1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:05,400 Speaker 1: My darling. I gotta tell you, I'm always thrilled to 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: speak to you. So Jeremy's boyfriend and me and my 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: boyfriend are good friends. But when we walked down the street, 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 1: I do talk to Jeremy, Moore and Anderson and are 5 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:17,319 Speaker 1: one a kind of like the grown ups, and me 6 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 1: and Jeremy are kind of like the kids who were like, well, 7 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: let's get candy, and my other guys are like, let's 8 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: get carfy. Let's Kenny and Calf. Me exactly. Hello, I'm 9 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: mini driver and welcome to many questions. I've always loved 10 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: Pruce's questionnaire. It was originally an eighteenth century parlor game 11 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: meant to reveal an individual's true nature. But with so 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: many questions, there wasn't really an opportunity to expand on anything. 13 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:46,520 Speaker 1: So I took the format of Pruce's questionnaire and adapted 14 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: What I think are seven of the most important questions 15 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: you could ever ask someone. They are when and where 16 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: were you happiest? What is the quality you like least 17 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: about yourself? What relationship, real or fictionalized, defines love for you? 18 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: What question would you most like answered, What person, place, 19 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 1: or experience has shaped you the most? What would be 20 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: your last meal? And can you tell me something in 21 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: your life that has grown out of a personal disaster. 22 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: The more people we ask, the more we begin to 23 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 1: see what makes us similar and what makes us individual. 24 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: I've gathered a group of really remarkable people who I 25 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: am honored and humbled to have had a chance to 26 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: engage with. My guest today is Jeremy oh Harris. It's 27 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: hard to know where to begin an introduction to Jeremy 28 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: because to me, he is a force that has such 29 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: diverse impact. It feels limiting to say specifically what he 30 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: does or who he is, And actually part of his 31 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: fundament seems to be challenging the way in which we 32 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: quantify a lot of things. So it's probably right that 33 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: I don't know what to say. He is definitively the 34 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: author the highly acclaimed Slave Play, which has become the 35 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: most nominated non musical play in the history of the Tonys, 36 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,359 Speaker 1: with twelve nominations. I won't say explicitly what the play 37 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: is about, because you should see it or find it 38 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: and read it and think. But the super redux version 39 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: is that it addresses themes of sexuality and racial trauma 40 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: in America. Out magazine called him the queer black savior 41 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: theater needs. I would rejoin and editor to say he 42 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: is the queer black savior we all need, and if 43 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: systems are grumbling, as they surely seem to be, voices 44 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: like Jeremy's are the ones I'd like to hear loudest 45 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: during the rebuild. He writes under different names, he explores 46 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: different mediums of art, acting, playwriting, screenwriting, producing, and as 47 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: a person and a rare talent at the forefront of 48 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: a new generation of emerging artists, he is dismantling the 49 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,079 Speaker 1: idea of personal success and fame being the endgame. By 50 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: using carved out fees from big deals in fashion and 51 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 1: in television to establish funds and micro grants for theaters 52 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: and libraries. He is quite literally lifting up and creating 53 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: opportunities for others in his community and beyond. Whenever I 54 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: talk to him, I feel like I'm talking to the future, 55 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 1: a super tall, hot, progressive future. Correct me, jere I 56 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: mean if I'm wrong, but I believe Slave Play became 57 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: the most nominated Tony in the history of the Tony's. 58 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: It's the most nominated Tony ever, It's the most nominated 59 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: to It's been it's a Tony that has been nominated 60 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 1: so many times its name is now Anthony Slave play 61 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: was nominated more times than any other than any other play. 62 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: I think Hamilton's has the most of any thing best 63 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: because musical is cheat and can have more. You know, 64 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: He's best score, best book, best orchestrations, like, we don't 65 00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: get those. So now, what relationship, real or fictionalized, defines 66 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: love for you? Oh that's so good. Um, I mean 67 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: I'm probably so dark. It's probably like you know, the 68 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:17,840 Speaker 1: Young Girl and the Soldier and blasted the Sarah Kane play, 69 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: like really dark. Oh my god, I mean I really 70 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: really really love Magnolia. I really love Earl Partridge and 71 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: his Wife that Julianne Moore plays. She married this guy 72 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: for money and then as he's dying, she realizes how 73 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: much she loves him. That is kind of what being 74 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: in love is like for me. Obviously, adoreless person. You're 75 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: able to be in public the face of the adoring partner, 76 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 1: but in private moments you're like, oh, wow, you're smelly. 