WEBVTT - Ep64 - Ava DuVernay / "A Wrinkle in Time" 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:17.680 M h. You're listening to playback a Variety I Heart 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:31.480 radio podcast. I'm your host, Variety Awards editor Chris Tapley. 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:43.640 Probably I'll yeah, we're gonna record your hot new single, 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:47.199 so go ahead and there nobody like that. Hey, how 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:55.200 are you man? I'm tired. Yeah, I'm tired. Um busy. 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:58.920 I would say week, but then probably month and then yeah, 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:06.000 I mean for you, Oh yeah, crazy, it's thanks for 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.000 coming back on. Yeah, of course, thanks for coming here 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:12.400 to do it for sure. Uh, we're recording. I'm just 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:16.959 gonna dive right in. We have Ava Daverna here today. 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:20.800 I'm back. You're back. You actually are the first return guests. Yes, 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:24.920 you get that distinction this year. Um, I'm want to 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:28.560 pull up my questions here. Movies called Wrinkle in Time. 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:32.080 You've probably seen the marketing everywhere because it's one of 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:35.800 those movies that's uh just larger than life. It's a 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:40.320 Disney movie. It's everywhere. And uh, first of all, how 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:42.400 are you feeling? I mean, do you have have you 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:44.880 had an opportunity to have perspective on everything? Are you 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:48.400 still kind of like close to it and not? I 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:50.440 think so? I mean, you know, I made a kids 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:53.400 movie and um, you know it's what I wanted it 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.960 to be. Um, you know, the industry doesn't make movies 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.480 like this anymore, like those youth fantasies like Never Ending 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:03.279 Story Escaped, Witch Mountain, Page Master, like all these things. 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:05.280 Is that you know, we're just so cool when we 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:07.800 were younger. That allows a bit of spectacle for a 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:10.399 kid to enter into and learn a little about themselves. 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.600 And uh so yeah that's what I made. You know, 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:15.400 I love what we did, and it was just a 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:18.760 beautiful time making it. So yeah, I mean that's the 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:20.760 perspective I have. Yeah, well, I want to talk about 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:22.919 that you talked about. You know, I saw it last night, 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:25.320 and at the beginning you spoke about, you know, wanting 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:27.280 to kind of go into a child's mind, essentially go 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:28.600 back in and you know, what's the movie you would 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.840 have wanted to see. So something that I thought about was, 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.919 you know, it's obviously very different from your other movies. 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:39.440 So what kind of new creative muscles did you exercise 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.640 as a storyteller on this one? Yeah, I mean I 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:44.720 was still able to focus on the things that meant 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.400 something to me, like, um, it's just a kind of 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.600 equality and parody and you know, the way that we 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:51.480 treat each other in the society, but just just to 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:53.440 do that for a much younger audience, Like I don't 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.360 see this as being very different from my intention in 0:02:56.360 --> 0:03:00.079 the film Some thirteen or Queen Sugar, the story that 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:01.880 I want to tell, but this is just too a 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:05.560 younger audience. Um. And so it was able to kind 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:08.040 of put a lot of that in the mix and 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:11.000 the story. UM. But I think what I was able 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:14.320 to exercise in myself was just getting in touch with 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.880 the kid in me, which is something that especially with thirteen, 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:21.760 it was a hard time for me. Making it did 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:25.040 damage to me, you know it well, because it was 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:29.359 you know, watching thousands of hours, yeah, thousands of hours 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.960 of racist, violent footage, you know, really interrogating the systems 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:35.120 that we live under and that we don't even aren't 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:37.440 even conscious of the ways that we oppressed each other 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:41.440 and um. And so it was personal, it was emotional, 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:44.720 it was dramatic to make it, um and to construct 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:46.920 all of that and steep myself into so like you know, 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:49.720 reggling time was a bit of self care and that 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:51.560 and then to do that, I had to tap into 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:55.160 something that wasn't hardened and it wasn't cynical. Um, it 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:59.440 was childlike and it was joyful. And you know, I think, 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:03.200 you know, it's uh, it's just so critical and cynical 