00:00Samuel Jackson, he comes to the set and just pees in every corner.
00:07I mean, he took every nook and cranny of that set was his.
00:13And it was interesting to watch because he would turn it on and then turn it off.
00:18Say action.
00:19Action.
00:19I'm just trying to figure out who's this on this next.
00:23Say cut.
00:24Say cut.
00:25Cut.
00:26What'd you think?
00:26Hmm?
00:27Y'all like that?
00:27I was like, what the fuck?
00:30This s***, he's an alien.
00:38Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
00:40How you doing today?
00:40Oh, thank you.
00:41Doing good, my brother.
00:43Shala, I wanted to start with you.
00:45Your film highlights both trailblazers as well as the next generation of black women in Hollywood.
00:50What changes do you think are needed to create more opportunities for the future of black women in film and television?
00:55Oh, my God.
00:56Thesis question.
00:57Thesis question.
00:58Listen, what I want is for folks to know who came before them.
01:04I want folks to see each other today.
01:09And that's the only way we'll move forward.
01:11We've got to have a sense of history and a sense of ourselves.
01:14And what I hope the film does is gives the audience a sense of who each one of these women are on an individual level and then the bigger picture.
01:26Jamie, as both a producer as well as a leading man in Hollywood, what inspired you to bring number one on the call sheet to life?
01:34Oh, man.
01:35You know, we get a chance to sort of bump into these very, very talented people.
01:40You know, it's interesting.
01:42Like I would say all the time, I would beg Denzel Washington to come to one of my parties and not to turn up.
01:47I just wanted, I wanted the knowledge.
01:50I remember before Denzel, we had Quincy Jones shows up on a holiday party and just held court.
01:59Man, shit, Frank Sinatra, man.
02:01That was my first gig, baby.
02:03You know, we were in Monaco, man.
02:04And he didn't even show up for rehearsal.
02:07We were just vamping.
02:07And here he is coming in the audience, man, with a cigarette, man.
02:10And then he took a token and he sung a note.
02:13And then after the note, he let the smoke out, man.
02:15You know, you had to be.
02:16So Quincy spoke.
02:18So the way I baited D was D.
02:22Quincy came, man, and shed light on what this business is.
02:29So Denzel did that as well.
02:31And it was amazing.
02:32All right, okay.
02:33All right, okay.
02:34You're trying to, you know, okay, that's what you're doing.
02:37You know, so this is just the natural progression of that.
02:43So you get a chance to see a little bit behind the curtain of what it takes and what the responsibilities are and how it's different.
02:50You know, as black stars, we carry the culture.
02:54It ain't a black star in the world that's on some blog.
03:01Don't get heat up.
03:02But if he ain't black enough, you know what I'm saying?
03:06Yeah, so it's an interesting yoke.
03:11Yes, yoke.
03:11It's an interesting yoke to carry.
03:13But it's a great one when you feel the love coming from our community and appreciating what we do.
03:24And I think in these two documentaries, they knocked it out of the park.
03:31Now, Reginald, you work with several legends throughout your career.
03:35From your perspective, what qualities make a great black leading man in Hollywood?
03:39Well, first of all, to be completely comfortable in their own skin, right?
03:46Because you have to know who you are and have a complete grasp of it.
03:52And from that, you can fully access your talent, right?
03:55And you also, if you're comfortable with it in your own skin, you have no fear when you take on roles that can be a little scary.
04:05You know, watching Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained playing, you know, playing the worst black man ever in the history of cinema.
04:15He had...
04:16Steven.
04:17Steven.
04:18First of all, what a great name.
04:19Well, who can't he use a mask?
04:21So, and he had no fear.
04:25Listen, amazing.
04:27So, that's the job, is to, if you're going to really access the full range of your talent, you've got to know who you are and be secure.
04:37Jamie Foxx is that man.
04:39Yeah.
04:39Jamie Foxx is a man who can do anything.
04:42He has, if he has fear, he knows how to overcome fear.
04:46Yeah, and there's certain little tricks.
04:48Especially when Samuel L. Jackson, he comes to the set and just pees in every corner.
04:58I mean, he, he took every, every nook and cranny of that set was his.
05:03And it was interesting to watch.
05:05Because he would turn it on and then turn it off.
05:08Say action.
05:09Action.
05:10I'm just trying to figure out who is this on this next.
05:14Say cut.
05:15Say cut.
05:15Cut.
05:16What'd you think?
05:17Huh?
05:17Y'all like that?
05:18I was like, what the f***?
05:19What the f***?
05:20This is a f***?
05:21He's an alien.
05:23He was so amazing in one scene.
05:26When we were all at the dinner table.
05:28And then Matt was like, can they use the mask?
05:30We're like, f*** this.
05:31No, cut.
05:32Leo looked at me and says, f***.
05:35He's a f***?
05:38He's a f***?
05:39I don't know.
05:39This is a f***?
05:40It was incredible.
05:44It was incredible.
05:45He was incredible.
05:47And it was to the point where we would have to actually ask grace from Samuel L. Jackson to allow other actors to play through.
05:56He was just that powerful.
05:58When you saw not just black excellence, he was a superhero.
06:03And I literally, because we were a little bit of an outsider because he and Quentin had already worked.
