The two films from Apple TV+ highlight the experiences of leading Black men and women in Hollywood.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Samuel Jackson, he comes to the set and just pees in every corner.
00:07I mean, every nook and cranny of that set was his, and it was interesting to watch because
00:15he would turn it on and then turn it off.
00:18Say action.
00:19Action.
00:20I'm just trying to figure out who this is on this night.
00:23Say cut.
00:24Say cut.
00:25Cut.
00:26What'd you think?
00:27Y'all like that?
00:28What the f***?
00:29This sh**, he's an alien.
00:38Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
00:39How you doing today?
00:40Oh, thank you.
00:41My brother's doing good.
00:42My brother.
00:43Shahla, I wanted to start with you.
00:45Your film highlights both trailblazers as well as the next generation of black women
00:49at Hollywood.
00:50What changes do you think are needed to create more opportunities for the future of black
00:54women in film and television?
00:55Oh my God.
00:56Thesis question.
00:58Thesis question.
00:59Listen.
01:00What I want is for folks to know who came before them.
01:05I want folks to see each other today, and that's the only way we'll move forward.
01:11We've got to have a sense of history and a sense of ourselves.
01:15And what I hope the film does is gives the audience a sense of who each one of these
01:21women are on an individual level, and then the bigger picture.
01:26Jamie, as both a producer as well as a leading man at Hollywood, what inspired you to bring
01:32number one on the car seat to life?
01:35Oh man, you know, we get a chance to sort of bump into these very, very talented people.
01:40You know, it's interesting.
01:42I would say all the time, I would beg Denzel Washington to come to one of my parties.
01:47Not to turn up, I just wanted the knowledge.
01:50I remember before Denzel, Quincy Jones shows up on a holiday party and just held court.
01:59Man, shit, Frank Sinatra, man, that was my first gig, baby.
02:03You know, we were in Monaco, man, and he didn't even show up for rehearsal.
02:07We're just vamping, and here he is coming in the audience, man, with a cigarette, man.
02:10And then he took a token and he sung this note, and then after the note, he let the
02:15smoke out, man.
02:16You had to be...
02:17So, Quincy spoke.
02:18The way I baited D was, D, Quincy came in and shed light on what this business is.
02:29So, Denzel did that as well, and it was amazing.
02:32All right, okay, all right, okay, you trying to, you know, okay, that's what you doing.
02:37You know, so this is just the natural progression of that.
02:43So, you get a chance to see a little bit behind the curtain of what it takes and what
02:48the responsibilities are and how it's different.
02:51You know, as black stars, we carry the culture.
02:54It ain't a black star in the world that's on some blog, don't get heat up, if he ain't
03:04black enough, you know what I'm saying?
03:06So, it's an interesting yoke.
03:09Yes, yoke.
03:11Yes, yoke.
03:12It's an interesting yoke to carry, but it's a great one when you feel the love coming
03:20from our community and appreciating what we do.
03:25And I think in these two documentaries, they knocked it out of the park.
03:30Now, Reginald, you've worked with several legends throughout your career.
03:35From your perspective, what qualities make a great black leading man in Hollywood?
03:40Well, first of all, to be completely comfortable in their own skin, right?
03:47Because you have to know who you are and have a complete grasp of it.
03:52And from that, you can fully access your talent, right?
03:56And you also, if you're comfortable within your own skin, you have no fear when you take
04:02on roles that can be a little scary.
04:05You know, watching Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained, playing the worst black man ever
04:13in the history of cinema, he had-
04:16Steven.
04:17Steven.
04:18First of all, what a great name.
04:19Man, so can he use a mask?
04:22So, and he had no fear.
04:25Listen, amazing.
04:27So, that's the job, is to, if you're going to really access the full range of your talent,
04:35you've got to know who you are and be secure.
04:37Jamie Foxx is that man.
04:39Jamie Foxx is a man who can do anything.
04:43If he has fear, he knows how to overcome fear.
04:46Yeah, and there's certain little tricks, especially when Samuel L. Jackson, he comes to the set
04:54and just pees in every corner.
04:58I mean, he took every nook and cranny of that set was his.
05:04It was interesting to watch, because he would turn it on and then turn it off.
05:09Say action.
05:10Action.
05:11I'm just trying to figure out who is this on this next.
05:14Say cut.
05:15Say cut.
05:16Cut.
05:17What'd you think?
05:18Y'all like that?
05:19I was like, what the f***?
05:20What the f***?
05:21This man, he's an alien.
05:22He was so amazing in one scene, when we were all at the dinner table, and the mask, he
05:28had to use the mask.
05:29Cut.
05:30Say cut.
05:31Say cut.
05:32Cut.
