Bill Duke on Menace II Society, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Racism (Full Interview)

all right here we go we have legendary actor director producer bill Duke is in the building thanks for having me by a man you know ever since we had lunch a few years ago I've been wanting to do this and I'm glad we finally got a chance to sit down I'll pull this off and I'm such a huge fan I love what you've been doing for such a long time thank you again I said forgive my lip cause it's numb from the dentist I just came from talk that's a true professional right there done y'all don't say a lot of people were to cancel him bill Duke is like now I got a I got an appointment we're gonna make this happen not a problem no doubt well let's go ahead and start from the very beginning this is our first interview um so you grew up in Poughkeepsie New York Oh Kip see New York that's right okay and this was uh what the 30s 40s 1943 okay so the 40s and 50s that's when you were a kid right okay and you know a fairly low income family both your parents were together though right my both parents stayed together second and third grade education they never took welfare or social assistance of any time they were very proud my father worked three jobs in Willowbrook - that's amazing but the only a second third grade education why is that why did they drop out of school so early in those days we're talking about segregation they grew up from the south they saw lynchings they call what they call it and also saw they called [ __ ] barbecues but they would spend people that were alive on Pitts until they were dead and dehydrated and they would hold up pieces of their bodies and smile thousands of people so they came from a very oppressed society my father from Virginia my met my mother from West Point Mississippi so escaping that oppression was their main focus they wish they had focus on education and they insisted that my sister and I be educated but they had other options and have the same options so okay let me let me just do that the time line here so you were you were born in the 40s so your parents I guess were born in the 20s not only the 20s but 1901 1905 okay so they had relatives and they were living the deep south so they had I guess what grandparents that were still slaves their grandparents and great-grandparents slavery was a recent thing for them but more than slavery the inheritance of slavery in the sense that when they were going to church on a Sunday see it was raining and say they were they were on the sidewalk if a white family came their direction I mean in the opposite direction they had to step into the mud and bow their heads until the wife he only passed then get back onto the sidewalk and walk to church and every time a white family passed toward them they'd have step into the mud and bow their heads Wow right because even after you know slavery officially ended then the Jim Crow laws came in and he said a very important thing officially yeah okay so so your parents really just saw so horrific horrific things they saw bad thing yeah okay so you grew up in Poughkeepsie so at one point they made their way north yes okay and they they settled for Kipp see so you know a lot of people that that grew up in various neighborhoods that I've talked to you know some of them say well I didn't really grow up around a lot of white people or I've had some negative some positive experiences with white people but in your situation you actually said that you hated white people early on well when I was I mean I was called [ __ ] spook [ __ ] bam bam you know all kinds of baboon on the bus in school etc and my first day in kindergarten I was called Niger and Blacky I remember coming home crying and went to the bathroom and tried to take a step back Linzer at those days and wipe the black of my skin I thought maybe if I could do that and people would love me more and then I was going to drink some bleach in the bathroom my mother came in just in time and because I thought the bleach would whiten me and I was like I was seven or eight years old I didn't know any better but my it was a time when you really were traumatized by the way you were treated as a child and it's not easy to get over and but what happened was in high school for example I met some friends that were white didn't care what color I was and then mrs. Walker my English teacher in high school I was awkward I had have a she's called dyslexia dyslexia is and I couldn't communicate very well but I memorized most of your J's the service but I write in the journal because I was not good at communicating and wrote poems and I wrote you know feelings I said right in her class while she was teaching and she told me that to do it twice and I did it third time she took my journal and I was upset I hated her I said there's this white woman going again and being discriminatory against a black person the end of that year as I'm leaving the class she says Duke stop and so I said what do you want miss Walker she said sit down so here we go she goes under her desk and she pulls out my original journal that she took from me and a book it was an ash it was a national poetry contest she had entered some of my poems into the contest and I had won some things and that confused me because this is a white woman that cared enough about me to enter my poems into a contest and I won and when I tried to thank her a thank her she said don't thank me I believed in you that was one of the first times I had as a mental spinless would say well I'm going I'm going with the time line real quick you were born what year 1943 so you were 12 years old when Emmett Till happened yes do you remember that oh my get emotional but how can you forget it did you ever see the pictures yeah after they took him from the lake there's like a monster face bloated and half gone because they said that he he's like a child right and that he whistled or something at a white woman and do you know that years later she came forth and said he never did it yeah yeah he died because of that yeah and it's one thing for us to read about the story now in 2018 but you were actually there when the newspapers you know because his mother you know which which must have been like the hardest thing in the world she insisted on an open casket funeral and insisted that people take photos of what her son looked like yes so everyone could see that the type of horrors happening the deep south yes it was a pretty um it was a difficult time yeah yeah but it did bring a lot of attention to that situation yes and that was happening all the time I mean there wasn't that just one Emmett Till Emmett Till was happening all the time a lot of people were murdered a lot of people were hanged lynched and they had actually barbecues of black people it was it was a Holocaust our Holocaust other than slavery and coming over and his ships but it's amazing to me the resilience of oppressed people you know it's like some people just give up what others my parents had a certain resolve my parents taught my sister and I something from the age of like five and six until he left the house and they had this phrase which I never forgot and they said you're nobody you're no better than anybody else but nobody else is better than you and when you take that in from your parents and understand it no matter what anybody says to you you remember that and that was salvation for us you were the first person in your family to go to college right to a college yes okay and you went to college and I guess you were thinking about dropping out and a professor came in and did something interesting I had gone through Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie New York and you know the president of the college James Hall very stern from a Navy admiral etc none of the students liked him because he was so strict when he was good at what he did and I graduated from Dutchess and I got a scholarship Martin's against college at the Boston University but it was for a scholarship for the academic side but not for room and board and books and so I just struggled and got a second job got a job it was just rough and so I decided I was going to come back to the kids he take off college for a year or in some dollars for my books etc and then go back to bu after the year and so I went to visit a friend of mine at Dutchess as I'm leaving going down a hall dr. Hall says a bill Duke stop I said hey dr. Hall I gotta go she says