{"id":20936,"date":"2023-12-15T00:35:16","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T05:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=20936"},"modified":"2023-12-15T00:47:31","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T05:47:31","slug":"american-fiction-press-conference-with-writer-director-cord-jefferson-actors-jeffrey-wright-tracee-ellis-ross-john-ortiz-erika-alexander-adam-brody-and-sterling-k-brown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=20936","title":{"rendered":"American Fiction : Press Conference with Writer\/Director Cord Jefferson, Actors Jeffrey Wright,\u00a0Tracee Ellis Ross, John Oritz, Erika Alexander, Adam Brody,\u00a0and Sterling K. Brown"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Synopsis<\/strong> : American Fiction is Cord Jefferson<\/a>‘s hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright<\/a> stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Rating:<\/b>\u00a0R (Some Drug Use|Brief Violence|Sexual References|Language Throughout)<\/span><\/p>\n

Genre:<\/b>\u00a0Comedy, Drama<\/span><\/p>\n

Original Language:<\/b>\u00a0English<\/span><\/p>\n

Director:<\/b> Cord Jefferson<\/p>\n

Producer:<\/b> Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamiginos, Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson<\/p>\n

Writer:<\/b> Cord Jefferson<\/p>\n

Release Date (Theaters):<\/b>\u00a0

Runtime:<\/b>\u00a0

Distributor:<\/b>\u00a0MGM<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Production Co:<\/b>\u00a0Orion Pictures, T-Street, MRC, 3Arts<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"American
Jeffrey Wright stars as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison in writer\/director Cord Jefferson\u2019s
AMERICAN FICTION An Orion Pictures Release Photo credit: Claire Folger \u00a9 2023 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Press Conference with Writer\/Director CORD JEFFERSON, Actors JEFFREY WRIGHT,\u00a0TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, JOHN ORTIZ, ERIKA ALEXANDER, ADAM BRODY,\u00a0and STERLING K. BROWN\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q : \u00a0Let’s get down to our business of order.\u00a0 The cast and filmmakers of American Fiction. So, I would like to start with the cast first and find out from you guys, starting first with Mr. Jeffrey Wright, what gave you the confidence, and what led you to want to be a part of this project that was written and directed by first-time filmmaker Cord Jefferson?\u00a0 What made you say yes, and what gave you the confidence to go?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

JEFFREY WRIGHT :\u00a0The confidence to go.\u00a0Cord sent me a wonderful invitation to this project.\u00a0He sent me the script along with the letter, saying that he had read the novel, and written the script, and very early on heard my voice in his head as his character. I did apologize to him for that.\u00a0‘Cause I know how tricky that can be.\u00a0And he also said, “And I have no Plan B.”\u00a0 So that was pretty flattering.<\/p>\n

And then when I read it, the membrane between my life and that character’s life was infinitesimally thin.\u00a0And it wasn’t really a matter of confidence. It was kind of a necessity.\u00a0I just said, yeah, I can tell this story.\u00a0 I know this man’s journey.\u00a0Particularly his relationship to the family.<\/p>\n

The necessity of becoming caretaker to she who was his caretaker.\u00a0 That was a very close experience,\u00a0\u00a0one that I knew probably too intimately.\u00a0And I think Cord can speak to that as well.\u00a0But there were just a number of overlaps.\u00a0The script was so finely tuned.\u00a0 The satire, the irony.\u00a0 I understood the music, and I hopped on board.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 And for you, Miss Ross?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS :\u00a0 Without just doing my best, to be brief, the material of the script was incredibly written. I was drawn in from the first moment.\u00a0Cord, everybody says he’s a first-time director, but he’s not a first-time human.\u00a0And he’s just a substantial person that is incredibly intelligent.\u00a0 I’m gonna talk about you while you’re here.<\/p>\n

Incredibly intelligent, and really clear and strong point of view.\u00a0But doesn’t have ego.\u00a0 Which is a very unique and special thing that lends itself beautifully to a director who gives his actors space, but also knows what he wants.<\/p>\n

