00:00There was this scene where everybody's like, I had to eat garlic in the circle.
00:07You know, we really got to eat, you know what I'm saying, the garlic.
00:10And it's not garlic, there's like these white chocolate, like garlic bulbs.
00:16So as the camera's moving around, we spitting shit out, you know what I'm saying,
00:20throwing the chocolate at certain places on set.
00:22And I'm like, it can't be that bad.
00:24He's like, no, try it, man, eat one.
00:49To me, the magic of the film is my incredible cast.
00:53Like getting all these talented people together, they all are very lovely to be around.
00:57They all got different rhythms, and it complements really well.
01:01I feel very blessed and fortunate to have the opportunity to find a career that I'm passionate about,
01:11that always feels exciting, and that brings me into the lives of very unique and interesting people.
01:19I met Wumi most recently, but like when I close my eyes, like it's like I always knew Wumi somehow,
01:26you know.
01:26Even though we met like a couple of years ago, I guess, you know, I think of her as family.
01:31And it's the same with Mike, it's the same with Delroy.
01:33Delroy's my neighbor, you know what I mean?
01:34So I'm looking forward to when we get past this phase, I can just catch him at the post office
01:39or something, you know.
01:41We can go chop it up.
01:43But no, I think, I just feel very blessed.
01:46Like awards aside, which is a symbol of a film connecting with people.
01:53But just the actual life, the actual career and experience, that has been an ultimate gift.
01:59Your work seems to have propelled black cinema in a way that hasn't really been done before.
02:07Can I just say something really quickly?
02:09I always push back on the notion of black cinema.
02:12It's cinema.
02:13You could say it's cinema that happens to be black, but he's impacting cinema, not, in my opinion, not black
02:21cinema.
02:22I see cinema as like a quilt, you know.
02:25And I came up, you know, admiring that quilt before I even knew I wanted to make movies.
02:33And a lot of my favorite squares and pieces of that quilt were made by black people and people from
02:40the diaspora.
02:41You know, I felt the most at home in those pieces, but I admired all of them.
02:46And I feel like I'm in conversation with my colleagues, but I look up to them and they work, you
02:55know, specifically.
02:56You know, Spike, obviously, and John Singleton, rest in peace, Ava DuVernay, Nia DaCosta, you know, Steve McQueen, Barry Jenkins,
03:07Jordan Peele.
03:08You know, these are all filmmakers that I get inspired by.
03:12It's beautiful that I get to make things in the time that they're making them and the ones that came
03:17before me.
03:18I feel like I'm working in that tradition.
03:20But it gives me a sense of connectedness and inspiration.
03:24You fool.
03:26All that war and whatever the hell you've been doing in Chicago.
03:31And you back here in front of me.
03:34Two arms, two legs, two eyes and a brain that work.
03:38How you know I ain't pray.
03:41I work every route my grandmama taught me to keep you and that crazy brother, you're safe.
03:46Every day since you've been gone.
03:52So why those roots ain't work on our baby then?
03:59I don't know.
04:01I don't think there was a scene that I didn't think was going to work.
04:05I read it and I thought it was a perfect script.
04:07I felt all of the characters.
04:09I really loved all of the characters and cared about them.
04:15And that was another scene with Smoke and Annie.
04:17When in the shop, when you said, he changed the second line from, you know, why are you here, Smoke?
04:25And then I asked him again, why are you here?
04:27He changed it from, why are you here, Smoke?
04:30And said, Elijah, why are you here?
04:33And that was like, again, I thought it was a perfect script, a perfect scene.
04:38But then just calling him by his name just broke the whole scene open to something else.
04:43Something, it just elevated it again.
04:45It was just beautiful.
04:47I think understanding a bit of the history, you know, and how they kind of came to be together.
04:53You know, what kind of losses have they had together and that kind of created who they were.
05:03And a lot of music.
05:04You know, we had these playlists that we would share with one another or songs that would remind us of
05:10our characters
05:11or what we were going through and we would constantly share back and forth or listen to them together.
05:16And that was really an emotional kind of tether.
05:20But it was a lot of just vulnerability.
05:25I think it was understanding that this movie is Ryan, you know what I'm saying?
05:30And it's coming from him.
05:31And knowing him for such a long time and understanding that I am a vessel, you know what I'm saying,
05:42for a lot of his expression, wanting to always honor that and understanding where those things are coming from
05:48so I can kind of like, you know, bury them into the character as seamless as I can.
05:54And understanding that, I think we had an opportunity to share a bit of those experiences
06:00and how can we infuse those into the relationship.
06:05And that was a very fulfilling part of it, you know, a very emotional part of it.
06:10But it starts with just trust and vulnerability.
06:12So I think that was a main thing that we went through together.
06:16And there was a bit of almost over respect of our processes.
06:21And we kind of had a sidebar conversation about that.
06:24I was like, yo, if we ever feel like that again, just let's not second guess it at all.
06:29You don't know as Wummi if, like, you're going to overstep a boundary that Michael needs to process his character's
06:39loss.
06:40And that moment was a really, like, when we had that conversation, it was really like,
06:45oh, we know Smokin' Annie so much, so well, and we know each other well enough to know that there
06:50is no wrong answer now
06:51and that it's, like, there's just a free reign to be creative and express what we're truly feeling.
06:59See, white folks, they like the blues just fine.
07:01They just don't like the people who make it.
07:04What did I do with the money?
07:07I drank it.
07:10Rice said he was going to take that money, going out to Little Rock, start him a little church.
07:15Did he?
07:17What a damn fool.
07:20He took out all his money to pay for it.
07:24Two dollar train ticket.
07:25Train conductor saw him.
07:27Clank got a hold to him.
07:29Searched his pockets to find all that money.
07:31Made up a story about him killing some white man for it and raping that white man's wife.
07:37An election right there in the railroad station.
07:42It was just trying to immerse myself in the musicians from the region, Delta Blues.
07:53And I always reference Sun House, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf.
08:01In addition to listening to the music, I was watching documentaries.
08:09All of that was just enlightening for me.
08:14And it really helped me stay grounded in the world that Ryan had created.
08:23And through the kind of reverence that I have for those musicians, hopefully it could help me infuse what I
08:35was feeling and how I was responding to the music into my own work as Delta.
08:41One of the things that I most appreciate about Ryan is the generosity of spirit, which gives to each and
08:50every one of his colleagues.
08:51I could always talk to him and know that I was being heard.
08:56I mean, look, anybody would be lucky to work with any of these three.
09:00So, I mean, like, you know, I'm happy they still like me after all I put them through in New
09:05Orleans.
09:07I'm glad they still pick up my call.
09:09I'm glad they're doing it.
09:13I'm glad they're doing it.
09:13I'm glad they're doing it.
09:16I'm glad they're doing it.
09:16I'm glad they're doing it.
09:16I'm glad they're doing it.
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