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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - First off, I wanted to ask both of you,
00:06 what was it like to bring into life a film
00:08 that's kind of timeless in that aspect?
00:11 Because we don't really know what time it's set in sometimes.
00:14 Like it's a modern film,
00:16 but then, you know, there's all the Blackploitation-esque
00:18 moments of the film.
00:19 Then some characters use a flip phone.
00:21 There's like an iPhone here.
00:23 So I'm just like, you know,
00:24 is this a period piece or is it not a period piece?
00:26 What was it like to bring into life this film
00:28 that kind of exists like, you know,
00:30 anywhere it could be at any time?
00:32 - Yeah, that's what is so fun about the film
00:35 and us filming it is that this film literally exists
00:38 in all times, in all eras and genres.
00:41 So we really got to just pull from so many different places.
00:44 It didn't feel like we were bound by anything really,
00:48 except for what Joel's vision might be.
00:50 And honestly, he really just let us play and go for it.
00:54 And there was a couple of times I think
00:55 where he might've been like,
00:56 "I don't know, man. I ain't even in it."
00:59 (all laughing)
01:00 - "You don't know."
01:00 - Yeah, bring that back.
01:02 But other than that, we really,
01:05 the film is talking about how this exists
01:08 in anywhere and at all times.
01:10 So that was fun that that element was also
01:14 infused into props, wardrobe, hair, makeup,
01:18 all of those things.
01:20 - Yeah, yeah.
01:21 Also, my favorite scene,
01:23 I have a lot of favorite scenes in this film,
01:24 but one is the fried chicken scene
01:27 when everyone burst out in laughter.
01:28 And the thing about it is I was like,
01:30 "Oh, Fontaine's laughing. He's having a good time."
01:34 And then I was really,
01:35 so what was it like filming that scene
01:36 where just bursting out laughing everywhere?
01:40 - It's less about the laughter.
01:44 I'm gonna tell you,
01:45 because this is some behind the scenes.
01:48 John decided that,
01:51 "Okay, we get there, we're filming the scene."
01:52 Jamie and I are like, "Damn, this chicken cold."
01:54 But John over there like, "Mm, mm."
01:58 We're like, "What is he eating?"
02:00 We found out John went and got
02:03 his own fresh, hot, fried chicken.
02:06 - So he was on a different wavelength.
02:08 - He was on a different wavelength.
02:10 - Everyone does rich differently.
02:11 (laughing)
02:14 - I was not, not rich.
02:15 Look, me and Jamie over there like,
02:19 "This is hot, this is cold."
02:22 - And he was, "Mm, mm."
02:24 - I think they got in the middle when I did.
02:27 No, yes!
02:28 - Method acting, we're like.
02:31 - That chicken was good.
02:32 That was my lunch break.
02:34 That's why we were sold on the scene
02:36 because it's just like, "Okay, good chicken, good fun."
02:39 They're like, "Oh no, it's kind of nefarious."
02:41 - It's us giving John a side eye like,
02:44 "Man, you really left us out here
02:46 to eat this hard, cold chicken
02:47 that's been here for a whole day
02:49 while you got fresh, okay."
02:51 - He was like, "I gotta make it look real."
02:52 - Yeah, but so, yeah, that was that.
02:55 But yeah, I mean, it's a crazy scene.
02:57 It's a crazy scene to see all of that
02:59 and just feeding into that stereotype
03:01 of black people and chicken and loving it so much
03:04 and what that is.
03:05 And you know, like, people like chicken.
03:07 That is a thing.
03:08 But also, we're clearly leaning into a stereotype
03:13 that we later get to break and dive deeper
03:16 into what is actually happening here.
03:19 - And you two and Jamie all have insane chemistry
03:23 in this movie.
03:24 It's so, so good.
03:25 I want to know how is it like building that chemistry
03:27 also given the fact that this film goes through
03:29 so many different tonal changes.
