David Oyelowo and Ava DuVernay Q&A | Lawmen: Bass Reeves | Paramount+

please welcome sag Award nominee David O yellow thank you very much oh my god oh thank you thank you thank you thank you I appreciate that so much that was not expected please have a seat have a seat thank you um that means so much thank you especially from sag members my family um thank you thank you well uh it's a funny one today I am being my own warm-up act today um because Ava is uh not here yet Ava duvan who is going to be moderating the Q&A so I thought I'd come and chat to you um um but thank you so much for being here today and I thought to sort of pass the time for the five minutes I think it's going to take for her to get here I would let you know how I met Ava Duan so this was completely Divine the way I met Ava Duan I was on a plane on the way to Vancouver to do some re-shoot for a film I had done called uh Rise of the Planet of the Apes and I sat down next to a gentleman who was watching his iPad and he was watching a show that I had done in the UK uh called Spooks it was called MI5 here uh for those of you who may have seen it um and he paused it and [Laughter] said is this you I'm watching on my iPad I looked at his screen I said yes that that is indeed me and he goes um oh this is perfect um uh you're an actor is it a good idea to put money into movies and I and I said well that yes um um I said that's a bit of a loaded question uh what are you talking about he said well someone just asked me for $50,000 to put money into a film called middle of nowhere it's this director called Ava duvan who wants to do it and and the name rang a bell I had seen a a CNN interview for a film she had done called I will follow and I was really impressed with her so it rang a bell and I said well do you mind sending me the script I'll give you my opinion as to whether you should put the $50,000 in um I read it uh it was brilliant um one of the reasons I really wanted to be in movies is seeing the amazing work of Spike Lee you know she's got to have it do the right thing uh even though I was a kid growing up in London and it wasn't necessarily my culture there was something about it that just spoke to me and when I read middle of nowhere it just reminded me of early Spike Lee and so not only did I tell that guy to put the money into the movie but on the uh title page of the script was the title aa's name and her number her cell number so oh wow this is such a great story with actors in the [Music] room everyone knows what happened next um yes I called the number um so I called I said hi my name is David a yell you don't know me I just read your script I think it's amazing would you please consider me for the role she said she said oh my gosh you were on my short list I I didn't know you would do my little movie cuz I I had done other films that were bigger movies playing smaller roles but bigger movies and I said um no I I I really really love love this script she said yeah yeah I know what's going to happen you're going to tell your agents about it they're going to tell you not to do it and you know it's not going to happen and I said something to her I really mean and it's a good thing to say in front of actors I said no no no my agent work for me they they are they are literally my employees I pay them a wage in order to provide a service and so that is not how this is going to go she was right about what my agent said they they uh um they said oh you don't want what what an agent actually said to me that was so um I've never been able to forget it they said uh this is not the kind of film you want to be seen doing is is what they said it was a $100 a day um film the the the total budget was $250,000 of course I told them to take a flying leap and I and I I ended up doing the movie so we we shot uh middle of nowhere it was in under 20 days she's such a phenomenal director that she went on to win best director at Sundance uh for that film in the meantime I had when I first moved to LA in ' 07 this script Salma had hit the doormat um and uh thank you and uh and um when I first auditioned for Selma the director at that point the feedback was David O yelo is not Dr King that was the thank you that's that's exactly how I felt I was like oh harsh um and anyway uh so that was the initial feedback but I just had this feeling in my spirit that that that there was something about that script that role that was that was mine anyway that director thankfully uh was was gone and a few years later Lee Daniels actually cast me in the in the film but as is the case case with these kind of uh uh projects is the same with bass Reeves bass Reeves took me eight years to get made uh Selma it was seven years and um from 2007 to 2014 where we eventually made it in 2010 Lee cast me but it was always the same excuse for why we couldn't get the film made black doesn't travel white people don't want to feel white guilt black people don't want to feel white uh black pain uh this isn't going to make money yada y y so anyway Lee was going to direct it they wouldn't give him the amount of money it needed to get the film made and and we we crunched and crunched and crunched the budget we were $2 million short and every director whether it was Steven friers was the first one who told me no um then it was Paul haggus then it was Spike Lee then it was Lee Daniels and every single director was being asked to make it oh she's here well I'm telling a story now um [Laughter] I will finish my story then I'll get my sister AA on here because it's about her anyway I'm being her warm up act um basically every director was being told that the amount of money it should be made for is is not what it's worth um so Lee had to bow out of that of of the film and so we iend then I got the job ah then she got the job then she got the job sorry [Applause] [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] S