But on the page, it was extraordinary.\u00a0And the character itself, this role, I’ll just quickly say, the fact that she was a Planned Parenthood doctor was very interesting to me.\u00a0The fact that she was holding this space in the family, and filling in the gaps that so many Black women do in the world, and to give life to that woman was really important to me.\u00a0And working with Jeffrey Wright.\u00a0Did I say it loud enough, Jeffrey Wright.\u00a0 That really got me.\u00a0 That was my briefness.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 Sterling.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

STERLING K. BROWN \u00a0:\u00a0I was thinking about Cord and his sort of like not having a Plan B.\u00a0 And if I was Cord, sometimes I imagine myself playing the part of Cord Jefferson and trying to figure out how I would cast this thing.\u00a0I was like, who is light-skinted enough?\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 But also has short-enough hair, who doesn’t wear socks all the time?\u00a0I was like, “Jeffrey Wright.”\u00a0Jeffrey Wright reminds me of me.\u00a0 Anyway.<\/p>\n

JEFFREY WRIGHT:\u00a0 The irony is, I see myself as Blue Black [phonetic] internally.<\/p>\n

STERLING K. BROWN :\u00a0 Come on, man.\u00a0 I love that.\u00a0 I love that. Listen, listen.\u00a0What gave me confidence in it is the script, like everyone else has said, and the desire to put that story out into the world.<\/p>\n

The desire to expand how the media can see us, because sometimes it has been more narrowly defined.\u00a0To see the banality and normalcy of people dealing with day-to-day troubles who happen to look like us.\u00a0And the idea that it was written so well, because I think I never underestimate the power of a story well-told, and the fact that it gets to be populated with people with melanin makes me really excited.\u00a0And then hopefully it’ll make money, and then we get a chance to make more of them.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 All right, Miss Erika Alexander.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Erika Alexander :\u00a0I was really honored to be invited to it by Cord Jefferson who laid out what he wanted to do, why he saw me in the role.\u00a0And it’s really nice to go where you’re invited.\u00a0 Where you don’t have to prove what you’ve done.\u00a0You don’t have to convince anybody.<\/p>\n

That they’re already seeing you in a place, standing next to people not only that you admire, that you aspire to, that you really are rooting for in life, and hopefully they’ve been rooting for you.\u00a0And that’s been my whole experience.\u00a0So, I’m really grateful for this.\u00a0 And I think that America, I love that it’s called American Fiction.\u00a0 Because we’re all living in a fiction of some sort.\u00a0 And we need to start telling more truths.\u00a0 So, I’m really glad to be here.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 All right, Sir John.<\/strong><\/p>\n

JOHN ORTIZ :\u00a0 Yeah, the script, which I read before I was officially invited, and after reading it, hands-down, I told my manager this is the best screenplay I’ve ever read.\u00a0 And then I heard that he was interested in me playing the role of the agent.\u00a0And that was refreshing for me.\u00a0And I was like, I really want to do it.\u00a0 And then I met him, Cord, and that gave me the confidence.<\/p>\n

Because not only did I feel seen.\u00a0 Seen.\u00a0But I understood his connection to the material.\u00a0 I understood his passion for the material.\u00a0For the story.\u00a0I understood his care as he was showing me drawings of Arthur’s desk. And I was like, “It’s just a desk.”\u00a0 [laugh] He’s like, “No, it’s not just a desk.\u00a0This is like Arthur’s Desk.”\u00a0 You know?<\/p>\n

And I was like, “All right.\u00a0 All right.\u00a0 I like this guy.”\u00a0 You know?\u00a0 And to me, that’s what it’s all about.\u00a0 It’s about, at the end of the day, the personal.\u00a0 And when the personal is rooted in the way that I felt, it was rooted with Cord and this story, I was all in.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 And for you, Adam?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adam Brody :\u00a0Like most actors, I’ve been a long-term Jeffrey Wright fan. And so, first and foremost, an opportunity to have a few scenes one on one with him was very exciting for me.\u00a0I thought the script was very funny, very intelligent, very touching. I was very curious to see how these two seemingly very different storylines co-existed with each other.<\/p>\n

And let’s see, I showed up in Boston. I met Cord and Jeffrey that morning on set.\u00a0I was done by lunch.\u00a0And here I am.\u00a0[laugh] With all these wonderful actors I admire. It’s been pretty great ride for me.<\/p>\n

