00:00This right here is what it's all about, family.
00:06In my absence, you decided that you should make yourself a middleman inside of your own
00:11organization. LAPD, they've gotten worse. Crack down on my people's been brutal.
00:19Police come at us, we're gonna come right back at them.
00:21You know, I think I speak for everybody when I say we're super excited for the return of Snowfall.
00:25And it's been a year, you know, since last season. So catch us up to, you know,
00:30storylining and where we'll see Franklin. So season five starts 15 months after where
00:38season four ended. And a lot's changing in Franklin's life. You know, he's got way more money now.
00:46He's about to be a father, which is crazy. Yeah, he's got his girlfriend called Veronique.
00:53And, you know, in his headspace, this season is mostly about trying to get out the game,
00:59trying to be more legit. You know, he's really focused on building up this real estate business.
01:05And due to the happenings of the times of 1986, crack being on the rise, police brutality,
01:14crash, the war on drugs, there's a lot of animosity on the streets and in the family.
01:20So, yeah, you're in for a whirlwind of a season.
01:23Okay. I think one of the big questions people have is Mel. And like, will we see her again?
01:31You know, I know you're gonna say you can't tell me.
01:34I know, I can't tell you. You know, people really love Melody's character,
01:40you know, and she was a victim of the times, you know, like many women like herself were.
01:45But we'll see. We'll see.
01:49So what also Franklin's relationship with Reed? I feel like it's kind of hanging in a balance.
01:54We don't know where that might go. What can you tell us kind of about that storyline?
01:59Well, you know, Reed, aka Teddy McDonald, has been on a path and a journey to funding the Nicaraguan
02:10war and, you know, aiding the CIA as best as he can. But after what we saw in the finale of season four,
02:19and his interaction with Alton, Franklin's dad, his cover has been blown and he's,
02:29you know, it's really uncertain about where he's going to stand in his organization.
02:34He definitely wants to get back into the game, however.
02:37And as it's been 15 months, things have got a lot more sloppy.
02:43They haven't been up to the standard of Reed and how he likes to do things.
02:48So he's definitely got an agenda this season with regards to the relationship with himself
02:53and Franklin. Again, there's so much animosity there. It really has got to a stage of the two of them
02:59playing a chess game, trying to outwit and outsmart the other. And both of them are way more paranoid.
03:07They have so much to lose, both of them. This season is my favorite season because,
03:13you know, there's so many amazing characters on the show from Aunt Louis to Uncle Jerome to
03:17Reed Thompson to Gustavo. I think as a viewer, you're going to be really torn on what sides to take.
03:24And, you know, thinking about, you know, this show is a drama, but it's also, you know,
03:31a very real retelling of, you know, the real experience of the crack epidemic, you know,
03:36in L.A. in the 80s and 90s. You know, going into this, how did you know, you know, already about
03:41what was happening, you know, in L.A. and what have you been surprised to learn over the years?
03:48First of all, I thought America was just a bunch of Brad Pitt's walking around.
03:52So I didn't. But, you know, it was thanks to artists such as John Singleton, you know,
03:59for creating the work like Boys in the Hood, Baby Boy, Poet Justice, Higher Learning.
04:04I really was introduced to L.A. culture. And, you know, just just being out here in L.A.,
04:13you know, I've been working out here since 2015, I think, like since I got this show.
04:18It's a difficult town to get away from.
04:25The weather's great. And the show shows that. It's a testament to the show. It's a testament to Singleton's work.
04:32He really did put L.A. on a map and show them globally in a positive light.
04:38And if it was ever in a negative light, we got something out of it.
04:42Another one of our writers talked to you last year ahead of season four.
04:46I mean, you talked about, you know, there are certain rituals you kind of get into to get into the mindset of Franklin.
04:52And at the time, you talked about, you know, there was a big gap, you know, with COVID.
04:56And so you had to decide, did you want to stay in that space, you know, or not?
04:59But I'm curious, like, what are those rituals that that get you in that headspace?
05:05Well, touching everything was a big one.
