WEBVTT - Will Smith and His Kids Take Over The Red Table 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.720 Hey, fam I'm Jada Pinkett Smith and this is the 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:06.080 Red Table Pop podcast, all your favorite episodes from the 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:10.280 Facebook watch show in audio, produced by Westbrook Audio and 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:13.360 I Heart Radio. Please don't forget to rate and review 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:20.680 on Apple Podcasts. We're welcome to the table, my children. 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:28.160 It has been sometimes with welcome all my kids. Y'all, 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:31.800 y'all are my kids? Yes, we're here at the table. 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:39.800 This is a Red Table takeover. So essentially I'm the boss, 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:42.200 all right. I just want to clarify it because y'all 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:46.880 might be looking at Willow because usually yeah, but in 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:54.240 today's episode, she's like my guest. That's yeah's my guest. Alright. 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.360 So with this movie, Emancipation was one of the most 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:04.080 grueling and transform pnmitive and ultimately rewarding films of my 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:08.319 entire career. You guys saw the movie I really wanted 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:12.120 to as an actor. When I make things, when I 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:16.000 put things in the world, you guys are my first 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.440 round of thought. I'm making things to leave ideas for 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:22.360 my children, and then it extends to other people's children 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:24.720 and then to the world. So I'm excited to be 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:28.600 able to talk about it. So it all started with 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:33.960 this devastating photograph that many say is the first viral image. 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:39.200 The photo quickly spread across the country, shocking millions with 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:42.759 the horrors of slavery and exposing the line that enslaved 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:47.360 people were treated humanely. Peter's portrait inspired many free black 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:52.160 men to enlist in the Union Army. I'll never forget 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.680 the first time I saw that picture. It was so 0:01:55.880 --> 0:02:02.520 moving in such a just heartbreaking away. And for that 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:06.200 to be like the first like viral image is crazy. Yeah. 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:10.880 So emancipation is the story behind the famous picture. It's 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:16.760 based on the life of a slave named Peter. Give 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:26.560 thanks to God. Do no ities with us. I will 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:38.480 come back to you many meany you walk the earth man, 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:50.280 because the election I'm your God now slaves off we man. 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:56.919 We must get too better Bush through this one Ncoln 0:02:57.000 --> 0:03:01.800 Samy East then that many least to die in a swamp. 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:23.120 Jim's persistent running Hiden surviving. I fight him. They beat me, 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:31.680 they whipped me, they break the bulls in my body 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:44.600 more times than I can come to but they never 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:58.720 never bring me. Wow, I have not seen the trailer. Crazy. 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:04.720 There was some deeply moving moments. Yeah, it was rugged. 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.160 We had some calls while you were shooting. Yeah, I 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:14.760 was very concerned. Yeah, he was just it was he 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:19.000 can say, you guys been around for most of my career. 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.760 It's like, as the years have gone on, I've gotten 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:28.599 more and more locked into these characters for longer periods 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:33.679 of time, and it's just the weight of this story, 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:38.400 the weight of these experiences, the quality of the actors. 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:44.919 It was emotionally, it was physically, it was spiritually taxing. 