Speaker 1: My next guest is an Emmy nominated actor known for
Speaker 1: the hit films Creed three, Ant Man in the Wasp, Quantumnia,
Speaker 1: and The Heart of They Fall. His new film is
Speaker 1: called Magazine Dreams. Please welcome one of the best actors
Speaker 1: in the business right now to one and only Jonathan
Speaker 1: Major's here with yours truly. What's going on, Jonathan? How
Speaker 1: are you?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 1: How's everything?
Speaker 2: Everything's good? Brother? How you feeling?
Speaker 1: I'm doing all right? Before I get into the movie,
Speaker 1: you gotta get I got a lot of stuff to
Speaker 1: get into because I can't wait to talk to you
Speaker 1: about this movie.
Speaker 2: What is this?
Speaker 1: I'm hearing this? There's some news about you're a married man.
Speaker 1: Now you just got married? Is that true?
Speaker 2: This happened yesterday morning, orchestrated by my mother who married
Speaker 2: us in our backyard. Man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, listen, congratulations on that to the wonderful Megan Good.
Speaker 1: Everybody loves Megan Good. There's no question about that of Major.
Speaker 1: Major props to her, what Jesus sensational actress in her
Speaker 1: own right. And so I'm really really happy for the
Speaker 1: both of you. Talk to me about why now was
Speaker 1: the right time for the nuptials and your estimation.
Speaker 2: We had been putting it off and when we saw
Speaker 2: that the film was coming to life and my mother
Speaker 2: was coming out, and my mother's birthday was the same
Speaker 2: day as the premiere, and we called her. She knew
Speaker 2: she came from Texas and it was just a perfect time.
Speaker 2: There she is. Yeah, it was just the perfect time.
Speaker 2: And he had the whole family on the FaceTime and
Speaker 2: that was that. So yeah, I love that death and
Speaker 2: she's a best friend and it was time, you know, so,
Speaker 2: and we had scheduled it, so we just kept to
Speaker 2: the schedule.
Speaker 1: You know, it's an odd question, but I think it's
Speaker 1: an appropriate question because you know, as a man, you
Speaker 1: think about what makes a woman special. It's not just
Speaker 1: the beauty on the outside, is the beauty you on
Speaker 1: the inside. And obviously you know that you know that
Speaker 1: we're going to ask you about what you've done, what
Speaker 1: you've endured over the last year. But before we even
Speaker 1: get into that, how much did that play a role
Speaker 1: in you ultimately getting married to her? Considering the fact
Speaker 1: that she has been by your side seemingly every second
Speaker 1: of the ordeal that you've you've you've had to endure
Speaker 1: over the last year plus or so.
Speaker 2: Her tin one said to me that your partner, you
Speaker 2: know you want to you want to see them and
Speaker 2: be with him through all the seasons up, down, hot, cold, yeah, falling, winter,
Speaker 2: et cetera. You know, but all the seasons of your life,
Speaker 2: you know, things that you're experiencing. And Megan and I
Speaker 2: did that. You know, she came into my life at
Speaker 2: a time when everyone was running away, and I very
Speaker 2: clearly said to her right at the beginning, this is
Speaker 2: going to be very real, and uh, how long it's
Speaker 2: gonna last. And at that point we were very close friends,
Speaker 2: but we already kind of got into a place that
Speaker 2: I had feelings for her and she has feelings for me.
Speaker 2: And all I was saying was, you know, you can
Speaker 2: go now. You know, like this is gonna be tough,
Speaker 2: and you don't need to be dragged into anything, and
Speaker 2: very much we're talking now, you're right in the face
Speaker 2: if I have FaceTime and said I'm not going anywhere.
Speaker 2: And literally the day she was on a plane from
Speaker 2: Vancouver to New York City where I am now, and
Speaker 2: and that was a rap. You know, a woman that
Speaker 2: can love you when you're broken completely, you know, she
Speaker 2: saw the potential she saw something in me, and she
Speaker 2: helped put me back together and be a better man,
Speaker 2: and she inspires me to be a and we balanced
Speaker 2: each other out. My road dog, he's my best friend.
Speaker 1: National When when you talk about being broken, obviously everybody's
Speaker 1: gonna think about December of twenty twenty three. That's when
Speaker 1: the New York jury convicted you of one count of
Speaker 1: mister metor third degree is sold in one count of
Speaker 1: second degree harassment of your then ex girlfriend Grace Jabari.
Speaker 1: You avoided jail time, but will order to do a
Speaker 1: fifty two week in person Batterer's intervention program. Talk to
Speaker 1: me about that case, that situation, but most importantly, tell
Speaker 1: me how the last year has been for you in
Speaker 1: light of having to endure that and to be found guilty.