I was back there listening like David get to me get to me hi everybody I was having too much fun I was having too much fun look so good thank you well I knew you'd be here I thought I'd dress up happy to see you all wow what a beautiful CR it's very nice they're very lovely how late am I uh I don't know how long was my story I don't know right on time there you go right on time well I'm happy to be here to talk with you a little bit about this piece lman bass Reeves isn't it incredible beautiful beautiful piece we sit here not only with the series lead leading man extraordinaire the star but the executive producer and and let me just tell you as you all know in our business executive producer can mean a lot of things okay executive producer sometimes means it's the money sometimes it's the person who was attached to it before who needs something give him the executive producer you know um sometimes it means uh someone who assisted the produc orial team in some way but in television that EP those EP Stripes as you all well know um are usually in their best and highest sense the The Visionaries behind it and I can say having been your sister and friend you've carried this piece in your heart so fervently and so passionately for so long it exists because of you it exists because of you and so I watching what's happening with it and with you right now gives me such joy and such Elation and such we told you so uh that that it is it is has been a thrill so I just want to you to chat with me a little bit and share with folks a little bit about um uh not where your your your your love for the material started but I want to talk about the path to getting it made the nose the May the you sure the you're going to play him the all all of these things um a little bit of The Good the Bad and the Ugly because that helps us feel the Triumph even more well thank you sis thank you so so so so much it's just such a privilege to get to do this with AA I mean like she is lit literally the closest thing in the world for me to a sister so um thank you sis thank you thank you um and and we have talked about these things ad nauseum you know just in terms of the the the projects that we are are drawn to by the way can we just for a second whether you've seen it or not just give it up for AA for origin origin origin origin origin I mean what a Transcendent piece of work I I I literally have Goosebumps just even thinking about it and I'm not going to cry um so yes the highs and the lows as you know sis you know as as as I was talking to these guys about about Selma and the journey we went on with that you know it shouldn't be you it shouldn't be her it can't be that piece it's no one wants to see Dr King what I what happened with me on bass Reeves is that someone um David permit who's a a wonderful producer presented me with the notion of making some kind of whether it be TV or film just let's make something that illustrates the Transcendence of this character and I didn't know anything about him to my shock and then my shagrin because I loved Western I grew up wanting to be a cowboy and naively once I did a little bit of a dive I thought oh my gosh this thing writes itself we are going to get this made you wait and see and um so that was 2014 2015 we went out to the entire industry and to a studio and a caer and all of them they said the same thing we're not doing this because no one is making westons was was literally the the refrain time and time again so then we we sort of let it sit for while in 2017 we went out again to all of the same places you know how remits change the the the revolving door of Executives like okay let's see if those people have moved off and see what happens and this time the feedback was we are not doing this because everyone's doing westers and I thought for goodness sake um you know but the reality is Executives get very very good at packaging the pass you know at at at knowing how to tell you no but we had experienced this with Selma um in that there were so many NOS uh on the path to our yes and then that film went on to do what it went on to do I'd had the same thing with the butler where everyone said no that film had to be cobbled together not by financing from any Studio we had to go to can sell foreign territory 17 foreign territ at a million dollar a pop to raise the 17 $18 million we only finished the film because there was a hurricane in New Orleans that meant we got the insurance money to complete it and then it was acquired and went on to make $172 million um you know so this is a narrative um that you you consistently see of the under valuing of black Stories the undervaluing of the audience's ability to absorb it but the thing that was truly um egregious and then has gone on to be a wonderful narrative is the idea that bass Reeves for them wasn't Global it was a as they would call it a quintessentially American story it it's something that for the amount of money that you would need to make it for it's just just not what the the the juice isn't worth the squeeze so to speak now I sit here with you again indicative of all these other successes I've talked about with a show that has gone on to be the most watched show globally on Paramount Plus in the last year so that's that's the journey uh we've been on many many bumps along the way but uh you know that's that's that's basically how we got here also you sit here as a Golden Globe nominee what's the latest the SAG sag sag sag nominee sag sag nominee I remember when you told me it was Paramount plus I was like you sure because it's part of the um the you know Taylor Sheridan Universe um and I thought and I'll be honest I thought thought I don't know if that people who watch that show are going to like this show and I worried for you um you didn't you never worried about it you thought uh that there was a through line between um not even the style of Storytelling