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:06.640 that I find myself even being in this era that 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:09.680 we're living in. You know, I go online looking for 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:12.040 the worst. What do you say today? You know what 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:14.560 I mean, what you tweets? And it's like, you know, 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:17.680 I could have gone down that whole dark you know, 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:20.720 I was mentioned and I was talking to Gambaldatoro about 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:25.560 the same thing. It's like, sometimes art can help you 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.880 guide you through turbulent times, especially for the artists who's 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:32.520 just like super sensitive. We're all sensitive, but it hits 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:35.760 me hard and and so yeah, this film saved me 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:37.840 in that way a lot. Yeah under the weather, you 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:41.360 got some No, my voice is just deep and scratched 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:43.720 like this. No, no, no, it sounds like maybe you've 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:45.680 been I was talking holler and a lot, talking a 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.640 lot maybe. Uh. You know, a lot has been made 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.400 about the budget of the film, first hundred million dollar 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:54.919 movie made by a woman of color. Those Uh, that 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:57.919 fanfare is great, obviously, glass ceilings, et cetera. I'm just 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:01.279 curious if you get tired of hearing it's like that first, 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:04.080 this first that I don't we tired of hearing it 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.159 because I know that's something that a lot of people celebrate. 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:08.480 I do, um, you know, regret that it's in a 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:13.599 context of such I don't know, fanfare, or in a 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.040 context of it being a good thing when it's really 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:19.839 pretty tragic that it's two thousand and eighteen and these 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.600 firsts are happening. You know, I don't take it as 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:24.920 a mantle of you know, proud distinction, and I'm the 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:29.080 first person, first woman of color in two thousand, seventeen 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.320 and eighteen, to make a film at this price point, 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.040 or to win Sundance or to get the Globe nominating, 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:37.920 you know, or whatever they are, because it really means 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.960 we haven't done this in decades and decades and decades 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.520 before that, even though that they were women who were 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.839 completely capable, ready and deserving of it. And so it's 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:50.040 something that Hollywood does where it's trumpets its first without 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.680 really acknowledging that the first means that there was a 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.680 lot of neglect that went into that. And so that's 0:05:56.680 --> 0:06:00.320 what I hear when I'm when I'm introduced. Know, if 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:02.040 I walk out on the stage and it's first this 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.760 and first that, and it's applause for it. It's kind 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:09.120 of like, golly uh, there's a disconnect there for me. Um. 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:12.040 And yet I know it makes it makes people proud 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:13.359 who are on the other side of it, who are 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:16.919 less privileged, because it means that you know that first 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:18.760 has been done away with and now a door might 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:22.359 be open for me though, you know, whether it's me 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:25.920 or Perry Jenkins or de Rease or Jordan Peel or 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:28.680 or or um. You know, Nicky Carroll's about to make 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:33.000 the next hundredmillion dollars from it's Disney with mulan or Ryan. 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.040 You know, if you can name everyone that's doing something 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:39.640 new on two hands, that's not change. You know, that's 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:42.400 that's a trend. That's a moment, and it's a beautiful one, 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.320 but it's not a changing of systems. And that's like 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:48.880 that's what's needed. And so it all has to start somewhere. 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:51.159 Maybe this is the start. But it's not like we 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:53.279 haven't had these moments before. So the question is do 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:55.080 we let it be a moment or do we let 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:58.720 it become the way we do business? And um, it's 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.320 still a question. I had a question later I'll just 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:03.599 jump to because we're this is kind of in that area, 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:05.920 you know, after Selma and the Oscar is So White. 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:09.640 That was a big driving point for that, uh, And 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:11.560 so I wanted to just ask you how you feel 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:13.480 about how far we've come, how far we have to go? 