no no come here I go into his office and I see says how you doing that vu I said well I'm doing well but you know I'm gonna drop out for a year and come back here and work and save some money for my room and board and books he says no you're not dr. Hall I can't discuss this he says wait a minute and he goes into his vest pocket pulls out an envelope and hands it to me I said what is this he says open it I open the envelope and I pull out it's a check it was a check that paid for my room my board my books and food for the rest of my stay at Boston University and I tried to thank him he just said so it kind of put another question of my racism put it that way right because here's to white people that cared who are helping you without asking for anything in return nothing zero I used to call him every year and say dr. ho and there you want to hear this but I love you for what you did these stuffs better and just hang up okay so you go to Boston University and then you go to NYU to the Tisch School of Arts yeah and that's where you started getting your acting chops well my acting chops really started at Dutch Community College the constants [ __ ] speech and drama class and we had to do a play every year and she decided that she wanted to do the Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill and I would be the co-star in the play and I I don't know why but something happened it clicked you know something but in those days you know I told my parents I really like this and they said you out of your mind and you're not gonna be an actor because you're gonna get educated you're gonna earn money because doctors aren't - you're gonna be a doctor in those days you did what your parents told you to do so I took pre-med courses you know you know and I they gave us cats and you know squirrels the can theists and all kinds of things that take home and cut up veins and arteries and my room smelled like formaldehyde everybody laughed at me and I just I said there's nothing me it's not for me it's okay you're always writing in that journal anyways he just make one you're gonna be an English teacher so I went the way to be you and I majored in English but I'd fall asleep for the third time in my Chaucer class love you have a read Chaucer but it's the most I shouldn't say it this morning okay significant historically but boring my roommate Israel Hicks said you know there's a black man up at Department of drama and lloyd Richardson you've been trouble this acting thing what you go to an audition and went there auditions and I got in to my own surprise and I'm glad there was not you too at that time because the next semester I was dancing across a floor in ballet class in tights that's not a pretty sight so anyway and that once I got that bug boy became my mentor I follow him to in my youth will the arts gave my first job the near Ensemble Company and then he did a film out in their Lake PBS called gold watch about tournament of Japanese during World War two and I was he said I need an assistant so I came out and I was want to go back to he says no you're gonna stay here just stay here see what happens him stayed here for a while and didn't you know got some for good fortune he moved back to New York and came back out here to stay right because I guess after that you started hitting off you know doing off-broadway plays I guess you did like 30 or so plays during the 60s and 70s mm-hmm so you you actually you know got you know got your acting skills together on the stage I love the stage and I I think stage acting is the foundation of all great actors I mean you find there's no take two no close-ups in me there on that stage either it works or doesn't and I used to stand in the wings as they call them and look on at some of the most wonderful actors you never heard of them for the most part but some of the greatest talent I've ever known in my life and just learned from just watching them and be wind and you know Garrett Morris at that time was in a play Quentin suppose die natural death and I mean many Gentry it was it was like a learning experience well I guess at one point you know being a working actor is not always easy to see in the world and at one point the money ran out and you actually started to have to Panhandle on the street unfortunately that's the way our business is and so I ended up well standing in front of my room for two months they were going to eject me from my apartment and that was literally begging for money and amazing thing happened to me those are black lady passed was passing my said man we have some change she looked at my look at me just passed by another person was coming by and I said you have some change I fell it's half on my back I turned around there was that same older black lady and she looked me in my face in my eyes and she said baby do your mama know you're out here doing this it was a profound moment because reminded me of my parents teachings and my mother and father saw me out here doing something like that it would have brought what they call shame to the family so in there I never I never beg for money after that what I did do is with my girlfriend I had an overcoat and we saw big pockets into the overcoats mr. goto A&P and put food inside and steal food from the AP just why yeah yeah I mean it's a humbling experience you know to go through that you know I'm sure you look back on that now when you're living in your high rise and going like wow like a lot has happened since then part of the prices that you pay in this business you know it's like yeah I don't think people really understand about understand our business in the sense that they see your success but they don't see the process you had to go through to get that's why in my book I just wrote up my autobiography um Bill Duke 40 years in front of behind the camera and I talk about the struggle that most of us have you know as you know only a small percentage of the Screen Actors Guild works annually like 15 or 20 percent and out of that only 30 or 40 percent make over $50,000 a year so you're facing you know and and what that's caused rejection I mean people tell you to get over it's no big deal but if you go up for say four or five auditions a month and everybody says no no no no no not you people's they don't take it personally but something happens and to get rid of that pain sometimes people take alcohol or drugs or whatever or indulge in things that aren't good for them I was fortunate to find transmittal meditation so once they found meditation it saved my life it literally did cuz I was a drug head what drugs be taking at the time Oh hmm cocaine hashish and the most significant mum was acid okay Timothy Leary I'll take an acid before we do I thought you were gonna say heroin cuz I guess during that time you know with all that I was close to everything else like that just this this guy took the heroin I put it to my nose like this at a party and my friend push his hand away and said don't do that to Bill came this close yeah heroin is one of those that people don't usually recover from once you get to you know good down they know that particular Road it's a wrap I it was the grace of God man and wasn't it yeah all I can tell you is I'm very fortunate so you're first I guess big movie was car wash the first big movie accident was car wash the great Michael Schultz okay and you played a Abdullah Mohammed Akbar that's right aka Dwayne Wayne that's right okay and car wash is one of these all-time classics you know at this point I mean because I mean you also had Richard Pryor George Carlin Danny DeVito is incredibly all-star all-star cast was incredible did you did you know how big that movie was the great Ivan Dixon was in it you know I mean it was a collaborative experience it was great we all loved working together don't think any of us knew that it was gonna blow up like that and how long it was going to last in people's mind as kind of a pioneering event you know cuz at the pointer sisters who did music Richard Pryor and joy they they did comedy and then it was a serious part of it too was Laird because I was Abdullah and I was frustrated with the world and the system and how unfair it was and so it reflected a lot of elements of the period yeah I remember I was watching that scene where you you went to go rob I guess the manager you know with the gun and he kept saying like man I just put the gun down you know and your watch is going like okay he's gonna shoot him is