- 6 hours ago
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00And anyone who's out here, out on the stage, come on over, because I'm about to talk with
00:16an extraordinary group about a new show called Rise, and it is about a family from Nigeria
00:23that emigrated to Greece, and we explore their story, and we speak one-on-one with the actors.
00:30And again, I'm Sade Beterenois, I'm a news anchor at WABC-TV, and I'm here representing
00:35all of our owned and operated news stations across the country, as well as the Disney company.
00:40And we are a proud, exclusive entertainment sponsor of this event.
00:47You know, today you're going to see so much happening across the Disney platform,
00:52and our dedication to the African-American community, lifting up our voices, and lifting up new storylines.
01:01So I can't wait to get started.
01:03I'm going to leave the stage and let you get started.
01:05You're going to leave? I think the family is in the back.
01:06They're in the back.
01:07Okay, they're in the back.
01:08Well, we've got to bring them forward.
01:10But it is so great seeing all of you guys today.
01:13Are you guys ready to hear from this cast?
01:15It is called The Rise.
01:18Okay, I'm going to bring them out here.
01:19And let's start with Akin Omotoso, who is the director of the show.
01:30Akin, if you can come on out.
01:32Let's give him a round of applause.
01:34We also have Raul Agata, and he plays one of the sons.
01:42Come on in, Raul.
01:43And we have Yatide Badiki, and she plays the mom.
01:51And that is a sexy mom.
01:53Let's just start there.
01:56And we also have Dayo Okeniye.
02:01How did I do with the names, you guys?
02:03Well, thank you all so much for being here.
02:08You know, I love the fact that this is a Nigerian story,
02:11because also my father is Nigerian.
02:14So I like lifting up these voices today.
02:16Let's talk about this family.
02:21You came up with this whole idea.
02:23You're directing this.
02:24Tell me about the journey.
02:25Well, actually, it's great to be here.
02:28Thanks for having us.
02:30I'm just fortunate to be able to tell this story.
02:32Yannis' story is an amazing story.
02:35When I first heard the story, I was so inspired by it.
02:38So to be able to tell it, I didn't come up with the idea.
02:42Yannis, his agent and producer, Bernie Goldman,
02:45they took it to Disney.
02:47Disney loved the story.
02:49Disney hired a rash who wrote the script.
02:51I came on as a director and then brought these other fine people to join me.
02:56I love the authenticity, the fact that they're Nigerian,
03:00you know, which is also really important.
03:02Can you talk about how you wanted this story to be authentic in any way possible?
03:09I wanted it to be very authentic because, you know, we want to amplify.
03:13You mentioned amplifying the voices.
03:15You know, if you are the Nigerian spirit, flies through everywhere,
03:19and we haven't seen those images enough of loving families,
03:25of little bits of the pigeon English or the Yoruba,
03:29and I think Yannis' family provided us that opportunity,
03:32and that's why I really wanted the actors to be from Nigeria.
03:37Well, and what a journey.
03:39What a personal journey these parents had.
03:41Can you talk about, for you, what it was like really picking up their story,
03:46and how did you relate to it as an actress and actor?
03:50Wow.
03:51I have to say, you've already talked about the fact that we got to portray the story
03:56of this beautiful black family on a Disney screen.
04:01That already was something that resonated and was a dream come true,
04:08to be able to see that little intro of Disney happen
04:11and then see this beautiful black couple,
04:14see this incredible black family in moments of joy and love
04:20while they were still going through so much hardship.
04:22But the idea of chasing a dream always resonates,
04:27and I think that's something that's very universal.
04:30And it has been wonderful to hear the feedback
04:33about how many people are inspired to follow their dream
04:37after seeing what the Adin Tecumbos were able to do.
04:41But you also see in chasing that dream and getting that dream
04:45is the actual struggle to get there.
04:47Can you talk about that in terms of the family
04:51and portraying that as the father?
04:53I mean, first of all, I'm just really happy to be here,
04:56first time at Essence Fest, so this is incredible.
04:59But yeah, it's incredibly close to my story.
05:03You know, I'm of Nigerian descent myself,
05:05and my family and myself, we immigrated to this country in 2003.
05:10And so I somewhat understand what it means
05:13to leave everything that you found familiar
05:16and to start from scratch again in a new land,
05:18you know, with a new language and a new people.
05:21And so, yeah, it's a struggle that I relate with quite deeply.
05:25And, you know, being of Nigerian descent,
05:27this is the first time I got the chance to play a Nigerian
05:29in my whole career.
05:30So I had the chance to play myself, you know,
05:33the full length and breadth of who I am as a person
05:36and my people, which was incredible.
05:37And just, and to Atkins' credit,
05:39not diluting that experience, you know what I mean?
05:43Really showing the length and breadth of the Nigerian experience,
05:46the Nigerian in, you know, Greece experience,
05:49and then eventually the Nigerian in America experience,
05:52and the nuances that are there.
05:54But I think it's an incredible story.
05:55I think anybody can get behind the story
05:57of the true American dream, you know what I mean?
