- 12 minutes ago
"He's really interactive with his actors," Laura Harrier said. "He's really there with you, he talks with you and there's always a conversation about what we're doing."
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00:00Hi, this is Mariah Gullow from The Hollywood Reporter and we're in studio today with the
00:07cast of Black Klansmen. I have John David Washington, Laura Harrier, and Topher Grace.
00:13Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having us. And congratulations on your
00:18premiere and opening night. Thank you. I wanted to start off with a quote from the real Ron
00:26Stallworth, played by you, JD. This is his quote about race in America. Let me put it this way,
00:34it hasn't changed. To me, race is a single most divisive factor affecting American society.
00:39It's an issue that we are afraid of, that we shy away from, and quite frankly, it amuses me that
00:45we are so sensitive to the issue. How is this movie the antidote to that sensitivity? It amuses
00:52him, huh? And this film being the antidote. Well, I think for one thing, for sure, what I took away
01:00from it is the language, you know, the verbalization of this hatred, and how generational that is,
01:08and that hatred and these words that are used, that is very divisive. So I think we can start,
01:14I guess, with this film, at least not introduce, but remind people of how we talk amongst one another,
01:20how people talk behind closed doors and in the confines of their own home, you know, and that
01:25language, as it, you know, as it's repetitive and taught and instituted, that's where the, that's how
01:31it gives the longevity and where it is today. And so this film, you see, it's, it is a period piece,
01:35but it has a very contemporary feel to it. And it's because of those words, these trigger words that
01:39Ron would talk about that are used often. And it's how, and it's why he used it as well to conduct this case.
01:46So I think, you know, these words, um, are really the, the most divisive things. And we got to change that.
01:52I think, you can set it.
01:54Okay.
01:55I mean, like, I'm off, tell me, I don't know, I'm just...
01:58That was pretty complete.
02:00Yeah.
02:03Um, let's talk a little bit about your character development. Most of you played real characters.
02:07Laurie played an amalgamation of real people.
02:10Um, how did your character development, like, I assume you both, you, all three of you had
02:16different approaches to your character development.
02:18Oh, yeah.
02:19Yeah, I had probably the worst time of anyone.
02:23A little different experience.
02:25I got the call from Spike, you know, I want you to be, you know, you're the guy.
02:29It's a great day. I mean, it's, he's a terrible man, but it's a really juicy, great role.
02:35And then I realized I'm in for the worst month of my life right now. I had to, you know, just
02:42really dig in and do the research. I read his autobiography, which is called My Awakening.
02:47It's kind of more like his mind comp. I watched a lot of filmed interviews from the seventies.
02:53I listened to his radio show. It was just so overwhelmingly depressing.
02:58The best thing was there were some episodes of him from the early eighties on Donahue.
03:03And I could see him, this is where I really pinpointed how evil he is, is the crowd doesn't
03:11want him there. And he handles them pretty well.
03:15I want to thank you so much for never putting your country second.
03:22America first.
03:23America first.
03:25America first.
03:26America first.
03:27America first.
03:28Laura, you studied Angela Davis and Kathleen Cleaver.
03:31Yeah, yeah. We actually jumped in our first time to meet Kathleen Cleaver.
03:36What was that like?
03:37It was so crazy. It was amazing.
03:40And she was super insightful.
03:42She's such an inspiring woman and this huge figure of the black power movement.
03:47And so Spike invited us all over to his house and she just told her story and, you know,
03:53explains how she got involved with the pants centers and her relationship with Eldridge and kind of their life
03:59together and what she did.
04:03Yeah, it was just really inspiring to talk to her.
04:06Just on a human level, like outside of, you know, for my character and stuff.
04:10She's just someone I've looked up to for so long.
04:12So, yeah, but I took a lot of that for Patrice.
04:15And then I read a lot of Angela Davis's books.
04:18And Spike actually gave me like a whole long reading list.
04:21It was like being back in school.
04:22And I was like, well, how am I going to read 20 books in two weeks?
