Chadwick Boseman & Josh Gad Discuss "Marshall"

[Music] you gentlemen are making a big mistake this here's mr. Thurgood Marshall man is an attorney he would treat him with the respect that he deserves my great granddaddy he was a slave and now slaves now we've got weapons we didn't have before we've got the law baby you go into these town so I've never seen a Negro lawyer her bark you need to be careful in double-a-c-p good you're going to us another kid Joseph spell Negro servant attack social item in our own bedroom color bank to get a fair trial there's only 13 million Negroes depending on you don't any of you have any confidence let's say you have enough confidence for us all I only represent innocent people people accused because of their race that's my admission another touch gun I need a partner who the jury can relate to Sam Friedman good to meet you Sam hey give me a hand with these would you you got me here cement guns books mr. Friedman you just sweep through town stirring up all kinds of ugliness my life is on the line here Jerry Friedman hold on it what do you want you're one of us now Sam never been telling us the truth he attacked me I've advised him to accept the deal you lied in a sworn statement why would you do that why done that because the truth gets me cute if you want freedom on a missing would have to fight for it the only way to get through a bigots door was to break it down hello could you be back here so much for being here congratulations on this film I loved it thank you thank you I was just telling you here and I told Josh this back there one of the things that I really loved about it is that as serious as the story is as serious as serious as Thurgood Marshall's legacy is it's a kind of a fun movie it's got a really great fun cool vibe to it that it's like most prestige biopic shy away from and they try to sort of every moment needs to be some sort of like reaching for that Oscar moment we're in this movie it could get all the Oscars in the world but it still feels like it wants to have some fun with its actors and with its tone and with the characters I don't feel like that feel like that when you guys were shooting it my way off here yeah I think I think from the from the script period in pre-production all the way through I think the reason why I was attracted to it was you know cuz I wasn't looking for another story about a real person but worried you weren't I was I was but the reason why I was attracted to is because it was a story you didn't know and therefore it had you had the opportunity I think it was a Brown vs. Board of Education we would have been like I know the end of that story so you had the opportunity to have some suspense you knew that most of the audience wouldn't be familiar with with this particular story even if they know who Thurgood Marshall was and you know when I did the research I realized that he was just the cool dude like he was living in Harlem you know during during the Renaissance his friends were cold hanging out at length yes yeah and he went off and did this in a way that was sort of selfless because he had a comfortable place he could he could be in there was some ambition there but he was who was going to these places that were dangerous and he carried that sort of swagger with him and he needed it because you know part of it is that he was so captivating you know their stories about Thurgood Marshall going into a town and everybody shows up because of the theatricality of those cases it was the best show in town so people partially didn't want to kill him because why you gonna kill the lead actor of the show that you're enjoying that was part of his job as well as it means to sort of get these cases as much I bought as they need exactly so you know after it was over of course maybe they wanted to kill him but it was his out yeah he was out it was the comfortability that he showed in the midst of trouble that you know was part of the thing that made him make him work what kind of research did you do going into this well you know it was I'm from I went to Howard University so I didn't know a little bit about their Kumar so he went there as well for uh for law school that's really method acting by the way right they're going to the school I planned this a long time ago no you were planning this all the biopic previously we're working up to this so I knew a bit about him anyway for me it was just sort of extracting and excavating you know what is the context behind why he's doing what he's doing you know and it was interesting he wasn't always the best student you know he he he was the life of the party at certain times and those things sort of you know just finally knows those jewels help to make it fresh for me and new so the research was just reading biographies and reading cases and and looking at the time period you know Josh your character is the one who I think wavers in in this film part of his conflict is whether or not he's gonna be able to go through with this Thurgood is on the thurgood is on a mission and he doesn't waver in that really at all but your character is the one where were kind of curious whether or not this conflict is gonna sort of get the better of him right and it's understandable I mean the time period that this movie set is 1941 so you have to imagine Americans having entered World War two but that anti-semitism that is behind a lot of the hatred and rallying that's happening in Nazi Germany is prevalent in towns in the south but also in the north like in Connecticut and so he is somebody who works behind the scenes and is very happy and content with what he does and he does great work