but the the heroism the there was something about the the the family structure there was something in it that made you feel like it would line what was that well the the Tor Sheridan universe so to speak uh what it has done on Paramount plus is Corral as we know a massive audience around a certain kind of lens on the west uh on Middle America uh a certain kind of Storytelling and for me I truly think as a producer I always think this way is how do you serve up the fresh within the familiar how are you serving to the audience something that they go oh that's to me but whoa a new lens and I often think the way to show the new lens is a new perspective on something we know people lean into and that's the way you convince Executives that that this is something that they they should consider and I think it's also the way that you handhold the audience towards something that maybe they haven't considered before and so um the Western of course is is is a a big lead into to that but in developing the show when talking to Chad fehan our wonderful showrunner the thing that was most important for me and for him was to frame the show around a family to frame the show around a guy who Beyond this episode you've just seen does a very dangerous very demanding job that takes him out of the house a lot he loves his family deeply and the tension of the show is how do I get back home how do I get back home home how do I get back home that is universally relatable anyone and everyone can understand the work life balance being challenging and so we felt if we framed it that way that makes it for everyone whether it's black whether it's white whether it's a western whether you like that genre or not and that has gone on to prove to be the case I also think we're in an ERA with streaming whereby if it's good and people like it and people are talking about it people will find it I agree with that I will say though that I think I was completely wrong I mean Paramount plus has done a really good job I mean I'm not and and no one's paying me to be here I'm just saying like the Billboards the commercial like they really put their I felt like somebody really leaned into this because we've all unfortunately been in situations where you're just not seeing the promotion and the marketing I just think it's been excellent and there's nothing that's giv me more joy than videos of you towering above Time Square with your hat and your last so whatever and I just like look at this who what is this um so it's been incredible and I will also say that while it feels familiar to that what what what Taylor has done with the other other shows this feels completely unique and completely David and your fingerprints are all over it and Bravo it makes me so happy thank you um one of the things that really let's talk about acting you are not American that's correct and but you like to play quintessential Americans I do I do okay why and how what is your process you know the criticisms you know that they're over here taking our jobs kind of thing right um does that ever get to you in terms of you know does it does it power you fuel you fuel you does it affect your process in any way and and how did it directly correspond to your um the way that you broke down this character in the American West thank you thank you thanks for that question um my ambition as as an actor has always been to as much as possible hold up a mirror to what I deem to be Humanity in all of its complexity and added to that is displaying the complexity of black life here on Earth so uh for me whether it's playing an African I am someone of African descent my parents were Nigerian I was born in the UK so whether it's HH is that my brother I see you you can always tell him that there's a Nigerian in I I said Nigeria they can't help it it can't help it it just can't help it's in the it's in the body it's just um so uh so I grew up in Europe in in the UK and I've now lived here for 17 years you know I'm I'm an American citizen I'm rais raising American Kids um and for me it's less about really wanting to play Americans it's about complex characters that are incredibly interesting complicated and for me one of the things I'm always looking for when it is a character who is Black like me is aspirational qualities qualities that make you whether you are black white or everything in between or anything in between you go that guy I relate to that person I want to be like that person in fact I am that person because to me that is what breaks down Prejudice we only fear the things we don't understand and the amazing thing the amazing thing about what we get to do and you do this astoundingly in origin is to illustrate how much we are alike and therefore that debunks the notion of how fundamentally different we are supposedly supposed to be we are so much more alike than we are different and if a white kid in Idaho watches bass Reeves and go I want to be bass Reeves for Halloween that's my job done you know um and so it's about it's about just playing as many I have as much as I love myself myself I have no interest in playing a British Nigerian guy every time I you know it's it's about going to the character as and and the further away from me they are the more attractive the role is well let's talk about the actual prep work how many actors here okay oh wow okay so let's talk about the prep work because the physicality so in this Vass is evolving over time and um and also he is speaking native languages at a certain point um you know you're you're touching all these different departments and you have to work with them very intimately to build the character from production design and costume the languages um is that all done as a layering process you like to do one pass and then you perfect this and you get you never perfect anything but kind of lay down let me get the physicality how he moves and then let me see what