77 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: You touched me all the time, you do, you know, 78 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: whatever the thing is, and then like you know, the 79 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: minute that you shut the bathroom door, You're like, where 80 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,039 Speaker 1: are they? I need their warmth again, you know, because 81 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: there's something about human beings where like you kind of 82 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: want to nip the person that's closest to you. It's 83 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: like what we do with our parents, you know. And 84 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: the minute that you've gotten someone into your trust circle, 85 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: you do in your mind convince yourself that they're not 86 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 1: everything you want in the minute that they're about to leave, 87 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: where they could go that's to you wanted the best. 88 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: And I think that part of the work of being 89 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: a good partner and a good person love is to 90 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,239 Speaker 1: minimize the moments of nipping that are natural and normal, 91 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 1: and lean into who you are to the world, and 92 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 1: lean into who you are when they're about to leave 93 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: in those moments when it's just you two lying in bed. So, 94 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: do you think that the specter of loss is then 95 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: part of the defining factor of love for you? The 96 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 1: idea that that person will be lost to you, or 97 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: could be lost to you, but ultimately will be lost 98 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: to you is actually what gives love of shame. Yes, 99 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: I actually think that having a recognition that this person 100 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: could be gone at any second should be the founding 101 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: principle of any love magicure and or any healthy relationship, 102 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: because that that would mean that you would treat it 103 00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 1: a little bit better. You wouldn't take it for granted. 104 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: And I think that oft and we we take people 105 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: for granted because we think that we're going to be eternal, 106 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: you know. But even when I think about the fact 107 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: that thirty years feels like it's passed so quickly, I'm 108 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: just like, I'm going to be out of here. Even 109 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: if I lived to seventy or eighty, you know, I'm 110 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: gonna be out of here in a moment. I know. 111 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: It's a heartbeat, it's a heart Maybe that's also this time. 112 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but since this pandemic, I 113 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: felt like time has stretched, it's time slowed down. Time 114 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: stop being this thing that I was always chasing after 115 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: and actually became so present because all of the distraction 116 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: and all of those branches that were really a lot 117 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 1: of dead wood, kind of a cut away. But also, 118 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,800 Speaker 1: don't you feel like those three months at the very 119 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: top of the year felt like forever, like at the 120 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: very top of quarantinshure. Well, now I think about it 121 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 1: from right now, I do, But at the time it 122 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: felt like days were stretchy. It felt like nine am 123 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: lasted until four. It felt like every moment was every 124 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: conversation Shan, everything that we cooked, everything that we ate, 125 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:08,600 Speaker 1: every embrace. Yes, it felt distilled. You know, you couldn't 126 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: really have written it. And it's been believable or been 127 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: anything other than sort of Ryan Murphy kind of giant. 