00:00You taste like oregano.
00:12You need to put all that away.
00:14I haven't had my coffee yet.
00:16Excuse me.
00:20Dear Jordan,
00:22just take one look at your mother.
00:26Marry me.
00:27Yes.
00:30That will tell you what I think beautiful is.
00:34Your father wrote that.
00:38He wrote this whole thing just for you.
00:44It's a pleasure to speak to both of you.
00:46Dana, I would love to start with you
00:48and whether your son Jordan has seen this movie
00:51and what it was like for him
00:52to experience you and Charles' story in this way.
00:56He has seen it, but he's seen it twice now.
00:58Denzel was gracious enough to come in
01:00and give us a private screening
01:02before we shared this with the world.
01:05And he saw it last night at the premiere,
01:06surrounded by a bunch of his friends.
01:09He's very proud.
01:10He's proud of his parents.
01:12I think he's mindful that,
01:14while this is an amazing movie,
01:15it's also our lives.
01:17And so, you know,
01:18he gets it.
01:20He really does.
01:21And I think the thing that trips him up a little bit
01:25is the love scenes
01:26because he's a 15-year-old boy
01:27and nobody wants to think about their parents making out.
01:29And we interviewed Shantae Adams
01:40for a feature in a book.
01:42And Mr. Washington,
01:43she said that you shared with her a piece of advice.
01:46Any artist can be vague,
01:47but a great artist will get specific.
01:49And I'm curious, you know,
01:51for you, what specificities were important
01:53to get right or include in this film,
01:55you know, from a director perspective?
01:56Finding Shantae.
02:01You know, when I'm casting,
02:05I always tell the casting people,
02:07or in this case, also my producing partner,
02:09and even Dana, I say,
02:11I only need one.
02:12And when that person,
02:13I don't need 10 Danas,
02:14I only need one.
02:15And I'll know who it is when they walk in.
02:18And, you know,
02:19she told, shared with you,
02:21I put it through the ringer.
02:23But when the two of them got in the room together,
02:26the chemistry was so strong.
02:28And I was like, okay,
02:29we got a movie now.
02:31We found Dana.
02:32Okay.
02:33And Dana, for you with Shantae,
02:36what was it about her, you know,
02:37that made you feel comfortable
02:38with her portraying you?
02:40She is classically trained,
02:43award-winning at a very young age.
02:45So I knew she took her craft very seriously.
02:48Humble.
02:49Oh my gosh.
02:50Beyond.
02:51Totally, totally humble.
02:54Prayerful.
02:55She's got an amazing spirit
02:57and an old soul.
02:59I mean,
03:00to watch her play
03:00a 10-year span
03:01in this movie,
03:03she did it so successfully
03:04because she is an old soul.
03:06But she brought her heart to this.
03:09She's,
03:09we call each other sister now.
03:11We don't even call each other
03:12by name very much.
03:13And she and her mother and father
03:15are going to be spending Christmas
03:16in my home.
03:17My son calls her Auntie.
03:20And she'll be in my life
03:22for the rest of my life.
03:22That's my little sister.
03:24I love that.
03:25And I came across
03:27an old article,
03:29New York Times piece,
03:30where you'd answered reader questions
03:32after you initially shared your story.
03:34And many of them,
03:35you know,
03:35wanted to know,
03:36were you angry
03:37or how you were not angry?
03:38And I'm curious,
03:39you know,
03:39now kind of reliving
03:40this experience,
03:41you know,
03:42what emotions
03:42this project
03:43and process brought up for you?
03:45You know,
03:46how emotionally,
03:47how difficult
03:47might it have been?
03:48It's both uplifting for me
03:51and difficult
03:52because obviously
03:53it had,
03:55I recall the loss
03:57and I miss him
03:57a lot.
04:00Reliving some of those things
04:01that we experienced together
04:02as a couple,
04:03but I'm also proud
04:05and grateful
04:07to Denzel
04:08and to the cast
04:10for what we've done here.
04:11I'd like to say that,
04:13you know,
04:14the storyline,
04:16there are parts of it
04:16that are hard,
04:17but it's also,
04:17it's funny,
04:19it's uplifting,
04:19it's a great holiday movie
04:21for families to see together.
04:22It really,
04:23really is.
04:23It's warm,
04:24it's tender.
04:25I was surprised
04:26when I saw it
04:27with audiences
04:27for the first time
04:28how much people laughed
04:29and I was glad to see that.
04:31Yeah.
04:31I have to tell you,
04:32I went with my boss
04:33in the scene
04:34where you didn't shave
04:34your legs.
04:35We were like,
04:35why didn't she shave her legs?
04:39It was a good moment.
04:43It's something you want to share?
04:45It's actually true.
04:47That's,
04:47yeah,
04:47I think women can relate
04:48to that,
04:49right?
04:50I remember,
04:52we,
04:54I had screened it
04:55for some folks at Sony,
04:57it was like three or four ladies
04:58and I asked about that
05:00and the whole psychology of it
05:02and the four of them
05:05started talking
05:05at the same time
05:06and I was like,
05:07okay,
05:07I don't know what they said.
05:09You know that,
05:10don't you?
05:13That's what I mean.
05:14What do they say?
05:15Men of a,
05:15I was like,
05:17I don't know
05:18what y'all talking about
05:19because they just
05:20started talking on topic.
05:21No,
05:21because you,
05:22you know,
05:22you can't let him know
05:23because you know
05:23but you don't know
05:24and but you don't.
05:26It's complicated.
05:27Yeah.
05:28It's complicated.
05:29Y'all are complicated.
05:30Oh man.
05:34Well,
05:35you know,
05:35I started thinking about,
05:37it's been nearly 20 years
05:38since your directorial debut
05:40with Antoine Fisher.
05:41I'm curious,
05:42you know,
05:42what you've learned
05:42about yourself
05:43as an artist
05:45from stepping behind the camera
05:46from the past two years.
05:50I'm,
05:51you know,
05:51I'm growing,
05:53trying to,
05:53I think this was a good leap
05:56and I look forward
06:00to other opportunities.
06:03Okay.
06:04And Leslie,
06:05what are each of you
06:06kind of hoping audiences
06:07will take away
06:08from your story
06:09and that you've openly
06:10shared with us?
06:11I think what Dana said too,
06:13you know,
06:14it is uplifting
06:14and it is funny
06:15and it is a love story.
06:21Maybe not,
06:22in different ways,
06:24everybody is,
06:25not everybody,
06:25but people have gone
06:26through loss,
06:28maybe not quite like this,
06:30but love prevails
06:32and love is forever
06:34and love is still alive.
06:38I couldn't have said it
06:39any better.
06:40That's right.
06:42Well,
06:42thank you so much.
06:43I appreciate your time.
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