04:25Spike, like cool.
04:26So, yeah, it kind of powered through all of those.
04:29And we watched the Black Panther Mixtape.
04:31I loved that, yeah.
04:32Which was such a great documentary.
04:33Yeah.
04:34And then, yeah, I don't know.
04:37I lost my chain of thought, but that's basically what I did.
04:39Well, yeah, my way in was the music, you know.
04:46I sort of eliminated all hip-hop and R&B, you know, from my diet for about three months.
04:53It's just about three months.
04:55And so I just sort of, and what I was realizing when I'm listening to War,
04:58and listening to Marvin Gaye, and a lot of these songs, you know,
05:01Poppa was a Rolling Stone, and how there were people who were dancing to these songs,
05:06but the lyrical content, that was very hefty stuff.
05:09And I think that was reflective of the times.
05:11I mean, people were just, it seemed like America was fed up, you know.
05:14That's Vietnam, Martin Luther King killing, you know, JFK.
05:17They were just expressing themselves in all different avenues.
05:20Music, clothes, the hair, you know, peace and love, drugs, whatever, you know what I mean?
05:24So I wanted to sort of let that be the foundation of where I started to build this character,
05:28months before I even met Ron, you know.
05:31And I was able to outsource to like my uncles and different people.
05:34I got my Uncle John who runs Marvin Gaye Studios.
05:37He was giving me a lot of insight on kung fu movies and like, you know,
05:41different playlists on that, his different playlists.
05:44And then really also the entertainment, like movies.
05:47I was watching Superfly every week.
05:49I would go to sleep to Soul Train every night, you know.
05:51So those dance scenes you see, I mean, I was, I mean, I was working for them.
05:55Like, that was a serious, it was fun day, but it was a very serious day for me.
05:59It was one of the toughest days.
06:00No, I had a blast.
06:01So that was kind of my way.
06:03And then obviously being able to develop a relationship with Ron Stallworth.
06:07I never played a living person before.
06:09So that was a great challenge in that I wanted to get, not get it right, but get it true.
06:16You know what I'm saying?
06:17Instead of like, I got to make sure it's right, make sure this is right.
06:19I just want to get it truthful as possible.
06:21And that was freeing to be able to fluidly just be able to tell the story.
06:26Did Ron tell you any stories that didn't make it into the movie?
06:29Do you have?
06:30Yeah, he did.
06:32Which I can't share.
06:35I mean, just from a practical standpoint of being a cop, where to stand in certain,
06:40in certain spaces and how to hold your gun and never, you know, just different terms.
06:44But yeah, that's all I'm going to give you.
06:48And you know, I have to ask you, JD, since the premiere just happened,
06:52and how did your father like the movie Denzel Washington?
06:56Uh, that's his, that is his name.
06:59How did he, I know he.
07:00This is crazy, I didn't know that.
07:01Yeah, he did, yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:03Yeah, I put it together now.
07:05You're welcome.
07:06Oh man, my cover's blown.
07:09How did he like it is the question.
07:10I think he's a proud parent.
07:12Both of my parents are very proud.
07:13I mean, my mom's seen it about three times.
07:15She partied like a rock star in Cannes.
07:18She was a very proud mother.
07:20It was a great moment for her, and you know, so yeah, everybody's happy.
07:24I was sitting right in front of your dad at the screening in New York though,
07:28and he was laughing so loud at all the jokes.
07:30Was he really?
07:31Yeah, he was like in it.
07:32He was like, he was super loud, like right behind us.
07:35That's all that kind of thing.
07:37But he was, yeah, it was cute.
07:39They were super proud of you.
07:39That was cute.
07:40No, they were really proud.
07:41My dad loved it, yeah.
07:45Yeah, what'd he say?
07:47Actually, he's saying he's really proud of you.
07:49Oh, thanks, Pops.
07:50Bummer, yeah, for me.
07:51Thanks, Pops.
07:53So this is a wild, true story that took place before any of you were born.
