Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx Have an Epic Conversation | GQ

you said something in an interview then I don't even know if you knew that but I knew they were asking you about where you're gonna do black characters you're going to be blackity black black and they're black black and that's what you're gonna do and you actually said no I want to do characters [Applause] I know this young man says he had to take top choral cornrows so much Wow oh my just thinking a whole decade yeah yeah I'm probably like my late teens like me so I was like wow yeah I'll tell you one specific thing what we're not even on a few members is just we came to LA there's this thing called the basketball what was the but it was really League for people who weren't athletic who were in movies who wanted to look good you know on the court you know cuz her girlfriends was coming at wiser and then he shows up you understand why his name is Michael Jordan and he didn't move on some actor in the act he didn't move the actor Lawson an actor ended up in the parking lot and he was just killing everybody know was just amazing to watch I think they complained about you it was like we don't he's too it like this doesn't go with my narrative yeah I'm thinking that Ely was probably one of the first times we started to meet but just so but but you know what what I'll say about about you is that nothing really change is like you know you you feel you feel down now I was one of things like it's coming from Jersey you know moving to LA like most China you followed a dream you know grind hopefully become successful you know as an actor and stuff like that and you know you will find these little groups and cliques you know people that would hang out and somehow I just kind of you know finessed my way until I you know on the course I I know I could hoop so it's like we at least we can figure this out it was you know in the girls which really made them want to kick you out to leave yeah but now but but but Jamie was one of the you know the first people that I met in Los Angeles that really kind of took me out of yeah took him on his wing and gave it bison and you know he saw what I was trying to do and he wanted to you know protect me from some of the pitfalls and obstacles there you know they're out in LA and yeah because live in LA is living in LA is interesting because it it is a place of plastic what I feel but there's also a place where artists go and I felt like seeing you there was more to you than just I think just surface now I don't know what I or any of my homies were reading but there wasn't a special quality about you that was like it's interesting and even everything that we watched you do there was a certain type of it's weird to say this the it thing or the integrity or or if it was a younger verb when that was this one around that the swag the the the our say this the ingredients of what it what it is in being a a movie star along with the type of materials you've got to get into as an actor because I do think that there are two sides I think there's celebrity in the news too - but you you gave me the energy that you wanted both that you wanted the whatever you were doing to be just wanted to compete i'ma tell you you want to compete and it was a thing it was interesting to take the competition but also you said something in an interview then I don't even know if you knew that but I knew they were asking you about where you're gonna do black characters you're gonna be blackity black black and they're black black and that's what you're gonna do and you actually said nope I want to do characters I don't want to be what was it was the way I thought about it was just like you know it's always a bias somewhere it seemed branching right so even writers know there's not a lot of you know successful black writers at RIT you know like for the you know big movies and at the time you know it wasn't really that there wasn't enough material being written for us that wasn't very stereotypical right I've been blessed with my career to play some stereotypical characters that the lasted the test of time that I that that just was bigger than that box that they tried to bring in you know any wire fried not life stuff like that the characters they talk about the what talk about the wire because I believe in the interview you did reference to that but talk about the significance of the way I mean the wire for me was at a time where you know Wallace you know corner boy you know but he was the heartbeat of season 1 he was the heartbeat of that show everybody loved him so when he died it hurt everyone in the door but you know you never want to get that you know the trailer could you know is you know you know saying way to get scripts you know I said yeah you want to show with nobody save you always just want to skin it makes me so I died today exactly so so while this is one of those characters that everybody watched everybody in Hollywood watched all the right people the cast and directors and producers you know saying the studio execs you know they so when the right people that are going to eventually see your name come I state this you know if when it comes to different jobs and rules you know it helps that they're a fan of certain things right in the wild is one of those characters that really did that for me but my mentality behind it all was like you know I want to play the roles that no Brad Pitt's with my favorite is you know Leonardo DiCaprio's when my favorite Tom Hanks Giovanni Ribisi I'm saying Edward Norton you