Speaker 1: My next guest is a six time.
Speaker 2: Emmy Award winning actor known for memory of roles in
Speaker 2: the films like What's Love Got to Do With It?
Speaker 2: The Matrix, remember ABC's Blackish. The man's been here before.
Speaker 2: He's one of the greatest actors in American history as
Speaker 2: far as I'm concerned, and it is an honor and
Speaker 2: a privilege to have him back to one and only.
Speaker 2: Lawrence Fishburne is on the show right now.
Speaker 1: What's going on? Big time?
Speaker 3: How are you manage everything?
Speaker 2: I'm listening. I can't wait to talk to you. I
Speaker 2: can't wait to talk to you about sneaks in a second.
Speaker 2: But I mean, I'm just looking at you. You've been
Speaker 2: doing a lot of work.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 1: You're supposed to be.
Speaker 2: Climbing up then, and you're supposed to be you're supposed
Speaker 2: to be itching towards retirement. I mean, you're working more
Speaker 2: than most people, Lawrence. I mean, what's going on, man?
Speaker 2: What's up?
Speaker 3: Hey? Somebody got to pay for the retirement. Baby.
Speaker 2: You got bills to pay, right, you got the bills
Speaker 2: to pay. That's right. I definitely get you. I understand
Speaker 2: that loud and clear. Let's get to your new project,
Speaker 2: all right, you know the Sneaks. It's an animated sports
Speaker 2: comedy you are producing.
Speaker 1: What's it all about? Talk to me about it.
Speaker 3: Sneak is an animated thing that we did with a
Speaker 3: lot of really talented people, Martin Lawrence, Anthony Mackie, and
Speaker 3: it's about a pair of sneakers and the sneakers come
Speaker 3: alive and talk. It's the journey of a pair of sneakers,
Speaker 3: a twenty fours that are brother and sister and they
Speaker 3: get separated. They've been raffled off at a gala at
Speaker 3: the Guggenheim in New York and a young kid wins
Speaker 3: them and the sneakers get separated and a lot of
Speaker 3: chaos ensues. But it's a really funny buddy movie about
Speaker 3: these two sneakers, an old head, an old school sneaker
Speaker 3: and a brand new sneaker who's like the hotness that
Speaker 3: everybody wants, and an odist of them trying to get
Speaker 3: back to each other throughout New York City. It's great.
Speaker 2: Well, listen, let me remind somebody and names you. You
Speaker 2: just gave a couple of Mont Lawrence, you know, Anthony Mackie,
Speaker 2: Macy Gray's in there, Chloe Bailey's there Ella May is there, Quavo,
Speaker 2: Rico rodri even the one and only see c P
Speaker 2: three ce P three Chris Paul question, no doubt, but
Speaker 2: what was this your idea?
Speaker 1: Was this your idea or did? Somebody knows?
Speaker 3: But I'm one of the producers. I was I was
Speaker 3: brought on board, uh my partner and I Helen Suglan
Speaker 3: at Cinema Gypsy. She brought the piece to me and
Speaker 3: and she really believed it it and I was like, yeah,
Speaker 3: this is really kind of interesting. We haven't seen this before.
Speaker 3: Like we've seen talking airplanes and talking cars, but we
Speaker 3: ain't seen talking sneaks.
Speaker 2: I've heard a lot of things about I've heard a
Speaker 2: lot about you throughout the years, but the one thing
Speaker 2: I've never heard is that you were a big sports fan.
Speaker 2: So I'm wondering, what was it about this particular idea
Speaker 2: that appeal to you so much? Because I know that
Speaker 2: you're forward thinking and you're a visionary. What was it
Speaker 2: about this idea that appealed to you so much?
Speaker 3: Although I'm not a sports fan, I grew up in
Speaker 3: New York, you know, in the sixties and the seventies,
Speaker 3: and I'm not even a sneaker head. But I get
Speaker 3: it like I get sneaker culture, even as somebody who
Speaker 3: doesn't really participate in it in that way. I used
Speaker 3: to have friends who would see me and they when
Speaker 3: they would see me wearing sneakers, they'd be surprised because
Speaker 3: for a long time I just didn't wear them, and
Speaker 3: that wasn't like a conscious choice. But there is something
Speaker 3: about sneaker culture that I do understand and that I
Speaker 3: do connect with. I'm always I've always been a big
Speaker 3: animation fan, So anything animated always has my interest.