Speaker 2: Well, the the trial and the case and in that situation,
Speaker 2: I mean, that's at this point is common knowledge. You know,
Speaker 2: the viewers can go on line. I can't take to
Speaker 2: that anyway, you know, but a very verdict is also
Speaker 2: common knowledge. And you know in that moment, I mean
Speaker 2: hear heart ranching. Anyways, you know, there was so much
Speaker 2: shame and confusion and which is lost in the way,
Speaker 2: you know, lost to myself in the way. But I knew.
Speaker 2: I knew when I looked around, right, and we start
Speaker 2: the journey, you know, the year year and that year,
Speaker 2: and so after the realization and confronting all of that
Speaker 2: pushed me and allowed me to really orient myself to
Speaker 2: myself and find a way back to myself, you know,
Speaker 2: and so the growth, so it's been I got tattooed
Speaker 2: on my neck now that says rebirth, and I think
Speaker 2: I got that, you know, I definitely got it. I
Speaker 2: got it after the trial, you know, living in an
Speaker 2: apartment that I was you know, during the trip, you know,
Speaker 2: and and that became my mission, and Megan was there
Speaker 2: for that, and I got, I mean, I got. I
Speaker 2: feel like I'm an all star team of support around me,
Speaker 2: you know, between Meghan. You mentioned the sessions, the fifty
Speaker 2: two sessions. Those things are incredible. I love them. I
Speaker 2: love them. I intend on staying with it, you know,
Speaker 2: even when this is done. My my personal therapist, my pastor,
Speaker 2: my family. I began to really try to utilize them
Speaker 2: and ask them, you know, for help in many ways
Speaker 2: because the two years of that, you know, of the
Speaker 2: struggle was extremely confronting, and I got to really witness
Speaker 2: parts of myself that I didn't like. I didn't want
Speaker 2: to keep moving in that way, you know. I didn't
Speaker 2: want to keep feeling like that, you know. And I'm
Speaker 2: an athlete, you know, and I'm an actor. And one
Speaker 2: thing I did learn in those things where I feel
Speaker 2: like I'm okay, is I was built as an actor.
Speaker 2: There's a group of people that helped me become an actor.
Speaker 2: You know. I went to my programs, I went to
Speaker 2: my schools, I went to my summer camps and did
Speaker 2: all that and became became an actor. I'm you know,
Speaker 2: I'm proud of being same thing with my fitness in
Speaker 2: my body, I have a huge amount people that I
Speaker 2: ask questions how to lift this, how to do that,
Speaker 2: Where what I didn't have was that type of system,
Speaker 2: those types of coaches and friends for myself, for me,
Speaker 2: you know, when you're not in the gym, when you're
Speaker 2: not on set. I didn't have that, you know. And
Speaker 2: so those two things far surpassed and far outran, you know,
Speaker 2: my inner self, you know, And so now I had
Speaker 2: to and what I've been doing, what I will continue
Speaker 2: to do for the rest of my life, is stay
Speaker 2: in the self gym, stay in the mental wellness gym,
Speaker 2: stay in the what can I do to be a
Speaker 2: better man?
Speaker 1: You were stating that immediately once the court case it ended,
Speaker 1: and obviously you had to endure what you had to endure.
Speaker 1: And then you're moving on and this movie is about
Speaker 1: to come out, and then all of a sudden, some
Speaker 1: recent audio tape was released if you admitting the choking
Speaker 1: your ex girlfriend, and so now that's in the news.
Speaker 1: Weird timing. I might add that that's in the news
Speaker 1: the week this movie is coming out. But I want
Speaker 1: to know what you have to say about all of that,
Speaker 1: and do you believe in any way that that has
Speaker 1: derailed the momentum that you were building leading into the
Speaker 1: premiere of this movie.
Speaker 2: I think it's all God's plan. You know something in
Speaker 2: the past few years that I've kind of realized there's
Speaker 2: no control. You know, we're all in here trying to
Speaker 2: figure it outut ourselves. You know, I can only take
Speaker 2: care of myself and control myself. You know a great
Speaker 2: example of that is we planned on getting married, you know,
Speaker 2: March eighteenth, day after my mother's birthday. That's what we
Speaker 2: planned on doing. And if we would have let something
Speaker 2: like that derail us from that, I wouldn't be married
Speaker 2: to the woman of my dreams. You know, I've got
Speaker 2: to keep my path and keep things forward, you know.
Speaker 2: Is the timing, I mean the timing and timing, you know.
Speaker 2: I can't say anything about that, but I see it,
Speaker 2: you know, the derailment of the film. Who knows, you know,
Speaker 2: at this point the film has a has a life
Speaker 2: of its own, yes, part of it, but it has
Speaker 2: the life of its own, you know, And I hope
Speaker 2: people will come and see it. I stand by it.
Speaker 2: I think it's probably one of the most beautiful films
Speaker 2: I've I've had the opportunity to be a part of.
