WEBVTT - Ep65 - David Oyelowo / "Gringo" 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:18.120 M. You're listening to play back a variety I Heart 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:39.000 radio podcast. I'm your host, Variety Awards Editor Chris Tapley. 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:44.000 It's fantastic, had a great time. Where was the premiere? Uh? 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:47.839 This one? Oh, this one? It was They just told 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:49.880 me it was l a live right like downtown. Yeah, 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:52.519 it was time. Yeah, that's what we had to get out. 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:55.120 Premiere I think last year, okay, which was kind of fun. Yeah. 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:59.800 I can imagine you guys comfortable, Are you sweet? Make 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:03.960 all the noise you want? Cheer, cheer any any time 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.880 I ask an awesome question. The round of applause is 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:10.520 always encouraged. You're not gonna have that wrapper going ms, 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:18.520 It's fine, it's all good, all right, get all my 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:22.240 stuff find Uh. I do like a little backup just 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:29.520 in case, you know, right, No, actually, I the Oscars 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:33.680 take it all out of me every year. So taking 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:36.720 a break. It's amazing you're doing this. Yeah, hey man, 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.160 I wanted to talk to you really bad. Good good. 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:43.160 This movie is hilarious. But we'll talk about in a minute. Anyway, 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:45.280 we were recording, so we're gonna dive right in. Okay, 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:47.920 We're here with David or yellow Wall. He's the Star 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:51.000 of Gringo, which I saw a couple of weeks ago. 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:58.880 David gets to be funny. I can't hear that surprising. No, no, 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.240 I'm gonna talk about that. But before I get to that, 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:03.160 you know, we're recording this right after the Oscars. What 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:05.720 do you think of the Oscars this year? I enjoyed it. 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:08.480 I really enjoyed it. It's a silly thing to say, 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:11.120 but I actually thought a lot of the species were 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:16.560 really good. I think that jet Ski really got people motivated, 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:22.440 moving things along. I think they were scant surprises. Um, 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:27.400 I was. I was surprised by best original song. I 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.240 thought it was going to be this is Me and 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:35.240 and to be honest, seeing Um under Day and Common 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:39.800 seeing that song as well, it just felt like, Okay, 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.799 if it wasn't the front run up before, it should be. 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:46.640 Now it's a bit late. Like if everyone voted right 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:50.880 now and all the performances, they probably would voted for Common. Yeah, exactly, exactly, 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:53.200 Um and so. But but you know, that was the 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:56.360 only real kind of surprise. Everything else sort of went 0:02:56.480 --> 0:03:01.080 as certainly I thought it would. Yeah, Um, the the 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.440 selma of it all, with the the Oscar so white 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:05.200 that came out after that. We've talked about this before, 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:07.120 but you know, I had avon the show last week. 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:09.520 I was curious her thoughts in terms of how far 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:11.560 we've come, how far we have to go, and and 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.079 all of that. What do you think. Well, I think 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:18.640 it's amazing the difference three years makes, you know. I remember, 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:23.880 you know, only only three years ago in protest of 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:28.400 the Eric ghana Um situation. You know, we wore I 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:33.640 can't breathe t shirts and we got really reprimanded by 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:37.080 academy members, by other people who just you know, I 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.640 mean the literal phrase, excuse my French, was why are 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:45.000 they stirring ship? And here we are three years on 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:48.040 and you barely have a lapel big enough to to 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:53.680 pin all the badges of quite rightful protest, you know, 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:59.200 whether it's Darker or me too or the gun situation. 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:03.160 So I'm just kind of taken aback by by the 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:08.360 fact that society, culture, you know, certainly this industry can 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:11.200 shift so much. And of course, as I as I 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:15.400 mentioned the me too movement being a situation that I 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:20.400 think will bring about change that is irrevocable um. But 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.080 you know, going back to the Salma of it all. Um. Also, 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:26.640 I just think it's amazing and wonderful that we now 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:30.240 have films like Black Panther and get Out where there's 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.679 not even a whiff or a whisper of the need 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:36.840 for some kind of white savior character, which I am 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:41.000 absolutely sure is why Salma got attacked for its depiction 