he not and at one point you finally just put the gun down you kind of cried and it was it was a very poignant moment in that movie thank you actually that scene you and you know you really pulled off you you could tell like you know seeing you at that point you know with tears running down your eyes it's like okay this is a very trained actor right here this this is a guy who's not just winging it this is a guy that's been working on his craft for a while by this point you know yes you know I I and I'm so glad you said that man because I made I mean I can appreciate reality shows and stuff but the craft of acting is a whole different deal man that's why I say being on stage it you you have to have the craft on stage and when you bring it to film it's different in this sense that you don't have this big proscenium because the camera is right here so you have to learn how to not do too much but in terms of the acting chops it gives you a lot of depth and also the courage to surrender because it afternoon all the lines and everything it's not just about speaking the lines it's about listening to who you're talking to and responding out of something that it's hard to explain but responding truthfully to what's been said to you yeah any any interesting stories working with Richard Pryor during that time first of all Richard was one of the funniest I mean I'm one of the I mean he was funny gracious smart brilliant guy but he was funny because he told the truth I don't know if he ever saw on sharing that like to think with him in Chevy Chase yeah oh yeah the word the word association yes yes yeah I saw that and then I saw something else about him that was blew my mind he he came out of divorce court after his second divorce and he was literally bawling and crying and reporters said Richard why are you crying a classic line he said man she took everything but the blame yeah I loved it I interview a lot of comedians you know of ITV and whenever I asked about you know the all-time greatest stand-ups they all say Richard Pryor you know Eddie Murphy is usually number two but Richard Pryor's always is pretty much always number one I love George Carlin George Carlin was it genius you know oh yeah George Carlin just told the truth he made you think about things in a totally different way you know you go do car wash you do some TV stuff and then the next big movie was American Gigolo yes with Richard Gere Richard Gere yep who's who's the used the male sex symbol of that time of that era big time he was worshipped yeah and you actually played a gay pimp yes you risk him actually yeah yes yeah was it I consider myself a business man right and with the weather you were a woman or a man I sold you for a price right what was it you know did you have any reservations about playing a gay character yes I did you know but my agent really talked me into it because number one I'm working Richard Gere yeah and I think it was a Polish Raider yeah Paul Schrader is the director yes he had directed a movie before that with Richard Pryor in some it was Cotto forgot his last night there was about something blue I think but it was about the autumn an auto factory and they both got killed in the end but it was such a brilliantly done movie I wanted to work with him also so my hesitations where I put that aside to work with Richard Gere and Paul Schrader and that was amazing experience yeah I guess Richard Gere uh accidentally kills you movie yes off the balcony yeah and my boots were in his hands right right okay so you go and do some some some movies some TV but then you actually switch ears and I guess you go back to school to learn directing yes I always wanted to UM I directed plays I wrote my own plays I director of people's plays in New York and here in LA but I was always intimidated I always wanted to direct the film but is always intimidated by the equipment I mean the camera the lights the sound all the crew members I mean it was like intimidating so I was on a show called Hamish town USA which Norman Lear and Alex Haley hilly co-executive produced with Joan Ellen Allen and we co-starred in it some of the good people but I didn't work for two years after that and so I a friend of mine said you know bill I want you to supply the AFI I applied and I got in and so Toni Villani and Jean Furstenberg were running a play at that time at the mansion off of the sunset and it was one of the most how can I say powerful experiences I had in my life the book at that time that they went by with Wayne Miceli the five seas of cinematography they taught the details of that and once you learned that you understood filmmaking and it's not just saying action couple what is I mean what is it what is a character arc what is a story arc what are you trying to say in the film I mean what are the visual statements you can make that help tell the story they taught the specifics of that and the thing that was cold-blooded about it they they're preparing you for the reality of Hollywood so after every quarter you have to go down in the basement how the mansion and they had a list if your name was not on the list that means you're out and luckily I state well I mean in 2018 it's very normal to have a black director I mean Jordan Peele does his thing you know Ryan Coogler is doing Black Panther but you were actually one of the very first black directors in TV and movies yes you were one of a very very small group of pioneers mm-hmm I was very fortunate you know um I'll take out my first job in TV out of there AFI I took the film to hero which is a short film I made a AFI that got some recognition I took him out to all the studios and networks and no one would give me a shot they say we'll give you a second shop not the first one with bigger risk so I was depressed and I do transfer the meditation so he went away to a retreat I was there for a week and my agent calls me says David Jacobs and Knott's landing want you to come in I said Wow okay learning David Jacobs office and he and I talked for like 10-15 minutes and I leave and I said it's never gonna happen Oh week passes and my agent says you got the job I was in shock I mean directing that was one of the hottest shows on TV at the time I thought everybody I knew so I know went there and you know in pre-production in my last day pre-production I think it was Joe Lowenstein was the Atlanta producer at the time came to me and said hey bill P production was great but I knew you were gonna be good based upon your reel I said what reel well the reel that you turned it to David I said no no I just got an AFI just got it he said wait whoa he goes into David Jacobs office David Jacobs had mixed my reel up with somebody else's and that's how I got my first job so you got a you got a hired by accident basically when I got hired but you got hired and you kept the job at one point you started directing Dallas yes it was the hottest yeah I was like the hottest show on television but it's a very white show I don't know if there any black people on Dallas at all no and from what I understand the first time that you showed up they didn't believe that you were the director I guess they thought you were a delivery man or something well I show up in my used car which I've washed and shine myself and I had a nice jacket on with a tied briefcase my car I wanted to be impressive on Dallas and I joked to the gate I roll the window down and the security guard looks at many says um who are you delivering for I said what did you say said Hui delivering for I looks in his face you know as I say in my book I said I wanted to say I'm I'm gonna deliver a can of whoop-ass to you because of what you just said I didn't say that because night before I dr. King had beyond I had had a video on TV where he talked about you know don't react in such a way in that out of that and so I thought we covered him that I looked at him and I said there must be some misunderstanding I'm I'm the first black director on Dallas I'm delivering my talent to the show and they hired me to do so so open the gate the most rewarding thing was the gasp from the guard yeah I mean you're you're basically breaking glass glass ceilings at this point well you know yeah but when glass when glass cracks it cuts so you're able to yes if you're able to survive that it's good but I was very fortunate to be able to to share to that ceiling to a certain extent and you kept directing stuff I guess you did episodes of Miami Vice which was