Speaker 2: It's definitely surrounded by some of the most creative and
Speaker 2: heartwarming people. You know, like everyone's pushing to get this
Speaker 2: thing made and to get it out. So if it
Speaker 2: derailed it or not, we'll see. If it derailed it,
Speaker 2: we can always get it back on track. And if
Speaker 2: it didn't deral it, you know, glory to God.
Speaker 1: What is it about this film Magazine Dreams that everybody
Speaker 1: I should say, I shouldn't say anybody. Let me focus
Speaker 1: on you. What is it about this movie that you
Speaker 1: want people to peel from from it in terms of
Speaker 1: how it represents you, whether it be physically, mentally or whatever.
Speaker 1: How do you want people to see you based on
Speaker 1: this film.
Speaker 2: As the film concerned and seeing me? You know, I've
Speaker 2: dedicated a great deal of my life and my energy
Speaker 2: and my time to my craft of acting, to to
Speaker 2: the craft of acting, and this film challenged that to
Speaker 2: the inftegree, you know, and I poured everything I could
Speaker 2: into it. Where where where Killy and I? You know,
Speaker 2: the character the protagtnants of the film where Killian Mannix
Speaker 2: and I kind of a line is that there's a
Speaker 2: there's a sense of not giving up. You know, this man,
Speaker 2: this man refuses to give up. He has a dream,
Speaker 2: he has a goal for himself that he's trying to achieve. Now,
Speaker 2: my dream and my goal for myself, you know, to
Speaker 2: be honest with you, brother, it goes from I mean,
Speaker 2: my hierarchy is quite simple, God's family art. But I
Speaker 2: can't give up. You know. Killian Mannis doesn't give up.
Speaker 2: You know, there's nothing about him. There's no quit in him.
Speaker 2: And I've had my heart, I've had my pain, I've
Speaker 2: had my trials and tribulations and I'm still hurting, but
Speaker 2: I'm still healing. And that is an aspect that Kellyan
Speaker 2: really really really leans into and he himself deals with
Speaker 2: his trauma and pushes through and in this time even
Speaker 2: talking to you, you know, big bro, I'm dealing with mine,
Speaker 2: you know. And I have hope, like Kellian has hope
Speaker 2: that I can achieve I can achieve my dream, you know,
Speaker 2: as an actor, but chiefly as a man, you know,
Speaker 2: as a man of God, and now as a husband
Speaker 2: and a father, as I as I've been for the
Speaker 2: past you know, almost twelve years now. So that's where
Speaker 2: we that's where we agree, Kellian and I just to.
Speaker 1: You know, educate our audience or right. This film, it
Speaker 1: permitted to critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival, has
Speaker 1: been called Oscar. It's been called an Oscar worthy performance
Speaker 1: by you, who plays the character Killian Maddox, obviously, and
Speaker 1: one of the things everybody is looking at, everybody's gonna
Speaker 1: feel from it is the physique, you know, the body,
Speaker 1: how you transform yourself physically. My attitude is I saw
Speaker 1: that transformation when it was in Creed three. Both of
Speaker 1: us was in Creed three. See, you're an actor, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm just playing around like one, you know, and.
Speaker 2: Move light and every now and the.
Speaker 1: Exactly. So we did we wanted the scene together, but
Speaker 1: it was We did the scene, but we wanted together,
Speaker 1: but it was great. But the way you transformed yourself physically,
Speaker 1: I saw that in Creed three obviously, before this, talk
Speaker 1: about what you've done and how and what it takes
Speaker 1: for you to do what you're doing. I'm told you're
Speaker 1: getting up five in the morning. I'm told about six
Speaker 1: what is it, six thousand calories a day? Educated us
Speaker 1: about what the hell's going on with you and what
Speaker 1: you do to transform what you've done to transform yourself physically.
Speaker 2: Devotion, devotion, and I mean, let's talk about I mean,
Speaker 2: I mean we're sportsmen, both of us, right, So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's the grind, you know. I do wake up and
Speaker 2: I wake up at four twenty every day. It gives
Speaker 2: me forty minutes to get my dogs fed and get
Speaker 2: get my shake in and get to the gym. I'm
Speaker 2: in the gym from five to seven every day, me
Speaker 2: and a couple of buddies and uh, and we just
Speaker 2: hit it, you know, we just hit it. And the
Speaker 2: eating is important you know, I eat. You know. Now
Speaker 2: now I don't eat as much. But during the during
Speaker 2: magazine Dreams, I was, yeah, yeah, the world on Street
Speaker 2: is correct. I was taking in about sixty one hundred calories,
Speaker 2: you know, and I remembered every single play of food
Speaker 2: I ate because every single food, every single bite was
Speaker 2: and sometimes excruciating, you know, having to wake up at
Speaker 2: what go bed at nine thirty good at ten? Then
Speaker 2: we begin at one to take shake, right, because you
Speaker 2: want to take a shake, and you have to build
Speaker 2: the body up and build the body, and then you're
Speaker 2: just you're just kind of hurting, you know, your body's
Speaker 2: just kind of hurting for the for the first three
Speaker 2: months of it, it was just excruciating, you know, because
Speaker 2: you're trying we're trying to force our bodies to adapt,
Speaker 2: you know, and so you really have to surround that body,
Speaker 2: you know, and your mind around those circumstances, right in
Speaker 2: order to adapt the body. That's that's all, you know.
