WEBVTT - The Hate U Give (Part 3) with Angie Thomas 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:07.200 One cool thing about doing a show about books by 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:11.600 contemporary writers is that they are contemporaries. Like if you 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:14.960 have a question about Frankenstein, you can't go ask Mary Shelley. 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:18.680 She's dead. But after our conversation about The Hate You 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:21.960 Gift by Angie Thomas, we all had questions, and so 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:24.800 we got the chance to ask her. I've been really 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:27.560 excited to bring you this episode because, as you're about 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:30.319 to hear, Andie Thomas is brilliant and cool and nice 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:32.440 and everything you hope for in a young adult author. 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:35.000 This week, she'll talk to us about what it's like 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:38.000 to see your work adapted to the screen. With books 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.920 and movies, I look at it as a parent trap situations. 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:43.200 So like you got the book Twin and the movie Twin, 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:45.920 and they're gonna be raised by two different parents. Book 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:48.800 Twin is going with my publisher, movie Twins going with 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.120 the film folks. Who am I? I'm like the grandparents that. 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:57.720 Andie Thomas was born, raised and still lives in Jackson, Mississippi. 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:00.360 She was a former teen rapper, and we we'll get 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:03.200 into that. They You Give is her debut novel, and 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.480 it is a number one New York Times bestseller. Of course, 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.280 she's still a working writer, and her second novel, On 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:13.280 The Come Up, is on shelves. Now, Hi, everyone, this 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.000 is Dani Schwartz. You're listening to Popcorn Book Club. I 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:19.479 am joined as always by Karamadan Qua, Melissa Hunter, Tan Tran, 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.840 The Wonderful Jennifer Wright is out this week, and we 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:25.840 are joined by an incredibly special guest. I am so 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:30.320 excited the author of The Hate You Give, Angie Thomas, 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:33.440 the book that spent I believe a hundred and seventy 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:35.520 four weeks at the top of the New York Times 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:37.720 bestseller list, but that number might be out of date. 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:42.840 It could be even more truly a young adult phenomenon. 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.120 We are so excited to have you. Thank you, Thank 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:49.080 you so much for joining us. Thank you, thank you 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:53.760 for having me. Of course, so I am going to 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:58.320 be sort of moderating today, and we have some questions 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:00.360 for you. Don't worry. It's not like when trying to 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:07.560 get you or anything friendly here. But I just wanted 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:10.639 to start off. I was reading The Hate You Give 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:14.320 while simultaneously reading a book called They Can't Kill Us 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:19.160 Until They Kill Us by Honey abdul Riki and I'm 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:21.040 I was struck by a quote when I was reading 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.280 about Chance the Rapper that made me want to ask 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:27.560 you about it. So it says what Chance does is 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.760 what the best artists of color managed to do in 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:35.200 this setting, makes music facing his people while also leaving 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:37.919 the door open for everyone else to try and work 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:42.639 their way in. And I was curious if you felt 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.440 like this spoke to your experience writing about black culture 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:49.320 and the neighborhood that you grew up in and having 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:51.240 this book that's spent so many weeks on the New 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:54.840 York Times bestseller list that is being read widely by 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:58.720 non black people, do you feel like you do make 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:01.760 art that faces your people while leaving the door open 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:05.239 for other people to work their way in. Yeah, that's 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:08.400 what I hoped to do. Um. I remember very very 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:12.959 very early in the process, like after I just signed 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:16.399 with my publisher, me and my editor we were having 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.920 a conversation and she reminded me she told me something 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:22.520 from the beginning that like has stayed with me. And 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:25.600 she was like, your job as a writer is not 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:28.600 to explain things to white people. And this is a 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:32.239 white woman, you know, this is a white woman. And 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:34.920 I was like, Oh my god. I didn't realize how 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:38.240 liberating just that was. But she was like, no, that's 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:40.480 not your job to do it. She was like, if 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:43.520 there's something they don't understand, they can take the time 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.120 to find out what it is. It's okay, you know. 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:49.760 And and that has been kind of my mantra going 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:53.600 forward as a writer. Um I went to craft and 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:57.600 in literature, um Dr rudin Sam's Bishops Wants said that 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:02.560 books are mirrors, windows or slide glass doors. And I 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:06.440 want my books to first and foremost be mirrors for 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:09.200 those black kids who picked them up. I want them 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:13.800 to see um great views of themselves that aren't distorted, 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.800 and that show them who they are and help empower them. 