he works basically in small claims court but he suddenly thrust because of this brilliant legal mastermind who's also an incredibly incredibly good at persuading people to do what he wants them to do convinces him to take on the best version of himself and forces him into the spotlight and what's so wonderful at the core of this film amongst many other things is it really is a movie about two people having to work together to form an alliance to fight for justice where injustice is most definitively going to be served and I think that that's such a great message for the time period that the movie takes place in 1940 1941 but also for 2017 and to me that that's part of what makes this movie so immediate and so special and so resonant I think it's incredibly resonant right now I mean I watched it today and this is coming after this weekend which is just a hot mess what is it like to promote this film right now promote is the wrong word excuse me I don't necessarily mean promote like about a part of yeah yeah I think you know for me I like to say you know because you don't want there to be unrest and division and so did your movie can do well that's not that's not how you see things but at the same time I you know I'm really you want things to hit people when they're there they're able to listen and so when we were going to put this out before there were some people who you know still thought we lived in a race free society even though we had Ferguson we had Trayvon Martin we had so many things popping up you know but it's so clear now that this has been underneath the surface and that is sort of the the the beauty of doing this film about a case in Bridgeport because at that time you would think well that's happening in the south you know you know you expect that sheriff chewing tobacco and the judge with the with the the dog that whole thing that that stereotype of this is what racism looks like but in this movie it looks like us looks like where we are you know very much like what we are now you ask well why is it still that way so it's it's great that during this time when it's most needed when people can actually see it you know that we have this this piece of entertainment that people will walk out you know all of a sudden feeling like oh actually I got something from that yeah and I would also add that that in these times it's easy to tell very cynical stories it's easy to deliver messages as you said a lot of times these kinds of movies feel like medicine like they almost feel like we're trying to force-feed you a very powerful message pay attention this movie offers a message of hope it offers a message of empowerment which i think is really cool and refreshing and at its core and I said this backstage it's essentially a superhero origin story I know you're getting ready to do a bigger version of one but it's but it's essentially white leopard I'm starring in a movie called the white leopard I keep telling sake it's gonna be a crossover for sure looking forward to Trump's tweet about that so you know what what's so cool about this is instead of these superheroes wearing capes they wear suits and ties instead of them knocking somebody out with a single punch they knock them out with one brief at a time I think that that is such an important message right now because we do we need to rally together and not feel like there's hopelessness or futility in fighting for people who need our help but as individuals we can bring out the best in each other to rise up to the occasion which is exactly what Thurgood Marshall's journey was all about and subsequently how he created and not just one individual but an army of individuals willing to fight with him Allah Sam within the institutions of power of the United States rather than sort of being cynical and homemakers yeah and I think it's so interesting what you said about this movie coming out now in this time that we're living in right now cuz when I was watching I thought for a moment what if this had come out in 1997 obviously there was like racial division in 1997 or 2005 but there was this sense I feel like if you had watched it it would feel like you were watching history that had a period on it you know and you wouldn't be able to recognize all of these things that actually are echoing through the moment that we're living in right now and there are so many elements of this film I mean just the fact that you need a lawyer to go down to the south to protect poor black Americans who are being convicted for crimes that they didn't commit you know it's currently in New Orleans you have DEA offices that have just stopped taking murder cases because they can't do this anymore because cops are just arresting African Americans all over the state it's like a it's a disaster but we have people who are working hard and fighting for these people I lost my train of thought there but I there's an element of echo there echoes in this film that feel very prescient right now they are Chad said this we we shot this movie during the election I mean we shot this movie and there was an African American the first African American president was in office Ferguson was on the tip of our tongues we were discussing it on set this movie brexit had just happened Dan Stevens who's in the movie we all pointed to him and blamed him like this is your fault you're British great performance by Stevens great that was being responsible for brexit or in the film yes and so we were having these discussions and everything was very resonant but this movie and the discourse surrounding this movie have evolved since that period because of the events that have happened and