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:46.120 of Lyndon Johnson. Um. And you know, because he did 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.520 not fulfill that all. Yeah, because you know, there's still 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:53.359 culturally that there was a need, There felt a need 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:57.320 that if you're going to tell a heroic story about America, 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:01.440 it needs to have some kind of why presence that 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:06.440 further to the advance of just people generally. I mean, 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:09.640 the the accusation that was leveled against the film was 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:13.760 a completely erroneous and false statement that Selma was Lyndon 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:18.719 Johnson's idea, and that was planted by a rival studio 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:20.760 who were threatened by the film. We now know that 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:22.760 for a fact, And ask me which studio was, I'm 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:28.000 not going to tell you quick. But but the fact 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:31.000 that that narrative even took is I think what is 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.840 so egregious in a sense. But you know, I know 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.920 for a fact get Out would not have been nominated 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:41.719 for four oscars pre Oscar so White. So again that 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:46.480 is something that I think points that progress. Yeah. Absolutely. 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:50.039 Now with Gringo, you get to cut loose. As I said, 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:51.360 you get to be funny. I was just gonna say, 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:53.360 I was reading all these headlines. It's like David Oyolo, 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.360 will you know, finally gets to you know, be funnier 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.159 or whatever. And I'm just like, I find that people 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:01.960 have that said about them, like people think that they're 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:04.480 so serious or something. Often are just kind of funny 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.400 people if you know them, like, you know, not to 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:09.200 drop a name, but Christian Bale is that way, Like 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:11.279 he's everyone thinks he's so serious, but he's such a 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:13.520 cut up in a kind of scenes. Are you that 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:15.840 way in general? Are you just like a funny guy 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.640 in general? Do you? I think it's strange to see 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:22.159 these people acting like, oh you funny? Wow. Well, to 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:25.919 be honest, it's it's it's nice too, at this stage 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.880 of my career to bring something that for other people 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:33.239 feels fresh, you know, to my friends, to my wife, 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:37.040 my kids, you know, they know the goofy side of me, 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:40.120 and that was certainly something I wanted to show more of. 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:43.279 It's just the way it happened in my career that 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:46.680 I've just done more dramatic stuff. I have actually done 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:49.919 more comedy on stage, and so of course less people 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:52.640 see it. But I also wanted it to be the 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:57.120 right circumstances. You know, not all films or scripts I 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:01.200 should say that say they're a comedy are, in my opinion, funny. 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:05.440 You know, I prefer comedy that is situational rather than 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:09.920 self consciously comedic, and scripts like Gringo don't come along 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.840 every day. Yeah, you can also use that to your advantage. 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:15.080 I would assume, you know, if people think that you're 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.320 some stoic presence all the time or something. All right, 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.760 I'm laying it on thick. I mean I don't obviously, 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:23.360 but you know, if people think that of you, then 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:26.080 the surprise has to be kind of fun to play with. 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:30.400 Absolutely absolutely, But you know, but the actors I most 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:34.720 admire are actors who, at different points have shown us 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.400 completely different sides of themselves. I mean, Ryan Gosling is 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:39.960 one of my favorite actors. And we've seen him give 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:43.040 comedic roles in intensely dramatic roles. We've seen him do action, 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.120 we've seen him do sci Fi. You've seen him do 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:48.640 romantic comedy, you know. That to me is what an 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:51.840 actor is, someone who can really just ring the changes 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:55.000 as far as any kind of depiction of humanity. Um. 