my favorite show yes Wow that was yet Crockett and Tubbs forget about it mm-hmm you know you're doing Hill Street Blues a bunch of stuff yes many bands and then Schwarzenegger came around well you know when I went to audition for commando Joel silver embraced me my in my talent and doing command that was really my first big big movie and working with Arnold was first of all Arnold's one of the funniest people ever meet on the earth big guy you know but great sense of humor funny and humble too and supportive of the other actors on the set so that was a great experience working with him right and for those that are too young to really realize Arnold Schwarzenegger at that time was the equivalent of Dwayne Johnson today the biggest action star in the world no question that's right I guess Sylvester Stallone may have been number two at this point but you know this was a huge worldwide phenomenon that's right Arnold Schwarzenegger so a Schwarzenegger movie was essentially the biggest type of movie that you'd be in and here you are co-starring well now you're you know as an action star as one of the is one of the G is right there with him mm-hmm and the movie was a huge hit commando did very well it's very well and it was his foundation for his next move which is predator right which you were in as well yes invited me to do that too yeah and you would a hell of a performance I remember that one scene when you were like look up in the trees like I see him like like the tension of like you know I guess that was the first time you actually sort of saw the predator and his uh in his camouflage suit it was a hell of a movie man I mean the predator is one of these all-time classics to this day I mean which is why they ended up remaking it eventually it was it was it was um I cannot tell you the experiences that Thole you know it's like it was a great experience we all bonded because we're in conditions that were unbearable heat sometimes over 100 degrees up in the middle of the jungles of Port of I order to move down the Palenque near the Guatemalan border and it was I said it's in the book also that you know the first week we were there the caterer put netting around the tent that we ate because of the bugs and the animals and the first week no matter what the food was there were bugs in it which they take this crap back we're not eating it there's bugs in it but by the second week there was no more food so the bugs became what we call protein so you guys ate the bugs yeah any crazy Schwarzenegger stories between those two movies well art was always you know he's a jokester but you know one of the crazy things in terms of predator you know we live we were in this hotel in Mexico pirata and he just bought out two ballrooms and had tractors and trailers from la ship in gym equipment that filled the ballrooms so the world became gyms and every day that we shot and I did it for like a week or so and then I didn't but him and the guys Jesse and the other guys say we had let's say we had a 7 or 7:30 call on the set they were to get up like at 3 or 4 30 then they'd run a few miles then they'd come back and work out in the gym for an hour and a half then go to breakfast and then go to the set that was the routine I did it for a week and they call me a wimp after that but I didn't care but um it was crazy you go and do those two movies and you know you're still directing and I didn't realize this until I started actually you know going through and doing research before this interview you directed one of my all-time favorite movies deep-cover thank you I had no idea all these years I've been such a mega fan of that movie I'll be honest I've said this before I actually got inspired I mean not in a good way obviously but he I actually got inspired to to actually mess around with drug dealing after watching that movie Wow Wow why should that movie I had a friend that was involved in some Street [ __ ] and I'm like okay yeah I'll be the the white business guy and he's the the Street guy and I'm gonna do the deep cover thing and he ripped me off right away and lost a bunch of money and that was the end of my drug-dealing career I got a new ant it was a game the movie get in but you know it was based on a book yeah I heard about that and the guy who wrote the book you know inspired the movie Henry beam you know read the book and then wrote the film based upon the book but this was a guy and it actually was in the service and he used to go after what they call the Mules on the street that sold the drugs but he asked himself one day wait a minute they're not growing it they're not importing it when I look at the guys that are growing it in porn Ian's so he went to the high ups above him and they told him to stop and he didn't and he got fired well it was a hell of a performance Laurence Fishburne and I guess Jeff Goldblum Jeff Goldblum Clarence Williams with the third some really good people I was very fortunate you know to get those guys hell of a hell of a movie thank you but but what made that movie even more special as a as a hip hop fan was dr. Dre did the score Dre and Snoop right what would Dre Dre did the score and Snoop Dre and Snoop did the the single that's right deep cover and this was kind of an interesting time because this was after Dre had broken up with with eazy-e and left ruthless records right and and no one we hadn't actually heard it he knew music from Dre and I think a couple of years or something because he was going through contract disputes and everything else like that and the first time you heard new music from Dre was deep cover mm-hmm did you and Ray already know each other nothin you when you brought him in no I just know his music and his work and I really liked a lot of the lyrics you know they were very controversial at the time but they you know powerful stuff and I wanted that kind of feeling to the film and so that's why I brought a man yeah that was I think the only time the Dre actually scored a movie I don't know if he actually did another score before or after well he didn't really score the entire film he he lent that music to it and the composer forgot his name now really took that those themes and wove it to the Father okay okay but on the soundtrack that was when dr. Dre finally came back yes with a new art with a new artists name Snoop Doggy Dogg ooh doggy dogg when you first heard it I remember me and my friends are like oh yeah this is the next big rap star right here here we go like hey Dre Dre is about to do it all over again mm-hmm and and I cause the Deep Cover soundtrack came out first and I guess you know I remember the soundtrack Dre kind of had some of his like new artists kind of sprinkled in and stuff like that and then after that that's when the chronic came out right and then it was just like forget it like yeah it was it was the biggest thing in the world but but Deep Cover was actually well launched mm-hmm that that whole movement foundation did you know how big it was gonna be when he actually submitted all these songs and everything I don't know none of us did you know we had passion for the film and its message but in terms of it blowing up like that I think it was newline that did it at that time I don't know even though new line of that but it was it was one of the for me one of the most satisfying experiences for me as a director working with that talent and the theme itself and Dre and everybody it was very rewarding ya know every every character in that movie was a standout even the the Spanish dude you know who who beat that guy to death in the beginning yes yes and yeah man that was just a that was a masterpiece because I looked through some of the other movies you directed like rage and Harlem and hoodlum and stuff like that but I would say far beyond ours to me your best so glad you like though as a director thank you the movie that everyone from this generation knows you from don't see I know what you're gonna say you know what I'm gonna say menace to society yes I only have one scene one see one scene you were not a recurring character we're not on the poster no youyou you're whole part was I think maybe five minutes long at the most right so what led into you actually doing that role I love the huge brothers to think they're brilliant writers and also directors the collaboration I like the story too because it was a street story but humana ties the kids you know it wasn't just like these are these bad little gang members