\"American
Issa Rae stars as Sintara Golden and Nicole Kempskie as Sintara\u2019s moderator in writer\/director Cord Jefferson\u2019s
AMERICAN FICTION An Orion Pictures Release Photo credit: Courtesy of ORION Pictures Inc. \u00a9 2023 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q : Can we please show some love for Leslie Uggams? Because like I said, I don\u2019t even come up with the concept to create celebration of Black cinema if it wasn\u2019t for someone like a Leslie Uggams.<\/strong><\/p>\n

JEFFREY WRIGHT :\u00a0 Well, I told her on the last day, after we\u2019d finished working together, I was in the hair and makeup trailer, and I said to her, \u201cI have something that I must tell you.\u00a0 Since the very first time that I laid eyes on you mother, I had had a crush on you. [laugh]\u201d<\/p>\n

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS:\u00a0 [laugh]<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 I\u2019m so happy you saved it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

JEFFREY WRIGHT :\u00a0 I saved it.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 Saved it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

JEFFREY:\u00a0 So as not to distract her working process.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 Kept that in your back pocket.<\/strong><\/p>\n

JEFFREY WRIGHT :\u00a0But we had a conversation the other day, you know, about some of the issues that are raised in the film, some of the issues that we face in terms of representation and the ways in which we respond to them.\u00a0And are we or are we not limited by those?\u00a0 And I realized we were there with Leslie Uggams.\u00a0Who is one of those who marched on the figurative Washington, in terms of our industry.\u00a0 You know, going back to Bert Williams.\u00a0 And you crossed through Leslie Uggams.\u00a0And Leslie told me that her career really started by winning the talent show at the Apollo when she was 14 or 15 years old or something like that.<\/p>\n

So, her journey is seminal to our journeys.\u00a0 You know, we stand on her shoulders.\u00a0And she is an absolute beautiful, generous collaborator, artist.\u00a0 She was thrilled to be there.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll tell a quick story about what type of artist she is.\u00a0We were filming the scene.\u00a0 You all have seen it by now, I\u2019m assuming. On the beach.\u00a0 And it was late September in Scituate, about 45 minutes Southeast of Boston.\u00a0Gorgeous little harbor town.\u00a0Little fishing village down there.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, it was late fall, or mid-fall.\u00a0 So, it wasn\u2019t warm.\u00a0It was cold. And she\u2019s out there, you know, practically barefoot.\u00a0Housecoat and all of that, walking.\u00a0And just going back and forth and I\u2019m down on the water with her.\u00a0And I\u2019m super concerned for her health,\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cDo you think we can get one more?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0She says, \u201cYeah.\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0We\u2019re shooting a movie.\u00a0 Like, roll the camera, Son.\u201d<\/p>\n

And remember your lines.\u00a0 But, I mean, she was just so committed.\u00a0So clear.\u00a0And just an old pro.\u00a0And yeah.\u00a0 My thanks to her for being a part of this.\u00a0 But also, for all that she has allowed us to do in our careers.<\/p>\n

Q : What led you to this journey?\u00a0 Why did you decide to choose this particular novel, Erasure?\u00a0 That was written by Percival Everett.\u00a0 And then, how were you able to adapt it and be able to direct this film?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CORD JEFFERSON:\u00a0 Oh, so, before I worked in film and television, I was a journalist for about a decade.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 What?\u00a0You were a journalist?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CORD:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 Oh, so, you\u2019re telling the audience they better come with it with the questions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

CORD JEFFERSON :\u00a0 Yeah. [laugh]<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 Journalist versus journalist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

CORD JEFFERSON:\u00a0 Well, I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Well, I mean, I\u2019m out of practice. I haven\u2019t been a journalist for a while.\u00a0 So, don\u2019t come with it that hard with the questions.<\/p>\n

So, out of college, I started working as a freelance journalist.\u00a0And I sort of worked in all capacities as a journalist.\u00a0 But toward the end of my career, I was working at Gawker.\u00a0I was there from 2012 to 2014.\u00a0 And toward the end of my career.\u00a0I published this article in 2014, at the end of my journalism career called the Racism Beat.<\/p>\n