know these are cats that that that I really enjoy you would then self gonna obviously think I'm saying Mount Rushmore of actors but I would hate sin about being an audition you know for the the role of the year yes I'm saying that's that's not the one of the stereotypical you know characters and you would see everybody from you know from ages 40 down the 17 going out for this one role right and then everybody sitting in you know an audition room looking at each other like I'm not afraid to speak you notice about this whole pity attention and my way around that was just like look man I want to play roles that are people of course me with the skin that I have the person that I am stepping into that character I'm gonna make it inherently black that's what I'm gonna be so I told my agents and everybody look I want to go out for every role that's written for you know like the corporation man know I mean I want I want those roles because when I take that role I'm gonna make it me you know alright but it's just people it just carries and why why don't you feel I guess I'm saying I understand it but what gave you that that would give you that edge what made you think that we did you just see all this clutter you just said I don't want to be in that box uh it was just one of those things were like how do you reverse engineering the problem right you know I'm saying like it was you know I started thinking back like why I never saw a lot of your generation at each other's premieres right when I'm saying like oh I'll never seen this person that that person is for me or that person at that person like then why is that you know I mean like what what's the the subtext then like why aren't they supporting or why is it and if they are why isn't it why can't I see I'm saying so and then I started thinking about my own circumstances with other actors that are in my generation and you know you see them out and people won't speak they won't say this up because it may kind of time she was a competition and I and I couldn't I couldn't be friendly with my competition oh he got that role that I won in that so it was a Southern suppose like man there's more material out there right for all of us right you know that's the outside of that one project that one role a year which has really started to spark the production company the desire to create I need to create material create content you know then that wouldn't be an issue and I enjoy you know seeing somebody strengths you know and trying to China light help them succeed and Michael it's tough to look at you coming in all good-looking that starts you know that starts a lot of cantankerous Ennis if we even talked about that I haven't told you about yeah I said I said you're so nice which is rare cuz you to be this high in your career do you know a little bit of most people get a little full sprinkled or net a little bit yeah some people have a little bat a little pop in a little pocket of some I sprinkle it on this there once they said you know they started talking through people you don't do that which makes it it makes people that you could maybe maybe it makes it even tougher that you are nice but I I tell you what the fact that you have that weight of thinking of that you want to to relieve that tension is amazing in I just like it's wrong man I just like is wrong you know like but you understand that yeah you understand this one that that when then I would say this with you I would tell this to you I said hey keep moving yeah don't don't don't don't worry about all of those things and all of those people and all those things that are trying to get you distracted but yeah you got something special and I and I I say even come on with with just me mercy but going back to like your narrative and Fruitvale station is that something that you cuz now we're looking now we're looking back but is that something that when you took that type of movie was that on purpose was meaning like a narrative for us for our culture yeah yeah that was that was my first real intention to move where I had a choice cuz you know people think is you're an actor oh you you know these roles and you know Church that you're doing that oh I had like you know 10 choices and I decided you that was an odd that's the what I booked but I think that was the first one that I really and I'm cooler and that was that was beyond above me you know I'm saying that that's that's the universe putting people together the way the way it just worked out because Ryan just so happened to be coming you know first out at USC film school you know his uh you know you know it's kind of a senior project you know I'm saying this script that he that he wrote with me in mind that I didn't know at the time I was coming back from South Africa I was got from the students movie called Chronicle and I was like man I want to do a I was at a crossroad I said I wanted to do I want to do an independent film I want to do something that can show I can act I want to I want to know I'm gonna answer this question myself I want to be able to be a leading man you know I'm saying I want to know if I if that's where I fall cuz I know you could be extremely talented and not open for open big movements I'm saying but but I wanted to know where where I stood where I felt and also check my Martin shooting mmm had happened a month prior before that and I just remember being frustrated you know going online at the time it might have been on black planet I don't know what something I was amazing something like there was something wrong I was like