Speaker 2: Muscle building, stretching, flexibility, that's all that is. It's your
Speaker 2: body adapting to the environment. And so the time we
Speaker 2: were shooting that film, the environment was I mean, it
Speaker 2: was it was hell, you know. And after a while,
Speaker 2: you begin to get comfortable in that space. You know,
Speaker 2: you begin to learn that the pain is a sign
Speaker 2: that a is working. Its working, And yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: what three times a day and posing.
Speaker 1: It's is that the advice is that the advice you
Speaker 1: would give to people, that the pain is a sign
Speaker 1: that it's working. So when you're feeling pain, not to stand,
Speaker 1: you're making progress? Is that what you're trying to say
Speaker 1: is that I'm just checking. I'm just checking, well.
Speaker 2: I would I wouldn't, I wouldn't would I'm not not
Speaker 2: saying that, but I think I'm saying that that pain
Speaker 2: is a part of it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Pain is definitely a part of it, right that the discomfort,
Speaker 2: you know, to get the body to grow, you know,
Speaker 2: especially in I'll speak right to the bodybuilders, especially for
Speaker 2: a bodybuilder, you know, like there's a certain amount of
Speaker 2: mental toughness that is needed because your body will tell
Speaker 2: you to stop, you know, and then you realize that
Speaker 2: I don't know what it is, but you can go further,
Speaker 2: you know, and you must go further to achieve your dream.
Speaker 2: You know, if you want that bicep to pop to
Speaker 2: what you want to pop, if you need that, you know,
Speaker 2: four percent body fat. You know, I think we stepped
Speaker 2: on the stage. It maybe maybe three maybe sub three.
Speaker 2: You know, that takes that takes work. But you know,
Speaker 2: my dream was to be My dream is to be
Speaker 2: an actor, you know, and these roles, especially for my demographic,
Speaker 2: well frankly our demographic, they don't come around, you know.
Speaker 2: And so Elijah Bonnham and I, I mean we were
Speaker 2: working you know, to to.
Speaker 1: Hey, you just put you just used what. I'm in
Speaker 1: a little bit of shape. I'm in a little bit
Speaker 1: of shape. Not your kind of shape, but I'm in
Speaker 1: a little bit of shape. Let me let me ask
Speaker 1: you this. Let me ask you this, Jonathan, with all
Speaker 1: that you've been through, and we've already talked about the
Speaker 1: conviction and what have you in your mind, what did
Speaker 1: it cost you.
Speaker 2: That highlighted part of the journey or the film or
Speaker 2: I guess the same answer is the same, right it?
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess, bro I mean it cost me everything.
Speaker 2: M you know, there had to be there had to
Speaker 2: be some type of death right to become the man
Speaker 2: that I am now and the man that I'm striving
Speaker 2: to be. You know, that old that old being, the
Speaker 2: old way of thinking. You know, I'm nervous because I
Speaker 2: know my old way of acting, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: my process as an actor, even that even that had
Speaker 2: to die. You know, so many things have to be
Speaker 2: put Explain that.
Speaker 1: Explain that for me. Please. When you say that old
Speaker 1: process of acting, even that had to die, what exactly
Speaker 1: had to die? What to be specific?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a mindset Like I was just listening to
Speaker 2: podcasts never talking about Usain Bolt, right, and how when
Speaker 2: he runs, he's a fast man in the world. When
Speaker 2: he runs, he's a boy and he's playful, you know,
Speaker 2: he's happy about it. I mean, he's still out there
Speaker 2: to do the do the thing, you know, but he's playful,
Speaker 2: you know. And for me, I was so I was
Speaker 2: so focused, you know what I mean, on the work
Speaker 2: and on achieving my goals as an actor. And you know, yes,
Speaker 2: I had a great amount of fun, you know, but
Speaker 2: I was keeping everything in. Everybody at Bay, you know,
Speaker 2: we would we didn't work together, we worked together, We
Speaker 2: weren't in the same scene when we shot when we
Speaker 2: did Create three together, right, even that picture where I
Speaker 2: was working with one of my you know, now one
Speaker 2: of my closest friends, you know the process for me. Yes,
Speaker 2: there's method, Yes there's training, Yes there's emotion, Yes there's
Speaker 2: personal and past and you know, and imagination, all the trauma,
Speaker 2: all those things are there, But just the way of
Speaker 2: being on set, you know, like I didn't. I had
Speaker 2: so much fun, but I couldn't. I wasn't connecting to
Speaker 2: anybody except for between action and cut.
Speaker 1: Is that why you relate so much to this film?
