00:00I want to get to know you a little bit better now.
00:03I'm going to ask you some questions.
00:05You were about to go to film school here in NYU, right?
00:08Yes, I was.
00:10I deferred once, and then I deferred again.
00:13And then I was like, I'm not coming, I'm so sorry.
00:16I was like, I'm not going to film school, I am film.
00:19Well, I was getting all these amazing opportunities.
00:21I got the opportunity to do The Hate U Give,
00:23and I was like, well, why would I pay to go to film school
00:26when I could get paid to go to film school?
00:28Yeah, you could learn on set and learn from the best.
00:32So it was the gap year that turned into a...
00:33A gap life.
00:34A gap life, yeah.
00:35Well, the gap life seemed to work out
00:37because I'm happy to show this debut.
00:40You're on the cover of Time magazine, just announced.
00:45Just announced!
00:47That just got announced right today.
00:49I'm so happy for you. That's you, pal.
00:51That's legendary, Time magazine.
00:53I know, it's such an honor, I can't even believe it.
00:55It's literally nuts to think about.
00:57I mean, this is, well, you're very politically active
00:59as well as what you're acting.
01:02Tell the story, if you don't mind,
01:03about how you went to a Me Too meeting at an agency.
01:07Okay, yeah, so I...
01:10That's funny.
01:11Thank you for setting me up like that.
01:13Now, I really have to deliver now.
01:15Oh, no, no, I already know the story.
01:16So, yeah, please, just tell you.
01:17Okay, all right, so I've been going to these times
01:20at meetings and stuff, and it's been so amazing
01:22because I get to be around all these people
01:24that I really look up to.
01:25Like, I went to this women of color meeting
01:27where Tracee Ellis Ross was there,
01:29Shonda Rhimes was there, Rashida Jones,
01:32just, like, the most seminal women of color of Hollywood
01:35who I feel so deferential to.
01:38And I wanted to feel, like, really kind of, like, dapper to go,
01:41so I put on these boots that had, like, a little bit of a heel.
01:43And I have this problem, and, like, I'm good.
01:46Like, don't worry about me.
01:47But I have, like, an old man disease where, like, if I...
01:51It's not a disease. It's, like, hereditary.
01:53If I kind of, like, move a certain way,
01:56like, my kneecaps will slide out of place.
02:00Oh, no, no, no. Oh, no, no, no.
02:02Really? And does it hurt you?
02:04It hurts a little bit,
02:05but I'm, like, pretty used to it at this point, you know?
02:07It's like it's been happening for a while.
02:09Like, I got it. Like, my uncle has it, too.
02:12So I went to one of these meetings, and I showed up.
02:14You got your boots.
02:15And I had my little boots on.
02:16And I got in there, and I, like, went to sit down on my seat,
02:20and I could feel it, and it was, like,
02:21then the kneecaps started sliding,
02:23and I just watched it slide out of place,
02:24and I fell into the ground, and I was like,
02:29And I looked up, and just, like, Shonda Rhimes,
02:31like, Tracee Ellis Ross, and I was, like, staring at me.
02:34Like, are you okay?
02:36And, like, I'm used to this, so I was just, like,
02:38Like, kind of just, like, knocked it back into place.
02:43Dude, I just love that. You just snucked around.
02:44Everyone's like, okay, let's start the meeting quickly
02:46and get this over.
02:47Yeah, and I was like, all right, let's go.
02:48Like, back to the patriarchy, let's see.
02:50Uh, how old were you when you did Hunger Games?
02:54Uh, I was 12 years old.
02:5512 years old. And was Jennifer Lawrence,
02:57did she take you under her wing?
02:59She did. She was super sweet to me.
03:01What did you learn from Jennifer Lawrence?
03:02Um, she taught me how to pee in the woods.
03:05Which I guess is something she's from Kentucky.
03:07Wow, that's fantastic. Yeah.
03:08I got to write that down.
03:10I got to call her for that. Yeah.
03:12That's something you want to learn. Yeah.
03:14Yeah, it's something you...it's probably helpful in life.
03:16I've definitely used it a few times since then.
03:18Do you guys stay in touch?
03:19Um, you know, I haven't really seen her that much.
03:21I mean, she's so busy. She's Jennifer Lawrence.
03:24Obviously, yeah.
03:24But I saw her at this brunch recently,
03:28and I went up to her, and she looked at me,
03:30and she was like, she didn't recognize me for a second.
03:32And then she was like,
03:33Oh, my God, you have boobs!
03:35I was like...
03:38I was like, puberty didn't happen.
03:40I was like, wow, I do?
03:41Wow, yeah.
03:42I blocked out puberty. I don't remember a thing.
03:44Let's talk about your movie, The Hate U Give.
03:47Congratulations to the critic.
03:48A lot of buzz on this.
03:49Thank you.
03:50Well deserved. Well deserved.
03:52Thank you so much.
03:53Amanda.
03:55It's based off of a poem, right, from Tupac?
03:58Yeah. So it's based off the premise, Thug Life,
04:01which is the hate you give little infants Fs.
04:04You can't say the F word on T.
04:05No.
04:05Fs, everybody.
04:07So it's basically the premise that whatever you do to kids,
04:12the systems and structures that you put them into
04:14that persecute them as children,
04:16comes back to bite everyone in the butt when we all grow up.
04:21And what is the film about?
04:23So the film is about this girl named Star Carter
04:26who is code-switching between these two different environments.
04:30Her...
04:30Code-switching?
04:31Code-switching.
04:32What is code-switching?
04:33Code-switching is like...
04:34Like, the first time that I experienced code-switching
04:36or witnessed it when I was a kid is when my mom would be like,
04:39Child, if you do not rinse your damn dishes, I swear.
04:42And then, like, the phone would ring.
04:43She'd be like, Hello, this is Karen. Hi.
04:46That's two different people.
04:48Yeah.
04:48Like, a lot of people experience code-switching,
04:50but then, like, if you're black and you forget to code-switch,
04:53like, the result could be that you get shot by a cop.
04:56So that's what this film is about.
04:57Oof.
04:58And it's you and Common who we love.
05:00We was on the show for this film.
05:02We love Common so much.
05:03Yeah, he's so cool, man.
05:04A great guy.
05:05But also, I even forget, like, that he's a great rapper
05:08because he's just such a nice guy.
05:10He's like, Yeah, how you doing, Jimmy?
05:11How are you, man?
05:12Just so chill.
05:13And then he tears it up on the stage.
05:14You go, Oh, my God, you're amazing.
05:15Dude, you're Common. Yeah.
05:17You're Common.
05:18You're Common, dude.
05:19But you're Uncommon.
05:20Yes! Wow.
05:21That wasn't funny.
05:22That was. That was cute.
05:24I liked it.
05:25We have a clip.
05:26Here's Manla Stenberg and Common in The Hate U Give.
05:30Check this out.
05:31So if I think I see a gun, I don't hesitate.
05:35I shoot.
05:37Because you think you see a gun?
05:39You don't say something first, like, put your hands up?
05:41It depends.
05:42Is it night?
05:43Can I see?
05:45Am I on duty alone?
05:46What if you were in a white neighborhood, and it was a white man wearing a suit, driving
05:52a Mercedes?
05:54He could be a drug dealer, right?
05:56He could.
05:57So if you saw him reach into the window, and you thought that you saw a gun, would you
06:05shoot him?
06:06Or would you say put your hands up?
06:12Our thanks to Amandla Stenberg!
06:15Uh-huh, uh-huh, it's on and on and on, uh-huh, I said, and it's on and on and
06:24on.
06:24I won.
06:24No, no.
06:24I love you.
06:25Grazie a tutti.