05:10If I've been in a place before, if it's Franklin's bedroom or his office, I touch everything.
05:15I couldn't do it last year. This year, I was like, I'm doing it.
05:18You're going to have to hand sanitize it once I'm done.
05:21Really interacting with the cast and correlating that with our interactions on screen.
05:31If I got beef with you, I might not wish you a good morning.
05:35I might not ask you how your weekend is because we're about to get to work and we have to show that on screen.
05:41There's so many.
05:42I think I think my rituals are dependent on the character I'm playing.
05:50So for Frank, I'm always in the accent, you know, I'm never British.
05:55And these things help me because, you know, it just makes everything feel more real, I think.
06:00And I need reality to be able to perform to the best of my ability.
06:05I need to be able to compare it to something in my real life.
06:10It's funny when I did I did a film which was like an action movie and it was like a little green screen.
06:16And, you know, there's a robot there, but there isn't a robot there.
06:21And this season, there's something like that in episode five and six that's going to blow the audience away.
06:26So, yeah, it's just about adopting your methods according to the roles you play.
06:36Now, you also say you were learning Spanish.
06:38How's your Spanish coming along?
06:39Oh, my God.
06:42Oh, that dream.
06:45That is not.
06:47Oh, man, I was learning Spanish.
06:49What happened?
06:51Duolingo, man.
06:52Whoever made Duolingo, by the way, we need to talk about this.
06:54Like, if I'm learning how to say bird, cat, green, whatever, when it comes to doing the test, why are you not testing me on that?
07:04They asked me stuff they taught me.
07:07I was like, I don't get this hat.
07:08Maybe I just need to hire a teacher.
07:11But that's something, COVID, COVID is so funny because there's so much out there in the world that I know I don't know.
07:18And, you know, we have a lot of downtime, you know, me and you were speaking over Zoom right now.
07:22So that time that would have taken me to travel from wherever the location would have been, we now have that time.
07:31So I've put hobbies into that time and I'm learning how to cook.
07:34Yeah, I'm trying to be, I'm trying to be a cliche, more of a cliche.
07:41I'm learning how to cook.
07:42I make a really good spaghetti bolognese for anyone out there.
07:46And I'm trying to learn how to play the saxophone now.
07:49So next year, when you asked me if I know how to play the saxophone, I'm still not going to know how to play it.
07:56I would say.
08:01Now, I want to ask, I saw over the weekend, I think you inducted Bobby Schmurder into the Darkskins Society.
08:09If you met, if Franklin was a real character and you met him, would you welcome him into the DFS?
08:16Oh, hell yeah.
08:17Oh, definitely.
08:19I love that guy, man.
08:20He's the joy, you know, it's like he's on 10, 24-7, man.
08:27When we met him, you know, our suite, you know, we were just like kind of chilling, like watching the game.
08:34Everyone's like being cool.
08:36Bobby Schmurder comes in like, yo, what's up?
08:38Do you want?
08:39And we was like, oh, whoa.
08:42And my good friend, Juan OG, like introduced me to him.
08:45And yeah, man, he's a great guy, man.
08:48Great guy.
08:49Good hop, good hop.
08:50So last question.
08:51I said I wasn't going to ask you about this, but then it was on my mind.
08:53I know, not letting me think back, but I'm sure you saw the interviews where people were asking Denzel Washington about you.
09:01Yeah.
09:02And I was upset because I felt like people didn't represent you as the lead actor you are.
09:06Like they act like you were just playing around on social media.
09:09They thought I was the guy that just walks around my house with my shirt off.
09:13Exactly.
09:16No, it was, you know, Denzel is my idol.
09:20He's a giant in this community.
09:22And I would never, ever, ever have anything bad to say about him.
09:26What he says goes.
09:29If you want to call me dancing, call me dancing.
09:32Listen, I just hope, I hope he gets to eventually watch my work, man, because, you know, I'm standing on his shoulders, definitely.
09:42Well, thank you so, so very much.
09:44I appreciate your time.
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