07:58But did you connect with the characters and their struggles?
08:02I definitely did.
08:03I mean, I think that we're talking about so many issues that are completely relevant to our time right now.
08:09And it was really, that really kind of sunk in when Corey was giving his speech as Kwame Touré.
08:16And he just does an incredible job and his performance is amazing.
08:21And he's speaking to this room of young black people who had never heard it for the first time,
08:27the first take.
08:28And you could feel the energy in that room just completely shift.
08:31And everyone was so riveted to the words he was saying because they were so completely true.
08:35And he's talking about, you know, young black people being shot down by racist cops.
08:40And yeah, and it was intense.
08:42But also, you know, he gives this incredible performance.
08:44It's amazing, uplifting speech.
08:46And it really was something I feel like, yeah, we were all able to connect with easily, yeah.
08:52I did not connect.
08:53How about to say, I wanted to connect with it.
08:56That's weird, actors will say to you when you're playing a villain,
09:00you should find something that you agree with or some way into the character.
09:04You know, if you're playing the Joker or something, like there's a fictional character,
09:08like is there some way to empathize with the character?
09:11You know, the problem is the more research I did, I don't want to say that I hated him
09:17because he's all about hate, so I don't know what the word is.
09:20But the more I found out about him, the more I didn't like it.
09:24Yeah.
09:25So there was nothing to play except for kind of pure evil.
09:28Yeah, yeah.
09:30And, you know, one of the things that you've said is that Spike Lee did a really amazing job
09:36of kind of keeping you connected in the film and making you feel part of the film.
09:42Can each of you tell me like a moment when Spike Lee interacted with you on set
09:47that was really important to you?
09:49Honestly, it's when he told me to put more bass in my voice.
09:54We were shooting for like, the first week was like the explosion scene
09:57and like a lot of action movement stuff.
09:59So like the next week was the first time I really had words that were coming off the page.
10:04It was when I was doing the detail, I think we were coming from down the stairs, you and Ryan.
10:08And so we do a couple of takes and he comes back, he yells cut, he comes back.
10:13Now he's not like, if you're me and I'm Spike, he's like looking this way.
10:16Like, so what we're going to do is we're going to bring the camera around here.
10:20We're going to bring it around here.
10:21And you're going to do exactly what you just did.
10:24Put some bass in your voice.
10:25And then he just takes off.
10:27I was like, yeah, I burst it out laughing.
10:29And for whatever reason, I mean, he's a master of cinema tone.
10:33And he really recognizes energy and momentum.
10:36And he knows when not to mess, not to tweak, not to manipulate,
10:39but let it happen even if we didn't plan for it.
10:41So sometimes it's what he didn't say to me.
10:43It was a line like that, a throwaway line, that it was funny,
10:46but it gave me confidence for whatever reason.
10:48I mean, I never felt more free to explore and to trust my teammates than a Spike Lee joint.
10:56I mean, he really, this legend trusted us with the material.
10:58And that gave me so much confidence, confidence I didn't even realize I needed.
11:02Why haven't you bought into this?
11:03Why should I?
11:04Because you're Jewish, brother.
11:06The so-called chosen people.
11:09You've been passing for a wasp.
11:11White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, cherry pie hot dog white boy.
11:17That's what some light-skinned black folks do.
11:18They pass for white.
11:20Doesn't that hatred you've been hearing the Klan say, doesn't that piss you off?
11:23Of course it does.
11:24Then why are you acting like you ain't got skin in the game, brother?
11:26Rookie, that's my fucking business.
11:29It's our business.
11:31I don't know, I had a crazy day when we were, you know, yeah, we were shooting this big speech
11:37scene and in between each take, Spike is playing like the Temptations and Michael Jackson and just
11:43riling up the crowd and he's running around.
11:44He's like, dance, dance, dance.
11:46And we're on stage and like, I was like, I don't know, like leading this rally and dancing in front of all
11:51these people and it was, he's so incredible at creating the energy in the room and whatever it
11:57needs to be for that scene.