Speaker 1: And why have you been a big animated fan? Animation fan?
Speaker 2: I am one too, But I'd like to know what
Speaker 2: is it about it that appeals to you. Somebody is
Speaker 2: star studied as you are, as accomplished as you are.
Speaker 2: What is it about animation that does it for you?
Speaker 3: The thing about animation is growing up listening to There's
Speaker 3: one actor in particular who's probably one of the greatest
Speaker 3: voice actors of all time, and that was the late
Speaker 3: great Mel Blank. You know. Mel Blank voiced bugs Bunny
Speaker 3: and Daffy Duck and fog Horn Leghorn and Porky Pig
Speaker 3: and Martin the Marshan and I can keep going. So
Speaker 3: just as an actor, he had a kind of skill
Speaker 3: and versatility that I always aspired to. But also, you know,
Speaker 3: just as a as as an actor, being able to
Speaker 3: create characters with your voice and work with you know, illustrations,
Speaker 3: to work with artists renderings of characters, that's just that's
Speaker 3: just fun for me, Lars.
Speaker 2: As you reflect on your career, any illustrious career that
Speaker 2: you've had, if you had to really really sit down
Speaker 2: and think about anything that you wish you would have done,
Speaker 2: something that might be on your bucket list, something that
Speaker 2: you missed out on. I can't imagine that you haven't done,
Speaker 2: because it seems like you've done every damn thing. But
Speaker 2: is there something that you haven't done in your career
Speaker 2: that you wish you had done?
Speaker 1: Project anything like that.
Speaker 3: There's more than one thing on my career that I
Speaker 3: wish that I have done that I haven't done. But
Speaker 3: I try not to dwell on things that I haven't done.
Speaker 3: You know, I don't think that's a smart thing to do.
Speaker 3: I think it's much healthier to look forward and try to,
Speaker 3: you know, get to do some of those things, or
Speaker 3: do a version of those things. You know, perhaps you missed.
Speaker 1: That's where I'm going.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry I asked the question wrong because I'm thinking
Speaker 2: something that you haven't done, that you still in line
Speaker 2: to do, like it ain't finished, Like you just haven't
Speaker 2: done it yet, but you really don't want to do it.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of stuff I haven't done that I
Speaker 3: you know, that I would like to do that I
Speaker 3: will get to do. Uh and and I think it's
Speaker 3: it's also very important for me two, you know, do
Speaker 3: the work that I need to do before I start
Speaker 3: talking about it, you know. So I'm going to manifest something.
Speaker 3: I got to get into the visualization of it, you know,
Speaker 3: And this isn't the platform for that, This isn't the
Speaker 3: space for that.
Speaker 2: Got you you know, totally understand, totally understand.
Speaker 1: I want to get into something else.
Speaker 3: Too, because it's involved things that I want to do
Speaker 3: that I hope to do that I envision myself doing
Speaker 3: and I'm working towards doing.
Speaker 1: Yes, totally understand.
Speaker 2: I want to get into a new project, you know,
Speaker 2: one of your new projects.
Speaker 1: Actually it's not a new project.
Speaker 2: I wanted to discuss your recent appearance on the PBS
Speaker 2: Show because I was I was I was reading something
Speaker 2: about that Finding your Roots hosted by Lewis and Lewis Games,
Speaker 2: And I understand it was very, very revealing as it
Speaker 2: pertained to you. You like talking about that for a second,
Speaker 2: tell me sure about for you what that experience was
Speaker 2: like for you?
Speaker 3: Please?
Speaker 1: Yeah, what was that?
Speaker 3: About?
Speaker 1: What happened?
Speaker 3: It was a huge gift. I mean I basically was
Speaker 3: you know, I got enough information visa the DNA to
Speaker 3: actually find out who my biological father was. As it
Speaker 3: turns out, mister Fishburne was not my biological father, although
Speaker 3: he was my dad, and he was wonderful dad. You know,
Speaker 3: he showed up for me in ways that were important,
Speaker 3: and he gave me a great name, mister fishburn And
Speaker 3: I'm grateful to him and his memory. But at the
Speaker 3: same time, I just discovered that my biological father was
Speaker 3: a gentleman named William Siegelbaumannon who was born and raised
Speaker 3: in the city of Chicago, and he passed away sadly
Speaker 3: in twenty seventeen before I was able to get to
Speaker 3: meet him. But yeah, it was a huge gift because
Speaker 3: I have a whole new family. I have siblings I
Speaker 3: did not know I had, and other people in my
Speaker 3: lineage that I did not know about.