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.440 One of the first days on set, there was a 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.840 scene with one of the actors. He leans down in 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:52.880 my face and he says, you're a cold one, ain't you, 0:04:53.440 --> 0:05:15.880 And then he ad lived. I was like, right, no, 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:20.720 but it was like I was like whoa. Every actor 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:25.520 on this set was taking it really, really seriously. When 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:27.800 the first teaser came out, as people were like, why 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.080 another slave movie, and it's like, this is not a 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.280 slave movie, this is a freedom movie. There were some 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:35.880 parts of me when you said you were making a 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:39.440 slave movie that I was like, m M, well, you know, 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:44.720 originally I was considering doing Django. Did you guys know that. 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:49.120 You guys we had a family had about and we 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:53.080 all talked about dang. Yes, yes, yes, I wasn't all 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:55.040 the way in, but one of the main reasons why 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:58.760 I wasn't was the looks on your faces, because you 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:03.080 knew what that would mean, and those characters seep back 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:08.599 into the house. So I invited college students to watch 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:12.840 the movie and to share any questions that it brought 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:22.680 up for them. So first up is Devin, I just 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.400 finished watching the film, and honestly, it feels like I 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:29.320 just woke up from a terrible nightmare. My whole body 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.279 physically hurt as I was walking out of the movie theater. 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:36.240 That's how powerful the film was. It's one thing to 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:39.600 read about slavery and all these terrible things that happened 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:43.560 in history books, but it's another thing to watch it 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.800 right there on the big screen. Well, how did playing 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:50.760 a slave for months on end with people saying horrible 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:55.000 and dehumanizing things to you affect your mindset? And what 0:06:55.080 --> 0:07:00.400 did you learn about yourself? Question? One question? I was 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:04.080 getting called the N word, you know, a hundred times 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:09.280 a day by by very good actors, very very good actors. 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:12.280 You know, it's rough. It twists your mind up. You 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:15.000 have to be really careful because you definitely, you definitely 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:18.320 twist your mind up. There's like a magic moment. As 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.880 an actor, you look for the best way I can 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:25.640 describe it, it's like you feel the character wash over you. 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:29.960 It'll be wardrobe, it'll be a scene, it'll be the 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:34.800 dialect something. What happened is we were trying on the 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:38.800 neck chains, so where it's you know, six weeks before 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:40.680 we're shooting and they're trying to get the right size 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:51.600 and the right weight. This feels horrendous. It won't be 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:55.480 too much work to find this character putting the chains on. 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.080 As an actor, you're always trying to find a thing 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:03.960 that makes you understand the character who won't pursuit of happiness. 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:06.680 Chris Gardner took me to the bathroom and him and 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:10.680 his son had to sleep in and I walked in 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:12.600 the bathroom with him and I was like, got it. 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.520 And as soon as those chains went on, I was 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:21.640 like got it. It turns off your agency. You don't 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:24.000 want to step, you don't want to move, you don't 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:28.400 want to look anybody in the face. It's deeply dehumanizing. 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:38.360 M hmmm, yeah, yeah, that just put me back in there. 