That’s a great question. I can’t think of one.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: Who do you really believe you are when you go home as opposed to the person you pretend to be on the red carpet?

CR: The red carpet is weird because, when they don’t know who you are, you’re standing there posing and nobody’s taking pictures of you. And when they do know you, they’re calling your name from every which way and you don’t know in which direction to turn. For me, I’m more in control at home. On the carpet, I want to be in control, but it can be overwhelming.

 

KW: The Gabby Douglas question: If you had to choose another profession, what would it be? 

CR: Rock star! Singing songs that the whole world knows, like my favorite band, Earth, Wind and Fire.

 

KW: The Anthony Mackie question: Isthere something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

CR: No, because I don’t make promises unless I know I’m gonna keep ‘em.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

CR: Invisibility!

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, what would you do? Would you do the bad stuff, you never got a chance to do, or would you do good stuff to make sure you make it into heaven?

CR: I would live like I’m already living. If I couldn’t get to my family, I’d hit my favorite restaurant. I’d seize the moment.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

CR: A whale.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

CR: The little things that let me know I’m on the right path, like running into an old friend, or getting into the car and catching an awesome song from the beginning.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

CR: I don’t get too close in relationships. I kinda have my arm out, like the Heisman trophy, because I don’t want to hurt somebody the way I was hurt.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in with an eye toward a particular role.

CR: Yeah, Cannonball Run.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: Do you have a favorite charity?

CR: No, I don’t.

 

KW: The Nancy Lovell Question: Why do you love doing what you do?

CR: Because it brings me closer to people, and it lets me explore who I am. It’s a chance for me to be connected. Whenever I’m performing live, the first thing I look for is to make a connection.

 

KW: What is your favorite way of performing?

CR: I’m in my element when I’m alone on stage with a microphone and a keyboard.

 

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

CR: Be yourself, because you’re special. There’s only one of you. Second, be tenacious, visualize success, and then live it. And remember everything you learned in kindergarten.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

CR: As a joy!

 

KW: Thanks again, Craig. I really appreciate having this opportunity, brother, and best of luck with Peeples.

CR: Thank you. You are phenomenal, Kam.

To see the trailer for Peeples, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMEzaXX0xnU


Interviews
UserpicViva Aviva!
Posted by Kam Williams
02.05.2013

Aviva Kempner
“The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” Interview
by Kam Williams

 

A child of a Holocaust survivor and a US Army officer, Aviva Kempner was born in Berlin, Germany after World War II. She was inspired by her heritage to produce and co-write Partisans of Vilna, a documentary on Jewish resistance against the Nazis. She was also the executive producer of the 1989 Grammy-award nominated record, Partisans of Vilna: The Songs of World War II Jewish Resistance.

Ms. Kempner is the scriptwriter, director and producer of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, a film about the Jewish slugger who fought anti-Semitism in the 1930's and 40's. It was awarded top honors by the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The film received a George Peabody Award and was nominated for an Emmy, too.

In her documentaries, Ms. Kempner investigates non-stereotypical images of Jews in history and focuses on the untold stories of Jewish heroes. Upset with the 2000 election results, she was inspired to make the short, Today I Vote for My Joey, from the script she wrote about Election Day in Palm Beach for the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women.

She produced and directed Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, a 90-minute documentary on America's favorite radio and television personality. Gertrude Berg was the creator, principal writer and star of the popular 1930's radio show and later the 1950's weekly TV sitcom, The Goldbergs.

Ms. Kempner writes film criticism and feature articles for numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The Forward, Washington Jewish Week and The Washington Post. She also lectures about cinema throughout the country. She started the Washington Jewish Film Festival in 1989.

 

Kam Williams: Thanks for the interview, Aviva. How has being the daughter of a Holocaust survivor shaped your life?

Aviva Kempner: As a child of a survivor born in post-war Europe, I had grown up fantasizing about being in the resistance during World War II. In late 1979, I had a roots awakening to explore my Jewish roots. Since then, I have devoted myself to countering negative screen images of Jews.

 

KW: How would you say Jews been stereotyped?

AK: Typically, Jews are portrayed by the suicidal, female Holocaust survivor, the nebbishy Jewish male and the domineering Jewish mother. I am committed to making documentaries which counter these negative portrayals by showing non-stereotypical images of Jews.

 

KW: How did you get your start in filmmaking?

AK: I was determined to make a film about my obsession: Jewish resistance to the Nazis. I incorporated the Ciesla Foundation which I named for my grandparents who had died in Auschwitz. Ciesla was their last name. I worked with Josh Waltetzky to make Partisans of Vilna in the Eighties, a film which examined the unexplored theme of Jewish opposition to Hitler.

 

KW: And how did you decide to do a documentary on Hank Greenberg?

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicNo Pain, No Gain! Anthony Philosophizes about Making It
Posted by Kam Williams
29.04.2013

Anthony Mackie
The “Pain & Gain” Interview
with Kam Williams

Born in New Orleans on September 23, 1979, Anthony Mackie attended the Julliard School of Drama. He was discovered after receiving rave reviews for playing Tupac Shakur in the off-Broadway play “Up Against the Wind.”

Immediately following, Anthony made an auspicious film debut as Eminem’s nemesis, Papa Doc, in Curtis Hanson’s “8 Mile.” His performance caught the attention of Spike Lee, who subsequently cast him in “Sucker Free City” and “She Hate Me.” He also appeared in Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby” as well as in Jonathan Demme’s “The Manchurian Candidate.”

Anthony had five features on movie screens in 2006. In addition to “We Are Marshall,” he starred in “Half Nelson,” with Ryan Gosling, adapted from director Ryan Fleck’s Sundance-winning short “Gowanus Brooklyn;” in Preston Whitmore’s “Crossover;” in Frank E. Flowers ensemble crime drama “Haven,” opposite Orlando Bloom and Bill Paxton; and in the film adaptation of Richard Price’s “Freedomland,” starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Besides an impressive film career, the gap-toothed thespian has performed both on and off Broadway, making his Broadway debut as the stuttering nephew, Sylvester, alongside Whoopi Goldberg in August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Next he was seen as the lead in Regina King’s modern retelling of Chekov’s “The Seagull,” in Stephen Belber’s “McReele,” and in the Pulitzer Prize-winning “A Soldier’s Play.”

More recently, Anthony participated in the Kennedy Center’s presentation of “August Wilson’s 20th Century.” As one of more than 30 renowned stars of stage and screen, he performed in three readings of Wilson’s cycle of ten plays chronicling the African-American experience, each set in a different decade of the 20th century. A true aficionado of live theatre, he hopes to return to the stage soon.

In 2009, he played Sgt. JT Sanborn on the big screen in Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” a film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. That same year, he reprised his role as Tupac Shakur in “Notorious,” the biopic of Notorious B.I.G.

In 2010, he took a break from film to return to Broadway where he starred in “A Behanding in Spokane.” He subsequently returned to Hollywood to appear opposite Kerry Washington in “Night Catches Us.” Then he appeared in “The Adjustment Bureau” and “Real Steel.” Last year, he made several movies, including “Man on a Ledge,” “10 Years” and “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.”

2013 is proving very productive for Anthony, with the horror thriller “Vipaka,” the coming of age drama “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete,” the crime thriller “Runner, Runner” and “Bolden” being among his offerings. Here, he talks about his new movie, “Pain & Gain,” a fact-based crime comedy co-starring Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Anthony, thanks for another interview.

Anthony Mackie: What’s going on, my man?

 

KW: Nothing much, brother. What an impressive resume you’ve compiled for someone so young: The Hurt Locker, The Manchurian Candidate, Notorious, We Are Marshall, Half Nelson, 8 Mile, American Violet, The Adjustment Bureau, Gangster Squad, Night Catches Us, etcetera, etcetera...  

AM: Thanks a lot, Kam. I’ve been very fortunate to land all the projects that I’ve done. I have a great team of people working with me.

 

KW: So, what interested you in Pain & Gain?

AM: It was the script. I was really psyched about Michael [director Michael Bay] doing a story with three-dimensional characters like these who you could real delve into to see what makes them tick.

 

KW: A Michael Bay flick with both that trademark action as well as some complex character development. It felt almost like I was watching a new genre of film.

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicThe Undisputed Champā€™s Undisputed Truth
Posted by Kam Williams
24.04.2013

Mike Tyson
The “Scary Movie 5” Interview
with Kam Williams

Born in Brooklyn on June 30, 1966, Michael Gerard Tyson is an all-time boxing great who, in his prime, struck fear in the heart of any opponent he squared off against. He compiled an impressive record of 50 wins, 5 losses and 1 disqualification for biting off an opponent’s ear over the course of an incomparable career in which he became the first undisputed heavyweight champ to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF title belts simultaneously.

Iron Mike has weathered a host of woes and controversies outside the ring ranging from allegations of spousal abuse to a rape conviction to the death of his 4 year-old daughter, Exodus, to declaring bankruptcy after frittering away over $300 million in prizefight purses. Today, he is a very happily-married man, with a couple of children, Milan and Morocco, by his third wife, Kiki.

Mike is currently on a 36-city tour of the country in “Undisputed Truth,” a one-man Broadway show which is part comedy/part confessional and covers all of the above and more. Here, the pugilist-turned-actor talks about his latest movie, Scary Movie 5, co-starring a rogues gallery of controversial celebrities including Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Katt Williams and Snoop Dogg.

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Mike, thanks for the interview.

Mike Tyson: What’s up, Kam?

 

KW: I really appreciate your taking the time to speak with me.

MT: It’s all good in the ‘hood, my friend.

 

KW: Ray Hirschman asks: What interested you in Scary Movie 5?

MT: Whew! It’s a franchise that’s going to last ‘til the end of time. I wanted to be involved with that. I don’t care how silly it comes across. It’s more so for us than for kids. It’s adults acting stupid and silly.   

 

KW: What was it like working with this cast?

MT: Everybody was great. Ashley [Tisdale] was awesome. I got an autographed picture of her for my niece.

 

KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: How did you get into acting?

MT: Just from messing around with a friend, Jim Toback, the director of The Pickup Artist. I always used to see him in New York and talk to him when I was younger, like a teenager. Anthony Michael Hall brought me onto the set of one day in about ’86, and Jim and I became acquainted and then good friends, and he started putting me into his movies, first Black and White, and then we did Tyson. He thought I was an interesting character. After that, I did The Hangover and got bitten by the acting bug. I have a lot of friends who’ve won Oscars, and they started telling me I could do it, too.  

 

KW: I remember your doing a great job in Black and White opposite some famous daughter. Who was it, Jennifer Jason Leigh?

MT: That was Bijou Phillips. She was awesome in that film.

 

KW: And Jim’s documentary, Tyson, was riveting from start to finish. 

MT: I’m just very grateful for his friendship. He’s a remarkable dude.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: When we talk about comedy, you hear words that could refer to boxing like “timing” and “punch line.” Do you see any similarities between the two?

MT: I don’t know. People tell me I’m a comedian, but I don’t approach acting from that perspective. I do know that everything in life has to do with your timing and perception. You have to be comfortable with the rhythm that you’re in. You can’t just jump into a fast rhythm if yours is slow. You might have to pick up the pace but in your own particular way. It has to do with personality, too.

 

KW: Richie the intern was wondering how the play‘s coming along?

MT: We’ve been doing just great, selling out every night. And I couldn’t believe the reviews. I couldn’t believe it was me they were talking about. They’re saying “Remarkably funny!” and “Moving!” I was like “They’re talking about me?” The biggest honor I had so far was when the comedian Jeff Ross told me he liked it and said, “You’re one of us, now” That was just amazing.

 

KW: Fight fan Mike Ehrenberg asks: Who was stronger, Razor Ruddick or Bonecrusher Smith?

MT: Bonecrusher was stronger, but Razor Ruddick hit harder.

 

KW: Mike also asks: What was the hardest punch you ever took in the ring?

MT: Wow! A bunch of guys really rang my clock. Gee! Razor Ruddick… Lennox Lewis… Evander Holyfield… They all did a number on me.

 

KW: Finally, Mike is curious about how you think you would’ve matched up against some of the other heavyweight greats in the ring?

MT: I have no idea. I just did what I did in my era, basically because of my admiration for the guys who came before me. That’s how I’ve always looked at it. I never thought of boxing like, I’m going to be the greatest fighter ever and make a lot of money. Instead, I thought I was going to win because I learned from the best. I carefully studied the videotapes of all the fighters from the past, dissected their styles, and entered the ring with their spirit.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Champ—you’ve had a long and varied career that involved lots of press coverage. What’s the thing you’d most have us remember about you?

MT: Overcoming my adversities.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

MT: Me? I see an old, broke-ass black guy taking care of a bunch of kids, living life, taking them to school, and all that stuff, who’s asking himself: What the hell is this? But I wouldn’t give it up for the world because I love my wife. I never expected to have a life like this. No chaos… no confusion… no lawsuits… no violence… no going to jail…

 

KW: I’m originally from Bed-Stuy, too, from around Nostrand Avenue and Eastern Parkway.

MT: I know where that’s at. That’s an awesome neighborhood! Bed-Stuy, do or die! I’m from Franklin between DeKalb and Willoughby. Do you remember the Welfare place at 500 DeKalb?

 

KW: Sure, I’m older than you. I was born in the early Fifties.

MT: Oh, so you know what’s really going down. My mother used to have us waiting with her in that long-ass line when we were kids. But we moved to Brownsville when I was 10.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

MT: Being in the hospital at about 5 years of age, after I drank some Drano. I remember it like it was yesterday. My mother had a bunch of people over the house, and I drank it because no one was paying me any attention.

 

KW: Yeah, children would prefer to be praised than punished, but they’d rather be punished than ignored.

MT: No doubt about it. That’s life. That’s our nature as human beings. 

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

MT: Artichokes.

 

KW: Lastly, if you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

MT: That my daughter could still be with us.

 

KW: My condolences, Mike. Thanks again, and best of luck with all your endeavors.

MT: Thank you, Kam. Okay, brother.

To see the schedule for Mike Tyson’s one-man play Undisputed Truth, visit

To see a trailer for Scary Movie 5, visit


Interviews
UserpicLegendary Filmmaker Discusses His Latest Documentary
Posted by Kam Williams
15.04.2013

Ken Burns
“The Central Park Five” Interview
with Kam Williams
 

Ken Burns has been making films for more than thirty years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Ken has gone on to direct and to produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made.

The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of his films, “More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source.” A December 2002 poll conducted by Real Screen Magazine listed The Civil War as second only to Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North as “the most influential documentary of all time,” and named Ken Burns and Robert Flaherty as the “most influential documentary makers” of all time.

In March, 2009, David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun said, “… Burns is not only the greatest documentarian of the day, but also the most influential filmmaker period. That includes feature filmmakers like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. I say that because Burns not only turned millions of persons onto history with his films, he showed us a new way of looking at our collective past and ourselves.”

Ken’s films have won ten Emmy Awards and two Oscar nominations, and in September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Here, he talks about his latest film, The Central Park Five, co-directed by his daughter, Sarah, and her husband, David McMahon, which premieres on PBS on April 16th.

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicHanging with Chad
Posted by Kam Williams
05.04.2013

Chad Boseman
The “42” Interview
with Kam Williams

Hailing from Anderson, South Carolina, Chadwick Boseman is an accomplished actor, scriptwriter and playwright who, until now, was probably best known for portraying the character Nate on the critically-acclaimed dramatic TV series Lincoln Heights. Prior to entering show business, Chad earned degrees at Howard University and the British American Dramatic Academy at Oxford.

Here, he talks about playing Jackie Robinson opposite Harrison Ford and Nicole Beharie in 42, a biopic about the late Hall of Famer’s historic breaking of Major League Baseball’s color barrier back in 1947.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Chad, thanks for the interview.

Chad Boseman: Nice to talk to you, Kam.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I appreciate the opportunity to ask you a question, especially because everything changed for Jackie Robinson in my hometown of Montreal. What did it mean to you to portray Jackie Robinson and how did you prepare for the role?

CB: It’s just a great honor to play him. In order to portray him, I basically paid attention to three different aspects of the role. First, the physical aspect of baseball, and his five-day-a-week workout regimen starting with Spring Training in the middle of January all the way to May. Secondly, I studied Hall of Fame footage of Jackie so that I could emulate his batting stance, how he took leads, how he ran bases, the arm slide he used in certain situations, and his fielding style. Thirdly, there was the question of how to attack the role. I didn’t want to just do an imitation. I wanted to interpret it while remaining faithful to the script and [director] Brian Helgeland’s vision.

The research also included reading, and talking to Jackie’s widow, Rachel, and his daughter, Sharon, in order to deliver the most authentic interpretation of him possible.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams asks: Was the role at all intimidating to you? Did you feel any pressure to get Jackie right, given his importance in history?

CB: Yes, because Jackie is a hero to people from so many walks of life whose reverence for him is often based on different interpretations of who he was.  I also felt a certain amount of responsibility to give an accurate account of his life and the person that he was for the benefit of the youth who don’t know him. But I still felt a great responsibility to Rachel Robinson and his family. She has carried on his legacy for decades, and she’s carried the torch for this film. So, my main goal was to do right by her.  

 

KW: Peter Brav says: You were absolutely awesome in the role. My 85 year-old mother, a concentration camp survivor, embraced the Brooklyn Dodgers when she came to this country in 1946. She saw 42 and hasn't stopped talking about how you ARE Jackie in the movie. Prior to auditioning, how much of the Jackie Robinson story did you know?

CB: I knew his story since I was a kid. My parents told me stories about him. And I learned about him, Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders at church. I didn’t know anything about Jackie’s personality, or the specifics about his family or where he came from. So, I went into the audition with very limited knowledge of the facts that you would need to play him.

 

KW:  Kate Newell asks: In doing this film, what did you find out about Jackie Robinson that surprised you the most?

CB: I was surprised that he was considering quitting baseball just before he was signed by the Dodgers’ GM Branch Rickey [played by Harrison Ford].  He had become disenchanted with barnstorming across the country in the Negro League for several reasons: he often had to play several games a day; there were a lot of places where African-Americans couldn’t stop to eat, sleep, buy gas or even use the bathroom; and he wasn’t being paid enough at a time when the most important thing to him was taking care of his family. I was also surprised that baseball was only his fourth best sport. He had greatness in him already. He was an All-American football player, a great basketball player, and he could’ve gone to the Olympics in track and field. Jackie was a better athlete than his brother Mack who had been a silver medalist behind Jesse Owens in the 200 Meters at the ’36 Olympics in Berlin. So, Jackie was well aware of his talents but felt very frustrated by the fact that there was no place in the United States at that time where a black man could fully actualize himself. Fortunately, baseball became that place where he could reach his full potential, although he might have achieved it in other sports. But that frustration of his potentiality almost made Jackie quit.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Jackie Robinson encountered extraordinary obstacles on account of the color of his skin pursuing his professional baseball career. Have you encountered similar obstacles in your acting career?

KB: Well, you don’t get the same opportunities as white actors. Every year, Hollywood is looking for that new, white leading man and new white starlet that audiences fall in love with. But they’re not looking for the next Denzel Washington, Will Smith or Sidney Poitier. Some of that is due to the fact that even in our educational process we’re taught history from a totally Eurocentric perspective. And so it’s no surprise that we grow up to value European literature. Since we don’t value our own history, African-American stories don’t get made into movies as much. Your being the protagonist or the hero is not a fundamental part of our culture. That’s what I run up against trying to get cast as an actor, and that’s what I feel needs to change. It’s very difficult to make strides to play big roles in big movies when our culture doesn’t support it and therefore the movies can’t.