Speaker 1: Is that why you relate so much to this role
Speaker 1: in Magazine Dreams because that character doesn't really relate? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, this character, this character had that's a different reason
Speaker 2: why he can't connect. Right, He's dealing with well, I
Speaker 2: guess we're both dealing with you know, trauma, but his
Speaker 2: is his has affected him in a way that makes
Speaker 2: him think and move a little bit differently, right, Gord
Speaker 2: to God, I don't. I don't have that diagnosis, but
Speaker 2: but I do. I do fall into the category, you know,
Speaker 2: of a severe depression. Yeah, I'm impressive. You know, I'm
Speaker 2: not claiming that that's just what it is, you know,
Speaker 2: but to be able to mm hmm, yeah, I saw,
Speaker 2: I saw. I saw that in Killian, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean? And I and if he spotted you got it,
Speaker 2: you know, and I knew it was in myself. So yes,
Speaker 2: I felt, oh, I can take on this role because
Speaker 2: I understand it. But that then led to me understanding
Speaker 2: it and then now going like, yeah, but that's not
Speaker 2: That wasn't good for Killian, And Killian actually metabolizes his
Speaker 2: trauma throughout the film and at the end we see
Speaker 2: how it goes. You know, same thing for me in
Speaker 2: my life. You know, I'm trying to metabolize the things
Speaker 2: that I connected to with him. Right, he got to
Speaker 2: get it off in the film, right, I had to
Speaker 2: do it. I'm having to do it, you know in
Speaker 2: real life.
Speaker 1: Strange question. It may be a strange question, but I'm
Speaker 1: gonna throw it at you anywhere. I mean, I had
Speaker 1: the pleasure of meeting you for the first time. It
Speaker 1: was in the immediate aftermath of everything that had happened
Speaker 1: with your court case, and I met Megan as well,
Speaker 1: and I've always been a fan of us. I ain't
Speaker 1: gonna lie to you, man, I don't know a black man,
Speaker 1: ain't a fan to make it good. I just don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know if he exists. I don't know who
Speaker 1: the hell he is. I don't know a black man.
Speaker 1: I ain't a fan of Mega Good. Okay, it's okay,
Speaker 1: So congratulations to you again and your nuptials with her.
Speaker 1: But I want to ask you this question. I want
Speaker 1: to be very delicate when I asked this question in
Speaker 1: all fairness to you. When I saw you, for obvious reasons,
Speaker 1: you had looked very depressed. The conviction came down within
Speaker 1: an hour. My day job, you know, because I worked
Speaker 1: for Walt Disney essentially it owns ESPN. They had dropped you,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean you were looking forward to, you know,
Speaker 1: being you know, the Marvel villain, all right, king, the
Speaker 1: conqueror of a crime out loud, and everything went awry.
Speaker 1: Did you feel the misery the depression that you were
Speaker 1: experiencing based on everything that was revealed, based on everything
Speaker 1: that you that you were going through, did you feel
Speaker 1: you deserved it? Point question number one and number two?
Speaker 1: What did Megan say to you at that moment in
Speaker 1: time where you were going through those emotions?
Speaker 2: Do I feel like I deserved it?
Speaker 1: I'm only asking that question because you talked about reflection
Speaker 1: and looking at yourself and what you know, so I'm
Speaker 1: talking about what you was feeling.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's us man. The confusion was definitely there.
Speaker 2: You know, it doesn't help to compare stats, right, it
Speaker 2: doesn't help to like that'll make you miserable, right, But
Speaker 2: I got it. You know, I love you, be bro,
Speaker 2: so I'll keep it a buck like. Yeah, I was confused.
Speaker 2: I was what you saw what was coming off from me,
Speaker 2: that sadness, that depression. Yeah, because look you're saying that,
Speaker 2: and I thought I was trying to hold it the
Speaker 2: best I could, you know what I mean, And apparently
Speaker 2: I couldn't, you know what I mean? So yeah, so
Speaker 2: there's there's that part. So I feel like I deserved it.
Speaker 2: I felt like I take what I'm what I was giving,
Speaker 2: you know, I and I don't complain, you know, I
Speaker 2: don't complain, And yeah, I don't complain. And I take
Speaker 2: all of that, those feelings and in the events that occurred,
Speaker 2: in the actions that were taken, the verdict. I take
Speaker 2: all of that, the dropping from everything, not just Marvel,
Speaker 2: but from everything. I take all of that, and I
Speaker 2: I had to metabolize it, you know. And I'm happy
Speaker 2: that I metabolized it, you know what I mean, because
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be the man I
Speaker 2: am now, you know, looking at you, talking to you.
Speaker 2: You know without that, I also wouldn't be here without
Speaker 2: you know, Meghan, you know who said, you know, to
Speaker 2: answer your question. You know, we went back we were
Speaker 2: staying in New Jersey at the time, you know, went
Speaker 2: back home and I hadn't wept, I hadn't cried, and
Speaker 2: she just looked at me and she said, God's in it.