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:45.280 That put me back in there. Um, yeah, well take 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:50.760 a moment. Sorry, Yeah, that's it. Yeah. So they put 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:54.040 it on and doing so I'm standing there and then 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:56.720 he goes to take it off and it doesn't work, 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:02.480 so it's a locked on and my heart jumps and 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:06.719 I'm like, oh no, oh no, oh no. So I'm 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.240 sitting there. Now he's running around looking for the keys, 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:13.000 and for fifteen minutes, I'm stuck there in the chain 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:17.440 and my heart is pounding and I'm like, will do 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:22.000 not freak right, And I'm sitting there and then it's like, 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:26.640 I got it. It's like I'm will Smith with people 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:32.200 running around looking for keys, and my heart is still 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:36.400 pounding and I'm still scared. Imagine what it was like 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:41.400 for Peter to have that stuff on barefoot and nobody cares. 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:45.000 And it was like, whoo, yeah, I got it. Yeah, 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:49.000 that was a powerful moment for you and Claus. Yes, 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:54.080 absolutely really dehumanizing. And I haven't been able to articulate why, 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:57.880 but I felt embarrassed. I was embarrassed while I was 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:03.040 standing there and I was waiting, and it was emasculating, dehumanizing, 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:06.280 all of that, and it was like like got it, Yeah, 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:11.280 got it. Once you experience those things, they go into 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:17.200 the same banks as your actual memories. You don't have 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:21.960 a separate place for acting. Your brain and your body 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:26.880 recognizes it the same way it recognizes actual memories. You 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.400 have nightmares about it the same way, and so it's 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:32.199 all of that kind of stuff. But six degrees of 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:35.560 separation was the only other time in my career where 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:39.000 I got lost, where I went too far with with 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:42.520 a character. Um, I wouldn't say I went too far 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:47.360 with Peter. I just lost track of how far I went. Okay, 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.400 got it? I got twisted up in there, Um a 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:52.959 little bit. What does that look like for you? Like 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:57.280 losing track of that? You go into a state and 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:03.439 when you go that one click too far, Will Smith disappears. 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.600 And then what happens is psychologically you go farther and 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:11.360 farther into Peter and you don't realize that you are 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:15.480 slipping away, and then it's over and you go back 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:19.839 and you look for you and you're gone. It's a 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:23.160 it's a hard thing to explain, right, So what happens 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:27.160 You play these characters, and when you play them long enough, 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:33.840 it's like moving to another country and speaking in another language. 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:37.120 If you speak the other language long enough, you'll start 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:43.440 to lose your native tongue, and you can forget how 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:48.760 you walk your previous personality right, and you know, you 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:53.560 can see when actors get out on that edge, right, 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:59.920 when you you touch that edge of no self. Yeah, 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:05.920 and it's terrifying. It's terrifying out there, Peter is as 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:10.240 far as I've ever been with a character. And you 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.400 have to actually train yourself to be able to go 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:18.880 farther and farther and farther. It's it's it's blissful out there, 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:22.760 right to be in a scene and you have that 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:27.880 moment on camera when you forget and you're lost, It's 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:32.000 like it's blissful, except when they say cut and you 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:37.520 reach back for you yeah, right, and you it's a 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:39.480 weird thing. But I got I got out there to 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:46.280 that terrifying, blissful edge. So I wanted to show you guys, 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:53.679 in real life some of the brutal, dehumanizing devices that 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:57.040 were used during slavery. When you're say, in real life, 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:02.480 do you mean right now here? Right? Yes? Oh no, no, no, 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:05.439 no no no, why I just want you have to 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:11.440 know so you have to know, Wow, this is insane. 