 

KW: What did you major in at Howard, Acting or Black Studies? 

CB: I majored in directing. However, I did spend some time at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, so I am somewhat well-versed in African Studies. 

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

CB: One wish instantly granted? Woo! I would love for my grandmother and my sister to have been able to see this movie. They both passed.

 

KW: My condolences Chad. Thanks again for the time, and best of luck with 42.

CB: Thank you, Kam.

To see a trailer for 42, visit


Interviews
UserpicHarrison Solo
Posted by Kam Williams
01.04.2013

Harrison Ford
The “42” Interview
with Kam Williams

Born in Chicago on July 13, 1942, Harrison Ford was a late bloomer who only developed an interest in acting during his senior year of college. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked as carpenter for almost a decade while struggling trying to launch his showbiz career.

He was finally discovered in 1973 while installing cabinets in the home of George Lucas. The director cast him in American Graffiti, which in turn, led to his landing the iconic character Hans Solo in Star Wars, and the rest, as they say, is cinematic history.

Ford went on to play the title role in the Indiana Jones franchise, and to make memorable outings in such hit movies as The Fugitive, Witness, Air Force One, What Lies Beneath, Presumed Innocent, Blade Runner, Frantic, Apocalypse Now and Clear and Present Danger, to name a few. Here, the Oscar-nominated thespian (for Witness) talks about his latest outing opposite Chad Boseman as Brooklyn Dodgers’ general manager Branch Rickey in 42, a biopic about Jackie Robinson’s breaking the color barrier in baseball.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Mr. Ford, thanks so much for the interview. I’m very honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Harrison Ford: That’s kind of you to say, Kam.

 

KW: I was moved to tears several times by the movie. If 42 were released in December, I’m sure you’d be a shoo-in for another Oscar nomination.  

HF: Again, you’re very kind. Thank you. I credit the wonderful material. It was very well-crafted, well-written and well-directed. I was very pleased to have the opportunity to be involved with the project.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams says: You have been my favorite actor for many years, as were you my Dad's ever since he saw you in Hanover Street. Thank you for bringing us so much joy. 

HF: How sweet!

 

KW: Why did you decide to play Branch Rickey?

HF: First of all, I read what I thought was an amazing script with very high standards, telling an important story with a character for me to play who was colorful and dramatic and different from any I’d ever played before, and with a director [Brian Helgeland] I admired who had written this wonderful script. So, I had a multitude of reasons to want to do this character. I also saw this project as an opportunity to fully ascend to the rank of the noble calling of character actor. I thought that I could best serve the film by not bringing any of the audience’s history with Harrison Ford into the scene. So, I did everything I could to create a character that truly resembled and was attendant to the real-life Branch Rickey.   

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: You’ve earned some much-deserved acclaim for playing serialized fantasy figures—thank you big time for Hans Solo and Indiana Jones. How different is the preparation for doing a one-shot biopic of an historical figure?

HF: The truth is… the job’s always the same. It involves helping to tell the story and creating an alloy between character and story that serves the film. And it also involves creating behavior that brings the information in every scene to life, and investing emotionally in the communication of those ideas. 

 

KW: Gil Cretney asks: Will Hans Solo be in JJ. Abram's upcoming Star Wars sequel?

HF: I think you’ll have to ask somebody else that question. I’m not ready to commit or talk about that at this time.

 

KW: Kate Newell asks: How did it feel shooting on location at some of those venerable, old baseball stadiums?

HF: To tell you the truth, I didn’t pay much notice because in many cases the stadiums were recreated through computer graphics after the fact. We really only had the first ten rows, and the rest was added during post-production. The places where we shot were not historical or so impressive. But given that this film takes place over sixty years ago, it’s amazing how much different the world was back then. It’s seen so many changes in a relatively short period of time.   

 

KW:Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I am honored to ask you a question because I have admired your work since I was a child. Jackie Robinson is special to me because his minor league career began in my hometown, Montreal. What does his legacy mean to you?

HF: This is a country which has always proclaimed itself to be founded on and to be pursuing high ideals. I believe that the racial injustice which existed such a short time ago probably would have persisted longer if the color barrier had not been broken in baseball, since the Civil Rights Movement might not have blossomed when it did, had it not been preceded by Jackie Robinson’s joining the Dodgers. You have to remember that baseball really was the American pastime in the Forties, not football, basketball or any other sport. Baseball was a metaphor for America, both here and in terms of how it was understood by the rest of the world. So, the legacy of Jackie Robinson and the part he played in this very important chapter of our history is very compelling and very meaningful to me personally.    

 

KW: My father took a photo of me with Jackie when I was a kid in the Fifties, and I kept that picture on my bureau my entire childhood.  

HF: Cool!

 

KW: Well, thanks again for the interview, Mr. Ford.

HF: It was my pleasure, Kam.

 

To see a trailer for 42, visit


Interviews
UserpicJurnee Smollett-Bell (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
25.03.2013

Jurnee Smollett-Bell
The “Temptation” Interview
with Kam Williams


Sentimental Jurnee!

Born in New York City on October 1, 1986, Jurnee Smollett-Bell is an award-winning actress and activist of rare talent and conviction. She recently starred in the Emmy Award-winning series “Friday Night Lights” on which she portrayed the character Jess. She’s also been seen on “The Defenders” as Lisa, a new attorney at the law firm.

Jurnee starred in The Great Debaters with Forest Whitaker and Denzel Washington who also directed the historical drama. Jurnee received rave reviews and won the NAACP’s Best Lead Actress Image Award for her performance.

The versatile thespian landed her breakthrough role at the age of 11, when she starred in Eve's Bayou opposite Samuel L. Jackson and was cited by Interview Magazine as one of the five Hollywood stars to watch in the new millennium. Her other film credits include Roll Bounce, Gridiron Gang, and Beautiful Joe with Sharon Stone as well as made-for-television films including the Wonderful World of Disney’s "Selma Lord Selma” and Showtime’s "Ruby's Bucket of Blood" opposite Angela Bassett.

On TV, Jurnee has guest starred in the season finale of “Grey’s Anatomy” as well as on "House," "E.R.," "Strong Medicine," and "NYPD Blue." Her other television credits include "Wanda at Large" and "Cosby," for which she won NAACP Image Awards in 1999 and 2000.

She began her television acting career at the age of 4 with a recurring role on "Full House," later reviving the character for a season of "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper." She followed that by starring on the ABC comedy "On Our Own" alongside her real life sister, Jazz, and her brothers, Jojo, Jussie, Jake and Jocqui.

Besides acting and singing, Jurnee is an activist and the youngest board member of Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA), a nonprofit dedicated to fighting the spread of HIV, advancing human rights, and to educating and empowering AIDS orphans and other at-risk youth. She has been involved with ANSA since the age of 11. 

Working with the organization, Jurnee has traveled to South Africa, where she has met with Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu, as well as with victims of HIV. She even went on an official mission for the U.S. State Department to Botswana, Swaziland and South Africa to conduct AIDS awareness workshops.

Among Jurnee’s other charitable causes is the Children’s Defense Fund, where she joined the board at the invitation of her longtime mentor, Marian Wright Edelman. Here, she talks about starring as Judith opposite Vanessa Williams, Kim Kardashian and Brandy in Tyler Perry’s latest morality play, Temptation.

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicAll about Benjamin
Posted by Kam Williams
11.03.2013

Benjamin Bratt
The “Snitch” Interview
with Kam Williams


Born in San Francisco on December 16, 1963, Benjamin Bratt's career has successfully spanned movie and television for over 25 years. His impressive resume includes the critically acclaimed Piñero, in a powerful portrayal of poet-playwright-actor Miguel Piñero; Steven Soderbergh's Traffic; and The Woodsman, a festival and critical favorite starring Kevin Bacon.

Television audiences recognize Benjamin from his award-winning role of Detective Rey Curtis on NBC's long-running drama Law & Order. He also starred in A&E's miniseries The Andromeda Strain, based on the novel by Michael Crichton, which garnered seven Emmy nominations. Additionally, he served as series lead as well as producer on A&E's The Cleaner, for which he received an ALMA Award in 2009.

A veteran of dozens of films, Benjamin's other work includes The River Wild opposite Meryl Streep; Blood In, Blood Out with director Taylor Hackford; Clear and Present Danger with Harrison Ford; Abandon opposite Katie Holmes; The Great Raid; Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock; and the screen adaption of Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera.

In La Mission, Benjamin re-teamed with his writer/director/producer brother, Peter Bratt, to star in and produce a story which recalls the culture, people and beliefs of their childhood in the Mission district of San Francisco. He and Peter joined with producer Alpita Patel to form 5 Stick Films, a production company geared towards film of conscience, to tell stories with passion, vision and personal reflection.

Benjamin is married to actress Talisa Soto Bratt. They live in Los Angeles with their two children, Mateo and Sophia. Here, he talks about his latest outing as El Topo in Snitch, an action thriller co-starring Dwayne Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Harold Perrineau and Barry Pepper.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Benjamin. I’m honored to have a chance to interview you.

Benjamin Bratt: It’s totally my pleasure, Kam.

 

KW: What interested you in Snitch?

BB: A few things, actually. I really liked the script. [Director] Ric Waugh happens to be an old friend of mine. We sort of came up together. His father, the great Fred Waugh, was the stunt coordinator on the first series I ever did, Nasty Boys. And Rick, believe it or not, was a kid who happened to be a great stuntman. It was a family business for him and his father and his brother. Since we became friends way back when, I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to come full circle working together again, but in an actor/director relationship. You might look at my part on the page and think, hmm, it’s a little small, and maybe not worth flying to Shreveport three times for just a few days’ worth of work. But the truth of the matter is I was excited to reconnect with him and also to play a part that certainly looms large over the story as a kind of ominous presence of danger, not unlike the role I played in Traffic.
 

KW: I have some questions for you from my readers. Larry Greenberg asks: When you play a hardcore bad guy like El Topo, is it a different mindset from when you play someone in law enforcement?

BB: One might think so, Larry but, surprisingly, the answer is “No.” I think most law enforcement people would tell you that there’s a very fine line between going one way or the other. On some level, as a career criminal, you’re a soldier. And certainly a police officer also has that soldier’s “us or them” mentality where the delineation between black and white is very clear. My brother-in-law happens to be a detective on the East Coast. Having played a man in uniform several times, it’s always been a fascination for me. And I’ve spent hours talking to him over the years about the mindset of someone on the force, and it’s very clear. There’s no gray area in law enforcement. Evil exists in the world and it must be dealt with. And those on the side of good can feel righteous in their approach to eliminating evil. There’s no ambiguity there. So, in the case of someone like El Topo, it’s not so much that he’s evil, but that the director is very keen to point out that he’s a man, a father, just as Dwayne Johnson’s character is. He has a job to do. He’s a businessman. Yes, he happens to sell drugs but, at the end of the day, he has to get the job done and take care of his family. I thought that was a unique take on this kind of villain. Although we don’t get to spend much time with him, we get the sense that, yes, he’s capable of a great deal of violence, and yet, he’s just taking care of business.   

 

KW: Editor/legist Patricia Turnier would like to know: What message do you think people will take away from Snitch?

BB: I think the message that resonates most, and definitely the one that resonates with me and my wife as parents, is that there is no length that is too great to go to in order to protect your child. So, it’s fascinating to see how Dwayne Johnson, who is a formidable, mountain of a man, is reduced to feeling powerless when his son is suddenly in danger. It’s very compelling to watch the process of his coming to terms with what he has to do to get his boy released from jail.    

 

KW: Kate Newell says: I love Benjamin Bratt! You’ve done such amazing work, but I'm going frivolous, here. Will your character, Javier Delgado, be returning to Modern Family?

BB: [Chuckles] Yeah, rest assured, Kate, he will be back. We don’t have an air date yet, but I just filmed an episode recently which I believe will be coming out some time in April.  

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How difficult is it to switch from doing a TV role to a big screen movie role? Which do you prefer?

BB: I’d have to say that acting is acting, and that you always want to convey a sense of honesty and authenticity. So, I approach both in a similar way. For me, though, the great joy of doing this film was that there was so much gravitas to my role. In fact, I feel that I do my best work when the stakes are a lot higher, where I play the heavy, like I did in La Mission, a movie my brother directed.   

 

KB: Harriet has a follow-up: Is there a remake of a classic you’d like to do with a role for yourself in mind?

BB: I think every actor would like to be in some version of The Godfather. So, if they’re doing Godfather IV, sign me up. [Laughs]

                      

KW: Patricia asks: Is there a Latin icon you would like to portray in a film?

BB: Not one that jumps out at me. That’s a good question, Patricia, and one I’ve pondered a lot because I’m always trying to be proactive in bringing our stories to the fore, and I’m lucky to have a built in writer/director in my brother.

 

KW: Your mother brought you to Alcatraz as a child to participate in the occupation of the island by Native Americans. Maybe you’d like to portray Dennis Means, the leader of the American Indian Movement.

BB: That idea has come up before. In fact, I even saw a script at one point. There was a young, charismatic leader by the name of Richard Oakes who spearheaded the initial takeover of the island. He was a Mohawk from New York. I always thought that his would make an interesting story. 

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams says: How has acting changed for you over the years and how have you managed to mix comedy with drama so successfully?

BB: Good question. I think that I was hungrier when I was younger, and it showed in my work on some level. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown a lot more assured about what I’m doing. I call upon my training, my research and my life experience. That’s the good news about getting older. Your life experience really informs the work that you do in front of the camera, and even more so onstage. That comfort level enables an actor to be more at ease. Being a greater risk-taker comes from the experience of taking on roles, and it shows.  

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

BB: I remember being twirled around in a circle when I was about 3 by my dad who was holding me while music played.

 

KW: Is there a childhood friend you’d like to reunite with?

BB: Yeah, there are a couple of them.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

BB: The Round House by Louise Erdich.

 

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? 

BB: “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

BB: Pasta Bolognese. Cooking is one of my favorite things to do at home with my wife. I also make my own homemade sausage with kale and pasta.   

 

KW: That’s great. So many celebrities I interview say they never cook.

BB: I know. They’re probably single. [LOL]

 

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

BB: Oh man, Armani’s hard to beat. Hugo Boss makes some great stuff. Rag & Bone is excellent for casual wear. Calvin Klein has worked out very well for me, and so has Levi’s. It’s tough to beat Levi’s!  

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

BB:  [LOL] I see a father, and a husband, and someone who is very content.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Benjamin, and best of luck with the film.

BB: Thank you, Kam.

To see a trailer for Snitch, visit


Interviews
UserpicOscar-Nominee Expounds on Life, Career and His Latest Offering
Posted by Kam Williams
05.03.2013

Terrence Howard
The “Dead Man Down” Interview
with Kam Williams


In 2006, Terrence Howard received an Academy Award nomination for his lead role in John Singleton's "Hustle & Flow," and the song which he performed in the film became the first rap song ever to receive an Academy Award. That same year, he was also a member of the all-star cast (along with Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Thandie Newton and Matt Dillon) of Crash, the Oscar-winning Best Picture.

Maintaining a powerful presence on the small screen as well, Terrence won one of his three NAACP Image Awards in 2006 for the HBO film "Lackawanna Blues," directed by George C. Wolfe, which was based on Tony Award-winning Ruben Santiago-Hudson's autobiographical play. His love of acting came naturally through summers spent with his late grandmother, the celebrated, stage actress Minnie Gentry.

Terrence began his showbiz career on "The Cosby Show" after being discovered on a New York City street by a casting director. That chance encounter helped him break into feature films, and soon he was cast in "Mr. Holland's Opus."

Among Terrence’s most memorable work are scene-stealing performances as Cowboy in "Dead Presidents" and as Quentin in "The Best Man," the latter earning him an NAACP Image Award. His other film credits include "Pride," "Angel Eyes," "Hart’s War," "Four Brothers," "Idlewild," "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," "Fighting," "Iron Man," "The Brave One," "The Hunting Party," "August Rush," "Awake" and "Red Tails."

In 2008, he made his Broadway debut in a revival of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," co-starring Phylicia Rashad and James Earl Jones. A self-taught musician on both the piano and the guitar, Terrence’s musical talents were in display on the big screen opposite Jamie Foxx in "Ray." Also in 2008, Howard released his debut album on Columbia Records, “Shine through It," which he wrote, produced and performed on.

Here, he talks about his latest film, Dead Man Down, where he plays crime boss Alphonse Hoyt opposite Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace and F. Murray Abraham.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Terrence, thanks for the time. It’s nice to have another opportunity to speak with you.

Terrence Howard: Thank you, Kam, for taking the time.

 

KW: What interested you in Dead Man Down?

TH: Being able to work with Niels [director Niels Arden Oplev], given the work he’s done. Some of those Swedish films [such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo] were breathtaking. And he has an interesting style that mixes traditions of old with the allure of mystery. And I’m impressed with his Shakespearean approach to storytelling. It’s always about these relationships which become unwound. I was also interested in working with Colin [Farrell] again. We made Hart’s War together back in 2002, and I’ve always appreciated his artistry. So, I jumped at the chance to continue our friendship. 

 

KW: The cast has a lot of other big names, too: F. Murray Abraham… Noomi Rapace… Isabelle Huppert…

TH: And everyone in there came to play. Everyone!

 

KW: Marianne Ilaw asks: Is a movie with an intricate plot like this one difficult to shoot?

TH: To me, we’re all one, and everything is basically about trying to get back to a balanced state. We have our in-harmonics, our harmonic, and our beginning. Everybody’s trying to get back to that, and with this work, even as a director or as actors, we’re all trying to get back in harmony. But to expand, you have to become in-harmonic for a moment. So, the story’s about the battle to get back there, and that’s how it works out. Alphonse [Terrence’s character] could’ve been a simple bad guy who goes around killing people. But when you add a conscious element, and an element of reciprocity, a karmic recompense that he’s aware of, that simple ideal mushrooms to the point where it becomes palpable for everyone by association. The audience can now see his humanity because they’ve been in a compromised position. That’s the point of the film, to help someone learn. Take Colin’s character who was left for dead and whose family was murdered. Yet, here he has an opportunity for brand new love and to continue on and to just appreciate the fact that he’s still alive. But he’s willing to risk all of that to payback the debt, which nobody really knows the value of. When you take another person’s life, whether you survive or not, you only lose your own humanity in the process. That was one of the mistakes Alphonse made early on, which caused him all of these problems down the line. So, I love how Niels was able to lay out these complicated plotlines. And Noomi’s character is also on a vendetta and harbors a grudge that she won’t let go of. The film really questions the morality and ethical stances of all the characters.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: How did you prepare to play Alphonse Hoyt?

TH: I got a process, a perm in my hair. [LOL] That was my preparation.

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: I’ve loved your work in The Best Man, Pride, Red Tails and Crash, but your performance in Lackawanna Blues blew me away. It’s my favorite film. Have you considered spearheading a project similar to Lackawanna Blues?

TH: I’ve never heard that before. I’m really appreciative that Marcia said that, because I feel that the work I did in that movie was purely a product of the efforts of [director] George Wolfe. I fought him tooth-and-nail every step of the way on the set. Everything I wanted to do, he said, “No, you can’t! This is not going to be Terrence Howard Impersonation Day. You’re going to have to act today.” [Laughs] So, no I haven’t considered doing a similar project, because I prefer impersonating myself. But I would be willing to go down that path again under George Wolfe’s tutelage. He created that charter just like Niels created this one, Alphonse. You’ve got to give credit to the artist. I’m just a color in these directors’ films, and I really appreciate having had the opportunity. 

 

KW: Professor/director/author Hisani Dubose asks: What type of character do you enjoy playing the most?

