"One Night In Miami" stars Kingsley Ben-Adir (Malcolm x ), Eli Goree (Cassius Clay) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Sam Cooke) along with Director/Producer Regina King discuss their new Amazon original film with CinemaBlend Voices Editor Samantha Labat. King, Ben-Adir and Goree discuss the significant timing of the film’s release, Leslie Odom Jr. talks about code-switching and even a little bit about "Hamilton," and more.
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00:00 This movement that we are in is called a struggle.
00:03 Because we are fighting for our lives.
00:06 Welcome to America.
00:07 I'm amazed that America is welcome to America.
00:11 - I wanted to ask you,
00:12 'cause I know there was a little bit of time
00:13 between when you all finished this film
00:15 and were able to release it,
00:16 just kind of what that was like for you
00:18 and having it released at a time
00:20 where it really is so just as relevant today
00:23 as it would have been in the '60s.
00:26 - Unfortunately, in our history, American history,
00:31 things just keep repeating themselves
00:34 and not really the things that we want to repeat themselves.
00:37 And so we felt like no matter when this film came out,
00:44 it was going to be timely,
00:46 but we couldn't have predicted that this would be,
00:50 no one could have predicted
00:52 that we would have the year that we had.
00:56 We wanted to get this film out right before the elections,
01:01 but we weren't able to do that.
01:03 And it turns out that,
01:05 when you talk about just these past few months,
01:09 last week made it clear that,
01:14 yeah, we were right from the beginning.
01:16 It would have been timely no matter when it comes out.
01:19 So I think it'll make equally strong,
01:22 if not stronger impact now than it may have made
01:27 if we were able to release in October.
01:30 - Minister Malcolm X.
01:32 - Good news, the chariot is coming.
01:34 - Definitely moments on set when we were filming this
01:37 where scenes just took a turn
01:40 and went in a completely different direction
01:42 than we had planned.
01:44 And I feel like, you know,
01:46 one of those moments was around the table
01:48 with me and the artists, Malcolm and Jim.
01:51 We had no intention of sort of going in that direction
01:54 and something just happened because of, you know,
01:57 Regina and the way she allowed us to work
01:59 and encouraged us and shaped the emotional journeys.
02:03 But there was a moment in the film with Cash and Malcolm
02:06 where Malcolm bursts away from him and talks about,
02:10 you know, drawing a line in the sand
02:12 and the black people were being murdered
02:14 in the streets every day.
02:15 And something happened at that point.
02:17 We, you know, remember Regina came over
02:20 and was like, "We got it," you know?
02:21 And there was a real sense that suddenly the text
02:26 sort of came to life in a way
02:28 that we hadn't necessarily planned or thought about.
02:32 And then, yeah, we wrapped, went into lockdown,
02:35 the world flipped upside down and it was just like,
02:37 "Oh my God, we've just made a film that's really important
02:41 that we try and get out as soon as possible."
02:43 And there was a real urgency with Regina and everyone
02:46 to kind of get it cut together.
02:48 - Over, Greggers!
02:50 - That's right!
02:51 - It meant a lot to me, especially when I was, you know,
02:54 during ADR, it was literally days when I did my first ADR
02:57 and I saw Kingsley saying, you know,
02:59 "Black people are literally dying in the streets every day."
03:02 It was days after George Floyd.
03:04 So it was a very surreal experience.
03:07 I mean, I think as black people and as a black man,
03:10 you know, this is something that's always high stakes.
03:12 You're always concerned about the police.
03:14 This is not new.
03:15 You're always concerned about, you know, violence
03:17 and these types of things in your community.
03:19 This is not new, but just the way it's kind of exploded
03:23 onto the mainstream media is definitely,
03:25 it definitely resonates in a different way.
03:27 - All together now!
03:29 - I wanted to talk to you about code switching,
03:31 'cause that's something a lot of the characters
03:33 were talking to Sam about doing a lot.
03:36 And I'm just curious about kind of your thoughts
03:38 on his decision to do a different show for the white people.
03:41 And if that's something that you've experienced
03:43 at all personally.
03:45 - Oh, for sure.
03:46 Yeah, and I mean, we sit in a little bit
03:51 of a place of privilege that Sam, you know,
03:54 because of Sam's work, because Sam walked,
03:57 Aretha could run and Aretha gave Whitney wings.
04:02 You can't judge, you know, some of those,
04:04 some of our ancestors, the people that came before us,
04:08 right, 'cause they were doing the best,
04:10 you know, best they could.
04:11 It pains me to think that there was a room,
04:15 any room in America that would have, you know,
04:19 not opened their arms to Sam Cooke,
04:21 that he wouldn't have been accepted.
04:23 You know, for me, 'cause he's my guy,
04:25 any room that wouldn't accept him didn't deserve him.
04:28 But he knew that acceptance in the COPPA,
04:31 as you and I both, you know, that was money.
04:33 That's gonna open the opportunity for me to make the dough
04:37 that I need to make around this country
04:38 and his talent deserved it.
04:41 And he didn't wanna be, you know,
04:42 he didn't wanna be relegated to one section of the business
04:46 with all the talent that he was bringing to the table.
04:49 - One of my favorite things
04:50 about your performance as Cass here was,
04:53 he's like so arrogant, but I love him every second
04:57 and I'm totally on his side.