I kept remember just writing post you know of how I felt as a black man or whatever at the time and deleting it you know I'm saying like a my own you know what's sake I can't say that I was too angry I said I don't know how am i how do i express myself I'm not about frustrated so when when fruit fills you know it was called a fruit of the time when fruit came along I was ready and I was in tears and I was like man this is this is it this is this is my way to to tell people how I'm feeling you know to express myself you don't want to own it on on hopefully you know we never knew what the movie was gonna be is like you know shot up for $90,000 and some duct tape you know it was it was a you know we barely got it made and and I could see if I can carry yourself you know so you checked off all the boxes so you know I met Ryan you know 20 minutes in the conversation just talking to his brother I was like oh man this is my guy like if we were to went to school we would've grew up together here to be one of my closest friends my best friend so now we just saw a kinship in one another he told me like look Mike you know I think you you know wildly talented let's go show the world you know let's go do this you know I mean let's go let's go tell this story I think it's important let's get and we both was like all right let's go let's do it was great man and anything we did and you know what I tell you all the time when I went and saw that movie I took some guys will be men at a very very tough I'm saying very like you know macho and then we watched you capture us in that performance I heard sniffles from these guys and I knowing what they didn't have a cold I'm saying they was like they were broken down with it honey you know what's interesting about you and I say this I think swag matches swag because you and Ryan have this sort of coolness about you getting like I think that was a that was the the really was the Stars lighten up yeah and you know define the director who understood me spoke my language and I'm saying the same age like the same things can like our shorthand was like incredible you know you know we had a limited time we only had you know the shooting shot in 21 days I don't want to say it was a quick shoot and and we maximized every take man and I think our relationship and being able to like speak to one another like quickly and get it really lent itself to that and he you know and he brought up no Creed I ain't even shot one frame he was pitching free to MGM before we even started shooting day once we just Asian yeah and it was like the I come on let's do it you know I mean so it was the way things started to line up and then right after Creed you know no Black Panther to slow down you just go in and let you can't you can't go in and did it first of all creep what that did what I believe that did I always I always look to love Jones as a template for me and my generation love Jones like wow that's that's black love that's that's universal love anybody that wants it and Creed I was like oh my goodness this is so amazing love that you that love story along with the iconic persons you play about that just for a second no I'm it was cool it was like one of those things where you know obviously coming from the world of Rocky you know that franchise no I mean Apollo Creed you know I never transformed my body before I wanted you know I was not a challenge like I wanted to see you look at you know sly and Carl Weathers you know saying it was and you know it was chiseled yes I was like God I was like man that's that's that's impressive I wouldn't I want to know if I can do that you know so did it so we put the time in the gym got the body right you didn't do like me like I have a spank on you didn't spank it out see this is all Spang Spang it's not it was one of those things were just kind of like wanted to I knew what we were following I nobody get all the comparisons to like you know what Rocky was and you know we wanted to distinguish us as our own franchise and our own story you know Ryan came up with that entire idea and you know pitched it and we finally got everybody on board and we went out and I think we executed it in a big way you know while paying homage to you know what slide building and the whole you know rocky world we wanted to distinguish you know saying what what it would be like you know told through our lens yeah that's what you wanted to do so black panther came around came along that was you know kill monger was another narrative that we wanted to push and that was that was a big one and you know so our relationship is very unique special go from improve the station a small movie that won our hearts and then to go to the biggest movie in the world and black panther playing kill monger but still having the same narratives that we could feed off of a now just mercy I have to say this I say it all the time we are so appreciative of you and keeping that narrative life they convicted an innocent man I was always taught to fight for the people who need to help me most you don't know what it is yeah they ain't got had no evidence how many of you all were with Walter that morning you ain't quit miss no sir in front of him behind the camera you were absolutely amazing talk about the birth of just mercy how did that come about it was you know my agent kind of brought this uh this book to me and was like this is something that you know I want you to you know read and you know figure out if it's something you think you know you can wrap your head around it and um and I was a little