128 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: You'll never believe this. Here. Let me put on a 129 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: giant show for you. It's actually still Ryan Murphy. It's 130 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: like it's Ryan Murphy and Shonda. Ryan's actually doing a 131 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: cross over episode. It really is. It is exactly. It's 132 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: them just passing back a script over a weekend and 133 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: each of them perhaps drinking slightly more than the other 134 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: with each new draft, and it's getting more and more 135 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: insane and more and more ridiculous. All right, downing, So 136 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: can you tell me in your life about something that 137 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: has grown out of a personal disaster stuff? I mean, 138 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: there's been so many things, but I think the thing 139 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: and I know this because I went this amazing healer 140 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: and the swaman was like, wow, what happened when you 141 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: were nineteen? Like it's still living in your body. She's like, 142 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: it feels like a big trauma. And I was like, Oh, 143 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: that's so weird. That was the year that I got 144 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: cut from drama school. You know, I went to this 145 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: drama school. They accepted fifty two kids, only twenty sis 146 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 1: got to stay. I liked it because it sounded like 147 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: Survivor or a big Brother or something like. They turned 148 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: training to be an actor into the Bachelor, and so 149 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: I was really excited because I worked my ass off 150 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 1: and like I had done the math, I was like, great, 151 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: inside of my section, I'm in the top five percent. 152 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: If they're cutting half of us, I can't be cut 153 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: from my section. But there are five black men here, 154 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: and amongst them, I'm definitely the weirdest one. So either 155 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: they're gonna want me because I'm the weirdest one, or 156 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: they're gonna be like, even though he's one of the best, 157 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: he's gonna get cut because he's really weird. So I 158 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: just did everything I could be weird myself over the year. 159 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: So I came to school with really long hair. I 160 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,959 Speaker 1: cut off all with my hair, like halfway through the year. 161 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: He was like radical transformation, And you know, I worked 162 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: really hard, and I was still one of the people 163 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,839 Speaker 1: that got cut, and some of the cruelest things that 164 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: I've ever been said to me were said to me 165 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: when I was eighteen years old about why I was cut, 166 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: saying was true of other actors. And you know how 167 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: this is like these people are working with people at 168 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: the beginning of their development into young adults, and like 169 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: decided to say this the kinest things to them because 170 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:28,679 Speaker 1: they can because Heinu's things are said to them. They 171 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: said a whittling down every year, and we were a 172 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: part of the lucky community because they stopped whittling people 173 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 1: down the second and third years, so it was just 174 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: like one cut instead of multiple. I think that is 175 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: so hideous because it means you could never actually relax. 176 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: It's like the hunger. Yes, it's like you totally know 177 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: that there's a Gaillo scene hanging above your head every 178 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: day that you go to school. I mean, what a 179 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: dreadful way to try and learn. Yeah. One of my 180 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: closest friends there, Erica, who also got cut. You know, 181 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: she had come from a school where she had never 182 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: done a play before in her life. She got into 183 00:09:57,960 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: a drama school, I having never done a play before 184 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: her life, and she didn't more than one for me, 185 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: And it's like let's that girl get in, Like she 186 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: just gets to stay for all four years, because like 187 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 1: what the fuck? But she came from a really rough 188 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,200 Speaker 1: community and she wasn't used to going to a room 189 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: with a bunch of white kids and crying. She's like, 190 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: I don't cry in front of people. You don't do that. 191 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: She's in these classes with all these kids, many of 192 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,439 Speaker 1: whom come from privilege, who are able to weep form 193 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: command all the time about anything, and her teachers are like, 194 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: you feel too hard, but you don't want to share yourself. 195 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: She's like, no one's giving me a reason to cry, Like, 196 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: give me a scene, I'll do that. Then I'm just 197 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: gonna sit and cry and gossip with you. Anyway. That 198 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: was really difficult for me, and I'll never forget that. 199 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: One of my professors told me, she's like, well, Jeremy, 200 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: you're just not castable. Yeah, She's like, you have the 201 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: face of the child, a body of demand. You won't 202 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,439 Speaker 1: be cast into your at least thirty five forties. So 203 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: you should think about going to grad school for acting. 