TH: I like the conflicted soul, the complicated human being. I’ve never been a perfect man. There’s always been a choice between right and wrong, and no one does a single thing for a single motive. There are many motives behind what we do, and when you dig deeper and try to find the base tone in the harmonic and in-harmonic, you create a palpable, three-dimensional individual. I like to search for balance in an unbalanced system.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: What advice do you have for an aspiring actor or actress? What is a major pitfall you would warn a newcomer to the acting field about?

TH: Stop aspiring and just do it! Stop thinking and just follow your instincts the same way a half-billion sperm leaves our father and travels down the maze of opportunity inside our mother. No one tells them how to get there. If you don’t trust your instincts, you’ll get passed by another million sperm and might lose out on the opportunity of life, which is the opportunity to dream. Follow it! You already know where to go, you just have to trust that you know, and stop asking people for advice. You didn’t ask for advice to come to life, and it’s a hell of a journey to win a half-billion sperm race. That’s an amazing accomplishment. Compared to that, working in this industry is not that difficult.

 

KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in with an eye toward a particular role.

TH: Carmen Jones. I would love to play Harry Belafonte’s role in that.

 

KW: Harriet also observes that you work in film, TV and theater. She’s wondering how different is your preparation for each and which is your favorite performance medium?

TH: My favorite medium is the theater, but the theater has its limitations. The stage is really for well-established actors who have their money together or who don’t have a family to support. It’s more of an artist’s retreat. But I love the control you have as an actor in the theater as compared to the screen. Once you’re on film, the director and the editor, have the final say about your character, and often at the discretion of the producer and the studio. Television is a little more improvisational, but the stage is the only place where you can tell your story without worrying about editing.

 

KW: Film Student Jamaal Green says: I am a huge fan of your work. He asks: What is your favorite film and was there an actor you admired growing up who inspired you to pursue acting?

TH: That’s a great question, Jamaal. My favorite film would probably be Cool Hand Luke. Paul Newman’s performance was a revelation. It gave me an understanding because I had seen him in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Elizabeth Taylor. His portrayal of Luke seemed like what he had intended Brick to be in Cat had finally come to fruition. So, I loved the simple majesty with which he told his story in Luke. Another performance that impressed me was the work that Val Kilmer did in Tombstone. That was one of the most brilliant, modern-day performances I’ve ever seen. I am yet to see anybody trump that. I also love Sam Rockwell’s work. It’s explosive! It’s a gas!

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: You have been so prolific as an actor and producer, is there any chance we will see you as a writer and director in the near future?

TH: God only knows what we have in store. Man makes his plan and God laughs. I have aspirations to do many things, but I lack the constitution of discipline to follow all those things through. Time and unforeseen occurrences befall us all.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

TH: I see someone made in the image of God. Unfortunately, I also see too much of man scattered about my face with the insecurities and inadequacies and lack of understanding. And I see the source of humanity’s purpose in my eyes, and that’s the desire and attributes of trying to be closer to God with love and morality. But like Blanche [DuBois] said [in A Streetcar Named Desire], “It’s been a long time since I was made in God’s image.”  

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

TH: [Chuckles] It’s a little different. I have a pretty remarkable memory. My earliest memory is from about three months prior to being born. I was searching for my own arm in the womb. I thought it was a friend, and didn’t yet realize that it belonged to me. [LOL] 

 

KW: Thanks for another intriguing interview, Terrence, and best of luck with Dead Man Down. I loved the film!

TH: Thanks a lot, Kam.

To see a trailer for Dead Man Down, visit


Interviews
UserpicThe Life of Bryan
Posted by Kam Williams
25.02.2013

Bryan Singer
The “Jack the Giant Slayer” Interview
with Kam Williams

Bryan Singer has consistently entertained audiences between a bold visual style and richly drawn characters ever since his making a noteworthy feature film debut in 1993 with the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize-winner "Public Access." He gained widespread attention a couple years later with the crime thriller "The Usual Suspects" which won Academy Awards for Kevin Spacey (Best Supporting Actor) and Christopher McQuarrie (Best Original Screenplay).

Singer’s subsequent film was an adaptation of the Stephen King novella "Apt Pupil," followed by the wildly successful "X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United.” He was next tapped to helm "Superman Returns," the first blockbuster shot on the Panavision Genesis digital camera, and the first live action film to utilize the post-conversion 3D process.

Most recently, Bryan made the World War II drama "Valkyrie," starring Tom Cruise. And he is currently in production directing "X-Men: Days of Future Past," which reunites numerous cast members from the franchise’s previous films.

For television, Singer directed the pilot and was executive producer on the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning series "House," starring Hugh Laurie.  He also produced the ABC series "Dirty Sexy Money" and the HBO documentary "Vito," about author and 1980s AIDS activist Vito Russo.

Bryan has directed and/or produced a myriad of other projects through his Bad Hat Harry Productions, a motion picture and television production company formed in 1994. To date, his projects have grossed over two billion dollars worldwide.

Here, he talks about his latest film, “Jack the Giant Slayer,” a big screen version of the classic fairytale.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Bryan, thanks for the interview.

Bryan Singer: Sure. Not at all, Kam. My pleasure.

 

KW: Guess what? I met your mom in a waiting room last year. We happen to have the same dentist. 

BS: Oh really? That’s cool. Are you from Princeton?

 

KW: Yep.

BS: How random! That’s funny. How did you know it was my mom?
                                                                                   

KW: I struck up a conversation with her, and mentioned I was a film critic.  

BS: And I bet it was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

 

KW: Just about. She’s a very proud mama who’s very knowledgeable about film in general. We had a great chat!

BS: That’s so nice, since she’s a big movie fan, herself. 

 

KW: I invited her to attend the screening of the film the studio set up for me locally, but she declined.

BS: Yeah, she’s flying out to join me at the premiere here in L.A.

 

KW: What interested you in making Jack the Giant Slayer?

BS: At the time, there were no fairytale movies in development that I was aware of, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to do something different that I hadn’t seen before and that I hadn’t done before. A product existed called Jack the Giant Killer, which I kind of rewrote from scratch with Chris McQuarrie and Dan Studney, who are also Jersey kids.  So, it began with that and my desire to see beanstalks and giants in a way they’ve never been portrayed before.

 

KW: I was familiar with Jack and the Beanstalk, but I don’t remember reading Jack the Giant Killer as a child.

BS: Jack the Giant Killer was from the 1700’s, and kind of an Arthurian character who went around slaying giants and sending their heads back to King Arthur. This film takes some inspiration from both fairytales but, frankly, it’s its own original story. 

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: Can you tell me about how you directed the relationship between Jack [played by Nicholas Hoult] and Isabelle [played by Eleanor Tomlinson] with all the chaos going on around them.

BS: How do I put this? By basically making sure there was enough material that could build between them. But one of the key things was something I shot very late in the game, namely, the opening scene. I still didn’t feel that their destiny was cemented, so I went to New Zealand to shoot the opening where you see them being read to as little kids, and designed it to be intercut, much the same way the next scene is intercut when Jack’s uncle and Isabelle’s father are scolding them. By doing that you set them on a path of romantic destiny. So, that setup not only gave the history of the giants, but put the idea of the two characters being on a trajectory to be together in the audience’s mind. By the way, I used some of [director] Peter Jackson’s stages and crew from the Hobbit for that. And I got to go to the Hobbit premiere while I was down there, which was a lot of fun. 

 

KW: So you shot some of the film in New Zealand?

BS: Only those scenes where the parents were reading to the children. Those scenes also established who Jack and Isabelle were meant to be had his father and her mother not died. Now, Jack is fatherless and trapped on the farm, while Isabelle is motherless and trapped in a castle by an overprotective father who is afraid of losing the only other woman in his life. So, that opening tableau sort of sets the characters up in a fun way, and we shot it in New Zealand over a couple days. The rest of the movie was completely shot in London.

 

KW: Is there a message you want people to take away from the film?

BS: No, I don’t think of it as that kind of film. It’s just supposed be entertaining. Awards season is over, so it’s time for an adventure.

 

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams says: I’m from Trenton and almost everyone I meet from Princeton says they know you or your mom. His question is, how do you fight off complacency, and do you look at scripts any differently today versus earlier in your career?  

BS: Well, early in my career, I really wasn’t look at scripts. I was developing them from scratch. Now, I look at them for inspiration but, ultimately, I’m driven to a kind of movie I want to make, knowing that eventually I’m going to bring aboard my friends, some of whom I grew up with, like Chris, and others whom I met later in life, like Dan. So, initially, I’m just looking for an idea, for a kernel of a story.

 

KW: Have you met Damien Chazelle out there in Hollywood yet? He’s an up-and-coming young director also from Princeton whose short film just won at Sundance.

BS: No, I haven’t, but it would be great to meet him.

 

KW: Erik Daniels, who teaches at West Windsor High School South, your alma mater, says: We all know how formative the high school years are. How influential was your high school experience in shaping your desire to direct?

BS: It was very fostering. I had a communications teacher named Denise Mangani who really opened up my mind to the cinematic arts in general. And I also had a creative writing teacher, Mr. Berridge, who was very inspiring in terms of thinking about stories. Another was my social studies teacher, Ms. Fiscarelli. She was very influential because she taught a comprehensive unit on The Holocaust. That material has found its way into many of movies, from Apt Pupil to X-Men to Valkyrie to X-Men: First Class, as well as into some of the documentaries I’ve produced. That subject-matter has been very important to me.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Is there a new genre of film that you would like to tackle for the first time?

BS: Yes, horror. Something supernatural. I always enjoy a good horror film, and there hasn’t been a great horror film like The Exorcist for awhile.                                                        

 

KW: Patricia also asks: What director did you admire the most growing up?
BS: Steven Spielberg.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

BS: I’ve been reading a lot of David Sedaris lately. I recently finished “When You Are Engulfed in Flames” and “Holidays on Ice.” And I’m currently reading “Barrel Fever.”

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles notes that you produced the TV series “House” which is set in your hometown, Princeton. She asks: Were you also involved in the writing?

BS: No, the original script which was written by David Shore, was set in Boston. I moved it to Princeton because I didn’t want it to be just a city hospital. I also felt Princeton was a perfect location to have a diversity of patients. 

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

BS: Time moving forward, not backwards. [LOL]

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

BS: I don’t cook, but I love eating sushi.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

BS: Eternal good health.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

BS: My father reading a storybook to me at about the age of 2. It had a fly on every page, and whenever we saw the fly, we’d fall back on the bed together and laugh.  

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Bryan, and best of luck with the film.

BS: Sure thing, Kam, and if you see my mom in town, tell her I said “Hi.”  

 

KW: Will do!

BS: Thanks!

To see a trailer for Jack the Giant Slayer, visit   


Interviews
UserpicHaley Strode (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
11.02.2013

Haley Strode

The “Wendell & Vinnie” Interview

with Kam Williams

 

Establishing Rapport with “The Girl Next-Door”

Haley Strode has proven her skills on both screen and stage, effortlessly executing dramatic and comedic roles for which she has received significant praise. With charm, sharp intelligence and a vibrant personality, Haley is a multitalented actress who has showcased her talent across the board.

She was last seen onscreen co-starring as Marcia Keeler in Gangster Squad where she shared the screen with Josh Brolin, Giovanni Ribisi, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn and Emma Stone. And her impressive list of television appearances includes a recurring role on Important Things with Demetri Martin as well as guest appearances on Mind of Mencia, Lewis Black’s: Root of All Evil, Pack of Wolves, CSI: NY, Castle, Whitney, Vegas, L.A. Noir and The New Normal.

Bringing her charisma to the theatre stage, Haley received rave reviews for her performance in the Katselas Theatre Company’s production of Le Ronde de Lunch. The comedy, written by Peter Lefcourt, was awarded Stage Scene L.A.’s Best Production for 2009-2010. Her previous theatre credits include Oxford Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night as Viola, A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Hippolyta, Othello as Desdemona, Romeo and Juliet as Juliet, A Streetcar Named Desire as Stella, Noises Off! as Brooke, and The Importance of Being Earnest as Cecily.

Here, Haley talks about her new sitcom, Wendell & Vinnie where she plays a next-door neighbor named Taryn opposite Jerry Trainor and Buddy Handleson. The show is set to premiere on Nick at Nite on Saturday, February 16 at 8 PM ET/PT. (Check local listings)  

 

Kam Williams: Hi, Haley, thanks for the time.

Haley Strode: Of course, Kam!

KW: What interested you in Wendell & Vinnie?

HS: Taryn is the kind of role I've always wanted to play: the eternal optimist, sweet and thoughtful, but fiery when she needs to be. She's got it all, and then some. I was enamored, and after reading the entire script, I fell in love. It's classic sitcom through and through. One thing I absolutely loved about the show from the beginning was that not only are the characters hilarious, but they’re also incredibly relatable. When a poignant moment unfolds, as it does in every episode thus far, it has the ability to pull on your heartstrings. It'll make you laugh and cry, and it's one of that kind of show that I love and grew up watching, like Cheers, Friends, and Frasier. A lot of our writers actually worked on and have won Emmys on those shows.

KW: Tell me a little about the sitcom?

HS: The show revolves around a 30 year-old man-child, Vinnie Basset [played by Jerry Trainor], who is living the bachelor’s life in L.A., when he suddenly becomes the prime caretaker of his bookworm, brainiac nephew, Wendell [played by Buddy Handleson]. The two form a sort of odd couple duo, being that Wendell, on many occasions, can be more discerning and responsible than his uncle. And with the help of their next-door neighbor my character, Taryn, and Vinnie's sister, Wilma [played by Nicole Sullivan], a support unit is formed to help raise Wendell… and sometimes Vinnie. [Laughs]

KW: How would you describe your character, Taryn?

HS: As I said, Taryn is the kind of girl that has it all. She's the quintessential “Girl Next-Door.” In the pilot episode, we see her struggling with a new town and existence really, because she's newly divorced. There's definitely a vulnerability there, mixed with the fire she possesses to turn down Vinnie's advances from the beginning. But once she meets Wendell, and sees how much Vinnie loves his nephew and wants to be a good parent, the side of her that wears her heart on her sleeve becomes intertwined in the family unit.

KW: What message do you think the show is trying to deliver?

HS: I think ultimately the message is that no matter what life throws at us, no matter what our circumstances are, surrounding ourselves with people who love and support us is the key to leading a happy and fulfilled life. Family doesn’t have to be conventional; it just has to have love and laughter at its core.

KW: You recently played a serious role in Gangster Squad where your husband [Giovanni Ribisi] dies, leaving you a single-mom. Which do you prefer, drama or comedy?

HS: This is a great question, I'm asked this a lot. While I love working on dramatic characters and stories, it's comedy that I love the most. For me, it's incredibly rewarding to make a person laugh. Laughter is one of the greatest parts of life.

KW: What was it like working with such an accomplished cast that included not only Giovanni Ribisi, but Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, Michael Pena and Robert Patrick?

HS: It was truly an incredible experience. I've been a huge fan of Giovanni's for a long time; he's such a chameleon. It was an honor to work with him, as well as the rest of this stellar cast. Being that it was male dominated, it was often fun feeling like a part of the 'boys club’ that took place on set. Such a talented, fun and luckily for me, welcoming group of men that made the entire experience a memorable one. Our director Ruben Fleischer, was the most welcoming of them all. I can't say enough about how wonderful it was to work with him and watch him work.

KW: What would be your dream role?

HS: I've often tried to imagine my dream role and what that would truly mean. I'm not sure I've reached a clear picture of it yet, but I have always said the reason I wanted to act was ultimately to develop characters that evoke emotion and consequently change lives. So many incredible actors do that for me. It's something I've known about myself for as long as I can remember.

KW: What directors would you like to work with?

HS: Cameron Crowe, Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman, Wes Anderson, Jonathan Dayton, Rob Reiner and many, many more.

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

HS: I wish someone would ask me about my big brothers so I could talk about how proud of them I am and all their accomplishments. My oldest brother owns and operates our family's fifth generation farm alongside my father, and is a member of the Kentucky Agriculture Leadership Development Program. Only 22 are chosen to travel worldwide to study and teach different methods of farming. They'll be heading to Washington, DC in the fall to speak to legislators about how to improve methods of agriculture in our country. My other brother, Matthew, is a general surgeon in Georgia, halfway through his residency and working on research that will hopefully be used to help children with specific deficiencies. This month he'll be presenting a paper he wrote on this at a national surgical conference. My brothers are incredible and I couldn't be more proud of them.

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

HS: Yes, but I always manage to rework my fear into drive.

KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?

HS: Extraordinarily so!

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

HS: Today, on set. There has not been one day I've left without my cheeks and stomach hurting from laughing so hard. It's the greatest workout routine ever.

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

HS: A badass pair of heels, and cookie dough ice cream

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

HS: The last book I read was a reread. Hemingway's “The Sun Also Rises.” It's one of my favorite books, and has one of my favorite characters: Lady Brett Ashley. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743297334/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to?

HS: Cheap and Cheerful from The Kills’ Midnight Boom album. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0012IWHKU/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

HS: I make a mean apple pie and, if I'm feeling really wild, with cheddar cut into the crust.

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

HS: As cheesy and melodramatic as it might sound, it's very simple: Love excites me more than anything… in all its forms.

KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?

HS: I love so many, but my favorites are the classics: Dolce and Gabbana, Chanel, Dior and Chloe.

KW: Dante Lee, author of "Black Business Secrets,” asks: What was the best business decision you ever made, and what was the worst?

HS: The best? Working with my longtime manager, David Rhee. The worst? I've grown from every mistake, so there is no 'worst' decision.

KW: The Michael Ealy question: If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be?

HS: There are many life stories I've heard that are so inspiring, that leave me with such cognizance of myself and the level of work that I want to reach. Mary Cassatt comes to mind as one the most attractive historical figures for a meeting, because her life story, to me, always sounded remarkable in every sense. She overcame the difficulties of having parents that loved her, but did not support her passions. She was a female artist at a time when women were meant to be married, have children and almost forbidden to have a job. She saw her passion clearly, and unapologetically went for it. I love and admire that great amount of gumption that it must have taken. I also read a quote of hers once about how she learned so much from her mentor and, later, best friend, Henry Matisse. She said "I used to go and flatten my nose against that window and absorb all I could of his art." I love this quote because I think this is how every artist feels while pursuing their art. We all want to scour what inspires us, and learn from and build on it.

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

HS: A work in progress

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

HS: That my family and friends would be protected from harm always.

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

HS: My dad coming home from the farm, spinning me around, and dancing with me. It was my favorite time of day.

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, what would you do? Would you do the bad stuff, you never got a chance to do, or would you do good stuff to make sure you make it into heaven?

HS: I'd gather with family and friends to tell stories and laugh over a bottle of my favorite bourbon.

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

HS: I would love be a bunny, but I'm clearly a golden retriever.

KW: The Pastor Alex Kendrick question: When do you feel the most content?

HS: After a live studio audience show. Nothing feels better than working in front of an audience. I grew up in theatre, so it's really my heaven. I feel exhausted from hard work and give myself time to acknowledge what I've done before I move on to the next episode. I think it's important to celebrate the strides we make.

KW: The Toure question: Who is the person who led you to become the person you are today?

HS: My mom

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share?

HS: I would say that all successful people are "fighters." They're passionate and determined. They see not only what they want out of life, but what they were built for, and fight for it.

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

HS: My advice would be to enjoy every moment and to take the time to learn from every mistake.

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

HS: I want to be remembered as a passionate professional and compassionate human being.

KW: Thanks again for the time, Haley, and best of luck with the show.

HS: Thank you so much, Kam!