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:15.280 So that would go around your neck, yes, wow, keeps 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:18.480 you from running. This is like the ones that were 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:19.959 in the movies that had like the bells on them 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.360 and stuff. Somebody would run. But like, who even dreams this? 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:25.679 Like that's what I'm figuring right now. To make it 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:34.760 feel the way to that m hmm yeahs oh my gosh. 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:36.880 And just feel the weight of that what it would 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:40.680 do in your neck. Imagine somebody puts that on your neck, 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:45.160 they can take and if you're a way like rape 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:48.960 anybody they want whenever they want. For me, as an actor, 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:52.800 my image was you guys, and imagine and being pulled 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:57.920 away right Just imagine somebody comes in here right now 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:03.199 and beats me and snatches me away, and you guys 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:08.440 don't know if you'll ever see me again. That is 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:16.440 the legacy of slavery in America. It creates generational trauma, 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:22.200 even on a cellular level, you know, scientifically, exactly as 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.360 brutal as it is, there's also the other side of 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:34.480 how resilient and powerful that blacks in America. It's incomprehensible. Honestly, 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:39.280 it's incomprehensible. Let's talk a little bit about your physicality 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:41.000 and what you had to go through to get your 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:44.280 body into the place making this movie because Willow kept 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.880 noticing in the movie, like he's getting skinnier, He's getting skinny. 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:52.680 You guys may remember I posted out of Shape the 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:58.359 dad Body picture. The Dad Boty picture was my beginning 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:03.080 of preparation to lose weight for Peter. I was probably 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:08.760 to five ish when I started, and at the lowest 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:12.960 on the movie, I got to one. For me, the 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:17.080 physicality is a big part of what makes people go WHOA. Yeah, 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:22.240 you know, to be able to transition and manipulate your 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:25.560 body as an actor is a big part of the 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:29.080 suspension of disbelief for people. And actually being out in 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.480 the swamps. Yeah, I'm sure you were just losing weight 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.120 just being yeah, just it's it's hot, it's nasty, you're 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.640 in the swamp. Your hands are dirty, so you don't 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:42.920 really want to grab food and eat really in it. Yeah, 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:45.640 when I went in there deep, it's insane. What's the 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:48.480 most impactful part of the movie for you? So? So 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:55.160 there was um And I can't even talk about Peter 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:57.920 without being Altieri. So but y'all see me cry all 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:01.479 the time. You'll see me cry all the time. So um, 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:06.400 Peter said in his writings or that probably dictations to somebody, 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:12.640 but the things that exist. Historically, Peter was beaten into 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:19.360 a coma, and in the coma he said, he met God. 