WATCH | Rome Flynn Joins ‘Godfather of Harlem’ And Dives Into The Origins Of Frank Lucas - video Dailymotion

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Flynn discusses finding his place in the show’s gritty world, collaborating with Forest Whitaker, and portraying a real-life crime figure.

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00:00There's necessarily not no pressure in playing Frank Lucas, there is a heightened like I guess

00:06supreme focus for me to make sure I nail the details but everything that I've done in my

00:11career sort of led up to this point because I think Frank kind of uh embodies a lot of

00:17the characteristics of many characters that I've played all kind of wrapped in one and so I'm not

00:22I'm not necessarily fixated on uh impressing anybody or like you know for me it's about doing

00:28doing the work and I've just done the work every job I've had and so this is kind of no different

00:34you know obviously it's Denzel Washington I mean hey I'm gonna if any in any context if you ever

00:40saying my name and his at the same time then I already won and that's cool with me you know so

00:46hopefully at some point he can catch an episode or something.

00:49You kid in town. Country boy looking to make a name for himself. What are you?

00:54My name's Frank Lucas. Trying to touch 10 figures.

01:01Thought it's something that you could do for me. The pest.

01:05Coach to coast I could shoot product.

01:07Aren't you supposed to get it back to Bumpy?

01:08Bumpy Johnson gotta learn. Nobody plays Frank Lucas.

01:13So I wanted to congratulate you you know on this role uh and Frank Lucas is a very powerful character

01:20and it's a name that we all know but in season four Godfather Harlem it explores his origin story.

01:26What excites you the most about stepping into that untold chapter of his life?

01:30Yeah I think I'm in a unique situation where I'm playing a character that a lot of people know

01:37and so it's like what do you bring more to a story that people are very familiar with but the great

01:42thing is I'm not playing Frank Lucas at the age that people know him of I'm playing him in the

01:47beginning uh well the beginning when we sort of are introduced to him is when he steps foot off the

01:51bus you know when he's in Harlem um and that is like a physical representation of him creating this

01:59new life for himself and for me I look at it like like a blank canvas you know and it's like I have

02:06two canvases here there's one that's blank and one that's fully painted and I that in the fully painted

02:11version is where I have to get to you know that's the what's been established already it's like

02:16for me as an artist I have to figure out what to paint to get there um it's very exciting to be

02:21able to have that opportunity. And if you could kind of expound on it just a little bit because

02:26I know you're a seasoned veteran in this industry now I want to know what initially drew you to the

02:30role and why did you feel that this character was the next right move for you? Yeah I think just

02:35navigating the business for me in this art form is is very much about calculated risk and

02:42sometimes the risk isn't calculated sometimes it's just a risk and so for this there was little

02:49risk because of who was involved um but I I have been sort of building a career uh off of you know

02:57navigating the nuances of relationships I have done it you know for many years and so to step away

03:03kind of abandon that part of what I had been building to step in and say I want to be Frank Lucas the

03:08gangster you know was I'm I'm sure for some people were a little bit shocked and on the fence about

03:14but that's part of why I I do this work I don't think I'd be able to to be in this business if I

03:19didn't have this drive to just uncover every part of me um I just feel like I have so much to give

03:26and I've just been so hungry like even from the first day till now um and that even now I feel like I

03:32still have more to give and you know giving that right opportunity I just feel like I'll be able

03:37to deliver and I just haven't been wrong yet I feel like and so um that didn't mean just boasting it

03:42just me like knowing my preparation uh you know when you shoot a thousand free throws you you assume

03:48when you get to the line you're gonna make it and that's just how I see it for sure man and uh

03:52I've I've been a fan of the show since its um inception uh I want to know joining a series with an

03:58already rich and established world what was your approach in like integrating yourself into that

04:03cast and that storyline yeah for me it's I don't I don't want to do too much uh as far as

04:10I'm just letting the work speak for itself like when you have a show that's already established

04:14you have amazing actors you know sometimes you join shows that are on their way out sometimes you're on

04:19shows where they're trying to still establish themselves and for me as an actor like joining

