00:00She, I think, is choosing things that matter, that she knows that she can do.
00:05And at the same time, I think that hopefully people will see that there is a slot that is not out there,
00:12that has not been filled. There's not another Lauren.
00:15And I think that that makes it where it opens up other doors for other actors.
00:19But I think for her in particular, I think she's going to have a big, big, big thing.
00:24If she chooses, because she's also particular and may just retire.
00:28Can you honestly say that your family is excited to have my black ass in the picture?
00:35Oh my gosh, you are so beautiful.
00:41Well, how are you feeling to have your first feature film, directorial debut under your belt?
00:46Nervous and so ready to just let people see it.
00:50Yeah.
00:50And I'm just ready to let people see it.
00:53I feel like we've been working on it a long time and that's the difference between movies and TV.
00:57It takes so long.
00:58Yeah.
00:58So the idea of like we put so much time and energy and love into this and I hope people receive it in a good way.
01:05Yeah.
01:06How do you and Jonah Hill like link them for this and conceptualize the idea?
01:10We have been friendly and we have been saying we're going to get together.
01:12And finally we got together and just hours, we just talked for hours.
01:16And it was like instant friendship.
01:18We have all of us grew up, me, Lauren, and Jonah all grew up in L.A.
01:22Yeah.
01:22And there's something sort of when you grew up in L.A. you have certain commonalities.
01:27We talked about schools.
01:28We talked about, you know, just growing up in L.A. and the difference and like sharing certain friends and not sharing certain friends and his experiences.
01:35And I think that that is if you're an L.A. kid, you sort of like there starts to be like a I grew up in a black neighborhood, moved later on to, you know, start going to mixed schools.
01:44And it was the differences and the things we talked about, that was what ultimately made the movie.
01:49Okay.
01:49And Lauren, I know people are super excited to see you in another ensemble comedy.
01:53I don't know if you saw the conversation around this Christmas, like during the holidays.
01:57Yeah, right?
01:57Everybody wanted to do another one.
01:58Yeah, exactly.
02:00I mean, I don't know if they are, but I think the conversation was like they should.
02:04Yeah.
02:04They should.
02:05Yeah.
02:05They should.
02:06They should.
02:06I think it was awesome.
02:07It was good, yeah.
02:08What drew you to this particular role?
02:10My good friend Kenya Farris called me, and I read the script, and of course I thought the script was hilarious, and I said in an early interview, brilliant.
02:22And, you know, I just have a lot of respect for Kenya and Jonah, and I had lunch with them, and we just broke down their intentions for this movie and kind of just what they wanted to say.
02:36Yeah.
02:37And I don't like that.
02:38She made us actually go do a rewrite that she didn't ask for, but just the conversation was so honest.
02:44Oh.
02:45And the ideas, she had questions.
02:47We were like, oh, my God, I didn't think about that.
02:49Okay.
02:49And it made us, whether we were like, I begged her to do it.
02:53We didn't, she'd let me know for days after.
02:54I was like on Pens and Eels, and we share a friend.
02:56I was like, have you talked to Lauren?
02:58I had to meditate on it, make sure that, you know, it was in alignment with her.
03:02Yeah.
03:02When she called me and was like, I have my, I asked her, I'm going to call you.
03:05I was like, this is so dramatic.
03:06It was really dramatic.
03:08And I was like, she's going to say no, and she's putting it on.
03:10But she said yes.
03:10Yes.
03:10And I was like, oh, my God.
03:11But she definitely brought a lot.
03:15And, I mean, honestly, all the actors had things that they've said that helped form.
03:19And I think actors are magic.
03:22They can, like, you know what I'm saying, shine shit.
03:23They can make stuff like that.
03:25But, like, they all were like, I want this character to sort of, she found things about
03:29the character that fit her and things that weren't.
03:32But she helps, you know, sort of expand the character into, I think, something that hopefully
03:36people will remember.
03:37Yeah.
03:38And I love you saying that about, like, meditating on it.
03:40Because I remember I talked to you before Without Remorse.
03:43And you were talking about, at that time, you were figuring out, like, do I still want
03:46to act?
03:46Yeah.
03:47Your name looks familiar.
03:48Okay, yeah.
03:49So where are you kind of now in your journey?
03:51And, like, and how did this align for you?
03:54You know, I just want to make sure that I'm not just doing a job for money or just to do
03:59it.
03:59I want to make sure that I really believe in what this project is saying so that when
04:04I'm in these rooms, I can really stand solid on my square and mean what I say.
04:10And I think this moving forward, I'm just going to, like, you know, flow with whatever
04:15God has for me.
04:16I've told it three or four people.
04:17So this is going to be our next, I said Julia Roberts, but I said, I feel like people
04:21are going to see, she took some time to herself, but she, when she came out, like, she shows
04:28up to set, knows her lines, works hard, doesn't complain, and is very picky.
04:34No, I'm serious.
04:36And I think that that is, you know, I always look at Robert Downey Jr. and Ryan Goddard.
04:40I'm like, whoever's picking their roles, the things that they choose are really, really,
04:43really important.
04:44And she, I think, is choosing things that matter, that she knows that she can do.
04:50And at the same time, I think that hopefully this, people will see that this, there is
04:54a slot that is not out there, that has not been filled.
04:57There's not another Lauren.
04:59And I think that that makes it where it opens up other doors for other actors.
05:04But I think for her in particular, I think she's going to have a big, big, big thing if
05:09she, if she chooses, because she's also particular and may just retire.
05:13Yeah, but no, not before another ATL, please, if we can.
05:18But lastly, I want to ask, you know, the trailer came out, a whole lot of excitement around
05:23it, but then came up this kind of common conversation that comes up with your work, where people feel
05:28there's a quote-unquote obsession with showing interracial relationships.
05:32What do you say to that criticism, and what are you saying with this film?
05:36I feel like it's insane, to be honest with you, I laugh at it, you know what I'm saying?
05:39I usually don't even talk about it.
05:42It came from Black-ish, because I was doing a show about my family, and my wife happens
05:47to be biracial, and I wanted to actually talk, and that was, and then the spinoff was Grown-ish,
05:53which was about one of the kids, and so it was like, I'm like, I will battle anybody,
05:58I'm like, show me my black repertoire of what I've done, you know what I'm saying, and put
06:04it up against, and I'll go up against everybody, like I'm saying, in terms of I'm for us, I'm
06:10by us, for us, so I feel like, you know, it just happens to sort of be part of the conversation,
06:16and people will find anything.
06:17I have got some great jokes, you know what I'm saying, from it, and I had some time and
06:21was writing back to the people I thought that said good jokes, but I feel like ultimately,
06:26you know, I think one of the things that we're, we are so monolithic that people want to just
06:31have something to say, because there's not enough of us doing it, so I think hopefully
06:35the more that we get to do this, the more stories that we can tell.
06:38They want all of our stories to be for everyone, and we, that's impossible.
06:43One story can't speak to all the black experience, because there's so many different black experiences.
06:48Lauren is a faith healer, you know what I'm saying, believes in this, like things that
06:52she would not, you know what I'm saying, really think that she isn't.
06:54It so passes what Nunu was, it so passes what Ello, what, you know, what people think of
07:01that, and I feel like that to me is what makes us really interesting in those types of stories.
07:06It's showing all the different versions of us.
07:09Yes, absolutely.
07:10Thank you so much.
07:11I appreciate it.
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