To see a trailer for Wendell & Vinnie, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc-XQqJJ9CY


Interviews
UserpicBillowy Badinage with a Beautiful Creature!
Posted by Kam Williams
05.02.2013

Viola Davis
The “Beautiful Creatures” Interview
with Kam Williams

Viola Davis is a critically acclaimed actress who garnered her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her stellar work in "Doubt,” co-starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. She received her second Oscar nomination, this time in the category of Best Actress in a Leading Role, for her portrayal of Aibileen, in "The Help," based on Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel. Davis also received a Screen Actor’s Guild Award and an NAACP Image Award for that powerful performance.

Next fall, Viola will be seen in the sci-fi action adventure "Ender's Game" opposite Harrison Ford, as well as in the drama "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby," alongside Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy and William Hurt. And she is currently in production on "Prisoners," starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Her other feature film credits include "Won't Back Down," for which she just won another NAACP Image Award, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock; "It's Kind of a Funny Story," with Emma Roberts, Lauren Graham and Zach Galifianakis; "Eat Pray Love," starring Julia Roberts; "Knight and Day," with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz; "Law Abiding Citizen," with Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler; "Nights in Rodanthe," based on the Nicholas Sparks novel and starring Diane Lane and Richard Gere; "Madea Goes to Jail"; "State of Play"; "Disturbia"; "The Architect"; "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," opposite 50 Cent; "Syriana," starring George Clooney; "Far from Heaven," with Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore; and the Steven Soderbergh-directed films "Solaris," "Traffic" and "Out of Sight."

On the small screen, Viola was most recently seen in a six-episode arc on Showtime's hit series "United States of Tara." Her extensive television credits include roles on "Law & Order: SVU"; "Jesse Stone"; "Life is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story"; "Traveler"; "Century City"; "Lefty"; "City of Angels"; Oprah Winfrey's "Amy and Isabelle"; and Hallmark Hall of Fame's "Grace and Glorie."

A veteran of the stage, in 2010 Viola returned to Broadway in the highly anticipated revival of August Wilson's "Fences," alongside Denzel Washington. Her performance in the 1987 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play earned her a Tony Award, as well as the Drama Critics' Circle Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award. In 2001, she was awarded a Tony for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Tonya in "King Hedley II."


A graduate of The Juilliard School, Davis also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts Degree from her alma mater, Rhode Island College. Here, she talks about her latest outing as Amma in the screen adaptation of the romantic fantasy novel “Beautiful Creatures.”

 

 

Kam Williams: Hi Viola, thanks for another opportunity to interview you.

Viola Davis: Absolutely!

 

KW: Congratulations on winning another NAACP Image Award. I loved your performance in Won’t Back Down.

VD: Thank you very much, Kam.

 

KW: Do you think the movie suffered from political blowback, the way that Zero Dark Thirty has been hurt at the box office because of controversy?

VD: Yeah, I think it definitely suffered from that because we were in an election year and because education is a hotbed issue. And people have strong opinions about public school education, unions, charter schools, and parent-trigger laws. Occasionally, the timing of a movie is just bad and I think, in the case of this movie, it was probably the worst. 

 

KW: What interested you about Beautiful Creatures?

VD: What interested me was that the character wasn’t what she appeared to be. That she had different secrets to be discovered. When you first meet her, she’s kind of just woven into the fabric of this family. But then you see the tribal scarification on her back, and you see her channeling spirits. And then you learn that she’s the keeper of a library that’s the gateway to different worlds. I like that. I like when there are different layers to peel away. It was just subtle enough to play and to craft. That’s what appealed to me about the role.

 

KW: Have you ever made a romantic fantasy before? Is Kate & Leopold the closest you’ve done to something like this?

VD: I didn’t think of Kate & Leopold, but yeah, I guess so. It’s the only other time I’ve tried this genre.

 

KW: In this case, the film is more akin to the Twilight and Harry Potter series. 

VD: I love young adult fantasies. While I say that, I have not seen all of the Twilight and Harry Potter movies. But I’ve read all of the books, and I love them. I love them because I enjoy being transported to a different world and having my imagination challenged. That’s a huge part of what we do as actors. We have to imagine ourselves in a different world. And when you are in a young adult fantasy, it challenges you in the best way.

 

KW: Did you see The Hunger Games? That’s another adaptation of a young adult book that targeted teens and ‘tweeners.

VD: Yes, it was fabulous!

 

KW: Editor/legist Patricia Turnier asks: Among all the characters you played, which one is closest to your personality and why?

VD: You know who? The character I played in Nights in Rodanthe, a movie I did with Diane Lane. Jean was kind of fun, and tough, sarcastic, artistic, creative, quirky and a little sexy. She was probably the closest to the real me. 

 

KW: Patricia also points out that you’ll be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this year. She’d like to know what that means to you.

VD: I keep forgetting about that until someone reminds me again. I kid you not. What does it mean? It’s hard for me to say that I’ve made it, because no real actor feels that way. But it does represent a physical manifestation of my dreams coming to fruition, if that makes any sense.  

 

KW: Professor/curator/author/documentary director Hisani DuBose says:

Please ask this beautiful woman what has been the public’s response to her natural hair? I'm so glad she's working and bringing a different kind of beauty to Hollywood.

VD: The response to my natural hair has been huge, Hisani! And bigger than to anything else. I think people admire the boldness of it, and the courage of it. For me, personally, it represents my coming into who I am, not apologizing for it, and being comfortable with the way I look. I have been amazed by the testimonies coming especially from women of color who have thanked me for it.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says congratulations on your Image Award to add to your Tony Awards and Oscar nominations. She asks: How have these accolades affected your career and the quality of scripts you are offered?

VD: Recognition has brought me more work, because your name suddenly comes to mind when some directors are trying to cast a character. And my stage work has specifically enabled people to have faith that I can handle a role, even when it’s not specifically written for an African-American. So, I’d have to say that recognition brings work. A successful movie brings more work, and that been the biggest blessing. 

 

KW: Harriet was also wondering with so many directors giving some 'classic' films a 'new look,' whether there is a particular role you'd like to reprise either on stage or the big screen?
VD: I would love to star in a remake of Thelma and Louise. Yep, that’s the one I’d be interested in redoing.  

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: I'm grateful to see you receiving rewards after putting in so much work into perfecting your craft. I wish you continued success with your career and lovely family, and I’m proud that you represent an example of a sister of worth. She asks: Do you have any personal charity benefitting your hometown of Central Falls, Rhode Island?
VD: Definitely! I’m very committed to its educational institutions, including my alma mater Central Falls High School’s drama program, because I know that’s what got me my start. I do everything I can to keep it alive since it made me feel like I had something to give to the world. I also support the Segue Institute for Learning, a charter school in Central Falls run by a friend of mine that my niece attends. I’m committed to that because of its proven results. They have the highest math scores of any charter school in Rhode Island.

 

KW: Marcia has a follow-up question. Are you concerned about art programs being removed from so many public school systems?

VD: I’m very concerned. I do as much as I can in my community. I’ve gone back to do fundraisers and to offer my services. My sister started a thespian society that my husband [actor Julius Tennon] and I have done workshops with in Central Falls. 

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

VD: That’s a hard one. But I would have to say I can make a great big mac and cheese.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

VD: Lately, my daughter. I get so excited when she says something new, which she is doing every day. I can leave the house for a few hours, come back and meet a totally different person. That’s very exciting to me.

 

KW: Would you mind giving me a Viola Davis question?

VD: Okay. Let’s see… Who do you really believe you are when you go home as opposed to the person you pretend to be on the red carpet?

 

KW: That’s a great question. Thanks. So, who do you really believe you are when you go home as opposed to the person you pretend to be on the red carpet?

VD: When I go home, I am a slug. I want to do everything completely opposite of what I do on the red carpet. [LOL] I like to take off all my makeup, put on a t-shirt, be completely unassuming and just do stuff with my husband and my daughter.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Viola, and best of luck with Beautiful Creatures.

VD: Thanks, Kam.

To see a trailer for Beautiful Creatures, visit


Interviews
UserpicStill Sly after All These Years
Posted by Kam Williams
29.01.2013

Sly Stallone
The “Bullet to the Head” Interview
with Kam Williams

Sylvester Stallone has been known worldwide as a true screen legend since creating the title role in the seminal 1976 Oscar-winning Best Picture “Rocky,” for which he also wrote the screenplay. Over the course of his long career, he has been recognized for his work as an actor, writer and director.

A cultural phenomenon, “Rocky” grew into a six-film franchise, successfully spanning four decades. He wrote, directed and starred in “Rocky II, III and IV,” and wrote and starred in “Rocky V.” Stallone brought the character’s story to a close in 2006 with the critical and box office hit “Rocky Balboa,” which he also wrote and directed. That year, to commemorate one of the most iconic scenes in motion picture history, a bronze statue of Rocky Balboa was placed at the foot of the now-famous steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum—called the “Rocky steps”—at a dedication ceremony presided over by the mayor.

Beginning with the 1982 blockbuster “First Blood,” Stallone has also embodied another indelible character: John Rambo. Following that film, for which he also wrote the screenplay, he wrote and starred in “Rambo: First Blood Part II” and “Rambo III.” In 2008, he directed, wrote and starred in “Rambo,” which continued the saga of the scarred Vietnam vet more than 25 years after his screen introduction.

Stallone more recently wrote and directed perhaps his most ambitious project to date, the action thriller “The Expendables,” in which he also led an all-star cast, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren. The film opened at number one in August 2010, making Stallone the only actor to open a film at number one in five consecutive decades. In 2012, he co-wrote and starred in “The Expendables 2,” which reunited the cast, this time under the direction of Simon West.

Upcoming, Stallone is set to star with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the action thriller “The Tomb,” and then stars opposite Robert De Niro in “Grudge Match.” In addition, he wrote and is producing “Homefront,” directed by Gary Fleder and starring Jason Statham and James Franco.

Born in New York City, Stallone attended school in suburban Philadelphia, where he first started acting and also became a star football player. He then spent two years instructing at the American College of Switzerland in Geneva. Returning to the United States, he enrolled as a drama major at the University of Miami and also began to write.

But Stallone left college to pursue an acting career in New York City where the jobs did not come easily. During this period, he turned more and more to writing, churning out screenplays while waiting for his acting break. The opportunity came in 1974 when he was cast as one of the leads in “The Lords of Flatbush.”

With the money earned from the film, Stallone moved to Hollywood, where he landed a few small roles in television and movies. He also continued to pursue writing. Fighter Rocky Balboa was born in a script Stallone wrote in longhand. Several producers offered to buy the screenplay, but wanted to cast a name star in the title role. Despite being nearly broke, he held fast in his determination to play the part, and his perseverance was finally rewarded and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Kam Williams: Hey, Mr. Stallone. I’m so honored to be speaking with you.

Sly Stallone: Thank you very much.

 

KW: Thanks for the opportunity.

SS: Sure, Kam.

 

KW: I asked my readers if they had any questions for you. I won’t be able to get to them all but I must say that I was very impressed with the uniform reverence they have for you.

SS: That’s great. Thank you.

 

KW: Let me start by asking what interested you in Bullet to the Head?

SS: Well, I liked the idea of a very simple story with a dark morality. There’s  humor in that later on, but you start with the basic idea that you have two total opposites having to work together for a common cause who you know are going to have to take each other out at the very end, at least that was the original premise. I also really liked the idea of doing it with Walter Hill after the first director bowed out. That made the project especially enticing.

 

KW: Was that because of his track record with unlikely-buddy flicks like Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte in 48 Hours?

SS: Yes, and also because he’s kind of gone down the same path as I did. There was a period when I was pretty much untouchable for about 8 or 9 years until I got a big break with Joe Roth when he helped produce Rocky Balboa. That was a big, big, long shot. Everybody thought it was a joke, but it worked. [Chuckles] I think there’s a lot of music left to play in a lot of these old instruments. And I felt that Walter Hill is a pro at this genre, yet he’s not getting the opportunity. So, when I saw the opportunity present itself, I decided, “If he does the movie, I’ll do it.” And it worked out that way. 

 

KW: Documentary director Kevin Williams says: Your sticking to your guns when you wrote and then wanted to star in Rocky inspired me to do the same when many told me I couldn't make my documentary film, "Fear Of A Black Republican." As a matter of fact, I thank you for your great inspiration in my film’s credits. Do you have any idea how many filmmakers and actors you have inspired and does that experience with making Rocky still come into play for you today? 

SS: Actually I don’t, Kevin, but I’m very flattered whenever I hear stories like this, or about a student who has written a graduate thesis on Rocky or Rambo. I’m always surprised to see that the films had that kind of impact. Having that sort of faith in something that only you truly understand and believe in is still prevalent today. If I just know in my gut that a film is going to work, I’ll fight to the death over it, and I convince myself. When a movie is purely a money job, the film doesn’t have the same sort of intensity, and the audience almost senses it, at least that’s the way I perceive it. So, yeah, the idea is to do something that you truly, truly believe in. I understand that a lot of other actors don’t have a choice. They have to eat so they need to work and they’ll do films that they’re not so proud of. But I’ve been fortunate enough to be given a second wind, so I try to pick projects I know will provide the audience the kind of escapism they want from me.    

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: How did you develop your character, Jimmy Bobo?

SS: I decided to approach it this way. I, Sylvester Stallone, am really not much like Rocky. Rocky is a much more ethical, moral person than I am. [Chuckles] He’s really a great guy. And Rambo is a much darker person than I am, and much more reserved and withdrawn. I thought, let me try something different. What if I, Sylvester Stallone, were transported into the world of hit men? In other words, what if I were the hit man but just played myself. So, that’s the way I approached this character. I wanted to be as casual and comfortable with the character as possible. I said, if Sylvester Stallone were a hit man, this is how he would be. So, pretty much what you see up there is Sylvester Stallone as a hit man. Rather than trying to create a character that was different from me, I tried to make the character the same as me, and just add the story. I don’t know if that makes sense to you. It’s like as if you were going to play a hit man and asked me, “What do I do?” And I went, “No, no, you Kam, you just have to play yourself.” It would be your personality, but you would play a hit man. That would be an interesting choice. That’s different. That’s unusual. So, this was the first time I’ve ever said, “Let me just be myself, but pretend I’m a hit man.”

 

KW: Larry also asks: How did you go about create the father-daughter dynamic with Lisa [played by Sarah Shahi]?

SS: Having children, they tend to be very angry, if you’re not there growing up. Of course, he was never there for her growing up, and she has done everything that’s rebellious. So, I tried to think how I would approach that in my own life. I decided that he would be a little remorseful, but he’d have a little resentment because she’d ask for a favor every time he came to see her. When she decided to be a tattoo artist and to cover herself in tattoos that weren’t exactly the most flattering, I realized she was doing it out of spite and for attention, and as a way of getting back at me. So, there are all sorts of possible approaches to developing that kind of relationship. 

 

KW: Is there a message you want people to take away from the film?

SS: That a tiger never really changes his stripes and that Jimmy Bobo is what he is, without regret. But he’s not an amoral person, since he only takes out, as he puts it, “the hard to get at stains.” That his job. He takes out the trash. In effect, he’s doing a service. He’s a people person. He removes the bad people.

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: I've been a fan of yours since Rocky. I was particularly blown away by your outstanding performance in Copland. My question is: Have you considered getting into the fitness industry and opening a chain of gyms?  

SS: [Laughs] I thought about that for a long time, Marcia, but it’s such a competitive business. I tried a line of vitamins once, but that didn’t go over well, because I didn’t realize how hard and time-consuming it was. So, I decided to leave it to the people who are truly dedicated to that 24 hours a day.   

 

KW: Are you still an art collector?

SS: Yes, an avid art collector. [Chuckles] In fact, every day, I’ll read a chapter of some art book. I don’t know why. It’s just a habit.

 

KW: Film student Jamaal Green asks who is your favorite director and how has he or she influenced your work?

SS: Hmm… It’s not a modern director. To me, the greatest director ever was Elia Kazan whom many of your readers probably never even heard of. But he did On the Waterfront with Brando, and he did East of Eden. He made some truly epic, monumental films, when no one else was really doing it. His contemporaries were making relatively lighthearted movies. I’d say he was far and away the best. Everyone today is pretty well much derivative of Kazan. So, to me, he was the real master.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I am a fan of your work since childhood. Being versatile and taking control of your career in show business surely helped you succeed and achieve longevity. What advice do you have for aspiring actors who want to follow in your footsteps? 

SS: In this day and age, if you’re aspiring to be an actor, and you’re putting all your eggs in one basket, you could be disappointed. I started out as an actor, but I forced myself to be a writer, even though I wasn’t very good at it and had never written. I don’t think I ever passed an English course in my life. My first 8 to 10 scripts were pretty horrendous, but I stayed at it, stayed at it, and stayed at it, until I eventually found a voice and a subject like Rocky that people were interested in. So, I recommend that you go out and try to be as versatile as possible: writer, actor, producer and especially director. Look at Ben Affleck. He’s literally had a career reversal. I tell so many young actors that if I hadn’t written, directed and acted, I’d have been long gone. I would not have made it out of the Nineties.   

 

KW: Patricia also asks: Are you interested in writing a memoir which gives us more of look into your life than Sly Moves did?

SS: [LOL] I don’t know. It all depends on how deeply I’d have to delve into it. I’d be willing to do it, if I only had to write about what inspires and motivates me. But I couldn’t go into the personal aspects of my family, because I’m way too private. But my career, absolutely.

 

KW: Kate Newell asks: Would you ever consider running for public office?

SS: No, I talked to Arnold [Schwarzenegger] about running for office, and he said he loved it. But he is also much more of a people person. You have to have an almost boundless reservoir of energy and interest to enter politics because quite often it’s thankless and fruitless and you can’t accomplish much. But he loved it. I don’t have that. I’m much more of an introvert.    

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How much of an offer they couldn't refuse did you make to assemble the cast of matinee idols, not once, but twice, for The Expendables?

SS: [LOL] This was an idea I got thinking about how there’s strength in numbers. I would always see these Rock & Roll revivals comprised of 25 different bands that had once been very famous, but weren’t anymore. However, the name value was still there. I said to myself, “Why don’t I do this with actors?” Every one of these guys had had phenomenal careers but had fallen on hard times, including myself. I thought that together this might generate the same sort of interest that fans have when they go to see a Rock & Roll revival. Instead, they’d be going to see a revival of action stars. I didn’t know if it was going to work, but I thought of it as an experiment. And since I had known them for years, I could call on favors, and all of them could trust me that I wasn’t going to embarrass them. And that’s how I was able to make it happen, Harriet.   

 

KW: Thanks for a great interview, Mr. Stallone, and best of luck with the film.

SS: Thank you, Kam. I appreciate it. Bye.

 

To see a trailer for Bullet to the Head, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzcvSoCqq1w  


Interviews
UserpicParanormal Marlon
Posted by Kam Williams
13.01.2013

Marlon Wayans
“A Haunted House” Interview
with Kam Williams

 

Multi-talented Marlon Wayans graduated from the prestigious High School of Performing Arts in New York and Howard University’s Film School. He is best known for getting his start in Hollywood as a cast member of the Emmy Award-winning comedy series, In Living Color. Marlon then went on to create executive produce and star in The Wayans Bros on the WB.

Together with brothers, Keenen and Shawn Wayans, and producer Rick Alvarez, he formed the successful production company, Wayans Brothers Entertainment. Some of his noteworthy credits include: The Ladykillers, directed by the Coen Brothers; the record breaking Scary Movie and Scary Movie 2, Little Man, White Chicks, Norbit, Behind the Smile and Dance Flick.