so this movie coming out after that as opposed to coming out after charlottesville just mere weeks after Charlotte's fell it has inevitably a different meaning that nobody could foresee but that you can't help as an audience member going into and saying wow and you're right like a movie like a time to kill which I believe did come out in the late 90s I remember loving that movie but it almost felt distant to me it almost felt like whoa thank god we've evolved since then turns out we've had a lot of discussion about race relations but not a lot of resolution and I think that this is one more reminder of how far we've come but how much further we need to go Chadwick was there any hesitation for you and playing another historical figure yeah every every story every biopic Oh story about a real person that comes to my agents of managers he's putting a certain power and if they do get rid they do get rid but but I don't read them all you know they have to be incredible and so this one basically got to me because Reginald Hudlin was you know potentially the director and paula wagner was the producer in the you know I knew Reggie wanted to work with Reggie I love what he did with this yeah yeah yeah it's not think it's a coincidence that it feels like a superhero story cuz he's reading comic books you know so it feels like that origin story because you had he pinpointed this guy has to work with the limitations of time and space he's trying to handle disaster in many different places that's the superhero concept but back to this you know this but I got a letter they you know in order to persuade me you know Reginald produced a letter that was written by John Marshall Thurgood Marshall's son and he said that he wanted me to play the role and you know I think they knew that I had my reservations without I didn't look like the character even after I read it and said you know this is a really good movie it's a buddy cop movie in here there's you know it's a Western because I'm a Marshall coming in the town implement justice you know it's a whodunit I was like it's a lot of great stuff here but I don't look like you you know but when I got the letter and I ran it was essentially it became more about who is the essence of the man and if the his family felt like I had the essence of him you know I think a lot of people they go see this and they they ask was he really did he walk around with that swagger was he that cool and they're like that's exactly who he was you know so for me it became that that became less important than the essence of who was Thurgood Marshall and what did what did he mean when he walked in the wrong you know I have to ask and I hate I have to ask this and I know it's gonna get headlines so but you know you played Jackie Robinson and this weekend we saw a number of football players taken me or not walk out during the national anthem for which I completely support I don't even want to seem like I'm being objective about that and I'm curious what you felt like seeing that having played Jackie Robinson considering he spoke about you know not not standing for the national anthem because of what the country in the anthem sort of meant to him as the first black player right I think you know my concept about it is you know it would be different if people were saying they didn't care you know what they were burning the flag or you know I dealt with maybe I could see a different argument but the fact that people are having a response to what the anthem is like I don't you know just because we since kids put our hands over our hearts you know to acknowledge the flag we're acknowledging the flag I think people are acknowledging the flag when they kneel they're acknowledging the flag when they put their arms together and in this case the context would have it that they're even acknowledging the flag by not coming out because we understand what the conversation is so it's it's more of saying yes the the flag is important but as a patriot I have to acknowledge that there's something not right about the way we've been doing things so I'm not going to do things the way I've been doing things I'm not gonna stand up and put my hand over my heart the way I've been doing it because something has to change so they're putting my knee down is saying I'm saying I'm gonna change what are you gonna do people who do the same thing traditionally are generally doing it because other people told them to do it they haven't found new meaning in this thing so I think that the players are more patriots than the people who just stand up and do it discuss their fathers or their teachers or whoever their preachers or whoever told them to do it they are finding new meaning and the flag and and and trying to find trying to find a belief in it that's what I think being a patriot a patriot is they're also using their constitutional right you know and what is affinity a peaceful protest I think that's what makes us uniquely American is not this idea that we are forced to stand up and acknowledge something that we all know is patriotic and wonderful and and that I do every game that I go to but it's in the power of having the choice to do that right and having the choice to peacefully protest it because you believe that something's inherently wrong with the system and I think that the second we we start coming down on those who will peacefully protest you know that that's when problems arise and and and so I sort of agree with with what everything you're saying you just don't have the right to tell people how they should protest like it's not violate you don't have the right yeah you you don't get there do you