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.480 I love seeing Robert de Niro when he does his 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:01.240 comedic roles, having watched you know, his earlier work especially 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:05.800 and just how intense and dramatic those films were, you know, 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.640 it kind of gives a new lease of life. I 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.600 think the same thing about Jack Nicholson, you know, And 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:15.720 so to be able to find the space for me 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:19.040 to do that is something I really aspired to. What 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:24.160 are some comedians you like, comedies you like of curiosity? Well, 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:27.400 you know what, they were actually huge inspirations in doing 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:29.840 this film. Midnight Run is a is a favorite of 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:34.079 mine because again it's situational. You know, those guys are 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:37.000 not overtly playing for laughs, and it actually has some 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:40.200 poignancy to it. There is there is some some real 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:44.480 slapstick to it, and then there's just it's just playing 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.000 funny and it stands the test of time. I think 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:50.760 films that are less self consciously comedic do that. I 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.440 think I would say Fargo is one of those sideways. 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:55.520 I can see every day of the week. The Big 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.240 Lebowski is a big favorite of mine, you know. So, 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:01.840 so films like that that not necessarily reliant on what 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:06.040 you would call comedic actors. Um, you know that that's 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:09.640 my favorite kind of film comedy. How about Nash's Nash 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:13.520 Edgerton's kind of breed of comedy. He's got such a 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:15.559 biting sense of humor. If everybody home, if you haven't 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:19.960 seen his short films Spider and Bear, they're hilarious. Uh. 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:21.480 And then with this film, you know, it's a very 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:25.679 specific sense of humor. So was it something that you found, 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:28.040 I don't know. Not appealing is not the word, but 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:29.760 it was a sense of humor that was kind of 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.880 in line with yours. Or appealing is actually the right 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.360 word in relation to this, because I saw his short 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:37.720 films and I also saw his feature film The Square, 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:41.880 and a common theme in all his work is hubris. 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:45.640 You know this this thing of I guess comma um 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:48.640 is another way of putting it that if you do good, 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.880 good things will hopefully happen. If you do bad, it's 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:53.640 going to bounce back and bite you in the butt. 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:57.160 And you really see that in all of those films 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.280 and that's actually, you know, something I believe to be 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:04.400 true in life. And you know, he really plays on 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:07.360 that and he pushes it to the extremes. And because 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.400 he was and is a stunt man, there does tend 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:14.200 to be a real physical element, a shocking physical element 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:16.800 to it. You you watch all of his films, I've 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.960 had moments where I've gone, oh like that, you know, 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.880 when when something has happened. And we just had the 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:25.480 premiere last night, and you heard that sound a few 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:28.360 times in our film, and that is something that I 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.280 love watching and of course love to be a part of. Yeah, 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:33.560 regarding his stunt work, that first short film he did 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.200 Lucky where he's in the back of the trunk of 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.839 a speed Yeah, they checked that one out to everyone. 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:43.200 It's shorter and it's brilliant. It's great um and also 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.520 the cast. You've got a great cast on this movie. 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:49.120 Joel Ledgerton, Nash's brother, Charlie's there, and I love Charotto Copley, 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:52.520 He's like one of the funniest guys. Danny Newton, Amanda 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:56.920 cipherd So talk about that ensemble working with these people, Well, 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.000 I think you know, when you when you look at 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:01.120 that cast and it goes back to what I was 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:05.079 saying about those films and the kind of actors who 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:07.559 were in those films and the tone of those films. 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.319 You know, we are all actors, probably known more for 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:13.719 our dramatic work, but we were all drawn to this 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:18.000 because there is something funny about it. But you can 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:23.080 also bring a three dimensional character. You're not playing just 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:27.360 archetypes or caricatures. In a sense, there's there's enough space 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:31.520 for specificity and there and I think that that's what 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:34.200 all of us, we are part of the film, have 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:37.559 had the opportunity to show elsewhere. And it was so 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.440 much fun because almost all of us were doing things 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:43.400 that we're not known for and therefore just had a 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:46.600 lot of fun with because you know, as actors, you're 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:49.640 you're constantly looking for where you're going to be given 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.960 latitude to stretch yourself, to show the audience a different 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.520 side and to do things you haven't done before. So 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:57.679 that I think that sense of fun we were all 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.640 having really comes through in the movie. Yeah, oh, press scraining, 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:02.760 I've been to where they served me Margarita's before him. 