Marlon’s compelling dramatic performance as a drug addict in Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream proved he could do more than comedy. Most recently, Marlon was seen starring opposite Channing Tatum in the box-office smash, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Projects in development include: Super Bad James Dynomite, based on his comic book series of the same name, Pretty Ugly, The Year of Living Biblically, and an animated series for TBS entitled The Black Family.

Next, he will be seen playing the title role in Sony Pictures, Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? Marlon will also star in the upcoming Harmony Korine film Twinkle, Twinkle.

Marlon continues to publish books under the 101 Ways title including 101 Ways to Know You're a Golddigger, 101 Ways You Know It's Time to Get Out Of Your Mama's House and 101 Ways to Know You’re Having a Ghetto Christmas as well as the children’s series Boo Crew which stemmed from the animated series the Wayans’ created for Nickelodeon.

Here, he talks about his latest film, A Haunted House, a spoof of the Paranormal Activity franchise.  

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
Userpic Quintessential Quentin
Posted by Kam Williams
24.12.2012

Quentin Tarantino
The "Django Unchained" Interview
with Kam Williams


With a vibrant imagination and dedication to rich, layered storytelling, Quentin Tarantino has established himself as one of the most celebrated filmmakers of his generation. His World War II epic, "Inglorious Basterds," was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Achievement in Directing, and landed an Oscar for Christoph Waltz for his memorable portrayal of Colonel Hans Landa. .

Prior to "Inglorious Basterds," Tarantino thrilled audiences with "Death Proof," starring Kurt Russell and Zoë Bell. In "Kill Bill Vol. 1″ and "Kill Bill Vol. 2," Uma Thurman, as "The Bride," enacted a "roaring rampage of revenge" on her former lover and boss, played by David Carradine.

Quentin wrote and directed "Jackie Brown," a crime caper starring Pam Grier in the title role. Loosely based on Elmore Leonard's novel "Rum Punch," the picture netted Robert Forster an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Tarantino co-wrote, directed and starred in "Pulp Fiction" which won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. He wrote, directed and starred in "Reservoir Dogs," which marked the beginning of his career and made an auspicious debut at the Sundance Film Festival.

Here, he talks about his new movie, Django Unchained, a Western featuring Jamie Foxx in the title role as a slave-turned-bounty hunter, and co-starring Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kerry Washington.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Quentin, thanks for the interview.

Quentin Tarantino: Oh, it's my pleasure, Kam.

 

KW: The last time we spoke, the conversation went so well, the interview is going to be published in the new edition of Quentin Tarantino Interviews.

QT: Oh yeah! Edited by Gerald Peary! Volume 2. Cool!

 

KW: Let me start with a question from Larry Greenberg, a reader who also sent in a question for that interview: He says: When I got to ask Mr. Tarantino a question about Inglorious Basterds his answer changed my life and inspired me to go into filmmaking. It gave me permission to pursue my dream. If that had not happened, I doubt that I would be sitting here today with a script and an insane deadline. It was a key turning point in my life. This time, I'd like to know how you came up with the characters Django and Dr. Schultz [played by Christoph Waltz] and how did you dream up their relationship?

QT: Wow, Larry! That's great! As for the scriptwriting process, it was kind of funny. I always knew I wanted to do a Western. And trying to think of what that would be, I always figured that if I did a Western, it would have a lot of the aesthetics of Spaghetti Westerns, because I really like them. They're really brutal and operatic with a surreal quality to the violence. So, about eight years ago, I came up with the idea of a black man who was an ex-slave who had become a bounty hunter. And his job would be to track down white outlaws who were hiding out as overseers on Southern plantations. Now, that's not a story; that's just an idea. That was kicking around in the incubator for about eight years, waiting for its time. At the same time, I was writing a film criticism book on Sergio Corbucci, the director who did the original Django. So, I was kind of getting immersed in his world. Towards the end of the Inglourious Basterds press tour I was in Japan. Spaghetti Westerns are really popular there, so I picked up a bunch of soundtracks and spent my day off listening to all these scores. And all of a sudden the opening scene just came to me. It just came to me, and I knew I had to sit down and write it, even though I didn't even have my notepad with me. So, I was just writing it on the hotel stationery. During those previous eight years, I never had a German, dentist bounty hunter in mind for the character. [Chuckles] But during that time, I did get to direct Christoph Waltz who was one of the best actors I'd ever worked with. Nobody does my dialogue better than he and Sam Jackson do. They just sing it! And now I think it's going to be hard for me not to write for him. Anyway, I just started writing that scene, and this German bounty hunter shows up.


KW: What was the most challenging aspect of writing the script? Addressing racial issues? Historical accuracy? Did you feel any pressure to conform to political-correctness, or did you feel free to take poetic license, given the glowing reception of audiences to Hitler's dying in a movie theater in Inglorious Basterds?

QT: I felt no obligation to bow to any 21st Century political correctness. What I did feel an obligation to do was to take the 21st Century viewers and physically transport them back to the ante bellum South in 1858, in Mississippi, and have them look at America for what it was back then. And I wanted it to be shocking.

 

KW: Have you seen the film yet with a black audience?

QT: Yes I have!

 

KW: And what was their reaction? I know how an all-black audience feels comfortable enough to talk back to the screen and let you know exactly how they feel about what's happening.

QT: [Laughs] Let's put it like this: We screened it for heavily-black audiences quite a few times, where the audience was between 40 and 60 percent black. That's pretty black. We also screened it for a 100 percent black audience, and you would've thought it was 1973 and they were watching the end of Coffy [A blaxploitation era flick starring Pam Grier]. It's funny because I was sitting next to [executive producer] Harvey Weinstein and he turns to me and says, "I guess we know who we made this movie for." [LOL] But the film really has a lot of ups and downs, and taps into a lot of different emotions. To me, the trick was balancing all those emotions, so that I could get you where I wanted you to be by the very end. I wanted the audience cheering in triumph at the end. So, as rough as some of the things I show in the movie are, they couldn't be so rough that you're too traumatized to enjoy the movie any longer.

 

KW: Gil Cretney doesn't have a question, but he just wants to say thanks for not filming the movie in 3-D.

QT: [LOL] You're welcome, Gil!

 

KW: Irene Smalls: Why this film? Why now, in the Obama era?

QT: [Chuckles] I would've written this story if Obama were president or if he never existed. For one, I think it's time to tell a story that deals with this subject America has avoided for so long. Most countries have been forced to deal with the atrocities of their past that still affect them to this day. But America has been pretty slippery in the way that it has avoided looking slavery in the eye. I believe that's a problem. We should be talking about it to get past it and to get over it. Not only that, frankly, this is an American story that needs to be told, when you think of slavery existing in this country for 245 years. In slave narratives there were all types of tales and drama and heroism and pain and love that happened during that time. That's rich material for drama! Everyone complains that there are no new stories left to tell. Not true, there are a whole bunch of them, and they're all American with a capital A.

 

KW: Why do you think you're the first director to confront slavery in such a frank fashion?

QT: I hate to sound full of myself but maybe I just have the shoulders.

 

KW: Nick Antoine says: Westerns seem to have fallen out of favor in recent years. Even Rian Johnson's Looper, which was sort of a subtle homage to the genre, didn't enjoy as much success as I think it deserved. Why do you think Westerns are so unpopular? I think Westerns are the best!

QT: If you ask me, I'd say Westerns have been doing really well. True Grit did great, and 3:10 to Yuma did pretty well, too. I actually think there's something else going on. There was that last blast of Westerns that came out in the Seventies, those Vietnam/Watergate Westerns where everything was about demystification. And I like that about those movies. And there's another aspect about the Seventies. Blazing Saddles, as wonderful as it was, sort of hurt the Western. It made such fun of them, that you almost couldn't take them seriously from that point on. That's why only Westerns that had the stink of Watergate or Vietnam could be taken seriously. There were so few Westerns made since then, from the Eighties on, that the few directors who did were so pleased with themselves and so happy to have the opportunity that they got lost in visuals, they got lost in the vistas and the pretty scenery. Suddenly, Westerns, which were our action films and what the working man went to see to blow off steam and have a good time, became boring to most people growing up from the Eighties on, because they're kind of pastoral.

 

KW: Interesting. I never thought of them that way. Film student Jamaal Green asks: What are your three favorite Shaw Brothers films?

QT: Great question, Jamaal! My three favorite Shaw brothers films would be The Avenging Eagle directed by Chung Sun, King Boxer, AKA Five Fingers of Death, and the last would have to be one by Chang Cheh. So, I'm going to go with Five Element Ninja, AKA Chinese Super Ninjas.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles: What would you say were the most essential components in a script you consider working on?

QT: That's kind of a tough question. Well, maybe not. The dialogue. But the dialogue and the characters would be wrapped up in each other, because if I'm doing my job right, then I'm not writing the dialogue; the characters are saying the dialogue, and I'm just jotting it down. So, it's all about me getting into the heads of the characters. I prop them up a little bit, and then they take over from there.

 

KW: Since you're also the director, do you ever have trouble adapting your vision to the screen?

QT: Sometimes. But usually the process is that it gets better, because when I'm writing in my bedroom, in a bar, at my kitchen table or wherever, I'm conjuring it all up on the page. That's all well and good, but it is going to be a limited perspective at that point and time. Occasionally, what I write might read really well initially, but then you change your mind while hunting for locations when you discover settings which offer even better opportunities for drama or dramatic staging.

 

KW: Keith Kremer asks: How do you feel about the end of the year award season? Is it too much? Are you honored when recognized or do you not even care?

QT: [Laughs] For some reason, everyone thinks I'm always too cool for school when it comes to competing for trophies. But I worked extremely hard on this movie all year long, so it's really nice to get recognized and be considered one of the best in the end. And it's nice to get invited to the parties and to be able to hobnob and celebrate a job well done with your colleagues. However, I have it all in perspective. If the film is nominated for awards, and even if it wins them, it doesn't make the movie any better, just as if it's ignored that doesn't make the movie any worse. A lot of the movies I love didn't get nominated the years they came out. The Wild Bunch didn't win best picture in 1969, Oliver did. [Laughs]

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

QT: So far, I see a happy guy doing what I'm supposed to be doing. So far, so good.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

QT: Frankly, my earliest childhood memories are of watching Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. I remember not liking Frankenstein then and going, "Who is this bald guy?" But I love it now.


KW: Well, thanks again for the honor, Quentin, and best of luck with the film.

QT: I always look forward to talking to you, Kam. Good talking to you.

To see a trailer for Django Unchained, visit


Interviews
UserpicJamie Unchained
Posted by Kam Williams
17.12.2012

Jamie Foxx
The "Django Unchained" Interview
with Kam Williams

Academy Award-winning actor, talented Grammy Award-winning musical artist and comedian Jamie Foxx is one of Hollywood's rare, elite multi-faceted performers. He was last seen in Horrible Bosses and also recently lent his vocal talents to the popular animated adventure RIO, as a canary named 'Nico.'

Meanwhile, Jamie recently executive produced a sketch comedy series called "In the Flow with Affion Crockett" as well as "Thunder Soul," a documentary chronicling the achievements of Houston's Kashmere High School Stage Band.

In addition to his outstanding work in film, Foxx has enjoyed a thriving career in music. In December 2010, he released his fourth album, "Best Night of My Life," featuring Drake, Justin Timberlake, Rick Ross, T.I., and other artists. In January 2010, Foxx and T-Pain's record breaking #1 song "Blame It" off of his previous album, "Intuition," won "Best R&B performance by a duo/group with vocals" at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

In 2010, Foxx delivered a hilarious cameo appearance in "Due Date," and appeared in the hit romantic comedy "Valentine's Day." The year before, he starred opposite Gerard Butler in Overture Films' dramatic thriller Law Abiding Citizen.

Jamie demonstrated his affinity and respect for fictional portrayals with The Soloist in which he played Nathaniel Anthony Ayer, a real-life musical prodigy who developed schizophrenia and dropped out of Julliard, becoming a homeless musician who wonders the streets of Los Angeles. Prior to that, he played the leader of a counter-terrorist team in The Kingdom.

In December 2006, Foxx was seen in the critically acclaimed screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, Dreamgirls. That came on the heels of his Best Actor Academy Award-winning performance as the legendary Ray Charles in Ray.

His big-screen break came back in 1999 when Oliver Stone cast him as star quarterback Willie Beamen in Any Given Sunday. The versatile thespian's additional film credits include Ali, Miami Vice, Jarhead, Stealth, Bait, Booty Call, The Truth about Cats and Dogs, The Great White Hype, and an Oscar-nominated supporting role in Collateral.

Jamie first rose to fame as a comedian, from which he initiated a potent career trajectory of ambitious projects. After spending time on the comedy circuit, he joined Keenan Ivory Wayans, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans and Tommy Davidson in the landmark Fox sketch comedy series, "In Living Color," creating some of the show's funniest and most memorable moments. In 1996, he launched his own series, "The Jamie Foxx Show," on the WB Network.

Here, he talks about playing the title role of slave-turned-bounty hunter Django opposite Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington and Leonardo DiCaprio in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.


Kam Williams: Hi Jamie, thanks so much for the time. I'm honored to have another opportunity to interview you.

Jamie Foxx: [Playfully clears his throat, before answering in a very refined tone] Why thank you. [Chuckles. Then, speaks in his normal voice] What's happening with it, Kam?

 

KW: I suppose I should start by asking if you'd like to comment on the recent shootings in Connecticut?

JF: I got two daughters, man, and all I want people to do is to mourn the loss of these precious kids and their teachers and to pray that their families heal.

 

KW: What interested you in Django Unchained?

JF: Quentin Tarantino... Leonardo DiCaprio... Samuel L. Jackson... Christoph Waltz... Kerry Washington... Oh, man! It was like an all-star team. What's funny is that I didn't know anything about Django, and I was hearing all this buzz and then I saw online how the biggest actor in the world, Will Smith, was going to work with Quentin Tarantino. And I was like, "Damn! There's another project I didn't know nothing about." But luckily, I somehow got a chance to meet Quentin and read the script which I thought was brilliant. Next thing you know, I was in a room talking with him about trying to make it happen.

 

KW: Did you have any reservations?

JF: I didn't have a knee-jerk reaction like some people did to the language and the violence. My stepfather was a history teacher at Lincoln High School in Dallas. So, I was already familiar with the N-word and the brutality of slavery. What I was drawn to was the love story between Django and Broomhilda and how he defends and gets the girl in the end. I thought it was just an amazing and courageous project.

 

KW: Children's book author Irene Smalls says: In this film you turn the docile stupid black man myth on its head. You also portray the enduring love of a black man for his woman.

JF: Most definitely! When you see the slave who's been chained and whipped with no way out, and he finally catches up to this, some people call that revenge. But I say, "No, it's righting a wrong at that time." You've been wronged for so long, and here's your karma personified, standing in this funny blue suit. And on the end of that suit is your maker. You've never seen that in a movie before, at least not when it comes to slavery. Ordinarily, when the slave gets a chance to hold the whip or the gun, they start singing a hymn or doing the speech about "If I do this, I'll be as bad as you." We come out with a mix-tape, and that's it. But with Quentin Tarantino, it's just like a regular Western. The bad guy has to pay, and the good guy gets his woman.

 

KW: Have you seen the film with a black audience? Were people talking back at the screen?

JF: Yeah, they were yelling like crazy.

 

KW: Irene also says: In both your stage name and your career choices you've paid homage to great black artists who have come before you. Is this film another acknowledgement of that legacy?

JF: Absolutely! I know this might sound strange, but some of the people I actually studied for this film were a little more contemporary. Of course, I started with the original film Django and Clint Eastwood's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but I also watched Wesley Snipes in New Jack City, and Denzel Washington in Glory and A Soldier's Story. Those performances moved me in a way that I cannot explain. So, you're seeing me tip my hat to those guys in this film.

 

KW: Film student Jamaal Green says: Jamie, you are such a talent in so many areas, it seems like there isn't anything you can't do. Is there any chance that directing will be something you may try next?

JF: We're doing a directing thing with Canon and Ron Howard, a special where we have people send in pictures. I would also like to direct some comedies with people like Chris Tucker, Kevin Hart and Mike Epps, and go to work with them on some fun stuff.

 

KW: Nick Antoine was wondering whether you're ever going to get around to doing Skank Robbers, that long-rumored film based on the characters Wanda and Sheneneh that you and Martin Lawrence played on In Living Color?

JF: No, that's not going to happen.

 

KW: This question is from your co-star Kerry Washington: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

JF: Wow! If I were an animal, I would be an eagle.

 

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question: How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

JF: Guys don't adapt as well as women do to getting their heart broken for the first time. It's tragic. I really wanted to be in love, get married, have kids and buy a wood-paneled station wagon for the family. But it didn't work out, and, boy, it wrecked it!

 

KW: Would you mind coming up with a Jamie Foxx question I could ask other celebrities when I interview them?

JF: Hmm... [Thinks] If you only had 24 hours to live, what would you do? Would you do the bad stuff, you never got a chance to do, or would you do good stuff to make sure you make it into heaven?

 

KW: Great question! Thanks! Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: You have so much fun singing. What would be your dream band, if you could select the members from any group?

JF: My dream band? Jesus Christ! I would start with Prince, and then Questlove and Buddy Rich on the drums, Rick James on the bass, and Herbie Hancock on the piano. The horn section would be Miles Davis on lead trumpet, with Wynton and Branford Marsalis. I'd have Santana on lead guitar and Sheila E. doing percussion. My hype man would be Jerome [Benton] from The Time, and my singing group would be New Edition. There it is!

KW: Great band! Thanks again for the time, Jamie, and best of luck with the film.

JF: Thanks, Kam.

To see a trailer for Django Unchained, visit:


Interviews
UserpicPeter Ramsey (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
03.12.2012

Peter Ramsey
The "Rise of the Guardians" Interview
with Kam Williams

The Rise of Ramsey!

Rise of the Guardians is Peter Ramsey's first feature film after directing the hit DreamWorks Animation Halloween special, "Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space." This project followed the feature film, "Monsters vs. Aliens" on which Ramsey served as Head of Story. While at DreamWorks Animation, Ramsey also served as a story artist on "Shrek the Third," and as a story board artist on "Shark Tale."

Before joining DreamWorks Animation in 2004, Ramsey's talent as a storyboard artist was on display while working on a notable number of live action feature films, including "Adaptation," "Minority Report," "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," "Cast Away", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Fight Club," "Godzilla," "Men in Black," "Independence Day," "Batman Forever," "Far and Away," "Backdraft," and "Predator 2" amongst others.

Ramsey's directing skills were also honed early, as he served as Second Unit Director on live action feature films including "Godzilla," "Tank Girl," "Higher Learning," and "Poetic Justice." A lifelong resident of Los Angeles, California, Peter grew-up in Crenshaw, and graduated from Palisades High School before attending UCLA.

Here, he talks about his life and career, and about being the first African-American to direct a full-length, animated feature.


Kam Williams: Hi Peter, thanks for the interview. I'm honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Peter Ramsey: Oh, the pleasure's all mine, Kam. The pleasure's all mine.

 

KW: I really enjoyed Rise of the Guardians. Let me start by asking you what it meant to make history as the first African-American hired by a big studio to direct a full-length, animated feature?

PR: I thought about it a little bit when I first got the job, but then rapidly got lost in the work. It wasn't until later, when my mom and dad read that fact about me in the newspaper, and I saw how it affected them, that it came back to me. Since I talk to a lot of groups at schools, one good thing is that kids can look at me and have direct knowledge of someone who's doing something they might be dreaming of doing themselves.