05:33Leo looked at me and says, f***.
05:34Wow.
05:35Geez, I know.
05:36This man was f***ing incredible.
05:41It was incredible.
05:44It was incredible.
05:45He was incredible.
05:46And it was to the point to where we would have to actually ask Grace from Samuel Jackson
05:53to allow other actors to play through.
05:56He was just that powerful.
05:58You saw not just black excellence, he was a superhero.
06:03And I literally, because we were a little bit of an outsider because he and Quentin
06:10had already worked, but I remember having to do something, not in the script, to try
06:17to get it Samuel Jackson, when we were doing the read-through, I said, yeah, man, f***
06:24you.
06:25F*** me this time.
06:27And everybody was tripping.
06:28I said, yeah, yeah, I said it.
06:29And then Sammy goes.
06:30I was like, oh, that didn't work.
06:31That didn't work.
06:32It didn't work.
06:33Because I was trying to sort of get him off his square.
06:42He looked at me like, yeah, f***.
06:45And then it wasn't until we had the scene in the parlor where Master K is about to get
06:54shot.
06:55And there was this moment where me and Samuel Jackson have to stare at each other.
06:59And I said, I done took Visine all day because I don't want my eyes to dry out.
07:03I'm not blinking.
07:04You feel me?
07:05So I got my eyes all lubricated.
07:07So they say, action.
07:08I said, and Sammy said, and I said, God damn it, you good.
07:21So I'm saying that to make you understand that these guys are beyond talented.
07:31It's a whole nother level with Denzel.
07:34Go, go, go.
07:35I was going to say, and these women.
07:37Yeah.
07:38That too.
07:39The women.
07:40How could I forget that?
07:43Because I got a story about Viola Davis kicking my ass in the scene too.
07:45I just went from movie to movie getting my ass kicked by all of them.
07:48Viola Davis kicked my ass so bad that if Gary Gray says cut, she's killing you.
07:52I said, word?
07:53Yeah, Fox.
07:54I said, what do you think I should do?
07:55I don't know.
07:56Could you write another line?
07:57I said, what do you think I should do?
07:58He says, at this point, J-Fiz, just facial expressions.
08:05So what I'm telling you is that in the win for Ray Charles, I was happy but humbled when
08:15I was around Samuel Jackson, who hadn't been gifted that award yet.
08:22He told me in Time to Kill, that speech, you remember the speech?
08:26Remember the speech with Matthew McConaughey?
08:29That was Samuel's speech.
08:31They took that from Samuel Jackson and gave it to Matthew McConaughey because they felt
08:35like Matthew McConaughey's character needed to be a little more, but look at what he had
08:40to go through.
08:43They said, oh, he would take over the movie, which that should have been his speech.
08:50So to be able to be there with Samuel and feed off of that, and I know beyond a shadow
08:57of a doubt that they're better than everybody.
09:03Everybody knew when we came to that set, we're all in Samuel's world and if he allows us
09:08to play through, it will happen.
09:11And I think having watched that up close makes this documentary so special.
09:20And one of the things that's very powerful in the movie is hearing everyone compliment
09:29each other.
09:30To hear Eddie Murphy praise Jamie Foxx's performance in Ray, hey, that's one of the top five performances
09:36ever.
09:37To hear Will Smith talk about my aspiration is to be Eddie Murphy in Star Wars.
09:46So everyone's looking at everybody.
09:48To hear Lawrence Fishburne praise Kevin Hart and say, look at a man of this stature hold
09:56his own against The Rock.
09:58Do you understand how hard that is to hold the space against a guy like that?
10:03So they all are looking at each other with the eyes of a seasoned professional.
10:09We go, oh yeah, that was cool.
10:10Like, no, no, no, no, no.
10:12These eyes, that's a whole other thing.
10:16Which is, for me as a director, when I listen to other actors critique each other, I go,
10:24oh, thank you.
10:25Now I'm going to come off a little smarter next time because I'm crimping notes.
10:31And for the women, just to add, because I know we're going over time, it is something
10:35that Reggie said, you feel the fear and you do it anyway.
10:38You find your way, you find your path.
10:41Somebody tells you, you're not pretty enough, you're not enough to be a leading lady.
10:44You go, okay, F that, I'm figuring out my way.
10:48And there's 17 stories of these women who have found their way to be number one on the
10:53call sheet.
10:54And it is so inspiring for us mere mortals who also want to be number one on our own
10:59call sheet.
11:01Number one?
11:02You probably have another question, but you know.
11:05Yeah, I'm running my mouth telling stories.
11:09They're all looking at me like, here you go.
11:10I appreciate y'all.
11:12Thank you very much.
11:13Appreciate you.
11:15We love essence.