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.359 And if everybody else sees it as a window or 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.719 sliding glass door, great, But my priority always as a 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:26.400 writer is to craft the mirror. And so like, as 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:30.880 I've become more I guess comfortable in my craft, I've 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.960 stopped code switching as much in my writing. Like, I 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:37.000 look at the hate you give, and I saw glimpses 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:39.120 of it there where. I was like, I kind of 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:40.840 want to do a little more, but I'm scared that 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:44.159 I'm going too far. But like now I'm on book 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:47.039 three Concrete Rolls, the prequel to The Hate You Give, 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:49.680 and it's like I stopped code switching all together, and 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:55.239 that it is so liberating. Like you know, Maverick uses 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:58.520 Finna in that book, and I've never had the guts 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:00.920 to put Finna in The Hate You Give. But I'm like, 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:03.640 I put finner in there, and they sinna find out 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:09.719 what Finna me so dictionary it right now. I seriously 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:13.560 don't know what PA means. That's not a judgment. I've 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:18.280 just been surprised. I forget. I forget what white people know, 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:21.200 like not to put you on blast, Danta. But I 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.600 remember that we were talking one time and we were 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.440 talking about our friend Mike, and I said, wow, I 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:28.840 had dinner with Mike, and he didn't realize that black 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:31.360 people put lotion on their whole bodies every day. You said, 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:35.719 black people put lotion on their whole bodies every day, 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:41.080 so much, every single day after over, our whole bodies 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:45.480 alicious because our skins would be dry and actual other words, 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:49.080 have learned about white people's dry skin, y'all. Not every 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:53.239 day I have to I see so many crusty feet 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:58.000 in the summertime that I'm like, what are y'all doing? Truly? 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.359 Those songs sandals and crusty. It's like put some lotion 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:06.400 in some socks on. Please. I Actually I do have 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.799 a question, Angie about the slang. Did you have pushed 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:13.240 back ever from it? Sounds like your agent is super supportive, 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.040 but did you ever have you know, pushback from editors 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:19.000 or even copy editors, like on that level of people 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.960 trying to to fix grammar stuff. No, I didn't, which 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:26.599 surprised me again because, like you know, after having that 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.920 conversation with my my editor, I was like, Okay, we'll 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:34.080 see how far this mindset goes in the process. But 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:37.400 by like with my copy editor, um, every time she 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.239 didn't understand a word or something like that, she would 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:43.280 go to you know, urban dictionary and she'd make note 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:48.640 of it. It was hilarious, what you know, to like 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:50.680 part of me. When I was writing to Hate You Give, 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.040 I was like, do I want to put any slang 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.039 words in? Because people are always like that dates the 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:58.600 book that dates the book. But you look at the classics, 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.520 let's look at classic novel. Nobody ever says that the 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:04.359 stuff that's mentioned in those books dates those books, you 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:08.720 know what I mean. So you're still yeah, exactly exactly. 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:11.680 So I'm like, why not speak to young people right 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:14.120 now where they are, right now and this time we're 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:16.840 in right now. Paint a picture of right now, so 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.160 that yeah, it may be dated in a few years, 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:23.160 but hopefully the message is still powerful regardless of the 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:25.520 words that may be used from time to time. So yeah, 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.240 I was. I was really lucky because I've heard some 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.520 horror stories of pushback when it comes to um slang 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:36.520 or African American vernacular all of those things. Like I've 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:38.960 been given the green light to just do whatever at 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:43.320 this point. That's amazing. Uh. So you mentioned like the 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.080 book may be dated in a few years, like we'll 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.040 say it was written a few years ago or at 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:50.480 least released a few years ago, and it still feels 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:54.400 fresh and it's still killing it in sales, And um, 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.680 I don't feel like it's stated at least not Ye, 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:00.600 you did start writing it when you were a college 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:04.360 student in the I won't say the year. It's on Wikipedia, 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:05.680 people can look it up and I'm not trying to 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:12.280 aid you, but prior to its release in and it 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:14.920 was a short story initially, so I wanted to know 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.640 what was the process like adopting it from that short 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:22.880 story into a full length young adult novel, and what 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:26.760 sort of stayed and how how did you expand it 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:31.120 or did you build around it. It was easier than 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:34.160 I thought it would be. Um it took me. It was. 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.280 There were years between when I first wrote it as 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.280 a short story and when I decided to write it 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:41.920 as a novel. But the thing is, when I was 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:43.680 writing it as a short story, it was part of 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:47.760 my senior project UM in college, in my creative writing program. 