03:31 Like, it's like, I told you earlier,
03:32 it's like one of the sharpest scripts I think I've,
03:34 you know, seen on screen this year,
03:36 but also has like the hilarious moments,
03:38 also like the deep moments.
03:39 So what was it like creating that chemistry
03:41 while this film goes through so many different moments?
03:44 - I think it was very organic for a lot of us.
03:48 I mean, the circumstance of being one of the first
03:50 sequestered projects at the time was definitely made us
03:52 not have all the time in the world for rehearsals
03:55 and chemistry reads.
03:56 So it was just about, you know, people of the culture
03:59 kind of linking up and being like,
04:00 "Hey, let's make this movie."
04:01 And just being open artistically, being respectful.
04:05 And it was just the environment that was cultivated
04:07 by good individuals.
04:09 So we didn't actually have like a structure
04:12 of building chemistry.
04:14 It was just kind of like, you know,
04:16 thank God I've seen Tiana's work before,
04:17 I love the work, I've seen Jamie's work before, of course.
04:20 So it was just about just like linking up
04:22 and just making it work.
04:23 - Yeah. Yeah.
04:24 Well, thank you both so, so much for chatting with me.
04:26 I can't wait for more people to see this film
04:27 and I can't wait to watch it again.
04:28 It'll be my third time.
04:29 - Thank you. - Thank you, man.
04:30 - This film is so interesting
04:32 because it has so many tonal differences.
04:34 You know, it's very, it's one of the sharpest scripts,
04:37 I think, for the year so far,
04:39 but it also has a lot of deep moments
04:41 and a lot of social commentary, you know,
04:43 packed into that as well.
04:44 So how is it navigating kind of like the different moments
04:47 that this film goes within the script?
04:50 - Yeah, I mean, I think that's the,
04:52 that was probably the hardest part of like
04:55 the creative process was like balancing the tone,
04:58 you know what I mean?
04:59 'Cause you, it's some dark stuff in the movie,
05:03 but, you know, we didn't necessarily want to make
05:08 a dark, like dire film per se, you know?
05:12 We wanted it to be fun and like, you know,
05:14 something that you would just want to watch.
05:15 And even if you just watched it just to see a movie
05:18 and enjoy it and take nothing from it,
05:21 like you wanted to still have,
05:23 be able to play on that level.
05:25 And so I think really, like a lot of it was leaning
05:28 on the talent, you know?
05:30 So like, because like on the page, you know,
05:32 you can, you have an intent in terms of just like
05:35 what kind of tone this is and like how the satire plays.
05:39 But until like John and Jamie and Tiana
05:43 and Kiefer and Tamela and J.L.
05:46 felt like the cast was so good,
05:47 they understood like what we were going for.
05:50 And I think really, if they can't ground the characters,
05:53 it's not going to work, you know?
05:55 I hope it worked, but like, you know,
05:57 if it has a chance to work, I should say,
06:00 it will be solely because their talent, you know,
06:04 was able to make these characters grounded in a way
06:07 that you could see something that was like a little,
06:10 a little over the top and understand that like
06:13 these are still like real people in the neighborhood,
06:15 you know, and that they're like grounded in something
06:18 beyond just the caricatures they start out as, you know?
06:23 And hopefully, you know, when you start to break them down
06:27 and like kind of deconstruct them
06:29 as the movie goes further, you know,
06:31 that's all coming off the back of, you know,
06:36 our cast being able to sell it, you know what I mean?
06:39 And so really you gotta cross your fingers
06:41 and pray that your talent like saves you.
06:43 - Yeah, I feel like it could be tricky too,
06:45 'cause it's one thing to go from like, you know,
06:47 the chicken commercials in one part of the movie,
06:49 then to the everything else we see later on.
06:52 It could be a little more tricky,
06:53 but I feel like it's pulled off.
06:54 - Oh, thank you.
06:55 I mean, once it's in the universe,
06:57 it's up to everybody else to decide
06:59 if we accomplished it or not.
07:01 - And Charles, for you, you know,
07:03 I feel like timely is a word that we kind of overuse.