Speaker 2: And I looked at her and I said, yes he is.
Speaker 2: But even then, you know, it was it was a
Speaker 2: Hallelujah from from from my knees. You know. It wasn't
Speaker 2: you know, trying to praise and advance. You know, I
Speaker 2: couldn't see it. I couldn't understand it. But Megan, she
Speaker 2: she wouldn't let me fall, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: She said, I got you, we got this.
Speaker 1: Would you have fallen without her?
Speaker 2: Glory to God, I wouldn't. I don't have to think
Speaker 2: about that. But I don't know what I would. I mean,
Speaker 2: she I don't know what I would have done, you know,
Speaker 2: I mean, well, you know we can talk straight, man,
Speaker 2: like she she brought me out of a She brought
Speaker 2: me out of a She saved my life. Man. You
Speaker 2: know what I mean like and I don't mean that
Speaker 2: and hyperbole. I mean that in like heartbeat, consciousness, breath, presence.
Speaker 2: She kept me on this planet, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: When when it felt like nobody else wanted me here,
Speaker 2: you know, nobody, nobody, bro nobody wanted to be here,
Speaker 2: she did and and that was enough for me in
Speaker 2: that moment and even after the verdict, bang bang m
Speaker 2: she kept me here, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, No, take your time. Take your time, man,
Speaker 1: Take your time. You would have brother talked. You're talking
Speaker 1: to a brother's root for you, my man. You know
Speaker 1: I ain't apologizing for that anybody. You wanted the great
Speaker 1: ones and you know to make no mistake about it,
Speaker 1: and we all, we all make mistakes in the eyes
Speaker 1: of God. That's just how it goes. Take your time.
Speaker 1: I want to touch on something that you wanted people.
Speaker 1: Evidently you wanted people to know about you. You recently
Speaker 1: uncovered some childhood traumas in therapy, and you revealed that
Speaker 1: you had been sexually assaulted as a child. How have
Speaker 1: you worked through that and when did you start working
Speaker 1: through that? In light of the kind of conversation that
Speaker 1: would happen right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been a journey, you know, like I was saying,
Speaker 2: I was saying to one of your journalistic colleagues earlier
Speaker 2: that you know, it was a process. And I first
Speaker 2: started with you start with your heart, you know. I
Speaker 2: started with Megan. You know, I had just come out
Speaker 2: of a therapy session and I just really shook up
Speaker 2: because my therapist had walked me through this thing called
Speaker 2: limited beliefs. And when I say therapists, I've got like
Speaker 2: I've got, I'm working, I got five five support systems
Speaker 2: that you know when I say therapy, except my pastor,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm talking about that in general, you know.
Speaker 2: But I had just come out of a personal therapy
Speaker 2: session and he walked me through that and I landed
Speaker 2: right on it, and I immediately went into denial. I'm
Speaker 2: thirty five years old, you know, and I had never
Speaker 2: touched it. And I called my sister, and you know,
Speaker 2: because I was down, you know, I was feeling really
Speaker 2: activated and really a shame like shame on, shame on, shame.
Speaker 2: And my sister said to me, you know, I know
Speaker 2: something happened to you when we were young, and I
Speaker 2: should have been there and I and I wasn't. You know,
Speaker 2: it's like it's like on the waterfront, you know, you're
Speaker 2: my big She looked out to me, you know, and
Speaker 2: and when she said that, she said, I know something
Speaker 2: happened to you and and and that's why you're different.
Speaker 2: You know. She had never said something like that to
Speaker 2: me before. Oh yeah, she had never said something like
Speaker 2: that to me before. And that just made it real,
Speaker 2: and it made it or. I couldn't run from it.
Speaker 2: I couldn't act my way out of it. I couldn't
Speaker 2: try to lift or weight and try to get it
Speaker 2: out of my system. She had brought it right to
Speaker 2: my door, and it's my flesh and blood saying yeah,
Speaker 2: this happened to us. You know, this happened to you,
Speaker 2: you know, And I was there and you're not crazy.
Speaker 2: And then from there, you know, once you kind of
Speaker 2: peel peel that back, it became clear that like you know,
Speaker 2: older men in my family, you know, the young ladies
Speaker 2: you know, who tried it. That wasn't the first That
Speaker 2: wasn't the first go around. You know, the first go
Speaker 2: around was with you know, you know, a member of
Speaker 2: my family, not my immediate family.
Speaker 1: I was getting ready to ask you who was it
Speaker 1: that assaulted you. I mean, that's the question that everybody
Speaker 1: would want to know.
Speaker 2: Knowing that, yeah, I mean, all I can say is
Speaker 2: that it was a family. It was two family members,
Speaker 2: all right, Yeah, it was two family And.
Speaker 1: How many siblings do you have? By the way, how
Speaker 1: many siblings do you have?