06:00I think it's a throwback sentiment, you know,
06:03that I think we accomplished with this film.
06:05We've seen this storyline before,
06:07but we've never seen this storyline
06:09with the face of an African-American or a Nigerian,
06:12you know, like all of these beautiful black,
06:15brown, beautiful people, you know?
06:18It's just like, it's just so rewarding, I think, to see.
06:21And you get to play one of the star brothers.
06:24Tell me about that.
06:26You were up for this role, so all of a sudden what?
06:28You heard about it, and what did you do?
06:30Well, so actually what happened was my little brother,
06:33Uche, who couldn't be here with us today,
06:36but he was cast as Giannis first
06:38before I even was thinking about it.
06:41It's a crazy story.
06:42He was on Instagram one day,
06:45saw a screenshot of a tweet,
06:47and he was like, Giannis is looking,
06:49Disney's looking for people to play me
06:51and my brothers in our younger days.
06:53So he's like, eh, why not?
06:56I'll try it.
06:57I'm not an actor,
06:58but people tell me I look like Giannis.
07:00So he said, I'll try out.
07:03A few months later go by,
07:04he's like, oh, I guess they skipped over me.
07:06And then he gets an email,
07:08says, oh, they want you to do a callback with the director.
07:11And he was shocked.
07:12He's like, oh, okay.
07:13So he goes through the audition process,
07:16and I remember him calling me
07:17when he was really close to it.
07:19He was like, yo, it's me and like two other guys.
07:23I was like, yo, be careful.
07:25Don't do anything you weren't doing before.
07:26Just keep the consistency.
07:29I hang up the phone.
07:30I'm like, he's going to get it.
07:31I have no doubt about it.
07:32And then he did.
07:33So I was just so happy for him at the time.
07:36The star of a Disney movie.
07:37It's insane, right?
07:38So after that, like a few weeks later,
07:41they say, do you have any siblings?
07:44He says, yeah, I have an older brother.
07:46They say, oh, well, we're still casting for the Nasus.
07:49And then he calls me up and says,
07:50yo, Disney asked you if you wanted to try it out.
07:52I'm like, what?
07:53Yeah.
07:54Yeah.
07:54So actually, it wasn't that clear cut for me.
07:58Because I put myself on tape,
08:01and I was just like, this is not good.
08:03I'm not going to get it.
08:05And then my mom and my girlfriend look at me like,
08:08you're not going to try?
08:09That's insane.
08:10So I was like, yeah, this is going to change my brother's life.
08:13I need to at least give it a shot.
08:15So Randy Hiller liked it, our casting director, Randy Hiller.
08:18She said, just send me some basketball tapes.
08:20I did that.
08:21And then after that, they told me to do a chemistry read
08:23with my brother, which is something I was like,
08:27OK, I think I could do that.
08:29So we do it.
08:30And then right after, Randy says,
08:31you guys are going to go to Greece together
08:33and shoot the movie.
08:34I was shocked.
08:35Wow.
08:35Yeah.
08:36What a story.
08:37For you as a director,
08:39what was it important to capture in this story?
08:41What was important to capture was, again,
08:45just going back to that story, you know,
08:48I first, when Giannis was drafted,
08:50I read his story.
08:52And I was like, if ever I make a film about a player,
08:55it'll be this gentleman,
08:56because the story inspires me, inspires everyone.
09:00So, and when you meet them,
09:02they're so humble and their humility and just,
09:06you know, they open up their living room to us.
09:08You know, Yeti Day, Dayo were able to speak to Veronica
09:11about, you know, portraying the parts.
09:14We were always able to ask them questions,
09:17Raul and Uche and, you know,
09:18so I really wanted the audience to feel like
09:22they spent time with the Adetokumbos,
09:24which ultimately is all our stories.
09:27It's the stories of all our parents who've moved
09:29or our grandparents who've moved
09:31and try to make a better life for them and their children.
09:34So, I just wanted to make sure that we all stayed true to that.
09:38And that was always the thing.
09:41We always had the thing saying,
09:42let's lead with love.
09:44Let's lead with love.
09:45And the film was made with love,
09:47and it's so great to see everybody receiving the love.
09:51And clearly love was at the center of this family.
09:54What do you want people to take away when watching Rise?
09:57I absolutely would hope that, again, inspiration comes into it,
10:03that you can see how people may be
10:05in some of the most troubling times
10:08and troubling circumstances,
10:10but still have that hope
10:11and still be able to lean into hope.
10:13And still rise.
10:14And still rise.
10:15And still rise.
10:17Well, unfortunately, we've run out of time.
10:20I can't wait to see Rise,
10:23and congratulations to all of you,
10:25and you're all just so beautiful.
10:27Thank you so much.
10:30Well, we're glad to have you here.
10:33And this is, you've got a future acting career now
10:35because of your brother.
10:36Yeah.
10:37So, does he get a cut from future deals?
10:39No cut, but a lot of congratulations.
10:41All right.
10:42Let's give him a round of applause.
10:44Thank you, everyone.
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