07:05 Like everything is timely in film and TV right now.
07:08 But for lack of a better term,
07:09 why do you think this film specifically speaks
07:11 to a lot of things that we're going through,
07:12 like, you know, socially and politically right now?
07:14 - I mean, look, it's first and foremost,
07:17 Joel, his whole vision behind this was,
07:19 we want people to laugh, be entertained,
07:21 but then also it's subversive,
07:23 then it's gonna make you think right after it.
07:24 So hearing that that's been the response,
07:27 it's been great to see that.
07:28 And just look, I mean,
07:29 there've been obviously so many social themes,
07:32 obviously now coming post the pandemic,
07:34 you know, the kind of large conversation
07:36 post George Floyd's murder
07:37 and the whole conversation around racial equity.
07:41 As Joel mentioned, I mean,
07:42 this project was pitched way before that.
07:45 And so, I mean, it's ahead of its time,
07:47 but it's also timeless at the same time,
07:49 which even with the theme of the film,
07:50 you don't know when it was made.
07:52 And I think there are themes in there
07:54 that are quite relevant.
07:56 They were relevant 50 years ago
07:57 and I think are relevant today.
07:59 But it's done in a smart way where you can think
08:03 and you can relate and you can connect the dots.
08:05 And, you know, we wanted people
08:09 to have those conversations.
08:10 So it'll be great to see the response
08:14 once the film is out.
08:15 - I was gonna say, it's like it's a modern set film,
08:17 but like there's so much,
08:18 but it's like, it was like Blackploitation-esque vibes
08:21 to the film, like 70s vibes.
08:23 It's actually, it could be timeless.
08:25 My character pulls out his cell phone,
08:26 I'm like, wait.
08:27 [laughing]
08:28 - But it was a flip phone.
08:30 - Yeah, yeah, exactly.
08:31 - Yo-Yo pulls out a iPhone, so it's, yeah.
08:34 - But even then, like the flip phone was an iPhone,
08:35 you're like, okay, are we timed?
08:37 But like, it's, I loved it.
08:39 - It's a modern, it's modern day.
08:41 It's just the neighborhood is lost in time.
08:43 - Gotcha.
08:44 - Yeah.
08:45 - So I mean, it's even that, like, you know,
08:48 that those anachronisms that's in the movie, you know,
08:51 that like disorientation in terms of where you are,
08:55 when you are, you know, you never,
08:57 you don't know what city they're in.
09:00 It's modern, but it, you know,
09:01 at times it calls into question,
09:03 is this, is this superior?
09:05 You know, like all of that is just, again,
09:07 like to create that sense of like disorientation,
09:11 you know, like I wanted it to feel like, you know,
09:15 this is taking place in its own,
09:16 like hermetically sealed bubble, you know,
09:19 like just this archetypal neighborhood
09:22 somewhere in the South,
09:23 some wind in the South, you know what I'm saying?
09:25 Where, you know, these,
09:27 these archetypal characters, you know what I'm saying?
09:32 They're like just dealing with some weird stuff,
09:34 you know what I'm saying?
09:35 (laughing)
09:36 You know, it's like kinda,
09:37 hopefully it kinda comes across as like anywhere in USA.
09:41 - Yeah.
09:42 - And you know, I think like, you know,
09:45 a lot of that inspiration too,
09:46 I mean, Napoleon Dynamite and like a movie like It Follows
09:50 both employ the same, you know,
09:53 world building device that we're, you know,
09:56 they're not period pieces,
09:58 but they feel like period pieces.
10:00 And there's like a dissonance that you feel watching that,
10:03 especially like a movie like It Follows, you know,
10:05 and like, there's like a dissonance while,
10:07 like I was uneasy watching the movie
10:09 and it's like a lot of it went into like the world building.
10:12 I just, I loved that, you know?
10:13 So definitely shout out to those movies.
10:15 - Absolutely, absolutely.
10:17 Well, thank you both so, so much for chatting with me.
10:19 I cannot wait for more people to see this.