204 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:48,680 Speaker 1: And right now, you know you seem to like writing, 205 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 1: so do that. And I was like what what? But 206 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: it's incredible because of what did come out of that, Well, Yeah, 207 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: because I immediately decided I was going to prove her 208 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: I could be castable. So I got asked every major 209 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: show that was happening in Chicago at the time. And 210 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: then two years later I went to l A and 211 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: that was when I started telling me I was a writer, 212 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 1: which is what they had told me at school, and 213 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: my entire identity changed after that. It's so extraordinary. I 214 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:19,199 Speaker 1: think I overuse the matrixes of reference points of touchstone 215 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:23,040 Speaker 1: in my life, but I do often think, like you 216 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 1: know the scene where he goes to see the oracle 217 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: and she tells him he's not the one. I just 218 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: think that those moments in our lives where life is 219 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: telling you, no, it's absolutely not you, it's not you 220 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: at all, they are the moments out of which the 221 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: most grows because you have to disagree with it in 222 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:40,560 Speaker 1: order to carry on in a way, or you have 223 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 1: to become something else. Yes, I was the only kid 224 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,439 Speaker 1: in my class to graduate from drama school without an agent. 225 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: You know, it's just me and my mom and all 226 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,199 Speaker 1: these other kids standing with their agents and their parents 227 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: after the last performance with like warm white wine, and 228 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: I was like everyone has an agent here except me, 229 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: and my mom was like, well, I don't have an 230 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 1: agent either. That's amazing. That's literally something my mom would 231 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: say to me. Yeah. I mean it was really hard 232 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: and it was really harsh. I think it's really interesting though, 233 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: that the people who were so unsupportive of you as 234 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: an actor told you that you were a writer and 235 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: that you should go and do that, and the fact 236 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: that you actually did go and do that, and now 237 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:20,640 Speaker 1: you can be an actor, you can be a writer, 238 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 1: you can do whatever you want. It's interesting. I like 239 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,679 Speaker 1: it when the people who were apparently limiting us, we're 240 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: actually giving us exactly what we needed to grow. Yes, yes, 241 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: it's everything. Were you a student when he wrote Slave Play? Yeah? Yeah, 242 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,600 Speaker 1: my god, Jeremy. Basically, Slave Play haunted all three years 243 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: of my graduate degree because in my first year I 244 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: started working on it and writing it, and then my 245 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 1: second year we put it up in the fall and 246 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: there was a big fallout with the administration and a 247 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:55,839 Speaker 1: lot of my professors who really hated the play and 248 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: tortured me. And then the next half of the year 249 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: I was trying to get some of the people who 250 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: were really messed up about that fire um and then 251 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: in my third year I wrote a thesis play about 252 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,320 Speaker 1: how that experience had been the worst thing ever while 253 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 1: the play was going up in the city. What was 254 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 1: the central beef that they had with your play? Well, 255 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: it was mainly a power thing, which is one of 256 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: the reasons why it was most frustrating and really drawing, 257 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,079 Speaker 1: because it had very little to do with the actual 258 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: like nuts and bolts of my play, as I could 259 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: see visa vie their relationship to the other work that 260 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 1: was happening around me. It was more so the fact 261 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: that they told me to cut twenty minutes out of 262 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,680 Speaker 1: the play and I said, I don't want to do that. 263 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:39,440 Speaker 1: That note doesn't make sense to me, and they said, well, 264 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: we're telling you to do this, and it was about 265 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: like this power thing, and I think the more I've 266 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: dug in my heels and was like, no, I think 267 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: that's a bad note, the more angry they got. And 268 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: it was just like the Battle of wills that ended 269 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:52,560 Speaker 1: with a professor yelling at me and sending me really 270 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: hate his emails and just having like a full mental spiral. 