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:08.439 That kicks off a new trend. Yes, anyone who sees 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:11.400 the film was we'll know how appropriate that is. And 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.160 the little reserved you know, because I guess I'm so important. 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.360 The little reserved tag for our seats was the panther 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:21.000 right a right right. Yeah, they were they were working 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:24.679 it working well, uh, speaking earlier of it. But like 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:26.199 I said, I have a had av on the show 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:28.360 last week for Wrinkle in Time, and I was just 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:30.160 doing some quick research before and I pulled up your 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.800 IMDb it said you played the it in Wrinkle in Time. Yes, yes, 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:36.920 I don't remember a voice or what was going on there. 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.600 Tell me, yeah, it's it's it's purely my voice. You 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:42.560 don't you don't see me in that. But that's also 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:46.600 a byproduct of my pact with Ava. We've promised each 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:48.440 other that there's not going to be a single thing 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:52.480 she ever directs that I'm not part of. In some way, 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:54.760 I couldn't. I couldn't be a part of Wrinkling Time 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:57.600 because I was doing a fellow in New York at 0:12:57.600 --> 0:12:59.800 the time that they were shooting. So we managed to 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:03.640 figure it out. That's fun. I had no idea. I 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:06.079 was like, really, I was trying to remember when it 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:09.400 said something like it's it's in there. Yeah, and then 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:13.360 my voice has been treated, you know. But yes, I 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:17.480 played the eat it in that. That's awesome. I wanted 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.440 to talk about clover Field Paradox actually, which was a 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:23.120 very unique situation this year. I mean, which you knew 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:27.240 it obviously as God particle. What did you think about 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.839 the whole episode where suddenly Netflix has it and it's 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:33.960 releasing after the Super Bowl? Like out of the blue? Yeah? 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:35.480 Was it out of the blue? Like, did you guys 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:37.760 know what was gonna happen? It was completely out of 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.560 the blue. We knew that. Well, first of all, go 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:43.559 back a bit. The release date was going to be 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:48.640 April theatrical release, and but we knew there was supposed 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.280 to be a conference call with j J with all 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:53.440 the actors on the day of the Super Bowl. I 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.080 was actually in Minnesota to watch the Super Bowl. I 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.720 was there with a friend who's a huge Eagles fan, 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.800 and so we were there and so at eleven o'clock 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.319 I think it's Central time, I was on the phone 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:07.400 with all the other actors, including the director, And it 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:10.600 was on that call that I found out three things. 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:15.640 The title of the film, um, the fact that they 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:18.120 were going to be two trailers on the Super Bowl 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:19.920 and the fact that it was going to be dropping 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:25.120 on Netflix that night, which on the one hand just 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:28.760 was completely surreal, but on the other hand was kind 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:32.400 of genius, because the truth of the matter is, in 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:36.440 this industry right now, everyone is trying to figure out 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:40.160 how do you get people to actually watch your movie. 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:44.200 There's just so much great stuff out there in terms 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:49.280 of television, in terms of film, just in terms of Instagram. 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:51.880 I mean, you know, I see young people literally just 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:56.080 getting all their entertainment from that. And so I truly 0:14:56.160 --> 0:15:00.120 believe that far more people saw that film in the 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.840 way that it was dropped then maybe maybe otherwise would 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.600 certainly in in a theater. And so even though it 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:09.760 was kind of surreal and surprising, I thought it was 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.920 also quite genius. It is I mean, if everyone watches 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:15.280 in my business is watching a Super Bowl to see 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:17.240 these movie trailer ads, and it's like, oh, I can't 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:20.000 wait to see that in six months, right if you know, 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:22.480 either I was ready for the game to be over right, 