And it was about how I had reached this place in my career when, you know, like, weekly somebody would come to me and they would say, \u201cDo you want to write about Trayvon Martin being killed?\u00a0 Do you want to write about Breonna Tayler being killed?\u00a0 Do you want to write about Mike Brown being killed?\u00a0 Do you want to write about this racist thing that somebody said about President Obama?\u201d\u00a0 And it just felt like this revolving door of misery constantly.\u00a0 Like, that\u2019s what my job had become, was to sort of dissect the latest violent tragedy in the Black community.\u00a0 And it felt like, A, that is sort of uninspiring for me on a creative level.<\/p>\n

But then B, it was also, like, what can I write about this that hasn\u2019t been written about this hundreds of times before?\u00a0 Right.\u00a0What can I write about this situation that wasn\u2019t written by Fredrick Douglas and people, like, literally centuries ago?\u00a0And sort of like as if I needed to write something new about it.\u00a0You know, it\u2019s difficult to try to come up with something for every new, sort of like, tragedy.\u00a0 And so, I was excited because when I got into film and television, it felt like great, I\u2019m no longer beholden to the realities of the world.\u00a0We can write Black people in space.\u00a0We can write about Black people riding unicorns.\u00a0We can do anything that we want to. It\u2019s sort of like, anything that we can dream up, we can write.\u00a0 And lo and behold, it wasn\u2019t long before people came to me and they were like, \u201cDo you want to write a movie about this Black teenager being killed by police?\u201d<\/p>\n

And it was like, do you want to write a movie about slaves?\u00a0 Do you want to write a movie about gang members?\u00a0 Do you want to write a movie about drug dealers. And it just felt like, oh, even in the world of fiction, there is such a severe limitation to what people think Black life looks like.\u00a0Even in the world of fantasy, where we can do anything, there\u2019s still such a limited perspective of Black life.\u00a0And, you know, it’s painful on a sort of creative level.\u00a0And it\u2019s sort of obviously frustrating as somebody who wants to make work.\u00a0But also, it\u2019s\u00a0 <\/span>painful because the implication there is that Black life does not have the breadth or depth of everybody else\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s sort of like we are defined by these five or six stories that we tell over and over again.\u00a0 Largely that are about, sort of like, our ability to withstand pain and violence and suffering.\u00a0And to me, it\u2019s like, you know, yes, I\u2019ve had bad interactions with police officers.\u00a0 That has happened in my life. But it doesn\u2019t happen often.\u00a0And when it does happen, it\u2019s the least interesting thing that\u2019s happened to me that day.\u00a0 Right, \u2018Cause it says nothing about who I am as a human being. Sort of it says everything about the person who\u2019s harassing me.<\/p>\n

It sort of is nothing about my humanity or my identity.\u00a0And so, you know, these are the things that were swirling around in my mind when I picked up the novel Erasure.\u00a0 And it was dealing with these themes.\u00a0 And besides just those professional themes of what it means and sort of like the restrictions that people put on Black writers, you know, I have two older brothers.\u00a0 You know, I really understand the sibling dynamic that was being represented in the book.\u00a0 ou know, we have a very overbearing father figure.\u00a0Who I love but who looms large.\u00a0And he was on set so these people can speak to that. Yes, he was.<\/p>\n

\"American
Tracee Ellis Ross stars as Lisa and Leslie Uggams as her mother Agnes in writer\/director Cord Jefferson\u2019s
AMERICAN FICTION An Orion Pictures Release Photo credit: Claire Folger \u00a9 2023 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q :\u00a0 Has your dad heard you talk about him?\u00a0 I\u2019m just wondering.\u00a0 \u2018Cause you say this every time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

CORD JEFFERSON :\u00a0 Yes, he was.\u00a0 Oh, yeah.\u00a0But, so, that sort of made sense.\u00a0My mother didn\u2019t die of Alzheimer\u2019s.\u00a0 But my mother died of cancer about eight years ago.\u00a0And when she was first sick, you know, like Lisa in the film, my oldest brother was living in our hometown.<\/p>\n

And he was the one who took the responsibility of taking care of her and shopping for her and taking her to her appointments.\u00a0 And, you know, then I moved home at a certain point in time for the end of her life.\u00a0To help take care of her.\u00a0 So, there was just all these things that I think that in order to make an adaptation that feels like there is some sort of like passion to it, and not just kind of a bloodless sort of money grab, it feels like the key is kind of to find what you identify with in the material.\u00a0Like, what really speaks to you?<\/p>\n