271 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: Do you think it made you connect? Forced each connect 272 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: with the thesis of the play even more because you 273 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:07,719 Speaker 1: were defending it so profoundly. Do you think that you 274 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:10,840 Speaker 1: you kind of bonded with your play more because of 275 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: that extreme conflict? Well, yeah, I mean I think it 276 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 1: may be bond with the performers, especially the performer playing Knisha. 277 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 1: A lot at Yale is played by this woman named 278 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 1: Intra Neet Crow Legacy, who's an amazing actress. And obviously, 279 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: as you've you've been to drama school, you know that 280 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 1: when someone's actually just doing a power play, they'll change 281 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:32,680 Speaker 1: their tactics really well. And so the tactic became, well, 282 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 1: it's not about the twenty minutes in that part so much. 283 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: It's just that those twenty minutes are so bad that 284 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 1: the endings the worst thing I've ever seen. I can't 285 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 1: believe this actress is doing this. If you're not gonna 286 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: change these twenty minutes, you have to change the ending. 287 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: And so I tried to change the ending, and I 288 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: came back and his actors was like, why are you 289 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 1: changing this? Your play is saying this to me. She 290 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: said something to the room about her character and why 291 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: she understood what was happening in the play. That was like, 292 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: my secret, it's for why I had written the play. 293 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 1: It's like someone's naming all the reasons why I had 294 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: written the play from the point of view of acting 295 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: in this thing, and so I felt so immediately um indicated. Yeah, 296 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,360 Speaker 1: And it also made me know that at the end 297 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: of the day, great performers, they are great ensemble are 298 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: more important than teachers. No wonder how many you know, 299 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: McArthur Pullitzer, O bis they've won. You know what I mean? Well, 300 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: you'd think that. But by the way, speaking as someone 301 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:32,480 Speaker 1: who has worked with extraordinarily collaborative people and then slightly 302 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: more autocratic directors and producers, I must say that it's 303 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: very refreshing to hear you say that, Jeremy, because it 304 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: is a collaboration. You're all working towards the same thing. 305 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: And I think sometimes actors certainly get the reputation that 306 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: it's really just about self aggrandizement. And I really is 307 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: biggest soliloquy as opposed to no best idea wins. Yes, 308 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: And I love because you're a writer and an actor 309 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: and a director and a kind of conceiver of art 310 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: that you recognize that. I feel vindication as an actor 311 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: knowing that you say what you bring him when you're 312 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: inside a character, you can sometimes give a perspective that 313 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: is unique because you're living inside your particular piece of 314 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: this greater piece of work. One of the things that's 315 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: most invigorating about getting all of these Tony nominations is 316 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: that twelve Tony nominations have very little to do with 317 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: Jeremy o' harris writing this play right, and everything to 318 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: do with the community of people around this play that 319 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: I wrote. Those things really matter to me because the 320 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: family that we made with this play was really tight, 321 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 1: and we listened really well to each other. And I 322 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: think what's really exciting what the Tony is that everyone 323 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: seeing James Society, Morier, Jachina Cala Congo, Annie McNamara, Shalia Latour, 324 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: Auntie Blanks and Wood, Lindsay Jones, G G D D 325 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 1: Clint and Robert and not to mention like Paul Sullivan 326 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: and it ain't a who were the three actors of 327 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: our eight that didn't get nominated, but who obviously play 328 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: the gift twelve nominations, they're still being celebrated as well, 329 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: the community saying like, no, you guys really came together 330 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: and you fought for each other. And that makes me 331 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: soory because Arena and Shalia were in the first reading 332 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: of its play, So I just wanted to say that 333 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: Slave Player also did something really extraordinary. Jeremy insisted on 334 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:24,920 Speaker 1: there being a subsidized ticket program so that when you 335 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: would go to buy a ticket, you would be also 336 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: able to buy a ticket for someone who maybe couldn't 337 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: afford to go to the theater. And what that did 338 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: for the community and the anomaly that that was I'm 339 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: really genuinely hope becomes a normal practice on Broadway in 340 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: the West End, in every theater loving city in the world. 