11:58He knows really how to just create the vibe and he's so interactive with his actors as well.
12:04Like he's really there with you and he talks to everyone and he talks you through and there's
12:07always a conversation about everything we're doing.
12:09He's not telling you just as, you know, do it like this and do what I say.
12:12We always, it's always open for, for your interpretation.
12:15So, um, yeah, he's just like really supportive and yeah, he trusted us, which is crazy.
12:21Yeah, for sure.
12:23Uh, the day I really needed Spike was we shot kind of all of the Klan rally stuff in one week.
12:29So it got really depressing really fast.
12:32In the film, it's cutting around to different stuff, but just to film that much of it at once,
12:39you know, mostly on his set, it's really fun.
12:41Um, uh, he's, uh, really open to things and, but that week it got really tough and,
12:48uh, and he, he would want you to improv, but you know, everything you're improv-ing comes
12:53from this place of hate and it was just terrible.
12:55So, uh, one day I kind of, and I'm not an actor that, uh, takes their work home with them.
13:01I'm not very method.
13:02One day I was just really, uh, bummed out and, uh, that's where you need a great leader
13:08like Spike.
13:08He just came up to me and kind of rubbed my back.
13:10I was like, hey, like, I know this week is terrible, but you're serving my message.
13:15That's great though that you did that.
13:16Yeah, I know what I'm saying.
13:18I'm, I'm like Spike Lee.
13:20Oh yeah, that's right.
13:21Yeah.
13:21I went and shot it and he was right.
13:23When I saw the film, I thought, oh, it was worth it.
13:26Laura, what was it like seeing, filming the scene with Harry Belafonte?
13:31I mean, incredible.
13:32That was such a special day.
13:35Um, it was actually our last day of shooting and that was the last scene that we shot of the whole film.
13:40Um, and everyone on set that day, all the crew members, all dressed up.
13:43You know, the men were wearing tuxes and the women wearing dresses.
13:46And John David wasn't even working that day.
13:48And he came to set in his tux, looking super handsome.
13:52And, um, you know, you were just all dressed up.
13:56You were ready for the film that day.
13:57I thought, I thought I was, I was on hold.
13:59You were not there.
14:00I was on hold.
14:01Just in case they needed a brother, I was ready.
14:04All right, go ahead.
14:05I'm sorry.
14:06I didn't mean to interrupt.
14:06I'm calling you out like that.
14:09You're Harry Belafonte.
14:10I would have come.
14:10I know, right?
14:11I mean, like.
14:12Yeah, like, who would have come for that?
14:13Straight up.
14:14No, it was amazing.
14:15And I don't know.
14:16I mean, you know, he is telling this, this true story.
14:20That's this, this tragic, awful story that really happened.
14:23Um, and hearing those words that come from his mouth, this incredible figurehead and icon
14:28of the civil rights movement, it just lent that much more weight to what he was telling.
14:32And, um, you know, I think, and everyone was completely collected by this story.
14:36It was like, we didn't have to act.
14:38Like, we just were listening to these, to these words coming from this incredible man.
14:41And, um, it was really, um, it was intense, but, but amazing.
14:46And he's, he's also so just kind and so talented and good.
14:50And he was just on and every single take he completely delivered.
14:53And, um, I was so inspired by him.
14:55It was really cool.
14:55Yeah.
14:56Um, so this movie, uh, you know, is Spike Lee, classic Spike Lee signature style,
15:02includes a lot of documentary footage or footage from other movies.
15:06Um, so you didn't really get to see that until you saw the completed project.
15:10Right.
15:11How did it feel to see the full project, including the documentary footage at the end?
15:18How did it feel?
15:20Well, it depends on where I was at the time.
15:22How did it, what it felt like in France.
15:24It felt different in Brooklyn.
15:26It felt different than yesterday.
15:27You know, seeing it overseas, you know, it made me embarrassed for my country.