And there was so much in the novel that was speaking to me that it felt like oh, this makes perfect sense for an adaptation for me.\u00a0Because you know, I\u2019d never directed anything before this film.\u00a0 And, you know, that terrified me because, you know, I would talk to people and I said, \u201cWell, you know, I don\u2019t know anything about lenses.\u00a0I don\u2019t know anything about lighting.\u00a0There\u2019s all these technical things that I don\u2019t understand.\u201d\u00a0And then my friend would say, \u201cYou know, you just need to have a vision, and you can articulate that vision to other people who understand those things.\u201d\u00a0And so, understanding the material at a fundamental level is what really gave me the courage to move forward.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cause I felt like even if I don\u2019t know these technical things, necessarily, like, I understand the story.\u00a0I understand these people. I understand the story that we\u2019re trying to tell.\u00a0And so, as long as I use that as my road map, then I can sort of always go back to that in order to make these other decisions that I know less about.\u00a0 But I knew this in my bones.<\/p>\n

Q : Miss Ross, about this film does such a beautiful job of creating this family dynamic.\u00a0 Something that you\u2019ve rarely seen portrayed with a Black family in film.\u00a0Not that you\u2019re an expert of family dynamics, \u2018cause you\u2019ve done such a good job of that on television.\u00a0 But on film, it\u2019s a different. But talk about what it was like to sort of recreate that along with Jeffrey and along with Sterling.<\/strong><\/p>\n

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS :\u00a0 You know, it was interesting.\u00a0 We did not work together at all.<\/p>\n

STERLING K. BROWN \u00a0:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS :\u00a0 Which was fascinating.<\/p>\n

STERLING K. BROWN \u00a0:\u00a0 You left as I was coming.<\/p>\n

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS :\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 But there was a dynamic that was on the page.<\/p>\n

STERLING:\u00a0 By sister.<\/p>\n

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS :\u00a0And I also think the three of us come from family dynamics of siblings.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s so interesting. I don\u2019t know.\u00a0But the dynamics of being a sibling, and being a middle sibling is so specific.<\/p>\n

STERLING K. BROWN :\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS :\u00a0 And the roles that you play in your family system.\u00a0 And I think that was written on the page.\u00a0 But it was also really important to me that that was the history that we were giving in the moments that we were together.<\/p>\n

That there was a real rapport.\u00a0There\u2019s something that happens with your siblings that\u2019s just unspoken.\u00a0There\u2019s a way you know each other and way that you speak to each other that you don\u2019t speak to anybody else that way.\u00a0And I felt like that was there.\u00a0I don\u2019t know, do you wanna speak any more to that?<\/p>\n

STERLING K. BROWN :\u00a0 I agree.\u00a0 I\u2019m the youngest of three.\u00a0 So, it comes very easy to me to be annoying, to be sort of delightfully entertaining.<\/p>\n

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS :\u00a0 That is the baby dynamic.<\/p>\n

STERLING K. BROWN :\u00a0 That is the baby dynamic or whatnot.\u00a0 And I think also, for you, in terms of being the one who stayed, and then these two brothers being the one that left.\u00a0 Like, also there\u2019s the idea, like, the women usually tend to be the ones that sort of, like, take on that role of caretaker or whatnot.\u00a0 And then, you\u2019re sort of the tie that binded [sic] us.<\/p>\n

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS :\u00a0 Societally assigned.<\/p>\n

STERLING K. BROWN :\u00a0 Societally assigned, but you\u2019re also sort of the bridge between the two of us.\u00a0 And now that you\u2019re gone, we have to find a way to sort of connect with one another.\u00a0 So, yeah.<\/p>\n

Q : Jeffrey, how do you feel the character of Monk has impacted you personally?\u00a0He\u2019s such a realistically flawed person that wants to be recognized to a fault.\u00a0 But is also appreciative and loyal to his family and friends.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