341 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:49,880 Speaker 1: It was extraordinary the amount of first time ticket buyers 342 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: or theater girls who went to see Slave Blay because 343 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: they were able to what that speaks to you about 344 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:56,439 Speaker 1: community and what that speaks to you about what the 345 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: theater is always purporting to be about, which is about 346 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:01,440 Speaker 1: coming together and than the stories of our community. For 347 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: the community, that was one of the most amazing. I mean, 348 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: beyond the extraordinary impact of the play and what it 349 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:14,159 Speaker 1: forced us all to meditate on and think about and 350 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: talk about forever, is that notion of community for me 351 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:22,200 Speaker 1: and availability to everybody, not just to the famous people, 352 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 1: the rich people, the white people, but to everybody. It's 353 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,399 Speaker 1: an incredibly special play for so many reasons. When I 354 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: hope that it stops being an anomaly and actually just becomes, 355 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: you know, the norm same. I mean, it's really nice 356 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: to be an anomaly because it means you're special, you're 357 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:39,680 Speaker 1: one of a kind. But when being one of a 358 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: kind means that you're like opening the doors for more 359 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:44,159 Speaker 1: people than it's not fun. You want to know that 360 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 1: more people are doing that so that this thing you 361 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: love a can survive and be can be experienced by 362 00:18:49,600 --> 00:19:06,640 Speaker 1: as many people as possible. What person, place, or experience 363 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: has most altered your life, well, I think I think 364 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 1: because she's constantly offering the direction of my life. It 365 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:18,199 Speaker 1: would have to be my mom, because she had me 366 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,119 Speaker 1: when she was nineteen and came to a community that 367 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: does not have very many opportunities for people of color, 368 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 1: especially women of color, and worked really hard to psyphon 369 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,880 Speaker 1: off as many opportunities as she could for me, even 370 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:36,400 Speaker 1: if that meant denying herself certain opportunities. And so that's 371 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:38,679 Speaker 1: why I think she's most afted in my life. She 372 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: put me in the private school so that she couldn't 373 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: afford to send me to and she's always sounded like 374 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: an extraordinary person. She's the absolute Disneys and I wouldn't 375 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 1: be the person I am now without her. Um. I 376 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: love that. I love that. I'm glad it's your mom. 377 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,359 Speaker 1: So here we go. I would like you to please 378 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:09,159 Speaker 1: tell me where and when you were happiest. This is 379 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,640 Speaker 1: really it is actually really funny because I just answered 380 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: this question for g Q and and for some reason 381 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: felt like a fake answer at the time. But the 382 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: more I think about, the more real it sounds in 383 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,439 Speaker 1: my head. I think I felt the happiest when I 384 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,199 Speaker 1: was at McDowell in New Hampshire, which is where I 385 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: went when I was twenty six year old. It's where 386 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:29,760 Speaker 1: I decided I was going to go to grad school, 387 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: and it was where I really, for the first time 388 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:38,120 Speaker 1: in my life, I felt like an artist because I've 389 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: been welcomed into this historic colony of artists. For people 390 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 1: who don't know McDowell, it's the oldest artistic commune in 391 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: the country. James Baldwin wrote Giovanni's room there. Tanahusey Coats 392 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:54,160 Speaker 1: wrote there the color purple is written there. I'm naming 393 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,639 Speaker 1: only the black people like Lennard Bernstein went there and 394 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:02,120 Speaker 1: it's artists of all disciplines. It's painters, writers, composers, playwrights. 