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:15.119 And I guess you just kind of answered that question 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:17.720 just in terms of the awards sphere as well. But yeah, yeah, 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:19.880 I mean, it's it's it's it's it's um. You know, 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:23.720 we know like in the awards circuit in the season, uh, 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.160 that that their ebbs and flows. So it's just becomes 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.920 a question of, you know, is the studio system and 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.840 is the independent kind of ecosystem supporting these stories? You know, 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.400 it's it's so many levels. It's production, it's studio executives, 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:41.080 it's the agencies, it's you know what I mean, it's 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:45.280 it's it's it's the uh, it's the all those layers 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.040 to even get to a place where you can start 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:50.040 to look at the complexion and the tenor of the academy. 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:54.600 So it's it's systemic. That's why, you know, when the 0:07:54.680 --> 0:08:00.680 academy is kind of you know being uh, you criticized 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.000 so heavily. There's something to look at there with the makeup, 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:08.360 but it's also disingenuous to say it's the only thing wrong. Yeah, symptomatic. 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:10.880 I mean, it's it's, it's, it's, it's, it's. It has 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:16.840 many many arms. As Sponster, this movie wrinkling time, very colorful, 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:19.840 very psychedelic in a way. Actually some I heard a 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:21.840 guy behind me say you should have popped an edible 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.239 before he went. But it made it an interesting trip. 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:26.760 But I wanted to talk about what what inspired the 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.640 visual look of the film, in the effects and all 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:31.600 of that. Just tell me about that. Yeah, I was 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:35.160 just thinking of a feminization of fantasy. You know, look 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:37.000 at the Avatar or a Lord of the Rings, and 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:39.840 these are big fantasies that are kind of not kind of, 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:43.080 but are through a male gaze. I love those films, uh, 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:45.559 And I wondered what it would look like to play 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:49.640 with those worlds and those those those people and um, 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:53.520 those creatures through the eyes of a woman who's as 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.520 I did, saying, I want to make this film like 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:58.439 a girl, the girl in me, you know, I love 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:02.240 be dazzled eyebrows and hair and gowns, and played with 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:06.240 that and you know, big color and uh, talking flowers 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:09.040 and how would they move and what does the creature 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:10.840 look like? And you know, I wanted to look like 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:14.280 a leaf and because you know, just just um, you know, 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.079 just all of the touches that felt maybe more maternal 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:19.480 or more feminine. Um, you know, as you go through 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:21.440 the story of a girl, I think the question is, 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:25.720 you know, you know, people, audiences, critics, whatever, you have 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:29.199 been trained to see films in a certain way. Um, 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:33.040 you know, more masculine, male tropes, narrative troopes. You know. 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:34.800 I heard someone said, I wish there was some more action. 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.160 I wish there were Well, this is about the heart 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.240 of a girl, so the first thirty minutes you're gonna 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.280 get to know her. You sit down and you're gotta 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.520 get to know this black girl and her issues and 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:47.600 uh and so those rhythms and that layering, it's kind 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:51.320 of like a different um, a bit of a different vocabulary. UM. 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:53.800 So I just wanted to attach visuals to it that 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:55.880 felt like they were married to that pace and that 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:57.959 kind of what I was trying to do is a 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.959 more lyrical approach to a book that people told me 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:05.480 straight up as unadaptable. This book is unadaptable. There's been 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.520 a movie before that tried to be faithful to it. 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:12.719 Um that Madelon Langle even said you didn't like Um, 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:14.520 that didn't do a lot for the whole this is 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:19.760 adaptable training and uh and so it really was about gosh, okay, 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:22.160 this is a kid's book and they say it's unadaptable. 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:24.800 But Disney is saying I can make the girl girl 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:27.840 of color? Is that worth doing? And for me the 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:31.520 answer was overwhelmingly yes. If there was a risk, you know, 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:34.920 because it's not a risk. It's for kids. You know, 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:36.920 I think people, like I said, I think people think 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:38.920 it's gonna be so much in space, you know, is 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:43.920 that kids over at It's like it's a kids movie. 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:47.640 God just let let the children have a little fun. Yeah. Absolutely. 