bit embarrassed once I started to find out more information about who Bryan Stevenson was I was like why don't I know this guy you know like why isn't he more of a household name why isn't you know his work is incredible and what he's doing is you know exactly what it's the remedy to my frustrations as a young black man dealing with all these issues of police brutality human you know mass incarceration of you know unfair citizens and death row in the whole situation so it was I got a chance to watch his TED talk listen to him speak a chance to meet him a few times yeah you know and I was blown away I was intimidated actually because you know he's much more I thought he was much better of a person than I was so I was like man I got to get my life I got to vet it I gotta try harder because you got you know dedicated his life to a cause and he's continued to like you know beat that drum of justice so me so that all happened and and uh you know met him signed on to do it you know I think he was filling me out see if you know if I was worthy enough to play I'm sure he was absolutely happy to be Jordan with flames right see this is a lawyer yeah who Tsubasa's playing a lawyer who you know who started the eji equal justice initiative who you know who fights for wrongly accused and unfair sentence black and brown people or poor disfavored you know people that have been condemned he works to get them exonerated and he fights for just the the the writing of a racially biased judicial system right long so I had to have the honor of playing him so anyway that got that together me and destin cretton director of short-term 12 you know a friend of Ryan's we started cracking together a script not trying to develop the stories out of this huge memoir with so many as so much material and trying to figure out how do we make this in you know into our two-hour film so we start to pull pull stories and work on it over the next couple of years this is about you know three four years in the making and and then we started to get down to you know Studios know who's gonna distribute this thing I wanna brother stepped up in a really big way you know we starting about cast the case of Walter McMillian with the movie is kind of based around and you know I had you know being in a position you know I was one of the producers you know and somebody that you know I felt I knew would knock it out of the park somebody you know it's screen you know his name was you know it was you you know my mentor Big Brother somebody who you know I consider on the on the Mount Rushmore one of the goats in the game along with brie Larson you know rob Morgan and O'Shea Jackson and Kara Kendrick and Tim Blake Nelson and you know many other talented cast that that um you know they came together to help make this thing come come about the movie is um I'm really proud of you know and a lot of a lotta love in a lot of ways yeah it was one of the first films under Warner Brothers adopted the inclusion writer along with my production company we helped write the inclusion writer that all of Warner media actually hires under so all their companies under their umbrella uses our include inclusion act as well so you know everybody knew this story was very important from you know the studio to the director all the way down to the PAS it was a production that was a very diverse crew and everybody knew how important it was so everybody you know went the extra mile to make sure the story the story was right well I was absolutely honored and humbled to get that call to to play this character minute and I thank you again it's like our personal conversation is basically you've given me an opportunity to have my artistic integrity back in an intact to and to hear the story of this Walter McMillian person who was wrongly accused of in Alabama coming from his job as a tree poping owning chopping down trees he's wrongly accused of killing someone in a city that had never been in and and just so a matter of fact they put him in jail and then put him on death row I thought that while I'm in with both feet on this because it's so necessary and even today even though this was 30 years ago the 1986-87 when it was those those types of things are still going on like those cases and in Texas and and so many other places and I just thought that I was in with both feet and then putting Walter McMillian putting the skin on him having a father had been in the jail himself for $25 worth of illegal substance I drew one I drew upon that I remember when we had to shoot those scenes in the jail cell on how I felt when you know they're putting cuffs on me and I'm a person of perception I don't like the perception I'm seeing anybody in jail but I know those just like getting the cuffs on really like put me in the mindset of like wow this person's life this is put up side they're his family everybody's affected and then all of a sudden an angel of a person Bryan Stevenson played by you it was just it was just mad go on set it's such a necessary storyline and I applaud you for bringing it to bring that to everybody I appreciate I think it's important you know you know it's a movie that will take you through a range of emotions hopefully you you end up feeling you know walking out of the theater when you get finished watching it that you know you want to feel like you want to be a part of solution you want to i want this to inspire conversation and to provoke thought and to sometimes the criminal justice system it's such a big issue that it it almost paralyzed a person to not wanting