15:31You know, I almost felt like I'm, I'm in a stranger's house or watching my documentary.
15:36Or like inside scoop, inside footage of what goes on in my house.
15:40You know, I'm like, oh man, is that how I talk?
15:42Is that how we sound?
15:44You know what I mean?
15:45At the same time, it was very inspirational of what people overseas were able to connect
15:49with and, and share some of the same issues and struggles that we're not alone in that fight.
15:54And, um, again, Spike just, I mean, he did a beautiful job of, again, I said,
15:59he's like a master of tone.
16:00I believe you said it before as well.
16:01Like, and you just see that.
16:02Cause like when I'm filming, I'm not thinking funny.
16:04I'm not hitting any points.
16:06I'm just going to connect with my partners, you know, and the truth will come out.
16:10And so it's like, we'll see what they do with it.
16:11I don't know what they're going to do with it.
16:12And to see that, I never felt more proud as an artist and seeing what he kept as well.
16:16You know, like, I guess I was surprised about what he is, some of the ad libs and some of
16:20the little small things that he was able to catch and use.
16:24I mean, that's like inspiring as an artist, like, because it makes you on your A game.
16:28Like whatever you bring, whatever truth you bring, he'll use it.
16:32First shot of the film is a civil war.
16:35The last shot of the film is 2017.
16:37I mean, this is, there are other directors who could maybe tell Ron's story.
16:42No one, but Spike Lee could run that line, you know, kind of telling that story of America.
16:48And to me, when I saw it in Cannes, first time I'd seen the film,
16:53when that footage came on at the end, because there's Klan footage that we shot.
16:58And then it went into something that had happened, I guess, nine months earlier at that time.
17:05And I think the audience didn't know at first that it was real life footage.
17:10And there was this kind of gas.
17:11And my feeling was it was like a horror movie where, you know, the guy calls and says,
17:18the calls coming from inside the house, you know, oh, my God, the killer's here.
17:22Like, it's like a brilliant hit movement, Spike.
17:25Yeah, this is your America.
17:27Yeah.
17:28Not just the America you're seeing from 1978.
17:30It's in an arm's length, a little bit being in a different time.
17:32I didn't think about it.
17:33Like, you think they didn't connect that it was real footage at first, huh?
17:36I don't know if that chyron was at the bottom of the screen in Cannes.
17:39Wow.
17:40Wow, that's interesting.
17:42And also, I mean, that footage is not from their country.
17:44So it's not as, it took a second.
17:47That's really interesting.
17:48Yeah.
17:48Wow.
17:49What was it like seeing David Duke in that final footage?
17:58I mean, it was weird, you know, it's always weird watching yourself in a film.
18:03And you kind of can never really, or it's very hard to connect with a piece of material that
18:07you're in, that you're watching.
18:10That didn't stop me at all.
18:12I mean, this might be the first time that I've been so moved by something that I'm in,
18:17because it's not even about me.
18:19It was just, like, that ending.
18:23He's an artist.
18:24It's so rare in Hollywood you get to work with, like, a real visionary.
18:28People use that word a lot.
18:30Someone said that at the premiere last night.
18:31But he's, and just be a part of that is like, I feel the same way.
18:37That's why we're all here.
18:37I feel the same way.
18:38So the movie's opening wide on the one-year anniversary of Charlottesville.
18:44Personally, how has Charlottesville affected you?
18:49It's interesting.
18:50I asked my mother, like, you know, we've been doing all this research, right?
18:54Like, when this happened, I was doing a lot of research for the film and a lot of 60s and
18:58late 60s and 70s research.
19:01And I was starting to get a little, not depressed, but just, like, just, I felt disgusted.
19:05Like, oh, you know, country and all that.
19:06And I asked her, do you think the times were worse then or now?
19:10And she said now, you know?
19:12And, you know, being one that's lived through both.
19:16And I felt like, I guess I imagine what they felt like after, a lot of people felt like after
19:20Vietnam or after the killing of JFK and Martin Luther King, like, we're just tired of it.