Read the rest of this story »


Interviews
UserpicOscar-Winning Director Weighs-In on His Latest Picture
Posted by Kam Williams
12.11.2012

Bob Zemeckis
The "Flight" Interview with Kam Williams

Born in Chicago on May 14, 1951, Bob Zemeckis won an Academy Award for Best Director for the hugely successful "Forrest Gump." The film's numerous honors also included Oscars for Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and Best Picture. The Library of Congress recently selected the film to join the esteemed National Film Registry.

Zemeckis re-teamed with Hanks on the contemporary drama "Cast Away," the filming of which was split into two sections, book-ending production on What Lies Beneath. Earlier in his career, Zemeckis co-wrote and directed "Back to the Future," which was the top-grossing release of 1985, and for which Zemeckis landed an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

He then went on to helm "Back to the Future, Part II and Part III," completing one of the most successful film trilogies ever. In addition, he directed and produced "Contact," starring Jodie Foster, based on the best-selling novel by Carl Sagan; and the macabre comedy hit "Death Becomes Her," starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis.

He also wrote and directed the box office smash "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?," cleverly blending live action and animation. And he directed the action-adventure hit "Romancing the Stone," pairing Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.

In March 2001, the USC School of Cinema-Television celebrated the opening of the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts. This state-of-the-art facility is the country's first fully-digital training center, and houses the latest in non-linear production and post-production equipment as well as stages, a 50-seat screening room and a USC student-run television station, Trojan Vision.

Here, he talks about his latest film, Flight, a combination special f/x and legal thriller starring Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, John Goodman and Melissa Leo.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Bob, thanks so much for the interview.

Bob Zemeckis: You bet.

 

KW: I'm honored to have this opportunity to speak with you. I loved the film and found it fascinating. I told my readers I'd be speaking with you, so I'll be mixing my questions in with theirs. What interested you in making Flight?

BZ: I thought it was a wonderful, beautifully-written screenplay with some really interesting, complex characters, including Denzel's, obviously. I found it to be very bold and very courageous.

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Interviews
UserpicA Poetic License to Kill
Posted by Kam Williams
05.11.2012

Daniel Craig
The "Skyfall" Interview with Kam Williams


Born in Chester, England on March 2, 1968, and raised on the Wirral Peninsula outside Liverpool, Daniel Craig has gone from waiting tables as a struggling actor to playing the legendary James Bond. In between, the versatile thespian has tackled a variety of roles, which is reflected in a resume which includes outings in Elizabeth, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Road to Perdition, The Mother, Sylvia, Layer Cake, Fateless, Munich and Infamous prior to his 2006 debut as 007 in Casino Royale.

Since then, the Brit beefcake has also appeared in The Invasion, Defiance, Cowboys & Aliens, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and another Bond flick, The Quantum of Solace. Here, Daniel talks about his third go-round as the secret agent with the proverbial "License to Kill" in Skyfall, a riveting adventure which establishes him as the best 007 since the standard was set by Sean Connery back in the Sixties.

 

Kam Williams: Hey, Daniel. Is that you? I'm surprised, because most celebrities have their publicist place the call and then put them on the line.

Daniel Craig: I can dial the phone myself. Amazing! [Chuckles]

 

KW: We'll, thanks for the interview. I loved Skyfall. How did you enjoy making it?

DC: Immensely! Immensely! It's been the culmination of a lot of effort by many different people. We've been very busy prepping over the entire, four-year hiatus. I won't lie, it was very hard work and sometimes very intense, but with a cast this good and a crew that's just out of this world, it added up to a great, great experience.

 

KW: I told my readers I'd be interviewing you, and they sent in a lot of questions. Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: How is Skyfall different from all the other Bond movies?

DC: I suppose the only way I could say it's different is that it's a modern take. But we've been very careful that, throughout the film, you never forget that you're watching a James Bond movie since that, of course, is what people come to see. And we want you to make all the sort of nods to the past, and to make sure that we not only reintroduce characters that everybody knows by now but also introduce some new ones as well. We had a great story with a unique plot.

 

KW: Children's book author Irene Smalls asks: Do you feel at all intimidated as the face of such an enduring and beloved film franchise?

DC: Well, I don't know about feeling intimidated. But there is a little pressure in the back of your mind when you've been afforded a chance to make a movie of this stature. But it's a good pressure. It spurs people on. I know that Sam [director Sam Mendes] and I were in total agreement that we just wanted to make the best Bond we could, not only because of the 50 year anniversary, but because you don't have a chance to make one very often. So, we had better make a good one.

 

KW: Film student Jamaal Green asks: How did you prepare yourself physically and mentally to play 007 this time around?

DC: I just hit the gym for the physical side of it. I'm training about six months before we start shooting. Three months out I kind of up the rate, and try to get as fit as I can. The mental preparation involves long, long, long discussions with the writers and the directors to make sure we're all on the same page.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: What is the coolest gadget we will get to see you use in the film?

DC: I can't tell you that, Larry. [Chuckles, then pauses to think] The DB5! [The Aston Martin first driven by 007 in Goldfinger] It's still there and it's still one of the best gadgets there ever was.

 

KW: Director Kevin Williams asks: What did you bring to your interpretation of James Bond to make the role your own?

DC: I don't know, just my knowledge of the way I like to act. I've always felt that I could never be as good as the guys who've gone before, or even like them in any way, shape or form, so I have to kind of try to create something. I always had a grand plan that if I ever had the chance to make a few of these that something would emerge, and I'm really sort of pleased with how things have worked out, because it gave us an opportunity to get into Bond's head a little bit.

 

KW: Well, I think you're being extremely modest. Yes, Sean Connery may have set the standard as the originator of the role, but I think you've done a phenomenal job and eclipsed all the other Bonds while making the role your own.

DC: Thanks, Kam.

 

KW: Ilene Proctor says, Daniel. You are such a phenomenally talented actor. What has been your favorite role to date?

DC: Ooh, wow! That's a really hard question to answer. I've loved a lot of what I've done. It's a very difficult question to answer because each individual movie has a very specific memory. I'd have to put James Bond near the top for sure.

 

KW: I've enjoyed the versatility of your work which ranges from a relationship drama like Mother to the historical thriller Munich to the Holocaust drama Defiance. What a mix!

DC: Yeah, I get around.

 

KW: Laz Lyles asks: Do we discover anything new about Bond's mental make-up, motivations or fears in this film?

DC: Without giving anything away, Laz, yes we do.

 

KW: Kate Newell says: I loved your performance with the Queen in the Olympic opening ceremonies. Is she going to be your new Bond girl? Is there any chance of you two working together again?

DC: I shouldn't think so. I believe that was just a one off. [Director] Danny Boyle did such an extraordinary job with it. I was very proud to be part of the opening ceremony and it was an extraordinary opportunity for me to act with the Queen and to go to the palace.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: did you play a role in picking the Bond girls? DC: Oh, no, not really, that's Sam's job, although I certainly encouraged him when I thought he was on the right track.

 

KW: Harriet also asks. Which was your favorite location to shoot on?

DC: I enjoy them all, but London was the best one this time around, because we shot at a number of places there that you don't normally get to shoot. And I think that plays very beautifully in the film.

 

KW: Eddie Von Der Schmidt asks: Have there been moments in your career where you personally doubted the likelihood of breaking through and finding success?

DC: I never really had that in mind. I got rid of my desire to make it a long time ago. I actually have just enjoyed working. I've always felt that when you're only trying to strive to be successful, and you're always worried about the grass being greener somewhere else, then you've failed. I've simply enjoyed the experience of working with people more than anything else, and that's where I've put all my energy. Of course, I had a desire to be successful, too, but when I first started acting, all I wanted to do was pay the rent. I counted achieving that as the biggest success.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

DC: God, no! [LOL]

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

DC: Spaghetti vongole. It's spaghetti with clams in a white wine sauce.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

DC: Me, I see me.

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

DC: To banish hate. That's a bit of a Miss World beauty pageant question, but I really do wish people would stop hating each other.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

DC: Playing in my backyard. At about the age of 3, I would imagine.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share?

DC: The people I admire are the ones who allow the people around them to do their job. The most successful people I've met in my life are the ones who've had the ability to encourage and get the best out of people.

 

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What is your favorite charity?

DC: I have several: Dr. Bernardo's children's charity... a friend of mine runs a charity called Safe Africa, which is dedicated to the eradication of disease and poverty in Africa... another is the RNLI, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, which I try to help out as much as I can... and a few others. But you know what? It may be a cultural thing, but I kind of keep my charity work private, maybe because I'm English. I think it's a private matter. That's the way I grew up.

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Daniel. It's been an honor.

DC: Nice to talk to you, Kam. Bye!

 

To see a trailer for Skyfall, visit


Interviews
UserpicNeal Shapiro (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
20.10.2012

Neal Shapiro

The "WNET/THIRTEEN 50th Anniversary" Interview
with Kam Williams

Big Bird's Boss Shares His Vision for PBS

Neal Shapiro is President and CEO of New York City's WNET, America's flagship public media outlet, bringing quality arts, education and public affairs programming to over 5 million viewers each week. The parent company of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, WNET produces such acclaimed PBS series as Great Performances, American Masters, Nature, Need to Know, Charlie Rose, and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings available on air and online.

Shapiro is an award-winning producer and media executive with a 25-year career spanning print, broadcast, cable and online. At the helm of WNET, Shapiro has revitalized programming, nearly doubled arts and culture programming, placed a new emphasis on local programming and community engagement, set new fundraising records and inaugurated a new, state-of-the-art studio at Lincoln Center.

In addition to WNET's signature national series, Shapiro has overseen the launch of a number of innovative local programs (including American Graduate, MetroFocus, NYC-Arts, Need To Know and Women, War & Peace) which make the most of New York City's rich resources and vibrant community.

Before joining WNET in 2007, Shapiro was President of NBC News, leading its top-rated news programs, including Today, NBC Nightly News and Meet the Press, as well as Dateline NBC. Shapiro was executive producer of Dateline NBC when it was a mainstay of NBC's schedule. And in his 13 years at ABC News, he was a writer and producer for PrimeTime Live and World News Tonight.

Mr. Shapiro has won numerous awards, including 32 Emmys, 31 Edward R. Murrow Awards and 3 Columbia DuPont awards. He serves on the Boards of Tufts University, Gannett Company, the Investigative News Network and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Neal lives in New York City with his wife, ABC News Correspondent Juju Chang, and their three sons.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Neal, thanks for the interview.

Neal Shapiro: My pleasure, Kam.

 

KW: I feel like I already know you from watching you introduce movies every Saturday night.

NS: [Chuckles] I have to admit that of all the things I do that's actually the most fun.

 

KW: What is your favorite genre of film?

NS: Film noir. I'm especially a big fan of Humphrey Bogart.

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Interviews
UserpicAnn Coulter (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
01.10.2012

Ann Coulter

The "Mugged" Interview with Kam Williams

Beware the Coultergeist!

Born in New York City on December 9, 1961, arch-conservative Ann Coulter is the author of eight New York Times bestsellers and of a nationally-syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate. She also serves as the legal correspondent for Human Events and is a frequent guest on such TV shows as The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Sean Hannity, The O'Reilly Factor, The Glen Beck Show and HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher.

The ever-controversial, flame-throwing firebrand has been on the cover of Time Magazine and profiled in publications like TV Guide, the Guardian, the New York Observer, National Journal, Harper's Bazaar, and Elle Magazine, too. In 2001, she was named one of the top 100 Public Intellectuals by federal judge Richard Posner.

A Connecticut native, Coulter graduated with honors from Cornell University and received her J.D. from University of Michigan Law School, where she was an editor of The Michigan Law Review. Here, she talks about her ninth book, Mugged: Racial Demagoguery from the Seventies to Obama.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Ann, thanks for the interview.

Ann Coulter: Thank you, Kam.

 

KW: I'm a fellow Cornellian, but I went there a decade ahead of you.

AC: Wow! It was such a beautiful campus. But were you there during all the turmoil?

 

KW: No, I arrived the year after the famous, black student takeover with guns that made national news. But while I was there, we did have plenty of strikes, takeovers and demonstrations about everything from Apartheid to the War in Vietnam. There was so much chaos on campus it seemed like finals were cancelled every spring semester.

AC: Didn't you people ever learn anything? [Laughs]

 

KW: Rather than reminisce, let me get right to the questions, since my readers sent in more than I could ever get to. Troy Johnson was upset by a quote from your book where you counter Michael Moore's Stupid White Men by asking: "Shall we compare SAT scores, cultural contributions and inventions?" Troy wonders whether you're aware of all the cultural contributions that can be traced back to Africa, including Christianity? And are you aware that blacks tend to outperform whites from similar socioeconomic backgrounds on standardized tests?

AC: Yes, in fact, in an early chapter of Mugged, I rely heavily on Thomas Sowell's magnificent book, Black Rednecks, White Liberals. He points out that blacks in the North perform better, academically, than whites in the South where they did not have much of an emphasis on learning. But please note that I'm not the one making that argument in that section about Michael Moore. And by the way, I'm not a man. White men have done a lot. It's silly to write a book titled, Stupid White Men.

 

KW: Filmmaker Kevin Williams, director of Fear of a Black Republican asks: Why do you think the Republican Party doesn't reach out more to African-Americans on its own terms today? Have you seen the documentary?

AC: No, but I've heard of it.

 

KW: It's excellent. You figure prominently in it. So does Michael Steele. Kevin says he'd like to get you a copy.

AC: Oh, I would love that, and I love Michael Steele.

 

KW: Kevin's basic thesis is that the Republican Party is hurting itself by failing to court the black vote.

AC: Oh, I don't believe that's true at all. Republicans have reached out so much to black Republicans because it's part of our tradition. Blacks have been in this nation longer than most other Americans with the possible exception of WASPs. The first blacks in Congress and the first black Governor were all Republicans. It was Republicans who fought the Civil War over slavery and who introduced the Civil Rights legislation over the next hundred years. So, suggestions to the contrary drive Republicans like me crazy.

 

KW: Marcia Evans says she agrees with your recent comment that the U.S. is only indebted to African-Americans. What prompted that statement?

AC: I was being a little cross with a right-wing black friend for throwing in the Hispanics and the Asians into a Jesse Jackson-type Rainbow Coalition. No! No! Blacks have a special history, since they were enslaved and were here as early as the first Americans. I hate to sound like a liberal but these are facts. That makes blacks a special group and I really don't appreciate all these hangers on coming along. Yes, of course, black Americans are a special group, and I'm disappointed that they're not Republicans, given our traditions. We're not getting much love in return, despite our efforts.

 

KW: Why do you think that's the case?

AC: Part of the reason is that it's really hard to be a black Republican. I see what they go through. It's a good little trick the entire mainstream media has pulled by describing Republicans as "Racist! Racist! Racist!" and then turning around and laughing at us for not having more blacks in our party. That's why I hope a lot of black people will read my book because I think it will change minds.

 

KW: One discussion I found interesting in Mugged was where you point out that Strom Thurmond was the only segregationist U.S. Senator to change his affiliation from Democratic to Republican. I would've guessed that there had been a wholesale flight of Southern conservatives to the Republican Party.

AC: Thurmond's the only segregationist anyone can name. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party had former Klansmen, members of a terrorist group that was lynching and murdering black people. That was an outgrowth of the Democratic Party. FDR put a Klansman [Hugo Black] on the Supreme Court, and Democrat in good standing Bob Byrd [U.S. Senator Robert Byrd] was a recruiter for the Klan.

 

KW: Nonetheless, I still have the sense that most of the Southerners who would've been segregationists in the Fifties and Sixties are now in the Republican camp.

AC: No, that's only because liberals say this over and over and over again to hide the actual history, which is why I go through the specifics on the big segregationists in the United States Senate, the ones who signed the Southern Manifesto and the ones who voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. There's a panoply of issues to consider. These were aggressively-liberal Democrats who loooooooved big government when it came to The New Deal and Great Society programs. The first time they objected to the Federal government doing something was when it came to civil rights legislation. This is in stark contrast to the very few Republicans who voted against the '64 Civil Rights Act.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula Teweles asks: What do you hope will be people's reaction to being "Mugged" by you?

AC: [LOL] I like that! Two reactions. The main point is: don't make the mistake, America, of voting for Barack Obama who, by the way, does not come out of the American black experience and everything white Americans feel guilty about. He's a Hawaiian born in 1961. Weirdly enough, the best thing that ever happened to black people in the last twenty or thirty years was the O.J. verdict because it shut down the white guilt bank. And white guilt has never led to anything good. It's brought us spiraling crime rates, mostly with black victims, and a permanent underclass living in public housing projects. For years, liberals cried that "law and order" and "welfare reform" were racist code words. Yet, when Republicans were finally able to push through tough policies on crime and welfare which they'd supported for decades, they were magnificent successes for the entire country, but especially for black people. Release us, and great things will happen!

 

KW: Yale grad Tommy Russell asks: Are you familiar with Dr. Nina Jablonski and her important work that helps debunk the myth of race? Do you feel it's important to get past the notion of race as something that separates us, and use our understanding of its at times painful history to move forward as a country, civilization and world?

AC: I have not heard of her work, and I have not thought about the issue in those terms, but I would say "Yes!" based on the way it was phrased in the question.

 

KW: Tommy also asks: As a former smoker, do you feel a special kinship with President Obama?

AC: [LOL] Yes, though I think he's a little more uptight than most smokers. We're usually pretty relaxed.

 

KW: Why do you make the point in the book that he might have slave trader ancestors?

AC: Because of all our presidents, Obama is the one most likely to be descended from a slave trader, since Kenya had a major slave-trading port, and the Muslims were heavily involved in the slave trade. Right before The Civil War, only 8% of white people owned slaves. Some plantations would have hundreds and hundreds of slaves, but the vast majority of whites didn't have any.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: When Alan Ball launched the HBO-series True Blood with his pilot "Strange Love" episode, he mentioned right in the script that he wanted the conservative commentator on the show to be as much like Ann Coulter as possible. How did you feel about that and about how you are portrayed, vis-a-vis vampires coming out of the coffin?

AC: I had no idea. I'm not familiar with show. As soon as the subject moves to TV shows and movies, I'm a total failure. And I‘d been paying for all those premium channels for years, but recently cancelled them, since I never watched any of those networks. Now, I may have to get them back. As far as True Blood, I haven't seen my portrayals, but I could guess that I probably wouldn't like ‘em.

 

KW: Richie the intern asks: What did you think of how the cartoon The Boondocks depicted you?

AC: I've at least heard of The Boondocks. But again, I have no idea how that was done. I wouldn't know all that I do about history, if I spent my time watching cartoons and other TV shows. [Chuckles]

 

KW: Richie was also wondering what Christian denomination you are affiliated with.

AC: I don't really talk about it much, but I'm a Presbyterian.

 

KW: Ilene Proctor says: Beware the Coultergeist! She asks: Why did you recently say that civil rights should only be limited to African-Americans?

AC: Because, historically, that's what civil rights were. The Democrats pretended to care about black people for about five minutes to help their electoral process, and then civil rights suddenly became abortion on demand, gay marriage, rights for the homeless, etcetera. Frankly, I'd be a little ticked off if I were black that, after the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, everybody else wants to get to the head of the parade. Well, no! Listen, I like white women. I am a white woman. But we didn't go through slavery and Jim Crow. Knock it off with this stuff!

 

KW: What inspired you to write this book?