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:50.800 And my problem was I kept making the short story 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:55.240 too long. So like my professor, he's an author, and 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:58.040 like he pulled me aside one day, and you got 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:01.240 to imagine this older white Southern man pulling me aside, 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:07.640 and he's like, Darling is supposed to be short. That's 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.520 why it's called a short story. Because I was adding 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:13.760 all of these characters, all of these plot lines, all 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:16.920 this stuff, and he was like, he's supposed to be short, 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:18.880 and I was like, yeah, but I want to do 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.120 I want to He was like, I get that you 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:23.559 can turn it into a novel one day, but right now, 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:29.320 I just need so when the time came, you know, 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:31.360 when I was like, Okay, maybe I should go back 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:34.120 to that um and do that and turn it into 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:36.880 a novel. It was kind of easy because I had 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.600 all those things and those storyline ideas that I wanted 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:41.640 to include, and all those characters that I wanted to 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.480 include that I couldn't before, and so now I was 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.880 given that opportunity to do that. So the main thing 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:53.040 was um making sure that the core message of the 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:57.000 book remained the same, and for me, that is that 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:02.920 young black p both have voices and that they matter. 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:05.160 And that's what it was for me when it was 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.559 a short story, and that's what I wanted to keep 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:11.920 in the novel form. So it wasn't too hard because 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:15.000 I i again, I was limiting myself when I was 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.600 writing it as a short story. UM. So in that sense, 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:20.120 I was lucky that I had a whole lot of 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:23.240 ideas to work with. Can I ask what the focus 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:27.120 of the short story was? Yeah, yeah, the short story. 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.319 It was actually I did like four different short stories 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:32.200 to make up the senior project, So it was like 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:37.320 one was from Khalil's perspective, one was from Khalil's little 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:41.800 brother's perspective, one was from stars perspective, and one was 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.880 from a perspective of another little girl in the neighborhood 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:48.120 who was friends with Khalil's little brother. And so I 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:52.840 wanted to show how this world and how this this 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:56.040 this act of violence affected all of them in some 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.160 kind of way, you know. For for Khalil's little brother, 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:02.360 what this the neighborhood looked like through his eyes, you know. 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:04.360 And I had to go back to when I was 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:06.840 a little kid, and what and and the fact that 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.720 I didn't realize my neighborhood was as dangerous as it was. 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.520 So like my imagination saved me in a lot of ways. 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.760 Like I you know, for me, I pictured the drug 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.400 add excess dragons in the neighborhood, and I pictured you know, 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:23.320 I said that the drug house that we were supposed to, 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.160 you know, avoid that was like the dragon layer. And 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:27.880 I had this whole thing in my head. So I 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.280 pulled that into the story. Um and like the but 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:35.200 the main thing was showing at that point even was 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.840 the idea that these kids who were in this community 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:44.400 that so often ridden off, um, they have value, they 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:48.120 have beauty, they have stories that deserve to be told, 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.040 you know, I kind of even at that point, I 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:54.560 pulled on that concept of roses growing in concrete. That's 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:57.079 what I wanted that neighborhood to represent. I wanted Garden 0:11:57.160 --> 0:11:59.559 Heights to be the concrete and we're talking about the roses, 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:01.960 and I want at the show the beauty of the roses. 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:04.480 So that was the theme that was in the senior 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:08.680 project and in those short stories that has now found 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.800 its way into my books. So here I am, all 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:17.079 these years later, still doing a college school project. If 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.080 you have a good idea, take it and run with it. 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:22.720 And I would say that a lot of people think 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.800 it's a good idea. Have you spoken to the professor 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:28.000 who said that it needs to be a short story 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:32.240 since then? Oh? Yeah, I have. I have. I've spoken 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:34.880 to him. He's come to all of my signings in 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:39.120 Jackson and he's like, so where am I getting the check? 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:49.200 And I'm like, he's joking. He's always joking when he 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:56.079 says but I'm like, yeah, that's some funny. So from 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:58.800 turning it from a short story into a novel with 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.920 stars perspective immediately the first one that you went to 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:06.880 in terms of wanting to grow out this story, Yeah, yeah, 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:09.880 that was like for me, she was always the main 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:14.040 character in my mind. Um. And and I think part 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.200 of it was because maybe because I put some of 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:21.280 my own experience in that character, my own viewpoint, Um, 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.360 in that character, you know, she's navigating these two worlds. 