19:25We're just fed up.
19:26Like, I'm just like, what, what can we, I don't have the words.
19:29I don't know what to do, but I'm ready to follow somebody with some sense.
19:33And I was, but this is the craft.
19:36I'm able to do it in this.
19:38This is my way of trying to contribute.
19:39If we can, if we can inspire one person, you know, to make the actual change,
19:44then we've done our job.
19:45At least that's how I feel, you know?
19:48Yeah.
19:48I feel like our job as artists is to lend our voice to this story and, and to be part of
19:55Spike's telling of this story.
19:57And yeah, for me, that's the, you know, what I can do.
20:00And that's like how it feels important.
20:02But, um, yeah, seeing that footage is really, um, yeah, it was jarring and scary and shocking.
20:09So I'm just so happy that Spike put that in the film and, and to remind people too,
20:13because so many crazy things are happening all the time now that it's, it's easy to forget,
20:18even though that was only a year ago.
20:19And I, I think that needs to be at the front of people's minds so we don't go back there.
20:25My wife and I just had our first child, uh, before shooting started.
20:30And, uh, it was a very confusing time to bring someone in the world, kind of look around.
20:36Um, I agree with what JD is saying.
20:39Uh, it's cathartic to be able to, I mean, look, it's really Spike saying something,
20:47but to be able to help him say something.
20:49Right, right.
20:50They say, you know, if you don't know your history, you could be condemned to repeat it.
20:55That's why I think this movie and just all movies that are like this are so important right now.
20:59Uh, so Spike Lee went on CNN and said he hopes this movie helps make Trump a one-term president.
21:07This is it?
21:08He did.
21:10And, um, you know, Trump actually.
21:12You want that tweet.
21:13Where's the tweet?
21:14Yeah, right?
21:14Come on, there's people off camera from Focus.
21:17Features being like, come on, there's one tweet right now, like, you know,
21:21when people are buying tickets, that's when we need to tweet.
21:23Yeah, I would, yeah, exactly.
21:26I was going to say, you know, Trump does watch CNN and he has been known.
21:30I mean, do his tweets get press?
21:31Because that'd be great.
21:32That would be good for, just tweet something.
21:35Holla at us.
21:36Yeah.
21:37Let us know your opinion.
21:38We don't know what it is.
21:39Holla at us.
21:39Just give us a little tweet.
21:41He's, he's been known to react to some Hollywood Reporter articles as well.
21:44So, do you want to address...
21:45I guess he can be a little reactionary sometimes.
21:51Is there anything you want to say to him if he, uh, if he happens to be watching?
21:55I think the film does a great job of saying everything that we want to say.
22:01Um, the end.
22:03Yeah, ditto.
22:05Yeah.
22:07All right.
22:07Finally, just for fun, um, name one thing from the 70s you would like to bring back today.
22:16I've spent enough time in the 70s.
22:18When am I going to stop wearing polyester?
22:21All I've worn is polyester.
22:22I've spent more time in the 70s than people who lived through the 70s.
22:26Done with that.
22:27This might be like a weird answer, but like, just process.
22:34It seemed like, in my research too, it seemed like they valued the process of things.
22:37Even how people made stuff.
22:38How music was made, clothes, the food, you know, slow down a little bit.
22:43Spend a little more time on things.
22:44I think so.
22:44I like to, I like that to get back in style somehow.
22:47The films.
22:47Yeah, exactly.
22:48Yeah, I mean, come on.
22:50Exactly.
22:50Process.
22:51Um, I'd like to bring back Soul Train.
22:54Oh, no.
22:56Exactly.
22:57Yeah, that too.
22:58Yeah, that too.
22:59Bring back Soul Train.
23:00Yeah, that too.
23:01Good answer.
23:03Fantastic.
23:03Well, thank you so much for being here.
23:04I appreciate it.
23:05Black Klansman, open everywhere now.
23:07Go see it.
23:08Go see it.
23:09Bye.
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