AC: I was morose that the Era of Obama has returned us to a period where everything is racist, everyone is walking on eggshells, and you get the moral preening from white liberals who don't actually even know any black people. But, oh, do they love to get on their high horses and accuse Republicans of being racist for opposing very liberal government policies and a very liberal Democratic president. It's an extension of the civil rights label being slapped on gay marriage and abortion. Allow me to be bi-partisan for a moment, and love this moment because it won't last long. In my last chapter, among the public officials I mention who I think are spectacular and unaided by white guilt is the Democratic Mayor Cory Booker of Newark. He was Mau-Maued for not being black enough. He's been like Giuliani in Newark. He's got to become a Republican.

 

KW: Kate Newell asks: Would you consider debating Stephen Colbert ala the upcoming face-off between John Stewart and Bill O'Reilly? What do you think of the use of satire in getting your views across?

AC: Obviously, I'm a fan of satire. I'd debate anyone, but it would have to be the actual person. That would be my only hesitation about debating Colbert. If he were playing a character, it wouldn't really work. But I'd pretty much debate anybody. I prefer to debate smart liberals. I'm not saying this about Stephen Colbert but, unfortunately, the most famous liberals generally aren't the smartest ones. I have a list of the smarter liberals I recommend.

 

KW: Fellow attorney, fellow Cornellian and, in his opinion, fellow fiction writer Peter Brav says: Where do I start? I worked really hard to come up with a question for you, telling myself that your act is just an act, that you might actually help my wheelchair-bound mother across the street and not push her into traffic to help reduce the Medicare deficit, because I don't want to risk Kam's not making it onto your website's short list of seven "Interviewers Who Are Allowed to Interview Ann Again." But I just couldn't.

AC: [LOL] Read the book, Peter! You'll come up with a lot of questions. I don't know why liberals find it comforting to say this is an act. If you like saying that, okay. But it's an act that apparently you can't respond to, and an act that is intellectual and well thought out enough that you don't have a response to, otherwise you would.

 

KW: Peter's wife, Professor Janet Brav says: Since things are not going as well as you might have hoped for Mitt Romney, with the benefit of hindsight, whom would you have preferred to head the Republican ticket this year?

AC: No, it's still Romney. And I don't think things are going that badly. I believe the media's lying. I think it's part of their attempted suppression of the Republican vote to discourage them by announcing that the campaign is over.

 

KW: Marcia Evans also asks: What has been your personal relationship with blacks that qualifies you to write this book about blacks?

AC: Well, Marcia, this is why you should read the book. It is not about black people. It is about white liberals using race and lying about race to wreck the country. By the way, there are many black heroes in this book that you've never heard of before, and it drives me crazy that there aren't any movies made about them.

 

KW: Marcia asks: How do you feel about reparations?

AC: I'm against reparations. At this point, blacks should just be handing money to themselves. But I am an enthusiastic supporter of Professor Henry Louis Gates‘ project to get black people admitted to the Daughters of the American Revolution, of which I am a member. He's done some amazing things with DNA testing and tracing ancestry.

 

KW: Marcia asks: How do you feel about Bob Dylan's recent statement that "America was founded on the backs of slaves" and that the country would be much further along if slavery had been ended peacefully.

AC: That's an interesting point. I was unaware that he'd said that. I'm not sure I disagree with his statement but, unfortunately, it wasn't going to end peacefully. It wasn't going to happen. You could not get Democrats to stop holding slaves, and America had waited long enough. It was right there in The Declaration of Independence that the slaves would be freed. My favorite Founding Fathers, Christians like John Adams, were absolutely appalled by slavery, and did not own slaves. I think we're going to have to call on God's grace not only for slavery, but for what we're doing now with abortions.

 

KW: You dedicated your book to "the freest black man in America."

AC: Yes!

 

KW: Who is it?

AC: It's a Cracker Jack surprise to trick everybody into reading my book.

 

KW: Let me guess. Is it comedian Jimmy ".J'J." Walker? Many of my readers mentioned rumors about the two of you being romantically linked.

AC: [LOL] Jimmy started that rumor. The little sneak.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

AC: Probably, although we got to a lot of good ones on this book.

 

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

AC: I'm a little afraid right now, but I think I'll be calm by November 7th.

 

KW: Can you give me a good question I could call the Ann Coulter question when I interview other celebrities?

AC: Oh, that's a good question. The only question I'd be interested in is what books they've read recently, which is part of my campaign to promote reading.

 

KW: It's already the bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

AC: Mugged.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

AC: If I've just had my makeup done for Fox, I see the hottest chick. [LOL]

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

AC: Mitt Romney as president, or for lots of people to read my book. One of the two.

 

KW: What is it like to be such a controversial figure? There are so many things you've said that have touched a nerve, like when you said Jews needed to be corrected.

AC: "Perfected." You, as a fellow Cornell grad and a fellow Christian, which is another part of your tradition, should know that "perfected" means "completed." The Old Testament calls for a Messiah. You turn the page to the New Testament, and there He is. There was nothing insulting about it. And who really cares? It was just Donny Deutsch who wanted press for his TV show. He screamed anti-Semitism, and I was going on vacation and didn't really feel the need to respond to point out how the English language works. And boy they say Jews are smart.

 

KW: But that's not the only statement that's landed you in hot water.

AC: Usually, they're my greatest hits and they make me happy. I give a lot of college speeches, and usually the Young Spartacus League or the Democrats will put up posters on campus with all the quotes they consider outrageous. But I think they're my best quotes. [LOL]

 

KW: Well, thanks for the time, Ann. I hope I get added to that short list of reporters you'll interview with again.

AC: Yes, I think you will, Kam. This has been a fun interview.

 

To order a copy of Mugged, visit


Interviews
UserpicViola Davis (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
24.09.2012

Viola Davis

The "Won't Back Down" Interview

with Kam Williams

Voila! It's Viola!

Viola Davis was born on August 11, 1965 on her grandmother's farm in St. Matthews, South Carolina, but raised by her parents in Central Falls, Rhode Island. After earning a degree in theater from Rhode Island College in 1988, she went on to do post-graduate work at the prestigious Juilliard School prior to embarking on a critically-acclaimed professional career.

Ms. Davis made a memorable mark on Broadway, winning Tonys for stellar performances as Tonya in King Hedley II and as Rose in the revival of Fences. She's also been nominated twice for an Academy Award, for her powerful portrayal of stoic Aibileen in The Help and for her equally-sterling interpretation of Mrs. Miller in Doubt.

Viola's other noteworthy screen credits include impressive outings in Traffic, Nights in Rodanthe, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Eat Pray Love, Madea Goes to Jail, Antwone Fisher, World Trade Center, Trust, Knight & Day, Get Rich or Die Tryin' and State of Play. And her upcoming films include Enders Game with Harrison Ford, Beautiful Creatures with Emma Thompson and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby with Jessica Chastain.

Here, she talks about her new film, Won't Back Down, a female empowerment saga, where she plays Nona Alberts, a jaded teacher who joins forces with a frustrated single-mom (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to turn around an underperforming public school.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Viola, thanks for the interview.

Viola Davis: Thank you, Kam.

 

KW: Music teacher Steve Kramer asks: What interested you in Won't Back Down?

VD: My interests in the film were two-fold: the backdrop of education and also the human story within it about a woman who, when she was in her twenties, had all these high ideals and hopes of taking the world by storm as a great teacher and also as a great mother. But all of that was just blown to bits, and we find her at a low point where she's totally disillusioned. For me, the movie is about her story of coming back to life again. And that journey is a very human one. It intrigued me, and I saw it as a very interesting challenge as an actor.

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Interviews
UserpicSelena Gomez (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
18.09.2012

Selena Gomez
The "Hotel Transylvania" Interview with Kam Williams

Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania!

Born on July 22, 1992 in Grand Prairie, Texas, Selena Gomez got an early start in show business as Gianna on "Barney & Friends." She made her screen debut soon thereafter in "Spy Kids 3-D," and subsequently appeared on such TV shows as "Walker, Texas Ranger," "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," "Hannah Montana" and "The Suite Life on Deck," before skyrocketing to fame starring as Alex on the Disney Channel's Emmy-winning sitcom, "Wizards of Waverly Place."

In 2008, the versatile entertainer embarked on her musical career when she recorded several songs for the soundtrack of her Disney film, "Another Cinderella Story." She has since had many hit tunes, including duets with Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, as well as with her own group, Selena Gomez and The Scene.

In 2009, Selena became the youngest UNICEF Goodwill ambassador in history at 17. The following year, she launched her very own fashion line, the Dream Out Loud Collection.

In terms of her private life, Selena has long been romantically-linked to pop idol Justin Bieber, and the couple was recently rumored to be building a love nest together in the San Fernando Valley. Here, she talks about her new movie, Hotel Transylvania, an animated adventure where she plays Dracula's daughter Mavis who, over her father's objections, falls in love with a mere mortal.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Selena, thanks for another interview.

Selena Gomez: Of course, Kam thank you.

 

KW: I really appreciate that last time you were gracious enough to take a photo afterwards with my intern, Richie. Thanks.

SG: Thank Richie for asking. That was so sweet.

 

KW: Editor/legist Patricia Turnier asks: What interested you in Hotel Transylvania?

SG: It had a really good script, it's really funny, and has an amazing cast, so it was kind of a no brainer.

 

KW: How would you describe the movie?

SG: I think it's a really cute father-daughter film that kinda touches on growing up, and on experiencing your daughter wanting to have independence. It's a really sweet story that daughters and dads can relate to.

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Interviews
UserpicJoseph Gordon-Levitt (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
16.09.2012

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The "Looper" Interview with Kam Williams


In the Loop!

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was born on February 17, 1981 in Los Angeles where he began acting at the age of 4 when he played the Scarecrow in a community theater production of The Wizard of Oz. He subsequently grew up in front of the camera, appearing in television commercials for Pop Tarts and Cocoa Puffs and on such shows as Family Ties, Murder She Wrote, L.A. Law, Roseanne and Dark Shadows.

Joseph first enjoyed widespread fame on TV playing Tommy Solomon on 3rd Rock from the Sun which led to his breakout role on the big screen in 10 Things I Hate about You. He has since blossomed from a teen heartthrob into a truly talented thespian with both big box-office and art house appeal.

That versatility is reflected in a resume with acting credits ranging from sleepers such as 500 Days of Summer, The Lookout, Brick and Uncertainty to bona fide blockbusters like The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Premium Rush and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, which is set to be released in November.

Here, Joseph talks about Looper, a mind-bending sci-fi thriller where he and Bruce Willis play the same character. The story revolves around a hit man who has no problem traveling 30 years into the future to murder for the mob until the day he is ordered to assassinate his future self.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Joseph, I'm honored to have this opportunity to interview you. I think of you as the best actor never to have been nominated for an Oscar.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Thanks, Kam. That's very kind of you.


KW: I love a lot of your artsy films that many people might have missed. Movies like 500 Days of Summer, Uncertainty and The Lookout.

JGL: Why, thank you!


KW: What interested you in doing Looper?

JGL: First of all, having a chance to work with Rian [director Rian Johnson] again. He's a dear friend of mine. We've known each other since making Brick [2005]. I also found the story incredibly intriguing, as well as the role.

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Interviews
UserpicCarmen Ejogo (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
13.08.2012

Interview with Kam Williams
Carmen Sparkles

Carmen Ejogo was born in London on New Year's Day 1974 to Elizabeth Douglas and Charles Ejogo, a couple of Scottish and Nigerian extraction, respectively. She made her U.S. film debut opposite Eddie Murphy playing Veronica 'Ronnie' Tate in the 1997 comedy Metro.

Carmen then went on to star in films such as Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, What's the Worst that Could Happen? opposite Martin Lawrence, Neil Jordan's The Brave One opposite Terrence Howard and Jodie Foster, Gavin O'Connor's Pride and Glory opposite Ed Norton, and in Sam Mendes' 2009 indie hit Away We Go opposite Maya Rudolph. Ejogo can next be seen starring opposite Tyler Perry in the feature I, Alex Cross, a psychological thriller based on the James Patterson novels about Washington DC detective Alex Cross.

Additionally, Ejogo garnered the attention of television critics and audiences alike for her portrayal of Sally Hemmings, the title character in the 2000 CBS miniseries Sally Hemmings: An American Scandal. Later, Ejogo starred as Coretta Scott King in HBO's critically acclaimed film Boycott opposite Jeffrey Wright and Terrence Howard. Her role earned her a 2001 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a TV film or miniseries. In 2005, Ejogo starred in HBO's Emmy nominated Lackawanna Blues. Her role as Aalen earned her a second Image Award nomination. Ejogo will next star as FBI agent Baca Sunjata in the highly-anticipated ABC television series Zero Hour opposite Anthony Edwards.

Carmen and her husband, actor Jeffrey Wright, live in Brooklyn which is where they are raising their two children. Here's she talks about her latest role as Sister in Sparkle opposite Jordin Sparks and the late Whitney Houston.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Carmen, thanks so much for the time. I really appreciate it.

Carmen Ejogo: Thank you.

 

KW: My brother Larry is the librarian at a Friends school that I think you're very familiar with.

CE: Oh, wow! That's so cool! That's where one of my kids got their start. Small world!

 

KW: What interested you in Sparkle?

CE: You wouldn't ask that question, if you'd seen the movie, Kam. This role is to die for. It's such a great role. The highs and lows of the character's sister [Sparkle, played by Jordin Sparks] are so dramatic and nuanced and layered that you'd be a fool to turn this role down.

 

KW: Did you go back and Watch Lonette McKee's performance in the original version of Sparkle in preparing to do this role?

CE: No. No, I don't know how you make a role your own if you do that. So, watching another actress play the same character in preparation for my own performance is the last thing I would ever do, particularly with Sister, since Lonette made it so iconic that it would be a crazy idea to watch her. I think our movie pays homage to the original, but it's definitely different in numerous ways.

 

KW: What message do you think people will take away from the movie?

CE: It's essentially about not letting your light be dimmed by anybody who doesn't appreciate the dream that you're trying to pursue. It's about knowing who you are, and following your path even if you're not given support by those around you. And it's also about family.

 

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I looooooved your performance in Metro. She asks: Do you enjoy being a member of Mensa and what is your IQ?

CE: [LOL] That is hilarious! Oh my God! I had no idea until recently that my being in Mensa was even on Wikipedia or somewhere else. It is true, but it's funny that it should come up as interview question.

 

KW: So, how high is your I.Q.?

CE: 156, for anyone that's interested. But I probably wouldn't be able to get as high a score after raising two kids and losing a lot of brain cells in the process.

 

KW: Patricia also says: Musicals are an amazing art form. We used to see a lot of them with people like Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and The Nicholas Brothers. They were an integral part of Hollywood and it was common to see actors sing, dance and act. But by the 1950s, the decline began and we rarely see big musicals anymore besides Chicago. How do you explain this phenomenon and what do you think it will take to reverse the trend?

CE: I'm not a film historian, so I couldn't say for sure. But my guess is that the costs involved in making musicals was pretty high, and that the taste of what was pleasing to movie audiences changed by the time you got into the Sixties and Seventies. I was a big fan of John Cassavetes, his wife, Gena Rowlands, and that era of filmmaking which was about realism and which represented the antithesis of the dreamy escapism you found in musicals. I'm guessing that musicals didn't make sense anymore because of the changes in the political environment that began in the late Sixties, an era of self-awareness and social revolutions. Musicals are finally kind of coming back to a degree now, perhaps out of a sense of nostalgia.

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: I'm a huge fan of yours. I loved your role in my favorite film, Lackawanna Blues. I was so proud that HBO showcased such an amazing story about a piece of the patchwork to our cultural history quilt. You PLAYED that role! What was it like for you to portray Alean, and to be paired opposite the gorgeous and talented Jimmie Smits?

CE: What's interesting is that that role was actually Halle Berry's. She had to pull out at the very last minute, which meant I literally had only a couple of days to prepare for that role. Honestly, it was like baptism by fire, because I was so underprepared that I had to work on instinct. I was feeding off the energy of those excellent actors while trying to find my place which made it a really exciting experience for me.

 

KW: April Hughes asks: What was it like working with Whitney Houston?

CE: Amazing! She is an icon, and she brought a passion from the heart for telling Sparkle's story that made her an inspiration to watch every day and it also made it a pleasure to perform opposite her.

 

KW: April would also like to know if you have any advice for aspiring actresses/singers?

CE: Yes, go back and watch the great performances in your business so that you can understand the heights that should be aspired to. There are many mediocre entertainers who don't aspire to much more than fame and glory. It's very easy to have them as your role models because there aren't as many greats. Go back, discover the greats, and take it from there.

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: I read that your director, Salim Akil, worked with schizophrenics before he started working with actors. He asks: Did that make him a more patient director than others you have worked with?

CE: Oh my God! I had no idea. But that makes sense. He is literally the calmest director I've ever worked with. He was so willing to step back and let us do our work without feeling that he had to interfere and tell us what to do just for the sake of looking like a director. He had such confidence in himself. So, it wouldn't surprise me, if he's had experience outside of the business, because he has much deeper soul than that. Working with people troubled in that way could be great training for working with actors who themselves can be a little schizophrenic at times. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

CE: Oh yeah. A lot. The great fear I've had to overcome, particularly this past year, is the fear of failure. It can be safer to stay in a comfort zone that's not stretching yourself. I tried to overcome that fear playing Sister. You have to be willing to be afraid, if you're going to be an artist.

 

KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?

CE: Yes. I'm happier than I've been for a very long time, for all kinds of reasons. I'm glad my kids are happy. I'm grateful that my work is going well. I'm happy that this moment in my career arrived at this age, because I'm ready for it in a way that I might not have been at 20.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

CE: I don't have a lot of guilt.

 

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

CE: Darwin's Cathedral. It's about evolution and religion and it's gonna serve me well for Zero Hour, my new TV show that I start filming soon. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0226901351/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

 

KW: I see that you'll also be starring opposite Tyler Perry in Alex Cross this fall.

CE: That's right! That's coming out in October. That was fun, too!

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

CE: I make a really delicious eggplant and squash curry that's inspired by Vij of Vij's Restaurant, a great chef and restaurateur in Vancouver. I like to cook that dish because it's really simple but the flavor is so pungent and intense that I feel like I'm a real chef whenever I create it.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula Teweles says: You've portrayed Coretta Scott King and Sally Hemmings. She's wondering whether there's another historical figure you'd like to play in a biopic?

CE: I'd love to play Betty Davis, one of Miles Davis' wives. She was sort of like Madonna before there was a Madonna. I'd love to play a full-out rocking chick. Like a Sister 2.0.

 

KW: Dante Lee, author of "Black Business Secrets," asks: What was the best business decision you ever made, and what was the worst?

CE: Leaving my first agent was both my best business decision and my worst business decision. It depends on how I want to look at my career because of opportunities that may have come had I stayed with him and because of the opportunities that did come because I had to fight harder for roles.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

CE: Oh, my goodness me! [Chuckles] A mommy.

 

KW: How hard is it to balance working and parenting, giving that you and Jeffrey are both actors?

CE: It explains why I haven't been onscreen very much the last ten years. [Laughs] It's very hard. It's been getting easier as I give myself permission to work again. It's all about my guilt level.

 

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

CE: Great question! Ooooh, gosh! You know what? That is a question I don't have an answer for. You've stumped me!

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

CE: That Sparkle's a huge hit! [LOL]

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

CE: Summers in Scotland when I was 3.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share?

CE: That depends on how you define success. Success for me will be where the body of work I've done afforded me the opportunity to be as good as I can be, and to explore myself and to see what I'm capable of. People like that share a willingness to be scared and to take chances.

 

KW: The Rudy Lewis question: Who's at the top of your hero list?

CE: Oh man, it's so hard to answer that. In terms of dignitaries, Nelson Mandela's up there. In terms of artists, this will change, but I'm really into a performance artist named Marina Abramovic' right now.