he wears and then let me put the words in my mouth and a certain way um or do you like to Jumble it all into a stew and feel it out all at once what's been your process with him and also speak to age progression yeah thank you thank you gosh you can tell she's a director such good questions um I mean you literally we walk this process together obviously on Selmer as well but as you say this has that was just three months this is 15 years um so it it is it is different in that way for me it starts with the research you know I will read everything and anything I can get my hands on uh in relation to that character especially when it's a historical character and and then specific to this is the accent because there is no uh recording of how people spoke in the 1860s and70s you have people who were alive at that time and then there are older recordings in the late 1800s early 1900s but a lot of of them are are very old people and they are speaking with all that comes with that you know they don't have teeth or their voices are certain way it's almost inaudible also the recording is inaudible so you don't want to go in there talking like that um so you almost have to kind of guess what a younger version of that person is there's also the fact that at that time African-Americans were closer to the African sound than later on it's not the Oklahoma Texas sound you have now you have people who were not moving around as much so they were in enclaves whereby the the the accent was far less diluted than it would be later on so I worked with a dialect coach Denise Woods where we we deconstruct the accent we did it with Dr King because it wasn't just an Atlanta accent had Boston in there then it had the the Southern Baptist preacher thing in there but he was also rebelling against way his father was preaching so he kind of did a whole different way in you have to deconstruct it to sort of build it back up so the voice is a a big layer for you once you have the voice do you because for some actors it's like well once I find the clothes or once I find the movement or the posture For You especially being a Brit and paying these American characters do you feel like you have an anchor once you at least have a place to go with the voice yes but it's the spirit actually it's what is the spirit of this individual what what is the um emotional spiritual metaphysical it sounds a bit out there but once I have a sense of what that is then all the work starts to bolt itself onto the spirit of that person and I gravitate towards characters that have a very um energized spiritual life and I'm not talking about necessarily faith even though uh abas ree H has had a faith it's more about what he was driven by Justice he was driven by knowing that the servitude the enslavement all of those things that he and his people had been subjected to was fundamentally wrong and yet he was having to sort of do this dance between self-preservation and the notion of of what Justice might look like in a future that he couldn't yet see but his connection to God gave him hope for and and that is a very very strong inner motor uh that is driving the way he speaks driving the way he moves driving the choices he makes so then the combination of the research and the accent and the clothes and the horse riding and being in the gym for over a year in order to have the physic oh you notice dropped it he dropped it hello ladies hello I see I see we turned the corner he's such a mess let me ask let me ask this because we have actors and I always love talking with actors rehearsal yes okay so in rehearsal for TV is different right you have directors coming in you're on the move you are um uh how have you been able to how did you approach rehearsal in this piece in an episodic environment where there was you you're you're moving around in time you have different episodic directors coming in um because I know you like rehearsal and there's not as much opportunity for it in this environment how did you carve that space for yourself to prepare it's a great question and it's one of the the wonderful advantages of being a producer on where you can prioritize that and say no the way this is optimal version is we are going to make the time for the actors to have the time to really dig deep and so I had time with Lauren Ebanks who plays my wife in it where we really went over what is this couple who are they why are they together what are their aspirations um and and as a producer if you say no no no everyone needs to leave the set while we rehearse this properly people listen which is nice the most prous thing for me was for it to be an actor friendly environment it's a very big show a lot of moving Parts horses carriages period costumes all of that but at the end of the day if the audience aren't connecting to the truth of what the actors are doing there is no show how do you who how would you advise an actor who's in an episodic environment who's not the producer to create uh you know a space for themselves to be able to I mean I know I've directed episodic it's just like hi I'm Ava you're playing the the cop who comes in and says the thing great so I'm thinking you stand here here great great action and and I mean because I've got we've got to go yeah um you've been there what what would you advise folks who are in that space who aren't able to carve it out or say everybody stop give me a minute let's talk this through right yeah yeah absolutely I would go and find my fellow actors run lines with them knock on that trailer door introduce yourself to them say do you mind do you want to are you open to running the scene um because if you get a jump on that especially in an environment where the director is just go go go trust me any and every director on the planet is going to be happy if you guys turn up with an even better scene than would be the case if you were just running and gunning