but it showed their humanity also and that one you know that one scene you know it's amazing I wasn't I did a film recently called Mandy with Nicolas Cage and we're in Brussels Belgium I'm in Brussels Belgium and kids come up to me and say that line in Belgium you know in all the films I've done that's the one line they remember you can you redo that that part now yeah no you know [ __ ] up right I mean you say online well I did you bought the bottle of beer at 3 o'clock and now you're saying it's 5 o'clock no you know [ __ ] up right and then you know Tyrone Turner was like no no I said that I know I got the bottle and then you started stuttering your net yeah no no you see what what I said was no no no you know you [ __ ] up right that role of you playing the the detective in that movie you actually based it on the way that your father used to talk to you oh listen my father my father's position say my sister and I were he asked us a question right and let's say we gave him and these days terms and alternative fact he would look at us right and in these kinds of words he would be selling so you finished say yeah we're finished you say things like you know I'm not as dumb as you look you know it's like if my father and mother told my sister and I not to ride our bikes on the street but on the sidewalk because of traffic if mrs. Johnson the next-door neighbor sauce riding her bike on the street she was step in front of our bikes take us and put on a living room couch and say don't say a word she pick up her phone and call my father at work she would say bill they're riding their bikes on the street he would say I'll be there in an hour that was the longest hour of our lives cuz you know was gonna happen he didn't never raised his voice he just would sit us down and explain and ask us do you understand what the issue was here do you understand the problem and there are consequences to who think because he talked to us they could talk through it and then he could give us and he'd finish he said you understand good go out and get a switch you'd have to go get the switch that he would then use to beat you with yes but he'd explained why we're getting beat uh dad you actually played a hop in a bunch of in a bunch of different movies your kind to go to cop guy for a while it's funny because you know a lot of people call me the police the way interview people people say that my interviews sound like interrogations I guess I got it from you okay that's all good right because you're actually one of the episodes of the boondocks I love getting socks I was actually in one of the episodes the boondocks also oh wow yeah I was playing myself and what was it was an uncle uncle root this is uncle ruckus ruckus yeah one of the funniest funniest characters ever I thought I just thought that so I'll even know waiting went off creative differences between the two main writers they just they just stopped getting along and then I guess they wanted more money out of Sony there's a big convoluted reason it was my favorite show on television like the fact that I got to be in that show animated as myself that that to me was like okay I made it you know I thought you guys are brilliant man I'm serious I mean oh yeah oh yeah the way you handled relevant social issues with humor was was brilliant really oh yeah yeah and you basically reprised your character from Medicine Society right in the boondocks you basically were playing the same character that's right it was fun I listen all right listen you know we don't [ __ ] up don't you people are gonna remember that way pasture way past both of us being gone like that's just one of those timeless lines and you still see memes to this day like on Instagram yes like hell of a hell of a line man and the fact that that was your only line in the whole movie I mean you you stole the show in that whole movie I loved it man we had a good time and a great time yeah I mean it's interesting because I interviewed a lot of you know I interviewed Tyron Turner and mc8 and they both cut you know they both kind of explained to me how to park originally was supposed to be in the movie he had an opinion about his character every time it came down to him to start reading he would stop and just start going well why my character date this why why this why that so he wanted them to write in the script why he turned Muslim sure why okay what oh because there I guess the depiction of it was supposed to be his little brother had got killed whatever but they wasn't gonna show all that okay it was just the point of view so there's more to the story than just he just showed up lately yeah he he didn't want that character or make my character so the audience can understand why I'm a Muslim man my version of it is Tupac came into the reading we were all there me I don't know if MCA was there yet with me Lorenz Jada we're we're all in at the reading or whatever and Tupac the Tupac we all started rehearsing and reading or whatever and in the middle of a two-part was like I don't know I can't get into this kit it's just I need more meat I need you know I need some work you know and then Allen Hughes was like to party you interrupt in the session let's just finish reading so we start reading again in two pi like I'm sorry I just can't I just can't get it and then Allen Hughes was like 2 pi why are you acting like a [ __ ] you're acting like a [ __ ] right now you acting like a straight [ __ ] that's what let's step outside this is what I hear so Tupac and Allen Hughes step outside Allen comes back in and Tupac never returns that was the last time I seen two pop he ended up beating up the Hughes brothers later on the video said over that situation so they were bringing guys man they're bringing guys and two I was brilliant - man I just loved his work and died much too soon man oh yeah oh you have to pack was still alive yeah I have no idea I mean because he was already becoming a movie star in his own right at 25 yes and I think I think the whole rap music scene would have been totally different he had lived also oh yeah absolutely you described acting as a as a pimp and Ho game explained that well no well I say this business is a pimping whole game I mean you know it's like at agencies in the old days did you know that they talked about actors right did you say that they're in our stables is they actually use the you know which tables yes pimped her yeah yeah whoo understatement and I had an argument with an agent of mine months because at a certain point you know people were calling me because they knew my work and we're bringing their work to the agent you know and I said to the age of what I said to him you know you know it's like I appreciate the work that you're doing but I'm being a lot of work to you guys you know and I said this is a pimping whole game I said but you know I don't look good in fishnets and pumps and so why don't you get out in the corner and bring something to me and the agent I was not happy of what I said but he had to admit that what I said was true well you know you said something interesting in a in a interview that you did recently and you said that that a lot of times people want success more than they want self-respect and you know sometimes you get the success but knowing the price that you paid for it you know you choke on it for the rest of your life you know we talked about how early in your career you played a gay and you know I've had interesting conversations with people over the years where you know that they felt that you know as a black actor for you to reach the next level you have to dress up you know as a woman and drag and you know kind of undermine the male masculinity that you know that people pride themselves in did you ever feel at times that okay I just can't take this character because I'm gonna lose my own self-respect by doing this all right not only in the past but recently I mean you know it's okay say there you know it's important to distinguish the difference between the battle and the war sometimes I mean I play chess I love chess and sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war but I think you have to be selective in terms of what battles you choose to lose because you do a film it's it lives far past your lifetime you're you're known by what people see and so you want to leave a legacy that's the compromises are less than the accomplishments make any sense yeah absolutely so you turned down roles because