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.720 On that question of design and inspiring the look, you 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.040 know with the costumes and stuff, was that pure imagination 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:56.719 or did you what kind of research was involved? If 0:10:56.760 --> 0:11:00.280 anything kind of developed that. I found this amazing brother 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:06.160 name Buckle Delgado, and uh, he and I just went 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:08.640 down the rabbit hole with Kim Kimbell who's the hair designer, 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:11.600 and the three of us there him with thick Spattish 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.480 accent and me and her from South Central and Compton 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:19.120 talking about hair and makeup and it was too much fun. 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:21.920 But really the idea was to take from cultures all 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.439 over the world, so you'll see Latin American references and 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:27.679 African references and Asian references, and the costumes, particularly when 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:31.040 Mindy k you know, we're looking from hair from ancient 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:34.400 Egypt and we're looking at you know, uh um, you know, 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:37.680 traditional Mayan dress and it's just so fun to see 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:39.760 can we do a collision of cultures? And that wasn't 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:41.959 Mindy's thing, And then with each missus there was a 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.160 different idea, you know, of all of Oprah's costumes are 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:50.120 very much different um iterations of armor, the whole warrior vibe, 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:53.319 and then Reese's you know always you know, it's very 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.640 flower like, just kind of playing with the durability of 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:59.240 flowers but also the beauty of them. So all those 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:01.400 cool design I do is that people don't even want 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:02.600 to hear about. You know what I love to hear 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.280 about here about talking about is GARYT. Guillermo. I've gotten 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:07.640 like six different shape of water talks and I just 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:10.280 sitting back, I am moderated one, and I got hooked 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:11.440 on him and I just go and sit in the 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.080 back and sneak out because he talks about the craft. 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.200 It's a way that's so intoxicating. Um, this is what 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:19.199 we love talking about. Yeah, okay, good, but this is 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.560 the place totally. I want to talk about Oprah's hair 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:26.680 actually in that one big I do, I do what Yeah, 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:28.920 I mean, it's a lot of afro futurism, you know, 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:31.640 in in in that approach to her hair. I love 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:36.079 this whole embrace of I feel futures futurism in cinema 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:38.520 we see a lot, and we've seen a lot in literature, 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:40.920 which I grew up with, and a lot of you know, 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:42.840 fine arts. We have fine a lot of black fine 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:45.440 artists around the world. They're doing interesting things, certainly music 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.560 to Neil Mna just dropping this incredible thing. And Prince 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:53.600 was an afro futurist. Um. But of course Ryan and 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:56.240 in uh with Black Panther and so in this it 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:59.319 was really good idea of like this afro futuristic taking 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.120 the idea of freaking aesthetic that it had been somewhat 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:06.439 um um you know, uh Damford and smothered by colonization, 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:09.599 slavery and saying, what what would that have matured it 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:11.880 into it that have been allowed to run free? And 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:14.080 what does it look like in the future, And particularly 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:17.040 because you don't see characters like that, you know, black women, 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:20.760 you know, elders, you know, queen like black women in 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:24.480 sci fi and so what does she look like? Um, 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.000 you know, I was looking at references trying to find things, 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.240 and uh, you know when we were first I was 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:33.839 looking for women of color and sci fi and you know, 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:37.400 I found like Whoopi Goldberg in Star Trek episodes where 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:39.280 she was you know, she was. You know, it's it's 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:42.120 hard to find them. And that's you know, two decades ago. 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.200 So to really think about that and to convince Opra 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.560 to wear blonde hair, which was not a stretch, I said, 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:52.680 I'd like to put you in a something beyond say ish. 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:56.520 She said, of course you do, and yes, yes, And 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:58.880 then you know Reese in her red hair and just 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:01.920 pull with all the toys that you get when you 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.440 make a movie like this. Yeah, all that tactile stuff 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:08.120 is great. And Oprah's big white hair and that would 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:13.439 kind of gave me like a future Frederick Douglas vibe. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:17.000 I take it. That's a good reference. Um, let's talk 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:21.480 about storm Read, your lead. This uh young actress. She 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:23.920 seems to have a lot of poise on the screen. 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:26.600 And I just you know, you worked with her previously, 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:28.880 but just talk about working with her and tapping her 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.680 for this role. And they say, never worked with kids, 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:34.480 never work on water, never work with animals. So you 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.560 work with kids here, so well, yeah, but when you 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:38.360 have storm Read, you know you're working with a girl 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:41.760 who's really of course she's aptly named. Um you know 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:43.880 she we the whole thing hug hung on finding the 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.720 right mag and uh. And so for me, you know, 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:49.240 working with her was similar working with David O Yellow 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:53.520 in Selma and just their approach, Um, you know, very 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:56.120 holistic approach to the work. Some actress come in and 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:58.320 they it's like jazz. They just want to kind of 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.000 feel it in the moment. Um, I'm actually really study 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:03.880 and kind of delve deep. David is like that. Storm 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.240 is like that. Um. You know, one day she came 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:07.960 up to me. It only happened once, and she said 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:10.760 it was she did great work that day. She came 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.000 up to me afterward and like tears tears in her 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:15.760 eyes and said, I hate to ask you this, but 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:18.520 that whole day was no good. I was like, what 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.800 do you mean. She's like, I wasn't there. I wasn't 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.520 I wasn't feeling it. I was I wasn't telling the truth. 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:28.280 I was pretending. And uh, it's a thirteen year old girl. 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:30.360 And I said, it's the first day you felt like 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:32.800 that because and she's like yeah, she said, I think 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:34.360 when you go back and look at it, you'll see. 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.480 And I did and she was right. And so we 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.680 went back and we did it again. And and that's 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:42.840 a thirteen year old girl was really in tune with 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:46.320 you know, the special talent that she has inside of her. 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:49.160 So she's a really really beautiful girl. I don't have 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:52.360 children by choice, you know, my films are my children 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:54.880 and so um so I've never been like as close 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.200 to a child than my own niece as I have 0:15:57.320 --> 0:15:59.280 the Storm and it's been a real gift to me. 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.840 Uh a little just to venture out a little bit. 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:07.920 Something I've actually wanted to ask you for a minute is, um, 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:11.160 you know, you're you're very distinctly a star. Your voice, 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:15.640 your personality. Uh, you you are you are this public 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:18.320 facing icon, I think at this point. But you come 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:20.320 from a world you make a face, you don't think, 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:26.240 so that's my my perspective on Twitter. But just you know, 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.160 you're you're Lord. I think you're larger than life and 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:29.880 uh and I think that's a good thing. And but 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:34.360 you come from the world of journalism, PR documentaries, kind 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:37.920 of behind the scenes, out of the spotlight rolls. So 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:40.920 I'm just curious if if this stage of your career 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:43.280 has felt daunting at all to you. With that in mind, 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:46.000 I think probably not, because I don't think of it 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:48.680 that way. I don't. I don't. I don't feel it 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:53.720 like that. Um So, no, I do. I do know that, 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:55.800 you know, like when something like the La Times they 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.840 went Disney happens, when there was a little kur fruffled 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:04.840 are about critics and and all that stuff. Um, I 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:06.920 do feel like in those moments, it's nice to have 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:11.359 a platform to be able to say something when something 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:15.359 needs to be said on my own heart and things 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.560 that I believe in, to have the privilege of having 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:19.480 a microphone in front of me sometimes to be able 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:23.040 to say things. Sometimes you get into positions where you're like, uh, 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:26.119 you know, probably better if I didn't say anything, But 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.040 you've got a microphone in front of you and or 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:31.640 you have a platform, and you feel like sell out 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:36.400 