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.400 right exactly. And I know there's no film I have 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:31.440 ever done in my entire career whereby virtually everyone I 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.920 know had seen a film I did that was released 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:39.880 within twenty four to forty eight hours of it being 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:42.600 available to see. I mean literally everyone I knew had 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:45.080 seen it because they were all watching the super Bowl 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:47.360 and then they either just watched it directly after or 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:50.280 watched it the next day. And look, you know, I 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:52.200 I make movies in the hope that they're going to 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:55.920 be seen. And the boy was that the case with 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:58.680 that film? Was it actually a clover Field movie when 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:01.000 you made it or something kind of? It was God 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.880 particle and then none of this that's you know at 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:07.640 the end, and that as far as you knew, that wasn't. No, No, 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.720 it wasn't. It wasn't a part of it. It was 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:16.520 as we were shooting the film that that started being introduced. Um. 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:21.840 And you know, stealth and secrecy, as you can tell 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:25.600 from this conversation, is just a big part of j 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:29.680 J's modus operandi. And love that stuff. Yeah, the mystery 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:32.680 Box is this thing. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, and even 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.520 with his collaborators. So so yeah, we we didn't know 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:39.360 until quiet late and then that Monday we had a 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:41.920 we've got a billboard across the street of Variety here 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:45.120 and very next morning clover Field Paradox right there it was. 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.160 It was like, it's crazy, yeah, and it's just it's 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:51.640 just industry wise, it's interesting that, yeah, that's a movie 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.120 Paramount didn't quite know what to do with. And so 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.280 we're at this place now where it's kind of a 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:59.840 double edged short. It's like, Okay, if a studio the 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:01.920 doesn't like what they're working with, they can't figure out 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:04.639 what to do with what they're working with, you just 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:07.560 unloaded the Netflix. I mean, it's that worked in this 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:09.680 instance because everyone saw it and it was a big 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:12.679 kind of promotional event. But it kind of raises interesting 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:17.200 questions about the future I guess, of of the business. 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:19.560 But I think the bigger issue is the fact that 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:22.600 because the business is so influx, what you're what you 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:28.720 have is probably more regime change than hitherto has been 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.520 the case. And I think part of what happened there 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:38.879 was regime change. You have a new um set of leaders, headship, 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.000 whatever you want to call it, and there are films 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:45.040 that are probably films that they wouldn't have green lit 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.480 or they don't feel ownership of, or they, like you say, 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:50.320 don't know what to do with because they weren't there 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:54.160 from the beginning. And so there becomes a kind of 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:58.600 I don't know, washing your hands of things. And that's 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.480 not just you know, it's times of clever Field paradox. 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:03.440 And I don't even think it was a case of 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:05.840 washing one's hands. I just think that there is a 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:10.680 very real um syndrome when it comes to regime change. 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:12.399 I know, for me as a producer, one of the 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:16.320 things you dread the most is that the person who 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:20.200 green lit your project will be gone by the time 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:24.960 you are either ready to go into post or marketing 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:29.440 or the release, because you know, it's it's like suddenly 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:33.639 one of the parents of a child is gone, and 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:36.520 then you suddenly have someone else who's who's supposed to 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:39.120 care for this child as much as the person who 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.480 was there for its conception. Um. So that I think 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:48.399 is is the more anxiety inducing fact of our of 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:51.280 our business right now. A lot of people, you know, 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:54.840 it's it's musical chairs out there right now. You said 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:58.080 you're about to start the slim as Mini and then 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:00.200 and then you just wrapped up that's dug. I'm a 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.239 movie chaos Walking that I just wanted to bring up 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:04.960 because the synopsis is a trip. I'm going to read 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:08.240 