you just felt like okay I'm not gonna be able to sleep at night if I do this sleep is very important right you know being in the industry now 40 40 plus years we're now at a very interesting time with the whole me - movement you know you have people like Harvey Weinstein that at one point was at the top of his game you know ahead of a big production house now he's filing for bankruptcy he's fighting multiple he's trying to stay out of prison and you said that you've seen situations where women have exchanged sexual favors for roles and movies and so forth can you talk about that a little bit well it's first of all I don't think a man should approach any woman in a disrespectful way whether it's touching her or any kind of verbal abuse or a verbal insults on any level that should not happen and I think people who do that should be punished for it and they are so I think that that's very very important on the other side of the scale I have witnessed very powerful men in this industry being approached by women in a way that how can I say that the man knows that he could have anything he wants and I think it comes out of desperation and today it's even I mean people do stings I used to look online and see people doing things I mean that you couldn't imagine people would have done 20 years ago in terms of public for attention and fame III mean multiple sex partners doing and they get recognition but you know I'll tell you a funny thing that happened to me it was like two or three years ago now and I'm not one of the big big guys I'm just telling you that's what happened I'm in Trader Joe's and I'm shopping and this girl in her 20s early 30s comes with me says oh you're built with the actor you know I love your movies it said sure I said thank you very much so I go around the corner to another aisle to shop and she comes up to me she says I'm not trying to be rude but you would make a great candidate for friends-with-benefits now I'm not joking man I had never heard this term in my life I'm on my 70s I don't know that language right so I look at her and I said to her are you talking with my Social Security benefits she she looks at me for is he like a minute just walked away I went home and told my daughter what happened and my daughter laughed at me for at least three minutes I never heard the term before so did you know Bill Cosby personally I met him a few times yes I don't friends I didn't know okay when you look at well number one before before I asked this question a lot of people that I talk to in Hollywood they said that they had heard these stories about Bill Cosby and the rape allegations and stuff like that did you did you hear these types of stories before it all came to light never never okay when you see what happened a man who is now in his 80s who has an unbelievable catalog I mean you know you could you could despise Bill Cosby for what he's what he got convicted for but when you look at what he's done and how he's changed the perception even of black people in America like you know deal Hughley does not like Bill Cosby but he even said that he doesn't think that there would have been a Barack Obama if it wasn't for The Cosby Show I don't think President Obama is president without Bill Cosby I think that that's absolutely true but you can be broke there will not be an Obama I don't think I think that Bill Cosby showed America they could have a black father so if they could have a black father they gave her a black leader I think he set the table for Barack Obama Bill Cosby was a pioneer he did he I don't know if people in this country actually saw black families in their humanity before The Cosby Show he brought humanity to it in the in a way that with your black white Indian Arabic Hispanic Asian or whatever if he had a family he bought universal family issues to the table every single weekend watch the show there was something you could recognize that you've gone through her so what you know is going through so and in terms of some of the films he put together etc he was he was a pioneer in a lot of ways the fact that he tried to buy NBC at one time that was unheard of I mean a black man behind a network that wasn't heard of at the time so and then the people don't know what the money he gave to black universities I talking about thousands got millions you know it was amazing and that's why we loved him and I commanded because he gave back he said examples that we wanted to follow he was the perfect father figure etc I don't think they were my people at all that knew all the other stuff that was happening I mean yeah I'd never heard of it I mean right now as we're talking Bill Cosby sitting in a cell in Pennsylvania you know were you surprised that he actually got convicted um not really because of the number of women came coming out their ethnicities the I mean it was a can I say it was crushing in the sense that you know here it goes another black man you know down the tubes you know and I'm a relatively shameful way and I talked to people about it you know in our community they're really heartbroken because I mean when I say he was a hero I'm not exaggerating he was the father figured to follow you know and the mother was a mother figure to follow to be like and to see that just it did a lot yeah I think that the current generation you know the Millennials don't realize how huge Bill Cosby was and I can't like just to put in perspective coca-cola you know the biggest soft drink company on earth when they introduced new coke Bill Cosby was a spokesman was the one who presented this the biggest soft drink company the world making the biggest announcement they've ever made they went got Bill Cosby to make that announcement that's how big he was he was literally the biggest celebrity on earth firm quite a while many many many years many years many years yeah it's crazy you know to go through all that and to have your legacy completely destroyed is uh yeah do you think he'll Diane's you know I think he'll they'll give him a break or you think I'll be the whole ten years I mean they gave him three to ten years he'll probably do three I mean I doubt he's gonna you know start a lot of fights I don't think is gonna stab anyone in prisoners you know cause and he cause any riots or anything else like that I'm sure he'll be a fairly a fairly good you know quiet prisoner during his stay in there and you know quietly do his time yeah crazy now you actually created a documentary called dark girls and and light girls yes and this actually was based on your own personal experiences seeing how how women of different complexions were treated as you were growing up yes how I was treated how I saw women being treated but more specifically racism my own community based upon slavery principles a lot of the racism our community is based upon the house Negroes versus the field Negroes and the house Negroes were the ones who masa had sex with a slave and she'd have a baby and because they were mixed black and white they have the privilege of working in the house as servants Cook's maids etc but if he were dark he worked in a field from sunup to sundown and that was a division and the field Negroes were not fond of the house Negroes because they had privileges and the House Negroes were not fond of the field Negroes because they were privileged until this day she go on line under hashtag team light-skinned hash tag team dark-skinned you'll see light-skinned black women and dark-skinned black women broken over beauty issues and each of them has over 300,000 members the irony is I have I have white female friends who go to tanning salons once or twice a week become darker crinkle up their hair get Botox lips and butt lifts to look more ethnic yeah everybody wants to be black except us it's interesting because because recently I interviewed a rapper from Florida his name is Glock 9 and he's uh I believe he's Haitian and he's very very dark-skinned never did darker darker than you actually I believe and when I was talking to him I asked would he have a baby with someone of his own complexion and he said definitely not I know if I'm [ __ ] with you I'm black and for right I'm black [ __ ] black is beautiful Dover so I know if if I forward a black bear we will have a black and baby so anyway that what come already black before so I can't know it went viral afterwards and everyone kind of got on him and everything and he still and you know and he responded he said listen none of you