00:00He's like, what did y'all find this dude?
00:01You know what I'm saying?
00:02I'm standing right there.
00:03But he just started talking to him.
00:04He's like, what did y'all find him?
00:05And they're like, what you mean, man?
00:07We like called him in, you know, whatever, blah, blah, blah.
00:09And he's like, this motherfucker think he know everything.
00:12Shaft was one of those things that I
00:14heard about the traditional way.
00:16Like, the agent was like, hey, there's a movie coming out.
00:17It's going to be Shaft, this and that.
00:19And it's Kenya Barris is writing it.
00:21Tim Story is directing it.
00:22Sam's going to be in it.
00:24And he's like, you know, this casting agent that I've known
00:28forever, he's like, she's going to be casting for it.
00:31And I was like, oh, all right, I think we can work this one out.
00:33And I was like, I read it.
00:34And I love the script.
00:36And then, like, things kind of started coming together
00:39where I started meeting all the heads of, like, you know,
00:43all the people who were in charge of that project.
00:46I started meeting them at different times.
00:48And I would just express my desire to be in the film.
00:53By the time I met Kenya, everybody had seen the tape.
00:56And, you know, I guess the audition went well.
00:58And Kenya was like, all right.
01:00And I was like, all right, as in, like, yeah,
01:02like, I'm going to do this movie.
01:03And he was like, OK, yeah, we'll try to work it out.
01:07As legendary as they are, they're super humble.
01:09And, like, they're very down to earth.
01:10Whatever you think that they would be like in person
01:13is pretty much what you're going to get.
01:15The Sam that you know from, you know, all his classic movies,
01:18whatever, is like the Sam that you meet in person.
01:20And, like, Richard is still original Shaft, like, down to the jewelry.
01:25Like, he showed up to work with, like, a turtleneck, a whole bunch of rings on.
01:29You know what I'm saying? Like, a black beanie and a cigar that was never lit.
01:34Like, he's still that guy.
01:38But they're so cool, though, you know what I mean?
01:39They just lay back, they sit back, they do their thing.
01:42Um, being around them, you kind of just get a sense of familâlike, you feel like you know them.
01:48Um, they're not off-setting or, you know, standoffish at all.
01:53Like, they'll sit and just have a regular conversation with you, which is nice.
01:56Motherf*****, motherf*****, motherf*****, motherf*****.
01:59I'm pretty sure the first time Sam cussed me out was in the audition.
02:03I think so.
02:04I think that was the first time, because, uh, we did theâwe did, like, three scenes.
02:09And in the first scene, he kind of went off book a little bit.
02:12And we started justâI don't know, we just started just messing around with each other.
02:16And then after that first scene was over, um, like, it was sort of indirect.
02:20He looked to, like, John Davis, who was one of the producers in Tim's story.
02:23He's like, where did y'all find this dude? You know what I'm saying?
02:25Like, I'm standing right there, but he just started talking to him.
02:28He's like, where did y'all find him?
02:29And they're like, what you mean, man? We, like, called him in, you know, whatever, blah, blah, blah.
02:33And he's like, this one s**t, you think you know everything?
02:34And, like, he startsâhe starts going off, and he's like, who do you think you are?
02:39And I'm like, what you mean, son? Like, I just went off of your thing.
02:43You know, you started going this way, and I went with you.
02:46And, um, like, after that, you know, it wasâit was a regularâa regular occurrence.
02:50It feels like I'm playing, like, the neighborhood superhero.
02:54What's really nice about it is having people who are in generations,
02:58like, older than me, um, hearing them talk about it.
03:02You know, I was in the car with a much older black guy, like, and he wasâhe was drivingâdriving me and my family.
03:08And he's like, yeah, man, I just used to go around and, like, sing a theme song all the time.
03:12And he's like, who are you going to play?
03:13And I'm like, I'm playing Shaft Jr.
03:14And he's like, oh, my God, man, that's so amazing.
03:17Like, those things feel good.
03:18Hearing the black community, how they've received the news of getting another Shaft movie.
03:23It feels like a black hero.
03:24You diggin'?
03:28You diggin'?
Comments