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:27.800 And there I literally was at that time in college, 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.040 navigating two worlds. I went to a mostly white, upper class, 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:36.240 private Christian school in conservative Mississippi. Exactly, I just did 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:48.880 that that combination of words is that's fine. That was 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.440 my that was my college. And and I was the 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:55.480 only black student in my creative writing program. I was 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:59.560 the first black student to graduate from the creative writing program. 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.000 And oh, you know, being the only black person, I 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:06.239 had all those experiences, like when you're talking about slavery 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:11.080 in class, people looking at me, look at I had 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.360 that experience in high school when we were reading Huck 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:15.800 Finn because my white teacher would say the N word 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:19.400 when she was reading it, and every time she said it, 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:22.240 every student in class turned and looked at either me 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:24.360 or the other black girl in class. And we always 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:26.240 sat on opposite end, so it's funny. You could see 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:31.560 their heads whipping back and forth, and are they looking 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.200 at you? Like I'm so sorry or are they looking 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:40.120 at you like, what are you think? What's she gonna do? 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:44.920 What's she gonna do? It's yeah, it's it's a universal 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:49.320 experience for black people in primarily white institutions, having that 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.480 moment where when blackness comes up in a discussion in 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:56.360 a white space, what is this one black person's reaction 0:14:56.400 --> 0:15:02.280 going to be? So I feel that Ms Thomas I yes, yes, yes, 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:06.400 that was like that was me and she when it 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:10.360 came to them turning the book into the movie, which 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.520 was then such a so much attention I feel like 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.360 was on you and the process, Well, I mean, what 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:17.520 was that like? I feel like also I saw people 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:21.080 on Twitter thinking that you were personally casting it. That 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:25.800 was that was wild. I don't think like there's so 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:31.680 many misconceptions about the film process with books, and it's like, 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:38.040 you know, everybody thinks they know, thinks they're an expert 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:41.440 and they and they really have no idea just how 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:45.760 everything happened or anything. Like for me, the movie process 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:49.480 started really early, like the Hey you give I signed 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:53.720 with my agent and I tweeted him in June two 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:58.400 thou fifteen, he signed me as a client. Like in 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:02.840 August we went on some mission November, and the book 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:08.560 was sold in November, and by December of two thousand fifteen, 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:12.040 I was on phone calls with Hollywood producers and studios 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.320 because there was all this buzz about the book from 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:19.640 publishing because it was this big thirteen House auction and 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:22.840 everybody was talking about that, and so it got into 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:26.800 Hollywood and like, yeah, December, I say, December two thousand 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:29.440 and fifteen, I had my first phone conversation with George 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:34.120 Tillman Jr. Who ended up being a director. Um, and like, 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.400 that's early, you know, that's that's I mean, I just 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:40.160 I hadn't even signed the contract yet for the book. 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:42.720 That's how early we're talking. When I talked to George 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:47.800 January two thousand sixteen, Amandela Stenberg was given a copy. Again, 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:51.120 I hadn't even signed a contract for the book yet. 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:54.680 I was still waiting on the paperwork. They were still 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:59.480 getting all the negotiations done, you know. Um with that, 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:01.920 and like Mandela read it and was like, I love 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:04.920 this star is me in so many ways. I'd love 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:07.719 to be attached to play this character. And so we 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:11.880 were talking about bam bam bam. Like within a few months, 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:15.119 I go from working on something by myself too, I 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:18.240 got a publisher, and now I got a film studio, 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:22.840 a director and an actress. Attack the wildest thing in 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:32.439 my life. You're listening to Popcorn Book Club for My 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:34.919 Heart Radio and we'll be back right after the break. 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:47.119 So we're back with Popcorn Book Club for my Heart Radio. 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.000 What was it like handing over the book to a screenwriter? 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.200 I know, like, you know, you've created such a rich 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:03.639 world in your book and tapestry of characters, and obviously 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:07.400 it's a script is so different. So what was your relationship? 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.720 I know she just since past, but with the screenwriter 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:15.240 and that process of handing over this baby, you know, yeah, 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:18.399 that was that was a scary process, I have to admit, 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:21.960 because you know, with with books and movies, I look 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.800 at it as a parent trap situation. And you got like, 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:27.520 you know, these two kids, so like you got the 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:29.560 book Twin and the movie Twin, and they're gonna be 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.439 raised by two different parents. Book Twin is going with 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:35.720 a publisher, Movie Twins going with the film. Folks, who 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:41.080 am I I'm like the grandparents that you know, you're 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:49.720 the British grandfather exactly. I'm the British grandfather, So I 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.760 you know, I had to trust them in that process 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.800 and understand the kids are gonna look different, their fraternal 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:59.960 twins not identical. They're gonna look different, but the genetic 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.359 start the same. The one thing I will say about 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:06.439 Audrey was, Um, she from the very beginning, she involved 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:10.520 me in the process, Like my first trip on an airplane. 