guys know what I went through growing up so you guys can't tell me what what I'm gonna do you know [ __ ] y'all well you know do you know that I think it's 50 billion you know that skin bleach I think is a 50 billion dollar business global is pretty crazy yes bleach have you seen Sammy Sosa oh yeah he looks crazy so I'm somebody saying that the this this is an issue that exists today in a big way there there was a and my indart girls my movie we interviewed some women from Africa and I mean so the African women in Africa and some of them reached their whole bodies and they were pregnant and they knew that the bleaching could impact the baby but they still leaks their entire bodies yeah there's actually hold on I can actually pull this up I could show you what I'm talking about there's a there's a really famous reggae artist named Vybz Kartel yes you know you know about him yes and he and he's acting me he's in prison right now for murder you know in Jamaica really yeah yeah yeah he got convicted of murder in Jamaica but you know he he bleached his skin and just recently let me show you a picture this his 13 year old son oh did did the same thing as his dad 13 years old you see I think you saw in dark girls this little girl thing she was five and in my film she's sitting in front of these dolls yeah the doll teste I heard my doll test and she's very dark like me right low girl and a psychologist ask her questions they say point to the beautiful doll she points at a white now pointed a smart doll she points to the little white though every time they ask her a question like that she points to something that's opposite of herself so it's it's it's ingrained at a very early age and so you come up with this is actually traumatizing experience oh yeah you don't just get over it have you been told you're ugly one of the things that my film that one of the moments that I never forget is this mother is driving her daughter from school with her daughter's in the backseat and her best friends next to in the passenger seat and she looks at in the mirror back at her daughter and she says to her friend look how beautiful my daughter is you know the cheekbones the eyes you know can you imagine how fabulous she would be if she has lightness to her skin this is in front of her daughter and my friend she's not saying it in a way that's trying to in any way damage her daughter this is an ingrained belief it's it's she's just wishing her daughter could be lighter the sad man in 2018 that we're still having this conversation I think it's traffic 2018 you know I think a lot of people don't realize you know when people say well slavery was a long time ago get over it but America's actually had slavery longer than they didn't have slavery that's very true that's right true and we still suffer from the trauma of that it was our Holocaust and people are still suffering from in a lot of ways and we have to do something about it we can't keep complaining and suffering and saying oh I'm not doing this at that because of segregation or slavery or whatever and we have to get off our butts and start to save our communities and that's imperative especially black men and women but to suggest that it had no impact and still hasn't Deepak Chopra both this brilliant book which I read called super genes and it talks about genetic inheritance and they did this experiment him and his partner in the book that is experiments on these this calf female calf and she was fenced an offense that was electrified and they fed the calf and everything and she grew into an adult you know female cow and they brought a bull in and she got impregnated and but one day before she was impregnated the female calf touched the fence with her nose and burnt her nose and burned her but it healed so once she was impregnated the calves came out little cows came out and they watched those cows for a long time not one of those cows everyone near that fence yeah you passed down your trauma genetically genetically yeah I've heard that before and slavery has been passed down genetically when you hear a Kanye West saying slavery was a choice and you know they were there for hundreds of years it must have been a choice how does that make you feel it I think it's a combination of anger and sadness there's a book that was written by these two white gentlemen called without sanctuary if you ever get a chance to read it it is one of the most profoundly disturbing books I've ever seen in my life it's a it's a pictorial history of lynchings and with used to call [ __ ] barbecues I'm talking about children women male adults lynched and then there's to put us alive on spits but the fire beneath it and turn us and roast us until we dehydrated and they pick up pieces of the bodies and hundreds of whites will be standing and taking pictures with a body piece in their hand they have the pictures they show the pictures in the book and I say just get over that you don't get over that you have to move on you have to live your life you have to grow you have to accomplish you cannot use excuses but that is in spite of your history get over it see people who say those so I'm not so sure that mr. West has you know I have a split feelings about Kanye West because I think some things he's doing now I don't really understand but I remember I first started listening to him he's one of the best lyricist they came out of the rap community I mean I mean great lyrics I mean I don't know if it was in school days or I forgot what talent was from but he had this lyric that stuck in my head to this day and he says well my people for that dollar how low will stoop but when you ridin in your bins there's still a [ __ ] in a coop remember that yeah that was all falls down all falls down yeah and and the truth of that and the truth of many of us other lyrics I I just in those days I thought that he was one of them because it wasn't just about beats and sex it was about content about social content etc but I think after his mother's death something happens I'm not sure what it was I can't speak for him but he went on a different path and so you know yeah yeah a lot of people you know like rain of you deal hugely he basically said you know after Connie said that [ __ ] him forever when you make white people write racist feel good feel good about themself and go see [ __ ] you forever I mean it you know no type of apology will make up for statements like that you know putting an asterisk by system I slavery yeah well you did you see the Entertainment Tonight interview did you see that oh that was TMZ yeah yes and and yeah that was amazing that was but the young man represented a lot of the feelings of our community about some of those statements as I'm going through your accomplishments you know you're appointed by Bill Clinton to the National Endowment of humanities you know you got a Lifetime Achievement tribute from the Directors Guild of America both on the acting side and the directing side I think you've done phenomenal work thank you and you know you did it with dignity you did it with self-respect you you tackled a lot of social issues that other people not have done and I think that the legacy that you've left is amazing and I think that the most interesting part you've talked about this in other interviews is that you know you still love what you do you wake up every morning you can't wait to get to work you said something interesting in this other interview where most people when they get confronted between making a choice between happiness and stability most people will take stability but you actually went the other way yes I I came from a family of hard-working people who appreciated the dollars that they made from their work but hated their jobs and they would retire and we're dead within five to ten you and I saw the pain of that I had uncles who were musicians and singers and stuff but in those days was hard for them and they didn't have the faith in themselves to continue against the obstacles that they faced but some of the best voices I've ever heard some of the best comedy I've ever heard was in my family but they I didn't want that to happen I want I wanted to take the chances and that's what I talk about in my autobiography my 40 years behind and in front of the camera you know I respect all the people who provide for their families send their kids to college pay for their homes insurance retirement there's a security in that but financial and social