and so even day before yesterday I was on the on a two hour FaceTime with my Leading Lady for the next thing I'm going to and we were just going through all the scripts that's not that's not something that is scheduled by production or whatever you for me every moment of every day that you can once you've been given the privilege of a role you are moving the needle towards giving the best performance you can yes um yes what we do is such a privilege I mean it's amazing we know how many of us would love to do it and don't get to do it so if you're up at bat you you're doing it for your fellow actors to say this is what we do and when you give us the chance we are going to knock it out of the park as best as we can and so that is the thing for me how whatever that means for you you must do that thing that is going to give you a shot at being your best version yes pretty sure that's a word let me ask you about um the uh Conjuring chemistry okay um so do you let me just so you are working with someone it's an actor who's come in there might be different um experience levels um you played Shakespearean King at the Royal Shakespeare Theater I always say it wrong you want me to do the voice no don't do the voice don't do the voice um she's amazing but not at that right um you've done many things but in this I noticed that you were working with everyone from a Donald Southerland to you know I had not seen Lauren in in much before and there are people who are coming in as day players and everyone's just got different different level of experience and so beyond the kind of the the actor technique there were moments in this where there there has to be it feels like moments of such chemistry that you conjured um with your with who you were playing with sometimes distance scenes where I feel like I didn't even see that person again um what is your path to that how do you approach that as one after to another what are the things that you say you know when you're when you're just meeting someone and you just have one scene or one line or you know because I've seen you do it so I just want you to share how you kind of create connection pretty instantly with your partner no matter what their experience level is great great great question um again an advantage of being a producer is that I was part of picking who who the actors are um and but I've mean this me everyone before you know some people are cast off tap I I I did you met everyday player with who had one Lun that's what I mean about moving the needle okay tell me about that because you know uh uh it's it's this spiritual thing I'm talking about so Barry Pepper I had worked with before um and he was the first person I wanted in that role and so I called Barry and I said this is your role he was out in the middle of Canada somewhere hunting moose on on some satellite phone I was like dude you need to come in here and do the um but but and so I knew I had that with Barry Lonnie Chavis who goes on I don't know if he's in this episode but he he goes on to play my daughter's uh son sorry my daughter's boyfriend in it and I directed him in um the Waterman um uh Lauren e banks we uh we did we did chemistry reads together that's how she got the job you know we all know who Donald southernland is we all know who who Dennis quades we know those guys are always going to deliver but zakina kalukango I had a hand in casting who you you see more of in this show Justin hurt dunkley uh Demi Singleton uh uh Forest Goodluck you know we we had several sessions with each other cultivating that chemistry and part of them being cast is feeling like that would be there calling them FaceTiming them then sit sitting down with them because you're right you sometimes there's an Alchemy with chemistry but for me I I personally didn't want to leave that to chance with the major relationships in the show well so you did it through the casting process and used the the the producer kind of prerogative to do that which comes through but if you don't are not the producer yes yes yes what advice can you give our friends who who who who are in a situation where you're you're you're you're with someone and that you know how how I've seen you conjure it quickly and and want you to just talk a little bit about because I know that when actors arrived to my set and a what he said before which is spend the time in between y'all have time you have time yeah you know there's time we're waiting you're waiting while we're setting up be running it be talking about it be thinking about it be doing some of that work um but also uh on this last film I saw actors who in that time were very intentional about creating chemistry and connection with each other off the page yeah um how does that work and and the reason it's such a great question is what I'm talking about about the advantages of being a producer that's when it gets easier but it's the same philosophy when you're not which is that calling up production the line producer the the the first ad who has the soand so been cast can you ask if it's okay to get their number just wanted to have a chat with them it's the same thing Conjuring that that that chemistry is seeking them out and creating an environment that is oh no no no we're not just turning up and just doing our thing in a bubble and seeing if it connects we are going to work this together and All Ships rise with that tide you know you will know how good your production of Hamlet is going to be by how quickly Hamlet is off book if I come into your trailer and I've never met you before and I don't have my sides with me and I say can we run the scene and you're still fishing for your size you're like H give me a second can you come back in like half an hour you know and that just raises the bar on everything as well so I think if you no matter the level of the show whether you think it's a good script or not if you go in there