04:24those kind of shows you want to figure out how you can help like bring more to the show um in

04:30these areas that you feel like they may lack in a way but the show has everything already so it's like

04:36I just want to come and make a seamless transition like I want people to watch the show and and fully

04:40believe like that he was living in this universe in that world in North Carolina he just ended up in

04:46Harlem like that's the goal I don't want people to be like who the no who is that like you know he looks

04:52like he's sticking out a little bit like that's not what I needed to do for this show and so it was

04:56um you know it's still a journey in a process but it's a good one so I wanted to hone in a little bit

05:03on the uh the cast well specifically this uh serious lead Forrest Whitaker um what was it like

05:09sharing scenes with him and being on set with the icon like Forrest Whitaker yeah I think he's just been

05:16uh he's been a consummate professional just for so long I mean decades um and thankfully the the

05:24industry has honored him in many ways I mean he's won many awards um I feel like he's still

05:30underrepresented and underrated though in terms of the work that he's done um and being acknowledged by

05:37um you know award shows being acknowledged by the people in the industry because he's had such an

05:43incredible and rich career for the past like three or four decades and so we have to make sure that we

05:48celebrate these guys because that is no small feat and it makes even more sense when you are an actor

05:55you know how hard it is to maintain a level of excellence but even outside of that we we should

06:02we should honor people who are dedicated their lives to a certain thing and he's done it better than

06:09pretty much anyone else up there at least with most of them no for sure for sure he's definitely a

06:16one of a kind man and um this next question is more of a two-fold thing because I think it's interesting

06:21when people are uh portraying real life characters and everything um one was there any pressure in

06:29stepping into uh Frank Lucas and wanting to I guess do justice to his uh to what his true self was

06:36and then two you know he was also played by an actor that you may have heard of named Denzel Washington

06:41um was there any pressure I guess um trying to like live up to his representation as well too

06:48so that's your first part um there was no pressure I don't I don't really believe in pressure in that

06:55context like I'm not operating I'm not doing brain surgery that's pressure you know it's like I do the

07:00wrong thing this person may not live for me it's not life or death although it can feel that way

07:07sometimes but when you're not navigating your life yourself when you answer to like God and you have

07:16you feel like you have a life that's planned out for you it it kind of absolves you of the pressure

07:22of making the right decisions because you know what decision you make is the one you're supposed to make

07:28and so there's no there's necessarily not no pressure in playing Frank Lucas there is a heightened

07:35like I guess supreme focus for me to make sure I nail the details um but everything that I've done in

07:41my career sort of led up to this point because I think Frank kind of uh embodies a lot of a lot you

07:48know a lot of the characteristics of many characters that I've played all kind of wrapped in one um

07:54and so I'm not I'm not necessarily fixated on uh impressing anybody or like you know for me it's

08:01about doing doing the work and I've just done the work every job I've had and so this is kind of no

08:07different you know obviously it's Denzel Washington I mean hey I'm gonna if any in any context if you ever

08:13saying my name and his at the same time then I already won and that's cool with me you know so

08:18hopefully at some point he can catch an episode or something yes sir yes sir uh what do you hope

08:25viewers take from your portrayal of Frank Lucas in season four of Godfather Harlem yeah I hope they can

08:31see um the future I hope people can watch it and go okay we we see more of a future now like with the

08:42show obviously we've been with Bumpy for three seasons but now integrating Frank it's like we

08:47have new life here we have more untold stories to tell and just hopefully reinvigorate the fans and

08:54reinvigorate these people in general who are fans of shows that are like this you know um and to be able to

09:03see a version of of me that they haven't you know and um I think it'll be a bit shocking for people

09:09early on after the first couple episodes and then you you'll forget like you'll you'll be like

09:15halfway through and just completely not even see me when you see Frank well Rome thank you so much

09:21my brother I appreciate you uh good luck congratulations on everything man thank you

WATCH | Rome Flynn Joins ‘Godfather of Harlem’ And Dives Into The Origins Of Frank Lucas

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