to do anything you know so that what can I do to be to a nice big thing so I'm just gonna do nothing and I think that's the the wrong perspective to hide it you can do something you you know voting is extremely important to you know educate yourself - you know what prosecutors you know or in your local community who are they you know who who is you know you know what policies are being put in place you know you know all the information is at your fingertips you just got to do a little bit of you know inquiring about certain things just so you can be knowledgeable so you can learn you know how you vote in directly effective sources in your environment so um yeah there's a million things good you know going going to EJ York you know Bryan Stevenson is setting up this you know a lot of actionable things on his website that you can do if you feel some you know move to do so but you know I heard you say that many times the things that we go online about the things that we talk about all these issues all these injustice that are happening that we're going on social media and we and then we have these rants and we have this you know these revolutions and and we motional eerie acting yes and then we get distracted in 30 minutes later we on to the next thing on the next whatever it is you know all the things that we're talking about you know Bryan Stevenson is actively fighting every you know so you know I think this is all hands on deck as you say this is a you know everybody needs to get involved and and and doing whatever they can to see this movie you know outside of the movies what it represents yeah but but it makes it absolutely people need to see it because it's special and I want to jump into this one particular situation you when you embody Brad Stevenson absolutely incredibly but the the scene in the courtroom I talk about this all the time that specifically because I think this is so important the scene of you in the courtroom this wonderful speech that I watched you craft and it was so important why was you've said in interviews that that speech you looked in the script and you looked you went straight to that speech like this is the most important yeah thing and I absolutely talk of that I think that because the you know as an actor you look through a script and there's certain things that you just circle that's like okay I can't wait to get that one it was a pivotal moment in the movie it was a pivotal moment and watching McMillan's case you know everything was kind of resting on this on this home on this argument you know and and I wanted to get it right so bad I think it's important because it really goes into the human condition it really goes into how reviewed it goes into the perception that people have on you know people of color people that are you know have looked like us and and and then we can't be a fair system we can't be a system that calls ourselves just if we treat people that are rich and guilty different than if you're poor and innocent so Bryan Stevenson you know is very good at being reserved I'd be methodical would being strategic you know but in this one in this one scene he got it you saw him kind of take all of his strategy and kind of just balling into one and and ultimately uh you know helped help get watermelons case overturned so and that to me that speech was amazing and I'm just gonna tell you as a fan watching you walk that speech down you you finished that speech and what you didn't see behind you was the extras in this courtroom gave you a standing ovation I went to congratulate you you you know it was like you as like as we say in church you had to hold the girl she had the spirit and you walked out I text you and told me that was amazing performance and the people in the fourth row are weeping and then then all of a sudden the movie is being seen by people for the first time in the biggest way it's a Toronto Film Festival which is I mean for those of you watching that's like our Superbowl in a sense and I whispered to you I said hey man you're gonna be surprised when people see this I highly react and we walked out on that stage after the movie had just been seen and Toronto and when you walked up they give you a standing ovation how'd that make you feel yeah humble man honored honestly you know someone's we put so much into this movie and put so much into making it we know how important it was but you know you never really know exactly how people are gonna react to it so when you see people appreciate the work and one of the biggest things I took away from that was the the Q&A we had asked after the questions people were asking was what could I do how do I make a difference how do I where do I sign up what's going on I feel some type of way and that confirmed that we had something that was going to make people thinking and many people start having conversation so if you know the voice of the people is very powerful you know the people are spoken as a phrase goes back to you know beginning a time so you you you know we collectively get together about something then we want to see a change we can demand it so hopefully they feel passionate about the subject enough that they want to demand some type of change that's great well I'm gonna call you Santa Claus brother because you're giving us a gift everybody go out and see just mercy I'm happy to be a part of it in January open a wide open up [Music]

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Id: eUycJZ5tQmA

Length: 30min 35sec (1835 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 09 2020