JEFFREY WRIGHT :\u00a0 Did you just read my biography?<\/p>\n

ALL:\u00a0 [laugh]<\/p>\n

JEFFREY WRIGHT : You know, I guess we\u2019re still very much in the process with this film.\u00a0 You know, we made it a little over a year ago now.\u00a0But the process isn\u2019t complete.\u00a0The circle isn\u2019t drawn until audiences receive it.\u00a0So, you know, I\u2019m still on the ride.\u00a0 But it is one of those wonderfully strange things that happen often when we work, when perhaps we are doing what we were supposed to be doing.<\/p>\n

When there\u2019s so much overlap between his life and mine, in ways that I care not to divulge too terribly.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I think in terms of how it\u2019s changed me, it remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

\"American
Sterling K. Brown star as Cliff in writer\/director Cord Jefferson\u2019s AMERICAN FICTION
An Orion Pictures Release Photo credit: Claire Folger \u00a9 2023 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q : So much of the film speaks true to being a Black creative trying to break into the industry, especially the ones who don\u2019t want to be pigeonholed or be pigeonholed themselves. What from your own experience as a Black artist made you go, quote, I have to put this into a screenplay, quote.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

CORD JEFFERSON :\u00a0 Oh, I mean, so much.\u00a0 Three months before I found this novel, I had received a note from an executive that I needed to make a character in a script that I wrote blacker.\u00a0 And that came through an emissary, and I told the emissary, I said, \u201cI will indulge that note if you tell that executive who gave you that note to sit down in front of me and tell me what it means to be Blacker.\u201d And that note went way, \u2018cause I\u2019m sure that they knew they were about to commit a civil rights violation, If they were to have that meeting.\u00a0Two years ago, I have a really close friend who, a couple years ago, she\u2019s a Black journalist, and she has been trying to make her way in film and television.<\/p>\n

And she flew to Los Angeles to take meetings with production companies. And she sat down with this production company and they said, \u201cWhat are you interested in writing?\u201d\u00a0 And she said, \u201cWell, I\u2019m a child of the \u201890s.\u00a0I\u2019d really liked to write an erotic thriller.\u201d\u00a0 She said, \u201cI really like romcoms.\u00a0I\u2019d love to write a romcom.\u201d\u00a0And they said, \u201cOkay.\u00a0Let us think of some things and we\u2019ll get back to you soon.\u201d\u00a0And she said great, and she left their office, and they called her about three hours later.\u00a0And they said, \u201cWe\u2019ve got a great idea for you.\u00a0We think we found it.\u201d\u00a0 And she said, \u201cOkay, what is it?\u201d\u00a0 And they said, \u201cIt\u2019s a story about a blind slave named Blind Tom.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAnd thanks to a wealthy White benefactor, he learns to play the piano and he becomes this piano prodigy.\u201d\u00a0 And she said, \u201cThat\u2019s a weird erotic thriller.\u00a0That is a weird premise for a romcom.\u201d<\/p>\n

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS :\u00a0 Romcom.\u00a0 That is one neat romcom.<\/p>\n

CORD JEFFERSON :\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0That\u2019ll be a strange erotic thriller turn, if Blind Tom becomes the erotic thriller.<\/p>\n

JEFFREY WRIGHT:\u00a0 Historical.\u00a0 No, he was.<\/p>\n

CORD JEFFERSON :\u00a0 Oh, no.\u00a0 He was.\u00a0 He definitely was.\u00a0No, it\u2019s a true story.<\/p>\n

JEFFREY WRIGHT :\u00a0 It was, like, the biggest selling, like, musical artist of his time or something.<\/p>\n

CORD JEFFERSON :\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Jeffrey knows that because I took that project.\u00a0 I mean, that\u2019s our next [thing?].<\/p>\n

ALL:\u00a0 [laugh]<\/p>\n

CORD JEFFERSON:\u00a0 I was like, that\u2019s fucked up.\u00a0 They shouldn\u2019t say that to you.\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 But real quick, now that we\u2019ve gone in the direction.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

CORD JEFFERSON :\u00a0 That\u2019s all just to say that you know, that was two years ago, the person telling me to make the person in my script Blacker was three years ago.\u00a0 You know, this wasn\u2019t 50 years ago.\u00a0 This was during the time of covid.\u00a0 So, you know, the people are like, \u201cOh, yeah, it\u2019s a satire.\u201d\u00a0 And yes, it is a satire.\u00a0 There are sort of, like, moments of exaggeration.\u00a0 But not that much, you know?\u00a0 That\u2019s stuff that could easily have gone into the film and sort of worked with the story that we\u2019re telling.<\/p>\n