security and a social platform does not fill all the vacuums we have inside I I have some friends that are very wealthy and very unhappy at the same time so it's about finding that balance how do you live a life of fulfillment where you are you literally when you wake up in the morning you want to go to work because you love what you do yeah and and your people like yourself you do you love what you do you're patty of a passion yeah and it's obvious yeah and so do i and did you pay a price for that but at the same time the reward is far beyond the price you pay and so I try to encourage people am I not in my book to you know for example I talk about the business of Hollywood I mean I have a foundation that Duke Media Foundation and a lot of the kids come in there with passion they want to be in the business me but we teach them the this we teach them okay you want to be an actor he wouldn't be a director you want to be a writer that's all good but do you understand the craft of those things and do you understand the business of Hollywood because those of us who didn't understand the business coming in were damaged because we just were passionate passion without a plan is called frustration so we tried to give that back but it's a rewarding business but as you know difficult also it is it is but in 2018 going into 2019 you have more opportunities than ever before to not only create your own content but own your own content you know now I say this a lot the reason why I started flying TV is because I just realized that no one else was gonna put me on you know I just was not gonna get any chances from anybody I got you know Hollywood even to this day as established as we are I've had so many talks about TV deals and so forth and none of them have come new I have turned into anything which but it doesn't matter because I own all my own content I create it all and it really doesn't matter I've done a great business that could support my family with and so forth but you don't don't wait for anyone to put you on not not in 2018 put it out yourself you know you mentioned people created movies using iPhones there's worth some of them YouTube stars I just worked on what with Stevens I mean what you're saying is so encouraging because what you're saying is don't wait for Hollywood this discovery you discover yourself I mean there are examples It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia delphi's about 10 years right start off his webisodes Issa Rae has a big deal with HBO yeah she started out on YouTube yeah you know what I'm saying so so you you really don't I mean I was just he acted in the film in New York this year with Steven Soderbergh he shot the entire feature film let's go high flying bird with four or five iPhone eights there was no big lighting crew he was mostly available light and one of the funniest things was there was no doubting Trek or Dali we did dolly shots they rolled him around in the wheelchair and he used to eat that he shoot eat dinner and go edit the footage that night that he shot yep so the thing is what you're saying is profound in the sense that I had this young actress recently who came to me for advice and she just spent I think $1,700 or more on pictures and I said why he's a famous photographer is it I said okay if you're a casting director within the captain the captain we're gonna see your picture or something you've acted and she said something I've acted in so deep taking an acting classes she says yes for the last four or five years I said you ever film any of the scenes that you did with your acting partners she said no so but that changed her way of thinking about how to present herself because she's waiting to be discovered I just think that today there was no internet when I came along there were no cell phones I remember the first cell phone the sucko is this big right the brick phone the brick from over there you know yeah and so kids today I mean all of us today have opportunities not only for the creation of content with the distribution yeah you go global with a push of a button exactly does that make any sense exactly we do like we had a record month last month on on Vlad TV on our YouTube channel we had 53 million views in one month we do roughly 2 million a day give or take a couple hundred thousand 53 million people watched these videos that we created that we put out with no network no we own everything we and I think for me the most important thing is is that I got tired of waiting of presenting my ideas and having people tell me whether or not they wanted to co-sign them I get to interview you know and that's the thing I get to wake up every morning and I think who do I really want to talk to today Bill Duke you know I loved all these movies you did I'm gonna go ahead and talk to him because I want to do it and I'm gonna put it out and I think my audience will react to it but if not whatever the then the next day I'll go do someone else you see what I'm saying and I think that that's that's so part is the control the ownership it's the future yeah it's the future and you're an example of that I mean how many how many TV shows that are on the air now how many feature films that you know of have attracted 53 million eyeballs yeah I mean exactly just the business model itself yeah I'm just saying that and I and I try to we try to give this to our kids in our foundation that you can do it now but we want you to learn the craft so it's not just garbage but you learn the craft of it and then you have access today I remember when I was coming along and I talked the kids about this they never heard these two words for a flatbed and a movie over because in those days it was actually film and when they say cutting film you literally took a razor blade or scissors and cut the film and pasted it together right when you edit it right yep I remember the first did when George Lucas had the first digital machine it blew our minds so it's a totally different world in a totally different time and we have to have our kids leverage that absolutely and if you ever want me to come talk to you know the kids near foundation I'd be more than happy to I would love to yeah you know bringing someone that's actually doing you know the you know some of the stuff you're talking about independently without any sort of financing or anything else like that yeah I would love to present that - great thank you so much let's do it let's do a bill Duke Mass thank you so much for coming through a huge fan I'm gonna go watch them in a society after this you know I've already interviewed tyrant Turner you know you know the whole behind-the-scenes thing but like I said huge fan man and congratulations for all the work both in front of the camera and behind the camera thank you so much man forgive my swollen lip from the dentists but this is great interview great questions and insight man I really appreciate it and I want to tell folks again man you know please go check my book out Bill Duke forty years in front of him behind the cam I think you'll find it's it's about my life and career but also try to put some nuggets in there for young folks in terms of the business itself the second thing I would say is Mandy it's a it's a film I'm in with Nicolas Cage it's doing very very well and it's something I think that people will really really like as a heart I'm at a horror movie person but it's gotten such play it's got a 95 percent rating on positive rating on Rotten tomato and it's coming back out in the theaters and so I'm just really fortunate to be working and the last thing I would say check me out on them I'm Black Lightning it's a great show it's a black Action Hero show right it's on every Tuesday and nine o'clock on CW and it's something that I think people will like yeah I mean I guess with uh because they just announced that Luke Cage just got canceled oh really yeah yeah Luke Cage has got cancelled they're actually in production for their third season and Netflix just cancelled it so I guess Black Lightning is the only black superhero show left on television so far so good yeah no doubt bill Duke yeah until next time god bless you brother Thank You Man I appreciate it so much thank you face

Channel: djvlad

Views: 493,581

Rating: 4.8808351 out of 5

Keywords: VladTV, DJ Vlad, Interview, Hip-Hop, Rap, News, Gossip, Rumors, Drama, Bill Duke

Id: 4I5tbZyzHqg

Length: 92min 52sec (5572 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 19 2018