going okay I am going to set a standard by the way I interact with this set with that director with the other actors I am going to go the extra mile during lunch do you mind if we just run the scene together you know all that stuff so whether you're a producer or not it's finding all of those pockets all of those moments CU creating chemistry is basically just having a conversation the likes of which builds history that then manifests on screen that can be that can be got in a half hour conversation during lunch and then you're going into a scene an office scene where you're supposed to have been colleagues for a while and trust me it's going to trip off the tongue in a slightly different way because you know who their kids are whether they have a dog or not whether which team they support it's going to work its way into there and that's what I mean by the spiritual component there are these things that emanate off the screen that audiences feel but they may not be able to articulate exactly what it is they're watching and it's this it's creating these snatched pieces of experience that then manifest on the screen in a way you go whoa those people really seem like they're in love well it's just that they've had a few more conversations than the other show that you watch when I didn't really buy the chemistry so you know that that I truly think is is way to do great great answer that's what I wanted you to share I'm almost finished I'm almost finished two more she said last one I said two more really really really I got it he's gonna go fast he's gonna go fast I'm gonna ask fast he's gonna answer fast uh two more this one is something that people really don't think about um that I wish more actors knew it is a little secret um can you talk about interactions with the crew yeah um and how it make or break your experience yes and and and and just raise everything up if you're considering that yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah um the amazing thing about what we do is I truly believe it is a miracle to get tens sometimes hundreds of people together all hopefully pushing in the same direction to create something that feels singular and it touches the human Spirit the only way I truly believe this that that is even remotely possible is if humanity and hum a Humane environment is created kindness is such a key because at the end of the day if we're going to do this thing that I just talked about of holding a mirror up to humanity and then you have an inhumane environment that that also finds its way onto film it does you can feel when there's just a coldness to it or an impenetrable nature to it and the extra mile people will go for you when you're kind considering how difficult it is to do what we do whether you are a PA or you're the director the amount of doors that open for you spiritually literally natur Al emotionally when you are kind when you are polite when you are grateful when you are conscientious and it doesn't cost anything in a very expensive medium that stuff doesn't cost and it's probably the most important component to having a good experience and a good product at the end of the day and the fish stinks from the head down and it's why I also relish being in a leadership role to be able to exemplify that I simply will not accept it on a set where I'm in a position of leadership um you know it is to be called out people need to be protected because there is such a thing as a hierarchy and people take advantage of that and the only way it's not it's it's it's not abused is if people who are in the position to say no no no say no no no um and so so I'm I'm glad you point that out because it is an underspoken about um element of film making but I actually think it's the most crucial yes and I'm and I asked you that question because I wanted you to share that answer but also I wanted folks to see your heart that you are a just a sweetie pie of a person you are a good deep town from top to bottom person you're not an actor famous actor you are just silly and crazy and sweet and kind to your core and it's real what you see and what you feel from him so my last question is when you're an old man and you are accepting that Lifetime Achievement Award and they play the clip from bass Reeves and you were young and hot and you had a six-pack and you would be working out all the things what do you want people to feel when they see that clip um what do you want them to remember about you and this time and this part amazing question uh well firstly I uh hope and pray that you are there I do too my friend I do too um and um I hope and pray that some of what I've said here today is how I am thought of um is that I did my damst to make my people proud um and when I say my people I don't just mean black people I mean Humanity because my people is Humanity but the specifics of who I am is a black man who is deeply proud of my Heritage and recognizes that there is an intrinsic and inherent Injustice still baked in to our industry in relation to getting stories like this told and what my prayer and hope is is that by the time I'm an old man there will be a normalization of the marginalized in a way that I can look back and go remember all those crazy Executives remember the crazy stuff they used to say to us back then isn't it great that our kids don't have to deal with that that I hope I'm a drop in the ocean of that change and I hope that what people see and say is that he did it with kindness with love with hard work and with a degree of humility that meant that Humanity was lifted up they shall they shall David O for your consideration oh boy thank you guys thank you thank you thank you thanks for coming out on a rainy day thank you thank you

Channel: Paramount Plus

Views: 3,547

Keywords: Lawmen: Bass Reeves

Id: fElDankUyx0

Length: 43min 26sec (2606 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 07 2024