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:22.120 And it's right in the middle of the movie. And 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:25.200 he's been running for a few days and there's no 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:28.680 food and no water and out in the swamp and 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.760 he's there and he's feeling lost, and he's feeling turned around, 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:33.920 and his hearing is going a little bit, and he 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:54.200 stops and he gets himself together and he goes, oh shock, 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:22.320 and he finds the gratitude to praise God in the 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:26.040 middle of that. It was one of the things that 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:28.600 I wanted to be able to share with you, all 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.240 the ideas that I learned from Peter. So the concept 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:36.879 is that nobody gets out of this life without having 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:42.960 to bear their cross. Facts from facts. So you may 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.720 not have to bear it to the level that Peter 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.400 had to bear it, or to the level that Jesus 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.879 had to bear it. But the only way to be 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:58.520 here joyfully is to be grateful for the cross you've 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:02.640 been given to bear. You have to know that suffering 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:09.960 leads to salvation, and the only thing that would make 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:15.800 you not reach the Promised Land is giving up and 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:24.200 Peter knew and trusted God fully that all he had 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:28.800 to do was bear his cross with gratitude. He was 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:33.800 saying thank you God in the middle of that. Peter's 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:37.520 faith throughout the whole movie was something that really stuck 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:46.359 out to me. Peter has absolutely changed my life, you know. So? Um? Yeah, 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.840 And I heard a great quote, the only way to 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.439 be here is you have to learn how to have 0:18:52.680 --> 0:19:00.200 an open heart in hell. Yeah, here's a question from 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:03.160 a theater go or from Los Angeles. What we got. 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:07.000 My name is Stacy Ramsey. I'm twenty three years old 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:10.800 and I went through so many emotions throughout this whole movie, 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:14.520 to be honest, Um, some were sad, so we're happy. 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:18.600 Some felt really familiar because no matter what it is 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:22.680 that you go through, there's so many things, whether it's people, work, family, 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:25.280 that try to break parts of you, and it's so 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:27.480 important just to push through and not let them break you. 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:30.160 I have a question for Will. I just would really 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:33.479 like to know what form of personal suffering did you 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:38.199 tap into to execute this role. Wow, that's a crazy question. 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:43.760 I don't have, thank God, anything in my life comparable 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:51.439 to what Peter experienced. There's a universal suffering that I 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:55.440 think we can all connect on, but I don't know 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:58.600 what I would actually do in the face of that 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:04.200 kind of demid on a malevel to be really faced 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:10.320 with the darkness. I've had moments within myself where I've 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:13.639 had to face things, but like to look into the 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:17.119 eyes of that kind of malevolence, it's either you're enlightened 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:24.640 or you go crazy. Yes, there's Yeah, there's a term 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:30.280 Plato used that puts those together, divine madness. That there's 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:34.960 a certain divine madness that I was trying to depict 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:39.040 from Peter, because when you stop and you pray in 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:48.240 that moment, that is a taste of divine madness. That's 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:53.399 what I learned from Peter. Like the idea of the 0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:57.840 darkness being the road to the light. Yeah. Facts. So 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:00.919 one of the most critical moment ments in the movie 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:06.760 for me was the speech that Ben Foster's character gives 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:11.399 story telling the story of his nigger house girl. And 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:18.399 what was so beautiful about Ben's portrayal is he loved her. 