395 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: And you endowed with this. You invited, you singled out 396 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 1: and invited. No, you're not invite, you apply. So it's 397 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,479 Speaker 1: an application process is highly competitive. So many writers I 398 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: know haven't gotten in. And it's a place that's really 399 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: rare because you can be there with someone who's won 400 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: four pool and surprises, you know, Michael Chaban, can be 401 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:24,400 Speaker 1: there with someone who's only written a short play, which 402 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:25,920 Speaker 1: is what I had done. Like I had only written 403 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: a thirty minute play. I had no real credits. I 404 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,639 Speaker 1: just had good recommendations. And you tell them what you 405 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: want to write while you're there, and I told him 406 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,159 Speaker 1: I want to write this play called Daddy. And so 407 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:38,159 Speaker 1: I got there, you know, and I'm sitting at a 408 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,360 Speaker 1: table with the likes of Michael, Alma Raida and Adrian 409 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: Nicole LeBlanc, and I was like, great, what it was? 410 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: It was really lovely. But I think that there was 411 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 1: a moment there when I had such insane imposter syndrome, 412 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: because you know, I started out as an actor, I 413 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: didn't start out as a playwright. And I lived in 414 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:58,119 Speaker 1: l A for six years sort of telling people I 415 00:21:58,240 --> 00:21:59,479 Speaker 1: was the play right because I didn't want to tell 416 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: people I was an actor. And then one day someone 417 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: was just like, well, are you actually a writer? And 418 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:05,679 Speaker 1: I was like, I think I am. And then I 419 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,480 Speaker 1: started writing, but I still felt like I was tricking 420 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: people right, like that I was illegitimate. And meanwhile, I'm 421 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 1: telling my mom, who's working three jobs to support herself, 422 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 1: my sister and me, well past the age that people 423 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,919 Speaker 1: get supported. Where I'm coming from, there's no idea of 424 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: the young artist who gets helped from their mom at 425 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:25,960 Speaker 1: twenty four to help pay their rent. Right. My mom 426 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 1: is doing something that's like a huge anomaly for our community. 427 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: And I keep promising her, like I promise you, mom, 428 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:31,719 Speaker 1: if you just help me out one more time, it's 429 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: gonna work out. Just give me a few more years, 430 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: another month, like if I don't figure it out by 431 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 1: the time I'm thirty, I'll go back to school and 432 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: become a lawyer or something. And so I was there. 433 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 1: I had all this imposter syndrome, and then one day 434 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: someone was talking about something and someone turned me like, Jeremy, 435 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: what do you think? And I was like, well, I 436 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,680 Speaker 1: think this. I don't know if you've ever read this thing, 437 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: and I can't remember exactly what it was, but everyone 438 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: the table was like, wow, oh my god, that's so impressive, 439 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: because that's so great, and the like changed the course 440 00:22:57,760 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: of the thing. Everyone started asking more questions about what 441 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 1: I just said, and in that moment I realized whoa, Like, 442 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 1: I'm really here, and I went outside to have a 443 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: cigarette and Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, who is the MacArthur Genius 444 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:11,199 Speaker 1: Grant winning writer of Random Family, came up to me 445 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,439 Speaker 1: and was like, that was so beautiful what you just 446 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:15,639 Speaker 1: said back there, and I was like, it's so weird. 447 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,159 Speaker 1: Everyone here feels so beyond me, Like I don't know 448 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: that I can even catch up with where they are 449 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:21,680 Speaker 1: in the world, and the fact they care about what 450 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 1: I have to say is so weird. And She's like, 451 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:25,919 Speaker 1: why is it weird we're all sitting at the same table. 452 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: In that moment, I think I felt so happy because 453 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 1: it felt like this thing I've been promising my mom 454 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,639 Speaker 1: that like my difference meant that I was, that I 455 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,640 Speaker 1: was a part of a community of artists, was finally affirmed. Right, 456 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,919 Speaker 1: All of our hard work was affirmed in that moment, 457 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 1: so do you feel a sense of belonging and the 458 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:50,439 Speaker 1: vindication of everything that your mom had believed in you 459 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:55,639 Speaker 1: and put into it qualifies that happiness? Yes, it shapes 460 00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:00,159 Speaker 1: that happiness. I love that Jeremy. I'm looking at the 461 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: Barack Obama book right now. He's so handsome. He's so handsome. 