it a dystopian world where there are no women and 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:11.960 all living creatures can hear each other's thoughts in a 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:16.280 stream of images, words, and sounds called noise. So that 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:22.640 sounds fun. Well, you know, the thing I was so 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:25.680 taken with, and the main reason I did the film 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:30.240 is that Conceit is a fascinating one because the reason 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:35.520 there are no women is because men can't hear or 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:39.600 see the thoughts of women, but women can see the 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:44.800 thoughts and hear the thoughts of men, and so they 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:50.399 basically decide that is an untenable situation, um and so 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:53.439 get rid of all the women. And of course the 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:57.800 chaos ensues when a woman enters the fray in the 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:02.720 shape of Daisy Ridley, and hence chaos walking. I mean, 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:07.679 it's it's kind of an incredible thing to imagine, you know, 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.320 especially as and this is a generalization, but you know, 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:15.080 we all like to think that women where their emotions 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.919 more openly than men do. But if you reverse that, 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:22.399 not only are men wearing their emotions more openly, but 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:24.840 you can hear them, you can see them. I mean, 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.919 you know, that just flies in the face of everything 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:33.160 that we know to be true of how we interact 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:35.320 with each other, and so you know, in the hands 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:39.800 of Doug Lenman as well visually and just cinematically, it's 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:42.840 a really really kinetic piece. Talk about working with Dog, 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:47.760 I mean, he's obviously great action director, great drama director around. 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:50.359 It's one of my favorite movie swingers. What's what's it 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:52.000 like working with Dog? He just doesn't know how to 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:54.200 make a bad movie. I mean, that's that's the thing 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:58.919 with Doug. I've enjoyed all of his films, and you know, 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.919 even when I talked to him before we did the film, 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:05.960 I could just tell I was talking to someone who 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:11.159 was incredibly cerebral. It was a bit surprising talking to 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:15.040 him that he was an action director, because he approaches 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:21.879 everything in a very sort of intellectual, emotional and character way, 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:25.240 and then somehow the action comes from that. And even 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:27.440 when you meet him or talk to him or you're 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:31.160 around him. It's so weird that he did the born 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:34.320 identity or Mr and Mrs Smith, and I sort of 0:21:34.400 --> 0:21:38.840 love that contradiction within him in a sense. And also 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:41.040 the character that I get to play, Aaron, who is 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:44.320 a very weird dude. I mean, he's this guy who 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:48.160 I described as a religious zealot who is a byproduct 0:21:48.200 --> 0:21:52.399 of this community and absolutely believes in what he's saying 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:54.720 and doing, but he's so out there in a sense, 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:56.719 and so I was just fascinated by the idea of 0:21:56.720 --> 0:22:01.400 playing that character under his gaze with this Conceit give 0:22:01.440 --> 0:22:03.200 me an idea of, like, where you feel like you're 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:05.120 at in your career, what you want to do going forward? 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:07.239 Because it's interesting you do this comedy, you're working with 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:10.320 dog on a movie like that, So like, do you 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:12.840 have an ongoing mission statement, what you want to do 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:16.200 going forward from here? What's interesting to you right now? Yeah? 0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:19.359 My mission statement has always been the same and it 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:21.920 will be the same going forward, which is that everything 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:26.200 I do, I wanted to bring complexity to what it 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:31.080 is to be black on planet Earth. You know I am. 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:33.320 If I wasn't who I am, and maybe I would 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:37.479 just go from you know, project a project, just whatever 0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:40.560 interests me or whatever. But you know, I grew up 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:46.840 not seeing images that were reflective of my life or 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:54.440 the complexity of my life. Certainly black people, Africans, African Americans, 0:22:55.480 --> 0:22:59.760 black Brits, you know, all people I identify with having 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:04.240 lived in those communities and in those countries through the 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:09.160 course of my life, and um, I want to create 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:13.959 images for my twelve year old self, images that I 0:23:14.000 --> 0:23:18.880 think would have broadened my horizons, because I do think 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:24.480 that this is such a powerful medium both for empathy 0:23:24.680 --> 0:23:28.840 but also for the truth of what it is to 0:23:28.920 --> 0:23:32.879