00:00I wanted to know, why was it important to tell this story via flashbacks?
00:04Yeah, well, I don't consider it being flashbacks.
00:06I feel it's like a pre-sequel, you know?
00:09There's a story that's happening in the present tense
00:11with Kiara, played by Blue Ivy, and Dr. John Connie,
00:15who just happen to be both the eldest and the youngest members of our cast.
00:18And then, yes, you're seeing the story that's being told
00:21through these characters of a young Mufasa, a young Taka, a.k.a. Scar, a young Rafiki.
00:26I thought it was really lovely, because in Kiara,
00:28if you're a child in the audience, you're looking,
00:31where do I see myself in the film?
00:32You see yourself in that character.
00:35And so as she's evolving and growing from the lessons she's learning
00:38and the story she's being told,
00:39children in the audience are doing the same thing as they're watching the film.
00:42And speaking of Blue Ivy Carter,
00:44what was it about her that made you say, yes, this is my Kiara?
00:48You know, this movie starts purely in voices,
00:51and I heard her perform my friend Matthew Cherry's novel, Hair Love,
00:55as an audiobook.
00:56And, you know, I love that in this film,
00:59you know, the actress, it's just about the voice.
01:01I don't care what you look like, how tall you are, what your hair is like.
01:05If you can communicate that emotion with your voice, you have the part.
01:08You know, she gave a great audition,
01:10and somehow I just felt like, you know,
01:13Kiara is the daughter of a king and queen, you know?
01:16And I do think in some ways Blue Ivy is the daughter of a king and queen.
01:20And yet she has this really wonderful humility, a self-centeredness, a self-possession
01:26that I just found to be really invigorating and rich.
01:29And she just crushed this, absolutely crushed her.
01:31Did you ever think about making her sing for the film?
01:34No, that's Lin-Manuel's job.
01:37You know, nobody can blame me or thank me for the songs they have in this movie.
01:43But no, we didn't.
01:44Especially because, you know, in the role that she's in,
01:47you know, being sort of like the children's eyes and ears sort of in this movie,
01:52she is here to sort of receive and react,
01:54and not so much to express the way the songs do.
01:59What was it like collaborating with Lin-Manuel on this film?
02:02It was really great.
02:03I've never directed a musical,
02:04and I love knowing what I do know
02:07and also acknowledging where that knowledge ends.
02:10And so I really leaned on Lin, you know,
02:12and expressed to him how I wanted to make sure the songs were serving the narrative,
02:16you know, and not distracting from it,
02:19you know, not taking away from it.
02:20And he really embraced that.
02:21And together, we sort of worked on why do we need a song here
02:25and how is it advancing the story we're telling?
02:27And obviously, this is a really big franchise that you stepped into.
02:30So do you see yourself continuing doing those type of films
02:33or go back to more like indie type films?
02:36Why can't I do both?
02:37Why can't I do both?
02:38You know, in the span of the time that we've made this,
02:41we also finished The Underground Railroad and put that out.
02:43Very different project than this.
02:44And we produced a film called After Sun, directed by Charlotte Wells,
02:48and Aldrich Rose's Taste of Salt, directed by Raven Jackson,
02:50and True Detective Night Country, directed by Issa Lopez.
02:53So we're always doing multiple things at once.
02:56And the same way Jeff Nathanson wrote an amazing script
02:58that completely took me by surprise,
03:00if someone else did the same thing,
03:02because there's so much more story to be told here, who knows?
03:04What do you think the audience is going to be the most surprised
03:07to find out on this film?
03:09I don't know if they'll be surprised,
03:10but I loved when I first read the script.
03:13You know, there's this notion of good and evil.
03:15And we assume that Taka and Scar is evil purely because he is,
03:20and Mufasa is great purely because he is.
03:23And I love the complexity of going through their lives
03:26and showing how this choice versus that choice,
03:29this parenting versus that parenting,
03:32can kind of put you on the path to where you're evolving,
03:34but you're evolving into the worst version of yourself
03:36versus the best version of yourself.
03:38I think it's a really rewarding and rich thing
03:40to explore with these characters that are so intimately connected
03:44to so many audiences around the world.
03:46Absolutely.
03:47And what do you want people to take away?
03:48After watching this, after going home and letting them marinate,
03:51what do you want them to take away from it?
03:53Oh, just that this idea of nature versus nurture, you know,
03:56and hopefully just through watching this film,
03:59especially with the deep connections we have to these characters
04:02when we walk into the cinema,
04:03this idea of nature versus nurture
04:05and maybe looking around in our lives
04:07and seeing how there are so many people around us every day
04:10who could evolve to be their best or their worst selves
04:13based on how we treat them.
04:15And the last question we're asking everyone,
04:17what was their favorite movie of 2024?
04:19Oh, so far, The Nickel Boys, 1,000%.
04:221,000%, point blank, period.
04:25You know, I watched it twice in like three days.
04:27Love, love, love that movie.
04:28Rommel Ross is, he is a true visionary, a true artist.
04:33That film is extraordinary.
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