00:00The Sam Jackson that you get in the interviews, that you get on social media, you're going to get in real life.
00:06And that was also nice to see because ultimately we're an actor.
00:10We're going to be actors for our whole lives, but you don't want to act all the time.
00:13You do want to be yourself.
00:15And how can you take up space being yourself for real?
00:18Is it ever known?
00:19But the treatment will only work once.
00:22Is that what you want?
00:23I got a lot of things to do.
00:26And I need my memory to do it.
00:30There's something in your heart and this in your eyes is so fine.
00:35Thank you. Hello, Brandy Victoria with Essence. How are you?
00:39I'm good. How are you?
00:40Well, it's so good to see you.
00:45I love talking to you last year about Judas and the Black Messiah.
00:49You know, you told me your casting story and how you were able to really like shape your character.
00:53So I would love to start there with this project and you telling me, you know, your interest in the last days and told me, Greg, and how you landed the role of Robin.
01:00Well, after doing Judas and finally playing like a romantic, you know, character and somebody who got to be really soft, I was like, I didn't know what I was going to do next.
01:11And then when I hear like Robin is like fighting and do all this stuff, I was like, I don't know, you know.
01:16But Sam really wanted me and the producers really wanted me.
01:20And that was also really like an honor.
01:23He said that he saw Project Power and made a phone call and was like, I really, I think we found our girl.
01:29So didn't even know that that was like in the mix of happening, you know, everything happens for a reason.
01:34So getting to do this character, I did not get to journal because she didn't want to.
01:41You know, I tried to sit down and journal.
01:42It just had a lot of resistance.
01:44And she was like, girl, I don't know what you do with them other characters, but I don't do that.
01:48And she just wanted to show up as she was, as she is.
01:52And so I had to really trust that, you know, I was going to be able to be present.
01:55I had to trust my instrument.
01:57I had to trust the gift that God gave me to say, all right, we just going to show up and be open and live as a character and be moved by what the other people in the scene with you do.
02:07I didn't journal, but I made like a 28-page PDF for the character.
02:12I gave her her own like birth chart, like a natal chart, which is like her rising, her Venus, all of these things.
02:19I shared it with Sam and Walter and the producers.
02:22I took a lot of quotes from the book because I read the script.
02:25And it's very hard to bring things from the, everything can't come from the book.
02:29But there was certain moments that I said, Walter, you did this so beautifully.
02:32Can we please have this?
02:33Because I think it's important to telling her story.
02:36They were so collaborative and so open.
02:38I would have conversations with them.
02:41You know, I would film all day and then do a phone call or a Zoom and be like, I think this is really important.
02:46We don't know what her dream is.
02:47And like finding out her dream was, I took her name, Robin.
02:52I said, okay, I'm going to start with the basics of what I really have.
02:55Robin's fly.
02:56But I thought that all of her trauma said that like a plane wouldn't fly far enough away.
03:02How could she leave the Earth without leaving the Earth?
03:04Maybe if she got into a rocket ship and she went to space.
03:07Maybe she would find E.T., her own extraterrestrial being, and she would find home.
03:12But before she got to leave to space, she found her extraterrestrial being in Ptolemy and in his state of dementia where he was, where the timelines were crossing for him and the way he thought really intrigued her.
03:24And then she ultimately found home.
03:26So I was able to bring a little type of journaling essence into it, but not journal.
03:35It was a different way of doing it.
03:36And I think it really worked for her.
03:38And tell me about, you know, for Samuel L. Jackson to handpick you, you know, for this role.
03:42What did that feel like?
03:43And what was the experience, you know, working with him?
03:46I didn't know that he handpicked me at first.
03:48I just did the chemistry test and then knew that, then I heard that the producers and everybody really wanted me.
03:57And I said, okay.
03:57And then when I finally got to set, Sam said a story about how he saw me and he really wanted me to do it.
04:04And then my first day filming, I set a line.
04:06And then afterwards he says, hearing you say that line as Robin alleviated so much pressure off my shoulder.
04:12We've been trying to do this for 10 years and to hear you say it, hearing it comes alive, like he knew it would be in good hands.
04:18And that's a big honor.
04:20And yeah, it was just, it was the Sam Jackson that you get in the interviews, that you get on social media, you're going to get in real life.
04:27And that was also nice to see because ultimately we're an actor.
04:32We're going to be actors for our whole lives, but you don't want to act all the time.
04:35You do want to be yourself.
04:36And how can you take up space being yourself for real?
04:39And that's what I was learning.
04:41That's what I was trying to do.
04:42But, you know, I feel like this, this series touches on so many different themes, you know, with each episode, what are you kind of hoping a main takeaway might be for audiences?
04:52I think we're all just trying to figure it out.
04:54I think we can be so hard on ourselves.
04:56And I think Ptolemy is a prime example of being hard on herself.
05:00He, he tried to go back and right all of his wrongs from 90 something years.
05:04And Robin is trying to say, hey, like, that's not important.
05:08What if you can't do that?
05:09What if you're wasting your time?
05:10And I think that we tend, as humans, or at least I have in the past, tend to think about things over and over.
05:17How could I have been better?
05:18Why did I do that?
05:18And we, we riddle ourselves with guilt about something that we just can't change.
05:23And if we end up having compassion and unconditional love for ourselves, we give it to other people.
05:28When we have it for ourselves, we're able to look back at our old self and say, I didn't, like, I didn't mean it like that.
05:34Like, I'm just trying to figure it out and it's okay.
05:37And you can have grace and compassion for your old self.
05:40And then you can move forward and take it one day at a time.
05:43Well, thank you so much.
05:45I appreciate your time.
05:46It's so nice to talk to you.
05:47Thanks.
05:48Bye-bye.
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