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:13.480 I'd never flown in my life. My first trip on 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:17.320 an airplane was in two thousand and sixteen when I 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:21.000 flew out to Los Angeles to meet her and George 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:24.119 and all the people at Fox. Two thousand and I 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:26.840 sat down with Audrey and George for like an entire 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:30.600 day at a restaurant talking about every single character, every 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:34.880 single plot line in the book. Um. You know, now, 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.000 I will say, and you know, people probably gonna look 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.040 at me weird or come at me for saying this, 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.320 and this is no disrespect to the dead, But I 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:45.840 will say, looking back on it, part of me still 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:48.280 wishes that a black woman had been involved as a 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:51.120 screenwriter from the beginning. We did have a black woman 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:54.280 come on later. Um Tina Maybury. She came on later, 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.520 and she reworked some stuff in the script. Um. Because 0:19:57.520 --> 0:20:00.159 the thing about Audrey was God rest her soul, like 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:04.359 she had never watched the Fresh Fresh Prints, and so 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:09.000 I'm like, okay, so we got we got now. I 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:11.600 will say she was willing to learn blah blah blah. 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:13.680 But the way you know things with Hollywood and all 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:17.120 that work out at that time, I'm still learning as 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:19.360 I go. All right, I will say that I'm still 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:21.600 learning as I go. I'm still learning the process how 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:23.919 things work. So I wish I could have been a 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:26.240 little more vocal at that time and said let's get 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:28.359 a black woman in from the get go. You know 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.800 what I mean? Um, I do wish that. Now. That's 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:34.480 the thing about that is I learned from that because 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:36.680 here I am now a second book on the come up. 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:40.040 We have black woman screenwriter, k oh, you're gunning from 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.040 this is us. Um. We have a black woman studio 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:46.679 head Am Barrassberry at Paramount who's overseeing the project. You 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:49.960 have me as a producer this time, not just in name, 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:54.680 but I actually actually working on it this time. And 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:58.400 I will say I can't say who yet, um, but 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:02.680 we will have a black and director as well, So 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:12.680 you like nod for us. I can't do that and 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:16.800 just put it, just just blink it in more so 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:22.120 in your eyes. We love we love intel. I may 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:26.480 let y'all know after the we won't tell anybody. It 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:30.040 can't be recorded because I don't want any that I 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:33.160 did it. But no, of course he doesn't. You know what, 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:36.880 we don't even tell us. We will not we will 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:42.720 not ask at all. Yeah, yeah, no, no, so no, 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:46.040 you know, I will say like I was a baby 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:48.760 in the early in that first film process, I was 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:53.920 still learning. I was storry ey, surprised that anybody wants 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:57.159 to make something out of my book. And now I'm like, okay, 0:21:57.200 --> 0:22:00.160 I know a little more. I got a little more safe. Oh, 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:02.159 I got a little more power, and I was I 0:22:02.240 --> 0:22:06.000 told Amber Raspberry at Paramount, I was like, look, I 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:08.119 know that I have to pick my battles, but this 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.679 is one hell I want to die. I'm willing to 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:13.200 die on and as I want a black woman director. 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:16.399 And that was like, originally George was going to direct it, 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:19.040 and George is my big brother. I love him, but 0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:22.320 something came up scheduling conflicts, so now he can't do it. 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:24.119 I was like, okay, so since George can't do it, 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:26.160 here's the Hill, I'm willing to die and I want 0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:28.600 a black woman director, So I got I feel like 0:22:28.640 --> 0:22:33.840 that's a good hell. We were going to ask specifically 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:36.640 how it felt to have a white screenwriter, and I'm 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:38.280 so glad that you brought it up, and it didn't 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:41.200 feel like we were like attacking anybody. And not to 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:44.080 speak ill of the dead, but it is a specific 0:22:44.200 --> 0:22:48.840 experience and not having seen The Fresh Prince is something 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:54.280 that I can't even imagine. Um, and watch the Fresh 0:22:54.320 --> 0:23:03.520 Friends people, Chris watches The Press Prince. But you had 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:09.440 mentioned Amantha Stenberg and Uh, they were very controversially. Not 0:23:09.720 --> 0:23:12.720 it wasn't controversial for the casting, but there was a 0:23:13.119 --> 0:23:17.320 sort of firestorm after they were cast in The Hunger Games. Uh. 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:21.200 And I think it's interesting because there was a newspaper 0:23:21.280 --> 0:23:23.080 article about you and about your book, and it has 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:27.399 this beautiful picture of you on it. Yes, yes, my 0:23:27.440 --> 0:23:31.919 mom has a printer. I'm living large. And in this 0:23:32.240 --> 0:23:38.080 article by Adriana Ramirez, they talk about how your book 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:42.800 could be to some considered a sort of disk topic 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:46.840 book in the same realm as The Hunger Games and 0:23:47.480 --> 0:23:50.000 UH and Maze Runner and all these books that have 0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:53.440