for not saying something to your own self, you know. Um, 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.280 so sometimes those are the times where I feel like wish, 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:40.919 I wish I might be didn't have a mic in 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:45.200 front of me, because then I'd be safer. Um. But 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:47.000 but now I don't think about it too much or 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:49.640 in a bad way. You wake up feeling a responsibility 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:52.280 every day is that to do? No? No, No, It's 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:55.359 just like in some intense time, you feel like usually 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:57.360 sometimes you're on the red carpet, or sometimes people are 0:17:57.480 --> 0:17:59.359 tweeting you what do you think? And then you know 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:03.399 or um, you know, people were asking or interview requests 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:04.840 come in and you're like, do I have to speak 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:07.920 to everything? And the answer is no, thank you for 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:12.320 speaking to us, thank you for speaking with us. But 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:15.600 but but yeah, so that that gets a little tricky sometimes, 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.240 but overall, you know, just a Girlston's like everybody else. 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:23.280 I feel like you mentioned Black Panther. I feel like 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:25.200 we should talk about Black Panther. I mean, the movie 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:27.440 is crushing it and you just saw the news about 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:34.119 the second weekend, it's gonna be one o eight. What 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:39.040 do you think about this moment? He's my um, dear dear, dear, 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:43.200 dear friend from long before. Yes, we edited across from 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:45.800 each other, but before then, I mean just we've been 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:49.840 friends for a while. Was at his wedding. Um, I 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:53.560 love him and loves Zincy, his wife, and you know, 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:55.359 it just makes me it's like it's happening to a 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:58.679 family member. UM. So I think of him with it, 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:00.920 and I think of then you'll get to do and 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:03.360 all the power that he has now that it's with 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:08.200 a really really good brother, a really good person to um, 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:10.679 you know who deserves to have if you're gonna give 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:13.879 anyone that kind of power and influence and write your 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:17.920 own ticket, do whatever you want. If I was anyone 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:19.520 I could have chosen for it to go to, I 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:23.480 would have chosen him. So us me happy, happy. We 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:26.119 had him on the show just last week. We've actually 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:28.160 got a couple of your friends. We've got David next week. 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:32.520 So yeah for Gringo. So yeah, it's a big, big 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:37.000 a friends reunion here on the show. Lady Good But yeah, 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:39.280 Black Panther, I mean, it's it's such a cultural moment, 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:43.840 pop cultural moment even, and it's uh, you know, seeing 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:46.960 you hyping it for your friend and for yourn't even 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:51.040 help myself. Disney was like, you're good, you need any 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:54.159 materials assets? I was like, huh, maybe, like do you 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:58.120 want some extra social media tools? I was like, huh, 0:19:58.240 --> 0:19:59.879 They're like what you're talking about so much? I was like, 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:02.919 I didn't even realize how much I was tweeting about 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:05.400 it because every time I see something, i'd be I mean, 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:07.440 this has been for months. I've been on fire for it, 0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:10.159 so anyway, and then when they said that, I was like, 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.520 wait a minute, I'm not gonna be used for you know, 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.359 they weren't saying that, but it was kind of you know, 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:20.200 I guess this is how you feel. People thought Disney 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.639 was making me do it. I realized, but I guess, 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.080 but I just was excited and I am. I mean, 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:30.760 it's like, yeah, it's great. Could I just you know, 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:34.880 you were originally attached to that movie briefly. What what 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:38.160 didn't work for you on that, Well, what didn't work 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:40.760 for me is what worked for me was recalent time. 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:46.320 You know, that seems about the more opportunity, you know, 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:49.320 I wanted to tell a story of this girl with 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:53.840 glasses and curly hair who understakable yeah, who moves to 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:55.880 you know. We we were able to move the story 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:58.160 to South Control Away, which is not for where where 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:02.160 I grew up. Curl doesn't feel actually special, but ends 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:07.160 up being very special and and uh, you know, doesn't 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:08.600 think that she can do the things that she wants 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:11.120