like say well they can't do that like that's against the rules that's what this is like just don't you don't have the right so it's in some ways it's it's ridiculous like you know it is it is it's always going to be the extra code it's always going to the point that is the point so you you don't get to get to like conduct how it's done you know even if you know the the US government has paid the NFL so that these patriotic X would be you know conducted that's the great irony of football right is if the Pentagon's been paying the NFL for debt for years to have like air shows and military salutes for every game yet one black guy takes a knee and says hey I'm upset about something and all of a sudden you know politics into sports it's ridiculous it's always you it was already being brought in this boy so watch out let's go back to the movie you guys have what a wonderful chemistry in the film and there's a scene near the end of the film without giving anything away where you are dictating the closing arguments to Josh's character and it's cutting back and forth between the dictation and Josh actually giving the closing arguments and I'm Chris what that looked like on the script it did look was it cutting back and forth or did the movie then do that because I love that it's really quints no no the answer's no it did not look that way in the script in the script Chadwick had this long monologue idea which he did brilliantly without stopping which made me feel very insecure because I'm like oh I could never do that and then I get lies and then the director cut it is a lie actually I could easily do it the director then came up to me well this is where the story's going the director came up to me after he does this brilliant job and goes now for tomorrow I need you to learn the entire monologue because you're gonna do it in the courtroom and I said huh because I was only supposed to do the beginning the very first line and the end and Reggie had this brilliant vision as he did for a lot of the great moments in the film to tie these two men together to show how this person's influenced this superhero as I keep calling him this man who will one day wear the greatest and most powerful robes in the land is able to empower another person who never saw the full potential and in himself and to have the the master the mentor and the student working together in conjunction is a very powerful moment and and that moment came out of our directors vision for how the movie should come together and coalesce at the end your character in real life continued to fight for civil rights right he did Sam Friedman is an incredible character an incredible person and an unlike Thurgood Marshall he's not as well-documented I mean rightfully so Supreme Court Justice Marshall is part of our American history's parties part of the heritage of what we learned in the classroom Sam Friedman did it sort of in silence and and I think for a lot of people for most people I would say this will be the first time they hear about him and I and I love that and Laura Friedman his daughter was very influential in the whole reason why we got this yeah she was very influential in the process of telling the story and wanting to make sure that this that this period that isn't Brown versus Board of Education that isn't the later high-profile cases was something that spoke to the times and something that needed to be told well you said she's the whole reason yeah because basically she was college roommates with paula wagner and so she had this script that was written by an attorney Michael koskoff but for those who don't know Paula Wagner's just like a legendary producer yeah so she said I'm gonna call my college roommate she's a big-time movie producer and like I'm gonna call her and destroy him this film about my dad which basically is like the kiss of death and nobody you don't want a movie to be made you say hey I've got a script about my dad written by my friend do you want to read it yeah the worst opportunity so she reads it and it's actually good you know and she's like well who do I get to do this and so she knew Reggie you know call Reggie and said hey I have this script about Thurgood Marshall and Reggie jumped on board he was like I want to do it you know before he ever read it at all because he has such a passion for Thurgood Marshall and so if it wasn't for you know Sarah Friedman and Paula Wagner for you know Sarah Friedman worked behind this I'll bet it was another day how did Reggie pitch the pitch pitch how he was gonna direct the film to you guys because there is like I said going back to how we started the conversation such a specific take he told me I was working on a black panther film and I was like yes he's so excited and then he pulled the wool over my eyes and said you're by the way you're not getting paid anything for this movie and it's not about the Black Panther no he actually pitched it in a way that that you see on the screen I would say like he he basically used terms that when reading a movie about Thurgood Marshall he would never expect to hear he was like buddy comedy yeah Western was it was like you know he said I basically he was like this guy he pitched the superhero aspect of it you know what I'm saying like he he pitched the idea of this guy being the coolest guy in the room you know him him being you know essentially the person that people want to work with you know courageous he pitched all of those ideas and he's like I don't want it to feel like we're watching history you know that's that was the way you pitched it and so I knew when I was talking to Reggie because I had watched him direct this