462 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,199 Speaker 1: He's so handsome and so kind, and I love his 463 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,439 Speaker 1: wife so much. It's almost like they're superheroes. I do. 464 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,400 Speaker 1: I put them in the same category. I really want 465 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,880 Speaker 1: to interview him because he's been saying some really interesting 466 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 1: things recently. He did this interview about his book. He 467 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 1: was just like talking too, how crazy the Republican Party 468 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,439 Speaker 1: it's got. Now. He's like, you know, there's just so 469 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,200 Speaker 1: much crazy stuff. You know, one minute they're saying Hillary 470 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,400 Speaker 1: Clinton is running a pedophile ring, and the next minute 471 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,200 Speaker 1: they're saying that Joe Biden is a socialist, Like who 472 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,719 Speaker 1: are these people? And it's just like, I get what 473 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,959 Speaker 1: he's trying to say, but also like saying Joe Biden 474 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: is a socialist, it's not as egregious an idea as 475 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: someone running a pedophile ring, But the fact that those 476 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,520 Speaker 1: two things are in the same level in that anecdote 477 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 1: said something Freudian, and I'm just like, someone needs to 478 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: mind this because you also came out of the gate. 479 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: It's like, you know, this wild progressive, and yet like 480 00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: he's aligning himself so often with this in drists, in 481 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: our parties and ways that I find he definitely doesn't 482 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: have to unless that's just really how he feels, in 483 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: which case it makes me a little sad. But I 484 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: want to challenge him on some of that. Oh my god, 485 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: I so now I want to hear that Jeremy Harris, Brock, 486 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 1: Obama and Tod. I think that would be really good 487 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 1: because I was st talking about sex because he's a leo, 488 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,159 Speaker 1: so he walks around with pelvis first. You know, he 489 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,040 Speaker 1: has like a real like b D about him, which 490 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,680 Speaker 1: I think was the most attractive thing. And I just 491 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:29,199 Speaker 1: kind of we're talking about like I was like, but 492 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 1: you were a nerd. But when did you start getting late? 493 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,359 Speaker 1: Like was it in college or was it in grad school? 494 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: Like when did you start to know him your sexual power? 495 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: When did your not get its freak on? Yeah? Exactly exactly, 496 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 1: But I want to know that now too. I didn't 497 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:43,679 Speaker 1: even know I wanted to know that until you just 498 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 1: said that. Now I'm going to think about it a lot. 499 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: I mean, it's kind of hot and also feels naughty. Yes, 500 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:50,560 Speaker 1: And in his book apparently he talked about how he 501 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: used to say the word fag in the seventies. And 502 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: I want to be like, but did you ever make 503 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 1: up with a guy? Because you feel like you did. 504 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 1: It's so funny here we are kind of federating a 505 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,080 Speaker 1: bomb or like putting him on his pedestinal. Meanwhile, you're like, 506 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 1: did you kiss a guy? Because I feel like you did. 507 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:12,119 Speaker 1: That's what we all really want to know. Come on, 508 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 1: I can't wait to see you again. I can't wait 509 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:16,640 Speaker 1: to see you again. And I thank you with all 510 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 1: my heart for doing this. I'm thrilled about the idea 511 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 1: of everything that you are going to do. It makes me, 512 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:30,639 Speaker 1: It makes me happy. Thank you. In closing, I would 513 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: like to tell you that Jeremy co wrote this movie Zola, 514 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: which a Nick's a Bravo based on tweet spy Asaiah King. 515 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:46,240 Speaker 1: Jicks also directed the movie, and it's out June. This woman, 516 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: as Iah King tweeted, in real time and experience she 517 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: decided to be a part of. And I won't give 518 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: anything away but it is. It's an extraordinary premise and 519 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 1: I really cannot wait to see the finished film. It 520 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: premiered at Sundance last year. Jeremy also is adapting with 521 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 1: the Ziza Barnes Britt Bennett's novel The Vanishing Half, which 522 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:09,359 Speaker 1: I also can't wait to see, and that will also 523 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: be out later this year. Mini Questions is hosted and 524 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:21,480 Speaker 1: written by Me Mini Driver, supervising producer Aaron Kaufman, Producer 525 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:28,639 Speaker 1: Morgan Lavoy, Research assistant Marissa Brown. Original music Sorry Baby 526 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:34,800 Speaker 1: by Mini Driver, additional music by Aaron Kaufman. Executive produced 527 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,600 Speaker 1: by Me and man Gesh Hetty Cador. Special thanks to 528 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:44,359 Speaker 1: Jim Nikolay, Will Pearson, Addison No Day, Lisa Castella and 529 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 1: a Nick Oppenheim at w kPr, de La Pescadore, Kate 530 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: Driver and Jason Weinberg, and for constantly solicited tech support 531 00:27:54,520 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 1: Henry Driver two