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:25.840 And what I love is that you can see his 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:33.159 heart was taught to hate. Yeah, my father, he's a 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:38.719 core Nuskar. My mother passed when I was young, So 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:45.480 the job of raising me, filling her how screw She 0:21:45.600 --> 0:21:50.280 took care of me. She feed me, she washed me, 0:21:50.440 --> 0:22:06.000 she taught me things. She's my friend. What evening, I 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:10.360 asked my father if she could join us for supper, 0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:15.200 and he looked at me in a funny way and said, 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:20.560 then what I said, so we could eat together? To 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:27.359 what she asked? Then what? I didn't know. I was 0:22:27.440 --> 0:22:35.159 just a boy, but he did. He said, first they 0:22:35.160 --> 0:22:40.200 eat their food, and they'll take her jobs, and then 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:44.760 they'll steal our land. Well, you give them so much 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:46.720 as a crumb, they're going to take over the whole 0:22:46.800 --> 0:22:52.080 damn country. Wow, that's crazy. And then he goes on 0:22:52.200 --> 0:22:53.920 to tell the story and how he watched her die 0:22:53.960 --> 0:23:02.440 for three days. His father taught him hate and through trauma. 0:23:02.520 --> 0:23:07.120 It's like, I just couldn't imagine seeing someone you love 0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:10.159 so much in the field dying for three days and 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:17.600 you can't do anything like that on a child's mind. Blunt, absolutely, Yeah. 0:23:18.240 --> 0:23:22.480 Ben Foster is phenomenal in Emancipation. I hear he sent 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:25.080 the Red Table a message, and I haven't seen it yet. 0:23:26.359 --> 0:23:33.320 Ben is the total opposite of his character. The first 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:40.040 day of set was staggering two hundred plus background actors 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:46.879 portraying the enslaved. I was walking past men in chains 0:23:47.400 --> 0:23:52.320 and in situations of such tremendous violence, and then I 0:23:52.359 --> 0:23:56.919 felt him. I didn't see him, I felt him. It 0:23:57.040 --> 0:24:01.520 was Will on set, but it doesn't Will Smith as 0:24:01.560 --> 0:24:04.160 we know him. It was a man, and that man 0:24:05.160 --> 0:24:09.760 was vibrating. It's animal stuff. It's hard to explain, but 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:13.080 I could feel the presence of this man who is 0:24:13.160 --> 0:24:17.879 digging deep. And I passed him and I felt, well, 0:24:19.000 --> 0:24:22.119 I'm going to give him his space. We didn't speak 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:25.680 for six months of shooting. What I saw with Will 0:24:25.920 --> 0:24:29.720 is an actor whom I've respected for for so very long. 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:33.119 I think does some of the most important work, not 0:24:33.320 --> 0:24:36.520 just of his career, but of current day cinema. This 0:24:36.640 --> 0:24:40.280 is a performance that speaks to the human spirit, against 0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:44.280 all odds, to fight for love, the fight of faith, 0:24:44.560 --> 0:24:48.520 the fight to endure and endure for love. I'm blown 0:24:48.560 --> 0:24:51.560 away by what Will Smith did in this film. What 0:24:51.680 --> 0:24:54.199 I hope people take away from this film is the 0:24:54.240 --> 0:24:56.480 worst thing that we could do is not raise our hand, 0:24:56.600 --> 0:24:59.240 is not to have an open dialogue. We must reflect 0:24:59.280 --> 0:25:01.640 on our past and ordered to meet our current day, 0:25:01.640 --> 0:25:06.720 and our current day is rife with frightening similarities of 0:25:07.040 --> 0:25:10.320 what happened during this true story. When it took place, 0:25:11.200 --> 0:25:13.800 I happened to believe babies are not born with hate 0:25:13.800 --> 0:25:16.640 in their heart, that hate has learned, that hate can 0:25:16.640 --> 0:25:22.600 be unlearned, and compassion can fill that void. Heal that virus, 0:25:23.280 --> 0:25:26.520 and we can remind each other of our similarities or 0:25:26.600 --> 0:25:31.240 commonalities with empathy. We don't have to get each other holy, 0:25:31.440 --> 0:25:34.639 but we must recognize that we're all flesh and blood. 0:25:35.040 --> 0:25:41.200 We're not here for long. Let's leave with kindness. Wow. Wow, 0:25:42.240 --> 0:25:48.000 that's crazy. That was beautiful. That's great that he felt you, 0:25:48.640 --> 0:25:57.760 he felt your presence. So my side of that, that's 0:25:57.800 --> 0:26:00.520 my first time here in his side. Right. So we 0:26:00.520 --> 0:26:02.840 were having delays. I think we didn't even get a 0:26:02.880 --> 0:26:06.600 shot the first day. There was lightning and there was heat, 0:26:06.640 --> 0:26:10.080 and we had literally lost an entire day. So I'm 0:26:10.119 --> 0:26:13.240 doing my you know, thinking and the extras. Hey, thank 0:26:13.240 --> 0:26:16.080 you all very much, everybody, blah blah blah. In my mind, 0:26:16.200 --> 0:26:21.239 I was giving my best will Smith and Ben just 0:26:21.359 --> 0:26:26.960 walked past me and didn't say nothing. I was