thing at the Hollywood Bowl which so he was directing something on stage it was like it's a film night like movie night where they show all of these scenes from black exploitation films throughout black films cinema history and they have the LA Symphony Orchestra playing songs along with it they had like all these musical artists like Gladys Knight was there doing songs from Claudine and it was Anthony Hamilton Bulow Craig Robinson was doing comedy and singing Herbie Hancock it was like Marcus Miller it was like this whole ensemble but it was a staged performance and so I saw him I was like anybody that can collaborate with that many people and you know including the audience out there drinking wine under the stars I was like I want to do a film with you so it was it was all of that this sort of you know I knew he would bring that type of diversity and that type of flexibility to his filmmaking let's get some questions from the audience Hey great to finally see you too and congratulations on the movie I love the trailer i watch it like at least three times a day and I'm really excited to see the movie you watch the trailer so I was wondering since you both play historical characters in the film you might have a few two more other people on your resume I was wondering what are some historical people growing up that you admired looked up to either like in history or just that you heard about about what a great question hmm I know you know Teddy Roosevelt is what is I've always been fascinated by the the office of the presidency never more fascinated than I am now and for me you know people like Theodore Roosevelt speak softly carry a big stick resonates so much because he was able to take certain ideas that had just been you know understood that you would never mess with and he was able to upend that similarly and I would say through time people like Abraham Lincoln people like Frederick Douglas people like Martin Luther King those are all people who fill the mold of taking ideas that are established concepts you don't mess with those ideas and up ending it not because they had to but because they knew that they couldn't not try and that to me is is what fascinates me about sort of all of my heroes hmm for me it would be Harriet Tubman James Baldwin Muhammad Ali JFK Malcolm X Maya Angelou I even go on and on it's like we sold so many people yeah even even even I would say within my family you know my grandmother I loved I think she's an amazing person next question oh hi um so this is mostly for Chadwick but Josh you could answer also um what was the most interesting thing that leaves you learned about their good while researching him whether it's like his ideology or personal life did y'all watch the movie the job why did you watch it yet this does I can't tell the story if they have back in two weeks we'll be back look like to me to me the most interesting thing about Thurgood Marshall was his that he has like this tongue-in-cheek sense of humor which I hope you get you know from watching a movie it's just unexpected and I wouldn't even say we you know I've met some of the family members the other night we had a screening and they have it too it's it's it's hereditary I think and so uh that's the that is sort of the the key thing for me about him just what about your character Sam Friedman as I said before is somebody who there wasn't a lot of material surrounding and and so for me there was something about not only this particular man but about what this man and this collaboration spoke to which was during this period during the 1940s there were a lot of Jews working with a lot of African Americans and that's a story that hasn't really been told a lot and that community that that sort of finding that you're each being persecuted against for different reasons one because of the color of their skin one because of their faith that they choose to practice two very different things but discrimination and hatred don't play favorites there's no you know one form of bigotry is no less powerful than the next and so these two people coming together that story idea in researching that period was what really spoke to me and that's what I wanted to capture is the essence of that movement the essence of people like Sam Friedman who saw that this was taking place saw how eerily similar it was to what was happening across the ocean and said I can't let that happen in my backyard because if I do I'm no better than them and and that to me is what's so powerful about this story that to me is what's so powerful about not only Thurgood Marshall and Sam Friedman but all of the lawyers all of the teachers all of the people in that community who were working in conjunction to try to better the United States of America and that is is what really fascinated me about him guys I love the film congratulations some fine performances it's in theaters October 13th for everybody to see I hope everybody does guys give it up for Josh Kath husband of Marshall [Music]

Channel: BUILD Series

Views: 82,945

Rating: 4.9362125 out of 5

Keywords: 2017, chadwick boseman, josh gad, film, rickycam, marshall, thurgood marshall, naacp, race, open road films, reginald hudlin, kate hudson, biography, dan stevens, sophia bush, jussie smollett, chilli, james cromwell, sterling k brown, connecticut, drama, michael koskoff, jacob koskoff, america, justice, supreme court, sam friedman, AOL Advertising, BUILDseriesNYC, AOL Inc, AOL, AOLBUILD, #Aolbuild, build speaker series, build, aol build, content, aolbuildlive, BUILDSeriesNYC

Id: yOuDFjbjyvA

Length: 32min 9sec (1929 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 25 2017