Speaker 1: And what's that? And what's that like?
Speaker 2: When you know, you walk up to people and they
Speaker 2: come up to you and suddenly their family you know, yeah,
Speaker 2: well you know, I mean, I mean, what what what.
Speaker 1: Is that like?
Speaker 3: Listen, Stephen? The reality of it in terms of, you know,
Speaker 3: our culture and our history as people of color in
Speaker 3: this country. This is not new stuff. This is not new.
Speaker 3: You know, the history of our families and our family
Speaker 3: histories is complicated as this country. It's not new. It's
Speaker 3: something that happened to me. And I'm not the first,
Speaker 3: won't be the last, and I'm just grateful that I
Speaker 3: got a chance, you know, even at this you know
Speaker 3: moment in my life, you know, shall we call it
Speaker 3: the third act of my life or whatever it is?
Speaker 3: To meet people who are related to me and and
Speaker 3: who love and embrace me. Just based on that alone,
Speaker 3: it's beautiful, I feel you.
Speaker 1: I just I just think about it.
Speaker 2: I think about how beautiful that is in the way
Speaker 2: that you describe, and it almost like gives you a
Speaker 2: new lease on life. That's how I would take it anyway,
Speaker 2: in a very very positive way, of course, That's how
Speaker 2: I look at it.
Speaker 1: And no question about it. So I'm happy for you
Speaker 1: about it.
Speaker 2: Let me get back to the business of you from
Speaker 2: from the standpoint of this spot thriller. It's already out
Speaker 2: called The Amateur, starring alongside Roby Mallock. Talk about the
Speaker 2: The Amateur. Talk about that film for a second and
Speaker 2: what your role in that is.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So it's me and Rommy Malik. Rummy Mallick plays
Speaker 3: a CIA analyst whose wife gets killed in a hostage
Speaker 3: type situation. He wants to seek vengeance. He goes to
Speaker 3: the people at the CIA and says, you got to
Speaker 3: train me be in the field operative. So they have
Speaker 3: me as a colonel who comes in to train him
Speaker 3: and I immediately instruct by how inept I think he
Speaker 3: will be at field operations. A little movie that I
Speaker 3: did with Romney, who I adore. He's so talented, he's
Speaker 3: so interesting and so smart, and he's one of the producers.
Speaker 3: And we think the movies, you know, we think the
Speaker 3: movie is great, and a lot of people seem to
Speaker 3: think the same thing.
Speaker 2: So I got you, well, listen, I gotta let you go.
Speaker 2: I gotta run myself. I can't thank you enough for
Speaker 2: giving me some time to talk to always wonderful to
Speaker 2: talk to you. You know, I'm a I'm a huge fan,
Speaker 2: as I have been for decades with your wonderful work. Man,
Speaker 2: it's a lot of the privilege to talk to you.
Speaker 3: Really, I'm coming to New York student to do something
Speaker 3: and I want you to come and see me. I'll
Speaker 3: let you know about it.
Speaker 2: Please let me know about it, absolutely, brother, you take
Speaker 2: it easier, right, Lawrence, my man, God bless God bless
Speaker 2: take you my best, my thanks to the great Lawrence
Speaker 2: fishburn Snakes is in theaters nationwide April eighteenth, and the
Speaker 2: Amateur is out now, as you just heard us say,
Speaker 2: so be sure to check out both of them.
Speaker 1: Please, As Lawrence fishburn why wouldn't you, Why wouldn't you?
Speaker 2: I ain't even bring up miss in the Possible Three
Speaker 2: cause that brother was good in that movie, great in
Speaker 2: that movie.
Speaker 1: You know, I've always watched Lawrence Fishburne movies. I'm just
Speaker 1: letting y'all know I ain't faking the funk. That brother's real.
Speaker 1: He's something special.