Speaker 2: Too? Okay?
Speaker 1: Are you the youngest?
Speaker 2: I'm the middle.
Speaker 1: Okay, you're the middle. Middle always gets lost. The middle
Speaker 1: always get the youngest, and the babies and the oldest,
Speaker 1: like extension of the parents, the bullies and all of that.
Speaker 1: You know, before I let you go, let's just brother.
Speaker 1: You know, with what you've gone through, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of people who still got a lot of love for
Speaker 1: you and want to work with you. Michael B. Jordan's
Speaker 1: one of them. He started with you in Creed Whoopy
Speaker 1: Goldberg on the View. Matthew mcconnor, he start opposite of
Speaker 1: you in the film White Boy, Rick. I mean, when
Speaker 1: you hear about the love that they have for you,
Speaker 1: the admiration they have for you in terms of how
Speaker 1: you go about, you know, performing your craft or what
Speaker 1: have you, especially at this moment in time, A what
Speaker 1: does it mean to you and b What does it
Speaker 1: mean to you now compared to what it meant it
Speaker 1: would have meant to you years ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the guy, the guy, the guy in the past,
Speaker 2: he was incapable, you know what I mean of really
Speaker 2: feeling love, of really connecting, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: like really connecting the type of connection and love that
Speaker 2: I experienced now, I've never I said to Megan yesterday,
Speaker 2: you know, say it's the best day of my life,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. Like and by the way,
Speaker 2: like and I've done some really cool quote unquote things
Speaker 2: you know, within within within the career, within my career,
Speaker 2: in the industry that we all share. But I just
Speaker 2: could accepted, you know what I mean, I just I
Speaker 2: just couldn't accept it. And now you know Whoopy and
Speaker 2: Mike and McConaughey and you know, hell you you know,
Speaker 2: to hear the support and to hear the love it
Speaker 2: means everything. You know, It's it's a it's a battery
Speaker 2: in my back, you know, because those individuals know me,
Speaker 2: you know. And and one of the things that you know, Matthew,
Speaker 2: uh said mc conaughey said to me is you know
Speaker 2: I believe in you. You know what I mean, They
Speaker 2: got nothing to do with making movies. You know, Michael B.
Speaker 2: Jordan is a friend of mine. You know, he's a
Speaker 2: friend of mine. We may never step on the set
Speaker 2: again together.
Speaker 1: I hope he's a good brother. That's a good bather.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a that's a damn good brother. And that's
Speaker 2: a friend of mine, you know. And whoop Be fed me,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, fed us at our house,
Speaker 2: you know. And we talked and we cried, and she
Speaker 2: gave guidance to me. They don't need nothing from me.
Speaker 2: They have their careers they have that was everything right,
Speaker 2: and and and to be in a place now where
Speaker 2: I can actually accept community. You know, it feels like
Speaker 2: I don't know what's gonna happen in the future, but
Speaker 2: presently I know I'm on the right path. As hard
Speaker 2: as some of these conversations are, as hard as you know,
Speaker 2: exposing things you know about my past, you know, things
Speaker 2: that are known and things that aren't known. Man, I
Speaker 2: just I'm just so grateful, you know, I'm just so
Speaker 2: grateful to them.
Speaker 1: Well, what do you mean you don't know what's gonna
Speaker 1: happen in the future, you sitting here talking to me,
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, right, now you're one of the best
Speaker 1: actors in the business. What do you mean you don't
Speaker 1: know what's gonna happen in the future? I mean, what
Speaker 1: do you I mean what what? What do you think?
Speaker 1: Is God?
Speaker 2: Mean?
Speaker 1: You do you sure you don't know?
Speaker 2: Well, I got I got some ideas, you know, I
Speaker 2: got some ideas. But you know it's God's plan. I
Speaker 2: know that my team is it is pushing like bad man,
Speaker 2: you know, to to you know, line everything, you know
Speaker 2: for for a few things that that that could happen
Speaker 2: this year. And I'm excited about those things, you know.
Speaker 2: But what it looks like, you know, with with where
Speaker 2: I am now, you know what it feels like, what
Speaker 2: the work's going to be. You know, I'm really excited
Speaker 2: to see that, you know. So that part I don't know.
Speaker 2: You know, I'll leave that to God.
Speaker 1: Last question for you, Magazine Dreams. What do you want
Speaker 1: people walking away feeling about this movie? Not just your performance,
Speaker 1: but you want them to walk away to take away
Speaker 1: to apply to their own lives. What would that be?