04:58 - Oh my goodness.
05:00 - Cash. - What's up, Cash?
05:00 - Why am I so pretty?
05:02 - How do you make like a self-centered character likable?
05:05 - You know what, I gotta say,
05:06 that's just his unique ability.
05:08 I wish I had that ability in my own life.
05:10 It's something about the way he speaks
05:13 and the way he is bold and transparent
05:16 and vulnerable and honest.
05:17 And the way he backs up what he says.
05:19 I think some combination of all of that,
05:22 it just ingratiates him to people.
05:23 People love him.
05:24 I mean, I think it's funny you picked up on that
05:26 'cause I think the same thing all the time is like,
05:28 man, this guy's so self-centered,
05:30 but at the same time, he's not
05:31 because he loves other people
05:33 just as much as he loves himself.
05:34 I think that's maybe what works.
05:35 - And I'm only 22 years old.
05:37 There is no way I'm supposed to be this great.
05:39 How much weight do you feel as an artist
05:41 to be using your platform for something else?
05:44 Or do you feel like you could be content
05:46 to just be an actor?
05:47 - I'm not really sure I know what my platform is yet.
05:50 It's been really interesting watching Regina
05:52 and Aldis and Leslie, you know, and Eli as well,
05:54 to some extent on social media
05:56 and understanding like, oh, wow,
05:58 you know what you say, Matt, I'm not on social media.
06:01 So I don't have that kind of responsibility.
06:03 I'm sort of engaging in this kind of press
06:06 for the first time.
06:07 And I'm understanding that when you speak,
06:09 it will be printed and this is all kind of new.
06:12 I definitely feel as an actor, you know,
06:16 it's my responsibility to always be interrogating stories
06:20 and character and trying to bring, you know,
06:22 as high a degree as possible of humanity
06:24 to everyone I'm playing so that people can see themselves
06:28 in the characters that we're putting on screen.
06:30 You know, decency and kindness
06:32 and being good to your family,
06:33 like those things that are important as well.
06:35 And like really important, how you treat other people
06:38 and being consistent in that and not being a dick,
06:42 you know, and treating everyone with respect
06:44 and throwing everything you have into everything
06:46 and just being grateful for the opportunities
06:48 and the stuff that I have.
06:51 - I mean, I think if you're doing your job right
06:53 as an artist, I can't say as an athlete, you know,
06:55 I can't speak as an athlete, but as an artist in general,
06:58 or just as a human being,
06:59 if you're doing what you're called to do,
07:01 then you're gonna have something to say
07:02 about something that's important to you.
07:03 And I think you just have to be authentic about that,
07:05 whatever that is.
07:06 People aren't always gonna agree with it.
07:08 It's not always gonna be what other people think
07:11 is right or wrong, but as long as you're being authentic
07:13 and you're doing what you believe is morally right,
07:17 then I think that's your responsibility.
07:20 - Well, I thought this would be a wonderful chance
07:22 for us to reflect on what's happened tonight.
07:25 Like our young brother said,
07:26 there's no denying that greater forces were at work.
07:29 - No one else is coming?
07:31 - Well, rest assured, my brother,
07:33 you're not missing anything.
07:34 - How much of a leap was it going
07:35 from directing television to film?
07:37 Is there anything that you had to do for the first time?
07:40 - I just feel like with film, as a director,
07:44 you just have more control.
07:46 You are making more of the decisions
07:51 that determine what the overall aesthetic
07:55 is gonna be of the film,
07:56 what the tone is gonna be of the film,
07:58 the rhythm of the film, the casting, all of that.
08:02 When you're coming in as an episodic guest director,
08:07 you're kind of coming into a machine
08:08 that's already in place.
08:11 But when you're coming in as a director
08:14 from the beginning,
08:18 these are all your choices.
08:23 You're choosing the team that is gonna go on
08:27 that journey with you.
08:28 - I know that everyone you meet these days
08:30 is the world's biggest "Hamilton" fan,
08:32 but I just have to ask,
08:35 was there a moment where you knew
08:38 that that was gonna become what it is today?
08:41 - Obviously, a special moment is at the public theater
08:44 when then-First Lady Michelle Obama
08:47 comes to the show at the public theater.
08:49 She came to our off-Broadway show
08:50 and she took a picture with us
08:52 and met with us after the show and said such kind things.
08:55 That's weird.
08:56 You know that's different.
08:57 But then other than that,
09:00 history is littered with great art and great artists
09:03 that were not celebrated in their time.
09:05 So I didn't know if "Hamilton" might fall into that category
09:09 only after we opened on Broadway
09:11 and we had the confirmation of those box office receipts
09:14 that you go, "Okay, I think I'm gonna have a job
09:17 for a little while."
09:18 Longest job I've ever had, by the way.
09:20 I worked there for one year.
09:21 I've never had a job for a year in my life.
09:23 - This ain't about civil rights.
09:25 - Welcome to America.
09:27 - They ain't giving Black people what they really want.
09:29 - What's that?
09:30 - Hey, I was made in America.
09:32 That's why I'm out here saving the country.
09:35 - Power.
09:36 Black power.
09:37 Like the sound of that?
09:38 I wish I lived in a...