like, oh, 0:26:27.080 --> 0:26:32.959 he must he must not have seen me. And then 0:26:33.240 --> 0:26:38.960 for six months. He didn't speak to me, he didn't 0:26:39.119 --> 0:26:42.959 make eye contact with me, he didn't say a word, 0:26:43.160 --> 0:26:49.320 he didn't acknowledge me for six months. But what he 0:26:49.400 --> 0:26:53.440 did that first day, I was like, yep, got it. 0:26:54.280 --> 0:26:58.000 We're not playing this is real, this is serious. We're 0:26:58.000 --> 0:27:02.200 not fooling around with these ideas. And I really credit 0:27:02.320 --> 0:27:08.600 then for clicking me into the next gear of depth 0:27:08.640 --> 0:27:11.760 and focus. So the final day, me and Antoine or 0:27:11.760 --> 0:27:15.360 at the monitor looking at the shot, and then comes over. 0:27:15.400 --> 0:27:21.760 He never came to the monitor ever, he's there. He 0:27:21.800 --> 0:27:25.399 comes to the monitor, he watches the shot and Antoine said, 0:27:26.680 --> 0:27:31.359 I'm happy we got it, and then I look over it. 0:27:31.400 --> 0:27:35.639 Then this is last day. He says nice to me, 0:27:47.760 --> 0:27:52.200 like yeah, because it was like because you know we've 0:27:52.240 --> 0:27:56.600 been we have been through that whole movie together. That 0:27:56.760 --> 0:27:59.600 is crazy. Did you guys talk at all after that? 0:27:59.640 --> 0:28:02.280 When you he left, he flew out, he went home. 0:28:02.320 --> 0:28:08.480 It was his last shot day because he went from 0:28:11.440 --> 0:28:14.359 he wanted to like, yeah, he wanted to make sure 0:28:15.080 --> 0:28:20.840 I can officially stop and on his character, Ben set 0:28:20.880 --> 0:28:24.280 the tone for everybody right, and he wasn't going to 0:28:24.400 --> 0:28:27.720 his trailer. He was staying in his tent on the 0:28:27.760 --> 0:28:32.360 set like although like his actor, like his character tent. 0:28:32.560 --> 0:28:35.800 He had all of his stuff in his character Tent. Well, 0:28:35.840 --> 0:28:40.120 you taught me this. Great great actors make everybody else's 0:28:40.160 --> 0:28:45.240 job easier. If you're great at anything, you make it easier. 0:28:46.880 --> 0:28:49.840 So that was it. You guys didn't talk anymore. No, 0:28:50.000 --> 0:28:53.040 not till a few months after that. Yeah, that we 0:28:53.040 --> 0:28:55.840 we came back together for suppress or something like that. 0:28:56.440 --> 0:29:00.600 I was like, who are you? Who are you? You 0:29:00.800 --> 0:29:09.200 kind soldier? Oh man, that's crazy. So the brilliant director 0:29:09.240 --> 0:29:14.520 of Emancipation, Antoine Fuqua, wanted to say this, Hey, Will 0:29:14.560 --> 0:29:17.720 and Red Table Talk, here's a few thoughts about Emancipation. 0:29:17.760 --> 0:29:20.320 I thought I would share with you. When people go 0:29:20.440 --> 0:29:23.080 to see this film, I'm hoping they'll be inspired and 0:29:23.320 --> 0:29:26.520 experienced the love story and see a film about freedom 0:29:26.920 --> 0:29:30.840 and faith and family as well as a story about 0:29:31.080 --> 0:29:35.920 strength and perseverance. The story of Peter is incredible, a 0:29:36.160 --> 0:29:40.200 man that was a slave but was free in his 0:29:40.280 --> 0:29:44.840 mind and his heart and his spirit. Antoine is no joke. 0:29:46.400 --> 0:29:54.880 This is what it's about. I respect that Antoine is 0:29:54.920 --> 0:29:57.840 a is a beast man. He created something I think 0:29:58.000 --> 0:30:01.840 is a real master. Yeah, it really is. The DP. 0:30:02.040 --> 0:30:07.480 Bob Richardson put his thing down with this movie. The 0:30:07.520 --> 0:30:12.000 cinematography is insane and I've never seen any movie that 0:30:12.120 --> 0:30:16.000 just visually looks the way that this one does. One 0:30:16.040 --> 0:30:18.400 of the things that Antoine said that was great about 0:30:18.640 --> 0:30:21.760 that texture, the tone. He said he wanted to drain 0:30:21.960 --> 0:30:26.960 the color out of the Confederacy, right for that not 0:30:27.040 --> 0:30:32.560 to be glorified. There's a great shot with uh Peter 0:30:33.240 --> 0:30:35.600 firing a gun at one of the last moments in 0:30:35.600 --> 0:30:40.720 the battle with the American flag gone by. And the 0:30:40.920 --> 0:30:46.960 story is that we fought for this country, right, We 0:30:47.200 --> 0:30:52.040 fought and earned our position in this country. We don't 0:30:52.040 --> 0:30:56.440 have to feel like outsiders here. This is this is 0:30:56.480 --> 0:31:00.800 our home, right you very said of that, And the 0:31:00.840 --> 0:31:04.520 thing is like, no, no, no, it's not America, no no, no, 0:31:04.520 --> 0:31:09.640 no no. We are America, like own it and not 0:31:09.720 --> 0:31:12.160 ownership in a way that is ours and not other people's, 0:31:12.200 --> 0:31:18.080 like it's all of ours. We are a part of 0:31:18.120 --> 0:31:22.680 the fiber of this place. The ownership has to be 0:31:22.760 --> 0:31:27.760 in our minds in the same way the emancipation has 0:31:27.800 --> 0:31:33.600 to be in our minds. Like Peter was enslaved, but 0:31:33.760 --> 0:31:36.320 he was never a slave, but he was free. He 0:31:36.520 --> 0:31:40.720 was free when I was growing up, you know, because 0:31:40.800 --> 0:31:44.880 Daddy O was in the Air Force. Oh damn. Yeah. 0:31:44.960 --> 0:31:50.160 So Daddy O raised me like American. He raised me 0:31:50.320 --> 0:31:54.240 with the idea if somebody said go back to Africa, Nope, 0:31:54.720 --> 0:31:57.360 you go back to wherever your people came from. I'm here, 0:31:58.040 --> 0:32:01.840 you go back, right. I have this conversation with people 0:32:01.880 --> 0:32:03.760 a lot of the times where they're like, this thing 0:32:03.800 --> 0:32:05.560 that you're talking about is so dark, or this thing 0:32:05.600 --> 0:32:08.600 that you know are shining light on is so terrible. 0:32:08.600 --> 0:32:12.240