 

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

CE: My children.

 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh with them?

CE: There's a lot of laughter in our house. I get their American/British sense of humor and they get my British sense of humor.

 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

CE: Oh my! I'm a bit young to be asked that. [Laughs]

 

KW: Yes, you are. Sorry. Thanks again for the time, Carmen, and best of luck with Sparkle.

CE: Thank you, Kam.

To see a trailer for Sparkle, visit

 


Interviews
UserpicZiggy Marley (INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
09.08.2012

The "Marley" Interview with Kam Williams
Getting Ziggy with It

David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley was born in Trenchtown, Jamaica on October 17, 1968 to Bob and Rita Marley. A five-time Grammy-winning musician, actor, artist, activist and humanitarian, Ziggy has enjoyed a prominent presence on the public stage for over a quarter-century.

At the age of 10, Ziggy first sat in on recording sessions with his father's band, the legendary Bob Marley and the Wailers. Later, he joined with his sisters Sharon and Cedella and brother Stephen to form Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers, which enabled him to craft his own soulful sound blending blues, R&B, hip-hop and roots reggae. The Melody Makers earned their first Grammy (Best Reggae Recording) for their third album Conscious Party (1988), produced by Talking Heads Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, which included the hit songs "Tomorrow People" and "Tumbling Down."

Subsequent albums included the Grammy-winning One Bright Day (1989), Jamekya (1991), Joy and Blues (1993), Free Like We Want 2 B (1995), Grammy-winning Fallen is Babylon (1997), Spirit of Music (1999) and Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers Live, Vol. 1 (2000), featuring some of their biggest hits, as well as a cover of Bob Marley's "Could You Be Loved." While selling millions of records and selling out numerous concerts, Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers never lost sight of their foundations in faith, fellowship and family.

Involved with a breadth of charities, Marley leads his own, URGE (Unlimited Resources Giving Enlightenment), a non-profit organization that benefits efforts in Jamaica, Ethiopia and other developing nations. The charity's missions range from building new schools to operating health clinics to supporting charities like Mary's Child, a center for abused and neglected girls.

The title of his latest album, Wild and Free, is a little ironic, given his time-consuming commitments to family, philanthropy, songwriting, producing, studio work and touring. Ziggy also continues to head Tuff Gong Worldwide in honor of his father's own music label Tuff Gong Records, working on the re-launch of the official Bob Marley website and an exhibit at the Grammy Museum in L.A.

Ziggy divides his residency among Florida, Jamaica and California, and has his own website at: www.ziggymarley.com. Here, he talks about Marley, a new documentary about his father.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Ziggy, thanks for the interview.

Ziggy Marley: Thank you, Kam.

 

KW: Do you remember Ras Karbi, who played with your dad in Jamaica before embarking on a solo career?

ZM: Jah, mon.

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Interviews
UserpicGore Vidal (2006 INTERVIEW)
Posted by Kam Williams
07.08.2012

Interview with Kam Williams
A Tete-a-Tete from 2006 with the Late Author

Gore Vidal (1925-2012) was a celebrated author and progressive political activist. His first novel, Williwaw, written when he was just nineteen years old and serving in the Army, appeared in the spring of 1946. He went on to publish two-dozen novels, five plays, numerous short stories, over two hundred essays and his autobiography.

Vidal was also an accomplished screenwriter, evidenced by his scripts for Ben Hur, Caligula and Myra Breckenridge. A true Renaissance Man, he even found the time to appear in a dozen films, including Gattaca, and to found a political party, the US Peace Party, and to run for Congress.

Because this indomitable firebrand was been a thorn in the side of the Establishment for so long, some might forget that he was a very well-connected blueblood. On one side of his family tree, he is related to former Vice President Al Gore, on the other to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

This interview was conducted in 2006, at a time that Vidal was campaigning for Marcy Winograd, an anti-war, pro universal healthcare candidate for Congress in California's 36th District in Congress.

Kam Williams: You have such an illustrious career I don't know where to begin. Why don't I start with the present and ask you why you've decided to endorse Marcy Winograd for Congress?

Gore Vidal: Well, it's a Democratic primary, and I thought it would be nice to endorse a Democrat against the incumbent, Ms. Harman, who is sort of a Republican Bush-ite. That was my first instinct, before I listened to Marcy and watched her campaign. I thought she's very well-suited for this time and place. So, I've gone as all-out as I can.

KW: Do you think she has a decent chance of unseating Harman? The rate of re-election of incumbents is incredibly high.

GV: Well, we all know about the safety for incumbents laws that come out of gerrymandering and so on. I think that Harman's been around a little bit too long, to the extent that her constituents really think about her at all. She's not been a Democrat in the progressive sense, by which I simply mean she's not been against the war. Nor has she had much intelligent to say about Intelligence, and she sits on the Intelligence Committee. In other words, she's pretty hollow while Marcy's alive! The living candidate usually wins.

KW: What makes Marcy alive?

GV: She's organized the progressive Democrats across the State of California, as opposed to the ones who pretend to be Democrats and vote Republican, like her opponent. So, it's not as though she came wandering in on a whim. She came marching in out of a sense of duty, and also with a fire in the belly to get rid of the sort of candidates like the incumbent.

KW: Why are so passionate about a congressional election in the House?

GV: The House, you see, is the closest thing to the people that we have. Every two years they have to go out for an election. To the extent that we have any form of democracy, it's the House of Representatives.

KW: My sense of American politics is that most of our politicians are for sale, whether they are out and out crooked, or simply beholden to corporate interests because they've taken so much money from their lobbyists. I believe that's a big part of the problem.

GV: Of course it is. It's been like that for quite some time. With Marcy, she's not beholden to anybody, except me and Susan Sarandon. She got a check from me, and I think that's not quite enough to buy her.

KW: I reviewed your book Dreaming War in which you predicted that Bush would attack Iraq. At the time, he had already invaded Afghanistan, but people didn't realize...

GV: ... that the target was also Iraq, and American mastery of the entire Middle East which is what seems to be going on now, as we head toward Iran.

KW: How would you describe the State of the Union?

GV: This is an Empire gone berserk. You've got a President who had every intention of militarizing the economy and militarizing the society. This had nothing to do with governance. He was mostly smearing people who pointed out his shortcomings. Now we don't have the money anymore... We don't have the will... People are disgusted... Katrina has turned off half a nation... And there's all the nonsense about borders... and so on... This is the worst period that I've ever seen for the United States. And Marcy Winograd, at least, is a good candidate who is intelligent.

KW: Given your WASPy, blue-blood background, where did you find the strength to buck the system?

GV: If you study the Gores, and you don't really have to study Albert who's a worthy person who does good work, the Gores were the founders of the party of the people at the end of the late 19th Century. They represented the people who'd been wrecked by the Civil War and by Reconstruction, people who'd lost their farms. And they made common cause with the city machines, which turned out to be a big mistake. Like in New Jersey, which is how we got Woodrow Wilson as President. But the whole family has been, from the very beginning, totally aligned with the people against "The Interests" as they used to call them back in the 19th Century. So, it just comes to me naturally.

KW: I suspected something was funny about the 2000 Presidential election when, instead of conceding, Bush's confidently responded to all the networks projecting Gore as the winner in Florida with, "That's not what my brother tells me."

GV: I think that tells it all. They already knew about the Diebold voting machines, and how an election like that could absolutely be switched around. In other words, you could beat them and beat them and beat them in the popular vote, but it will not be recorded, as long as these machines are out there.

KW: The same thing happened in Ohio in 2004.

GV: Congressman John Conyers, as you know, went up there and did a very thorough analysis with a lot of first-rate detectives to determine who had stolen that election, starting with Mr. Blackwell [J. Kenneth Blackwell], Ohio's Secretary of State, who was also in charge of the Bush campaign. The whole thing was shocking beyond belief. To have two Presidential elections stolen in a row means that you have no republic.

KW: I've called it a post-democracy.

GV: To use the word "democracy" is nonsense. And here we go again. This coming November, we're going to have the same machines with no paper trail.

KW: And besides manipulating machines, they've used a variety of other tactics to disenfranchise black voters.

GV: Oh yeah, it was well thought out. After 2000, I said, "Watch out for 2004. They'll have four years to perfect that one." After 2004, you know I wrote the preface to Congressman Conyers' book [What Went Wrong in Ohio: The Conyers Report on the 2004 Presidential Election], thinking that might help get it off the ground. But it wasn't reviewed by The New York Times, The Washington Post, or any daily paper in the United States, after this highly-respected Congressman and ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee had taken the time and gone to all the personal expense to do the book. When nobody would even mention it, that sounded to me like the end of the republic.

KW: What do you think was Bush's agenda for this Presidency he wanted by any means necessary?

GV: To give his corporate friends jobs and tax cuts, from the oil people to General Electric. To make sure Halliburton wouldn't have to bid on its contracts to rebuild a country we first knocked-down with our tax dollars.

KW: By deliberately ruining Iraq so war profiteers could rebuild its infrastructure, he ended up ruining this country in the process, given the record federal deficit, which is why so much of the Gulf Region looks the same as the day after Hurricane Katrina hit. I wonder whether Bush has a sense of the irony about that.

GV: He has no sense at all. That's the problem. I don't think he deliberately set out to wreck the United States, but he has. It'll take two generations to get this country back, if we can ever get it back.

KW: Why aren't the people up in arms?

GV: Acquiescence. What used to be called citizens are now just a bunch of consumers waiting to be told what to do next, and automatically voting, even though they know the machinery is going to reverse their vote. We've lost too much in the way of the Bill of Rights.

KW: How do you think Bush feels about his disastrous Presidency?

GV: I don't think he cares. There are so many different kinds of stupidity. In American politics, you get to meet every kind. But he's a little exceptional. Very few politicians who got to be president are as ignorant as he is. Usually, they knew something about economics, something about how the world works. I would say even some of them have a bit of conscience, not much, not much, and talk about impossible dreams. Aside from ambition, they do have an idea that they're going to serve a certain group.

KW: How has this played out with Bush?

GV: So, if there's a really difficult job, like running FEMA, you pick the dumbest person you know, because he's a really good guy. To watch Bush do this time and time again, I sit there and my jaw drops. Each time he does it he's in deeper trouble. He learns nothing.

KW: What will be the Bush legacy?

GV: If you remember, in one of my other books, I prophesied at the time of his election in 2000, "He will leave office the most hated President in our history."

KW: How'd you know?

GV: I put it together just from things he was saying along the way and from what I knew of his career in Texas.

KW: What do you think of his War on Terrorism?

GV: First of all, it's a metaphor. Secondly, "terrorism" is an abstract noun. It's like having a war on dandruff. It's something from advertising, it's meaningless. You have to have a country for a war. Congress also has to declare it. So, he has no declaration, and no countries to fight, except the ones he chooses to attack. This is against all the rules of the United Nations which we've sworn to uphold, since we started the damn thing back in 1945.

KW: Do you think he deserves to be impeached?

GV: He's totally illegal on every level, which is impeachable. And that's not partisan talk. That's patriotic talk, Constitutional talk. He's got to go. He's got to be punished for what he's done.

KW: Your cousin, Al Gore, has a new movie out about global warming entitled "An Inconvenient Truth." Do you think he's going to run for the Presidency again?

GV: I have no idea at all. I assume so, as he's very much on the scene. Politicians do that when they're getting ready to run. But I know nothing from the family about what he's up to. I know he's had trouble raising money, which I think is going to be a great barrier for him, if he does decide to run.

KW: How did you feel watching what unfolded in New Orleans in the wake of Katrina?

GV: That was wanton cruelty shown toward the native inhabitants who were left there to die. But you might say that someone was really very eager for the City to go. Putting Brownie in charge had to be a slap in the face of the people. I used to live there. Have you ever lived there?

KW: No, and I had a friend there, Randy, who urged me come visit every year, till he left town.

GV: It was a wonderful city, but everybody who lived there knew we were all living with danger. It is below sea level, and those levees just looked like humped sand castles on the beach. We all knew that they were extremely fallible and probably couldn't withstand a major hurricane. But they hadn't had a major hurricane in quite some time. Then, Albert's [Al Gore] predictions all came true. The climate has changed and gave us Katrina.

KW: Yet Bush arrogantly lied after the fact, praising Brownie and saying we had no idea such a disaster was possible, when now we see videotapes of the National Weather Service warning him.

GV: He'd been warned. It was like 9-11, for God's sake. They'd been warned by President Putin of Russia. They'd been warned by President Mubarak of Egypt. They'd been warned by elements of Mossad. They'd been warned by our own FBI out in the Midwest. There was a hell of a lot of evidence that we were going to have unfriendly visitors to our serene skies. Bush pretends he knew nothing about it. Well, he probably didn't read the reports. But you'd think that at least somebody in the government would be on top of it and say, "You've got to pull yourself together, Mr. President. Otherwise, something terrible might happen to us." He did nothing.

KW: How about his behavior on the morning of 9-11?

GV: That famous shot of him reading the children's book about a goat to the school kids in Florida tells it all. After the Secret Service agent whispers in his ear, his eyes just go out of focus. You can see that he's so stunned he doesn't know what to do, because there's nobody to tell him. Can you imagine the leader of any country on Earth who would just sit there staring straight ahead? We'd been hit. The Twin Towers were hit. The Pentagon was hit. But he just sat there KW: And he actually continued reading the picture book to the kids for a while.

GV: He just wanted to prove that he could read. Finally, somebody decided to race him across the country to find bunker to put him in, so he wouldn't get hurt, as if that would've made any difference.

KW: Former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke, in his book [Against All Enemies] made it clear that when he warned the then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice about bin Laden, her response was to cut his staff. And even before 9-11, Bush was already more interested in attacking Iraq than in tracking down Osama.

GV: He should've at least pretended to be interested in getting Osama bin Laden. But they wanted that war and that oil. They want control. They want to knock things down and to frighten the world. But Bush isn't the first. It goes straight back to Harry Truman who started The Cold War because he wanted to frighten Stalin, because he believed that the Russians were coming. The Russians had just lost 20 million people in World War II. They weren't going anywhere.

KW: What do you think of Truman ushering in the atomic age by dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

GV: Did you know that every single major military officer tried to get Truman not to drop the two atomic bombs? Contrary to what our history books try to tells us, Japan was already defeated. They had been defeated and the Emperor was trying surrender, but Truman would not respond, because he wanted to drop the bomb.

KW: I never knew that.

GV: These are all things American people ought to know, but history was the first subject to be jettisoned when they decided all they wanted was docile workers and loyal consumers. Why educate them? You don't want to tell them anything.

KW: I remember reading something scathing you wrote about Harry Truman and Zionists.

GV: Yeah, getting the bribe.

KW: Did he really take two million dollars in return for supporting for his support of Israel?

GV: I don't know whether it's true, but I'll tell you who told me. It was Jack Kennedy. They did not like each other, Truman and Jack.

KW: Why would Kennedy divulge such a damning secret?

GV: When Jack was running the first time, and Truman said he wasn't going to support him, Jack started telling this story about how a suitcase with two million dollars was delivered to Harry.

KW: Do you believe it?

GV: It sounds in character.

KW: In the Fifties, you wrote a trio of murder mysteries under the pseudonym Edgar Box. I use to be a big fan of that genre until I read those three novels. They were the best, nothing else ever measured up to them, not Agatha Christie, Dick Francis, Raymond Chandler, anybody. I've said that in print before, so don't think I'm just buttering you up.

GV: Thank you. Well, I certainly enjoyed writing them. They were a lot of fun.

KW: What made you decide to adopt the sobriquet?

GV: I did it, because I was then being blacklisted by The New York Times. So, in order to make a living I wrote as Edgar Box, and got wonderful reviews from The Times. Eight of my books did not get reviewed.

KW: And what got you blacklisted in the first place?

GV: Homophobia over my novel The City and the Pillar. They were deeply into homophobia. The Times was really the center of it in American culture, and didn't give it up until they were threatened in other directions. It's a very bad newspaper.

KW: I agree. Even though I'm published regularly in over 100 publications around the U.S., Canada, England and the Caribbean, and I email their editors every op-ed I write, The Times has never seen fit to publish even one of my pieces.

GV: You don't need The Times. Just keep getting them out there in any form you can.

KW: Thanks so much for such an informative and forthcoming tete-a-tete. I didn't mean to monopolize your time, but there was just so much to talk about.

GV: That's okay. It was good to talk to you, too, though I need to finish writing a preface I was working on.


Interviews
UserpicInterview with Filmmakers Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
Posted by myfilmblog.com
05.07.2012

5 BROKEN CAMERAS is a very powerful and emotional piece of filmmaking. Now, it was never your original intention to set out to make a documentary, is that correct?

EB: Actually, when I started filming my village in 2005 I was filming and documenting for many purposes. But after a few months, the idea of making a film came to me. I saw other films had been made about the subject so I decided not to do it at that time. Instead, I started to focus on my friends, my family, and my son growing up. It was like constructing the story.

GD: When Emad asked me to work with him, it was in 2009, a few months after the killing of Bassem Abu-Rahme - El Phil. The name of the project was "Elephant in Bil'in". I actually was skeptical, since the Bil'in moevement had been portrayed in the media a lot, (think of the 2006 film "Bil'in My Love"). I didn't think it would be logical to make another film on the characters of the village and the movement. Plus, I grew up with so many films that commemorate the deaths of soldiers (Israelis of course) that I didn't like the idea of making another film that commemorates death.

Read full interview on Alive Mind Cinema

 


Announcements, Interviews, Reviews
UserpicAmerican Mystic Is Now Available for Download
Posted by myfilmblog.com
11.03.2011

Premiering in the documentary competition at the Tribeca Film Festival this week, Alex Mar’s American Mystic is a poem of a film, following three young people in America who have chosen to make their spiritual practice the center of their lives. A pagan priestess who proudly defines herself as a witch, Morpheus has moved to the outskirts of rural California to create a pagan sanctuary on a small plot of land. Kublai, a Spiritualist medium, works on a farm in upstate New York but spends his off hours with his head in the hands of elderly women, learning to channel spirits. Chuck, a Lakota Sioux, barely scrapes by at his day job in the city, but he and his wife are raising their child with their ancestors’ way of life as their guide, taking long trips to the reservation to participate in the traditions that are still alive.

Read full review and an interview with the filmmaker

Watch a film clip or Download to Own


Interviews
UserpicInterview with Niko von Glasow
Posted by myfilmblog.com
02.07.2010

Filmmaker Niko von Glasow dishes about his early days in the film industry, when he was as an assistant fetching coffee for the legendary and temperamental although undeniably brilliant Rainer Werner Fassbinder, for which he received a production assistant credit. He charts his course from there before talking about his days at NYU and the Actor's Studio and closes with an honest assessment of his on work, placing the NOLA-winning NOBODY’S PERFECT, and his first film WEDDING GUESTS, at the top of the heap.

Watch the interview or download "Nobody's Perfect"


Interviews
UserpicNational Post Interview with Velcrow Ripper
Posted by Elizabeth
11.05.2009

Q. Why is it important that this story be told?

A. My films always begin with something that is happening inside myself, but that I also see reflected in the world around me. I think people are starting to feel like they're coming to a dead end with the old models of creating change in the world, especially some of the forms of activism that are focused on what we're against, as opposed to what we're for, and that are anger-based. I definitely found that with myself, and so I discovered a new kind activism that has its roots in the attitudes of Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. You could call it compassionate activism or spiritual activism -- positive, celebrating life, and solution based.

Read full interview at National Post

Read Velcrow Ripper Blog at MyFilmBlog



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