So, you know, I think that people think that this is, you know, it is not far off the mark.\u00a0I\u2019ll say that.\u00a0 There is a lot of me in the movie.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of my personal experience.\u00a0 There\u2019s just sort of, like, me all over the place.\u00a0And I\u2019ve dealt with this a lot in my career, as I\u2019m sure a lot of other people do.<\/p>\n

Q :\u00a0 Now, I\u2019m glad you touched on the satire aspect, \u2018cause I was gonna ask a question about that and go deeper.\u00a0But we don\u2019t have a lot of time for that, so I think you alluded to that with the answer to that question.\u00a0 But one thing I wanna touch on before we do get to our last question from the audience is, I do wanna ask Erika and Jeffrey to touch on how they worked together as a couple on this film to make Black love look so authentic and real in this film.\u00a0You first, Erika.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

ERIKA ALEXANDER :\u00a0 I wore some body butter.<\/p>\n

ALL:\u00a0 [laugh]<\/p>\n

ERIKA ALEXANDER :\u00a0 I borrowed Sterling\u2019s from his abs.<\/p>\n

STERLING:\u00a0 Stay moisturized.\u00a0 We stay moisturized.<\/p>\n

ERIKA ALEXANDER :\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 You know, the is, it\u2019s easy to love Jeffrey Wright.\u00a0 So, I\u2019m talking about the character Monk, who\u2019s a little bit more difficult to love.\u00a0 But if you remember, Coraline met him before she met the actual man, because she read his books.\u00a0 And so, he\u2019s already seduced her in some way.\u00a0 And so, I think that I had to remember that, even though I get to learn who he is.<\/p>\n

ERIKA ALEXANDER :\u00a0 And I love that they do meet cute. She drops the vegetables and he comes to pick them up.\u00a0And they talk over wine and that type of thing, and they get to know each other.\u00a0 It\u2019s a very mature relationship.\u00a0And that shouldn\u2019t be an act of resistance to see that type of thing, but it is.\u00a0And Jeffrey, he\u2019s an interior guy, and so is Monk.\u00a0 And so, you don\u2019t wanna do too much, because I think a lot of what they do is unsaid.<\/p>\n

ERIKA ALEXANDER :\u00a0They\u2019ve lived a life.\u00a0She\u2019s come from a divorce.\u00a0She\u2019s a public defender, so she\u2019s, you know, accomplished.\u00a0But she\u2019s trying it out and she, I think, is willing to take a risk on, you know, maybe a new relationship, but he has to meet her there truthfully.\u00a0And I think that that matters. It\u2019s a beautiful, you know, conversation on set, because it just happened sort of naturally, and we didn\u2019t really talk about it.<\/p>\n

JEFFREY WRIGHT:\u00a0 Well, I\u2019ve been an admirer of Erika since the public theater.\u00a0I mean, Erika just has so many qualities.\u00a0 You know, the humor, the irony, but also this strength about her that is very alluring.\u00a0 And for this piece, just perfectly suited.\u00a0 So, as she described, Monk, you know,\u00a0 he holds his cards to the vest.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s a bit introverted.\u00a0And but I liked that she had these qualities to bring him out.\u00a0 But also, in the course of events of course, to push him away.\u00a0 There was a strength there.\u00a0 Kind of an old-school, I mean, I think the actor that comes to mind is Patricia Neal, who had that kind of, you know, forcefulness about her, as well as beauty.<\/p>\n

And so, you know, again, we had an incredible group of actors here.\u00a0 Not only the incredible actors that are seated here, but the guy who plays Ned in the bookstore.\u00a0 I mean, everyone, to the smallest detail, was just wonderfully suited.\u00a0 So really, what we did, Erika and I, as we all did, was we just got together and the camera rolled.\u00a0 And we looked at one another and we did out work.\u00a0 It was just a fantastic, fantastic collaborative circle that Cord created for us.<\/p>\n

Check out more of Nobuhiro’s articles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here’s the trailer of the film.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n