06:10But I remember having to do something not in the script to try to get it Samuel L. Jackson.
06:19When we were doing the read-through, I said, yeah, man, f*** you.
06:24It's me this time.
06:27And everybody was tripping.
06:28I said, yeah, yeah, I said it.
06:29And then Sammy goes, f***.
06:32Okay.
06:33I was like, no, that didn't work.
06:35That didn't work.
06:37That didn't work.
06:38Because, you know, I was trying to sort of get him up and square.
06:42He looked at me like, yeah.
06:44And then it wasn't until we had the scene in the parlor where Master Candy is about to get shot.
06:54And there was this moment where me and Samuel L. Jackson have to stare at each other.
06:59And I said, I done took Visine all day because I want my eyes to dry.
07:03I'm not blinking.
07:04You feel me?
07:04So I got my eyes all lubricated.
07:06So they said, actually, I said, and Sammy said, and I said, God damn, he's good.
07:17He said, yeah.
07:19So I'm saying that to make you understand that these guys are beyond talented.
07:30But it's a whole nother level with Denzel.
07:35Go, go, go.
07:35I was going to say, and these women.
07:38Yeah, that too.
07:39The women.
07:40How could I forget that?
07:42Because I got a story about Viola Davis kicking my ass in a scene too.
07:45I just went from movie to movie getting my ass kicked by all of them.
07:48Viola Davis kicked my ass so bad that F. Gary Grace says, cut.
07:51She's killing you.
07:52I said, word?
07:53Yeah, Fox.
07:54I said, what do you think I should do?
07:55I don't know.
07:57Could you write other lines?
07:58Mm-mm.
07:59I said, well, what do you think I should do?
08:01He says, at this point, J-Fizz, just facial expressions.
08:05So what I'm telling you is, is that in the win for Ray Charles, I was happy but humbled when I was around Samuel Jackson,
08:17who hadn't been gifted that award yet, he told me in Time to Kill, that speech, you remember the speech?
08:26Remember the speech with Matthew McConaughey?
08:28Mm-hmm.
08:28That was Samuel's speech.
08:30They took that from Samuel Jackson and gave it to Matthew McConaughey because they felt like Matthew McConaughey's character needed to be a little more,
08:40but look at what he had to go, look at what he had to go through.
08:42Now, he was, he was, they said, oh, he would, he would, he would take over the movie, which that should have been his speech.
08:49So to be able to be there with Samuel and feed off of that, and I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt,
08:58that they're better than everybody.
09:02Everybody.
09:02Everybody knew when we came to that set, it's, we're all in Samuel's world, and if he allows us to play through, it will happen.
09:10And I think having watched that up close makes this documentary so special.
09:21Yeah.
09:21And one of the things that's very powerful in the movie is hearing everyone compliment each other.
09:30To hear Eddie Murphy praise Jamie Foxx's performance in Ray.
09:34Hey, that's one of the top five performances ever.
09:36To hear, you know, to hear Will Smith talk about my aspiration is to be Eddie Murphy in Star Wars.
09:46So everyone's looking at everybody going, to hear Lawrence Fishburne praise Kevin Hart.
09:52And say, look at a man of this stature, hold his own against the rock.
09:58Do you understand how hard that is to hold the space against a guy like that?
10:03So they all are looking at each other with the eyes of a seasoned professional.
10:09We go, oh yeah, that was cool.
10:11Like, no, no, no, no, no.
10:12Yeah.
10:12These eyes.
10:13Yeah.
10:14That's a whole other thing.
10:15So, which is, I mean, for me as a director, when I listen to other actors critique each other, I go, oh, thank you.
10:25Now I'm going to come off a little smarter next time because I'm crimping notes.
10:29And, you know, and for the women, just to add, because I know we're going over time, you know, it is something that Reggie said, you feel the fear and you do it anyway.
10:38You find your way, you find your path.
10:41Somebody tells you, you're not pretty enough, you're not enough to be a leading lady.
10:44You go, oh, okay, F that.
10:46I'm figuring out my way.
10:48And there are 17 stories of these women who have found their way to be number one on the call sheet.
10:54And it is so inspiring for us mere mortals who also want to be number one on our own call sheet.
11:00Mm-hmm.
11:02Number one.
11:03You probably have another question, but, you know, that's too bad.
11:05Yeah, I'm running my mouth telling stories.
11:09They're all looking at me.
11:10I appreciate each other.
11:11Thank you very much.
11:12Appreciate you.
11:13We love Essence.
11:15We love Essence.
11:16We love Essence.
11:17We love Essence.
11:18We love Essence.
11:19We love Essence.
11:20We love Essence.
11:21We love Essence.
11:22We love Essence.
11:23We love Essence.
11:24We love Essence.
11:25We love Essence.
11:26We love Essence.
11:27We love Essence.
11:28We love Essence.
11:29We love Essence.
11:30We love Essence.
11:31We love Essence.
11:32We love Essence.
11:33We love Essence.
11:34We love Essence.
11:35We love Essence.
11:36We love Essence.
11:37We love Essence.
11:38We love Essence.
11:39We love Essence.
11:40We love Essence.
11:41We love Essence.
11:42We love Essence.
11:43We love Essence.
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