Speaker 2: Open your heart, you know, as hard as it may be,
Speaker 2: sometimes open your heart and see the see the woman
Speaker 2: and the man next to you, you know, and love them,
Speaker 2: and chiefly chiefly look at the person that stares back
Speaker 2: at you in the mirror and love that person and
Speaker 2: give them unconditional love. And sometimes it's gonna be tough
Speaker 2: love where you've got to go in there and lift
Speaker 2: the weight, you know, for yourself, lift your soul up,
Speaker 2: you know. And finally, help each other, help each other,
Speaker 2: even if even if it's hard, help each other, listen
Speaker 2: to each other. And let's not throw Let's not throw
Speaker 2: individuals away. You know. Killing is a man that's been
Speaker 2: thrown away and he tries to give himself back. And
Speaker 2: I can relate to that too.
Speaker 1: So Magazine Dreams in theaters March twenty first, everybody be
Speaker 1: sure to check it out. The one and only Jonathan Majors.
Speaker 1: All the best to you, my man. I'll see you
Speaker 1: down the line. You take care of yourself, all right,
Speaker 1: you see down the road, all right. Get my best
Speaker 1: to Megan. Congratulations yet again, congratulations.
Speaker 2: Really the man you the man and.
Speaker 1: I met at when I said to ladies and gentlemen,
Speaker 1: he is a great actor. He is a great actor.
Speaker 1: I mean, people talk about the greatness of Denzel Washington,
Speaker 1: my all time favorite. Love me some Morgan Freeman. I'm
Speaker 1: a huge dropped Robert de Niro, al Pacino fan, Matthew mcconna,
Speaker 1: he is fantastic. Tom Hanks is all world of the worldly.
Speaker 1: It's a whole bunch of people that I absolutely love
Speaker 1: and marvel that in terms of their talent and ability
Speaker 1: and abilities as actors and actresses. You know, Anne Hathaway,
Speaker 1: I love her, Meryl Strip, Meryl Street, I'm sorry, I
Speaker 1: love her, you know, of course, I mean, it's just
Speaker 1: so many be Angela Bassett, I mean, the queen, the Queen, Okay,
Speaker 1: But this brother, Jonathan Major's is a special, special actor
Speaker 1: that was in root to start and people talking about
Speaker 1: him ultimately being the next Denzel in terms of his
Speaker 1: cachet because of how much they marveled at his acting ability,
Speaker 1: and all of it got derailed. Now, to be very
Speaker 1: very clear, to reiterate to our audience, he was convicted.
Speaker 1: He was convicted one kund of a misdemeanor third degree
Speaker 1: is sold in one count of second degree harassment of
Speaker 1: his then ex girlfriend, Gray Jabari. There's no getting around that.
Speaker 1: None of us were there. We were an eyewitnesses. He
Speaker 1: was found guilty. Damn it. That means he's guilty, Okay,
Speaker 1: in our court system, that's the way it is. He
Speaker 1: didn't come on here and say he was innocent, all right,
Speaker 1: So let's get that out the way first. And then
Speaker 1: the recent audio tape that a lot of people want
Speaker 1: to point to. That's where my eyebrow gets raised, because
Speaker 1: you see, the guilt has already been established and so
Speaker 1: has whatever requisite punishment the courts have handed down. And
Speaker 1: now that he's trying to resurrect his career because as
Speaker 1: he articulated, he had lost everything. The week the movie
Speaker 1: is coming out, this audio tape comes out thatical incidence.
Speaker 1: Are we at least allowed to say that's a bit
Speaker 1: peculiar or weird? Are we at least allowed to do that? Again,
Speaker 1: this is not as all him from what he was
Speaker 1: convicted of. He can't be absolved from what he was
Speaker 1: convicted of that stays with him for the rest of
Speaker 1: his life. He openly admits that. Ain't nobody's sitting up
Speaker 1: there trying to give him a pat on the back
Speaker 1: for something like that. But in our society, once you
Speaker 1: pay your penance, you're supposed to be allowed to move on,
Speaker 1: and clearly it appears someone doesn't want that to happen.
Speaker 1: And by the way, he's been accused by others in
Speaker 1: fairness because we're gonna keep it one hunt, We're gonna
Speaker 1: keep it a buck here, right, But with this ex
Speaker 1: girlfriend is where the conviction kicked in. Fair enough, fair enough.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, the timing of all of this, how
Speaker 1: can we hear about this at the trial, the time
Speaker 1: and of all of it. Y'all make of that what
Speaker 1: you will. I hope this movie is successful, hear I
Speaker 1: have not seen it yet. I heard his performance was sensational,
Speaker 1: and I hope everybody gets to move on and live
Speaker 1: a happy life. Nobody wants to be defined by their
Speaker 1: worst of mistakes. And I'm not planning on judging him
Speaker 1: that now. I might be in the minority. Other people
Speaker 1: might be about doing that. Fine, but he is a
Speaker 1: sensational actor and I'm looking forward to seeing him in
Speaker 1: this movie, and I hope that if he is every
Speaker 1: bit as sensational as I think he is, as others
Speaker 1: have told me he is, that he will be recognized
Speaker 1: for that and be allowed to move forward. That's where
Speaker 1: I'm coming from with it. That's where I'm coming from
Speaker 1: with it.