00:00Wait, she had 15 Essence covers, and this is my first one?
00:13What's Michael Jackson's best album?
00:16Off the Wall.
00:17Oh, Jinx, yes, exactly.
00:20Thriller.
00:21Thriller, yeah, that's good.
00:22Off the Wall, too.
00:23I know.
00:24Off the Wall is like a banger after banger after banger.
00:26Yeah.
00:26Yeah.
00:27We wanted to tell the story the way that the story really needs to be told, but also
00:35we wanted fans to get excited that this was happening.
00:38You know, to have Jafar at the center of it was really amazing because he's an extension
00:43of the family, so I leaned on him a lot when I had questions about Catherine and kind of
00:49how did she move or was she quieter.
00:53Sometimes I check and I'm like, was that okay?
00:55Oh, I remember those moments.
00:56Yeah, I was like, yeah.
00:57It was an experience of a lifetime.
00:58It, I don't even, I can't really articulate the full feeling I got from it, but it was
01:05such a learning experience at the same time to be surrounded by honestly greats and to
01:11be guided by Antoine and Graham and just everybody in the crew was so welcoming.
01:17I think once you're, you're cast, you, the pressure goes away because you don't have
01:22time for pressure.
01:23You just have to get to work.
01:24And you have to get to work and really try to raise the right questions, I think, about
01:29how you're giving nuance to the characters.
01:32The court of public opinion would think of Joe as a villain for whatever reasons, whatever
01:39persona that they've, they've seen in snapshots.
01:42But I think when I go through the lens of Joe and through his heart, through his eyes,
01:47I see that he was doing all that he could to make sure that his family was successful
01:51and whole and happy and really operated as a unit.
01:54And he saw that spark of talent and they wanted to be the best and he knew he could make
02:01them
02:01the best.
02:02We really wanted to show the love between Catherine and Joe.
02:07That was very important to us because at the end of the day, we are telling a story
02:11about a black family in the 1960s and the political backdrop was rough.
02:20And it was really important to me that, to us, that we had something to hold onto and that
02:27was each other.
02:28Yes.
02:29And one of my favorite, favorite moments in the film is very early on, Joe's coming home,
02:36I'm in the kitchen with the kids, and he starts to open the door and he just pauses.
02:43And he gathers himself before he walks in.
02:46And I imagine that type of pressure on black men during those times was heavy duty.
02:53And to see it in that moment as an adult now, maybe when I was younger I wouldn't have understood
02:58that as much, but the pause that he took was the pride that he walked in, to be prepared
03:08to walk through that door and be the father that he needed to be and the husband that he
03:11needed to be.
03:12I would also add that the story is told through Michael's eyes.
03:16So even as an audience member watching the film, there's this excitement and this fire
03:22that you just can't help but feeling because you know you're inside a genius's mind and in his head.
03:30And you're watching his perspective on the world in front of him.
03:35We're so used to seeing him on stage and those iconic moments, but you really get a real personal look
03:43into, from his point of view, from Michael's point of view, through the creative process, like you said about the
03:48family dynamics.
03:49And it's such a family feeling that you get to experience.
03:53And I can't wait for people to feel that, to see that side.
03:56It's so good. You're like jumping around in your seats.
03:58I was literally dancing while watching the film.
04:00Yeah, that's true.
04:01It's wild, yeah.
04:02I think in the midst of all the chaos and in the midst of all of the responsibility of just
04:09being a mom and having that many children, the most important thing for me as an artist was to create
04:15a safe and intimate space to connect.
04:19Because I think that is what a mother's love is all about. And I think Catherine personifies that grace and
04:26elegance and let's just be real. She's down for her family.
04:32Right before we started this, we just got the most incredible review. And it's from his grandmother. And what did
04:39she say?
04:40She said, Jafar, the film was phenomenal. I said, really, Grandma? Like, you really think so? He said, you were
04:49so good.
04:50Aww. You were so good. And I got very emotional and I was just like almost like shaking a bit.
04:58And it was all I wanted to hear. And I told her your opinion, your response means everything to me.
05:06That's all I needed. I don't need anything else.
05:08That solidified everything. All the hard work, everything paid off just from that reaction I got from her.
05:15Imagine what she must be feeling though to see like her grandson telling the story about her son. And just
05:24the pride in some sort of way. I'm sure it's very healing for her too.
05:30You know?
05:31Yeah. It was very reflective from when I was speaking to her. Just hearing her and also my other families
05:39that got to see it. It really was very reflective for them.
05:42Mm-hmm.
05:42Took them back to that time. And I can only imagine for them. And I wasn't even born during those
05:49years. But since we shot in those actual locations at Havenhurst.
05:53So much nostalgia.
05:54Yeah. So I know it's a lot to take in. You know, especially being a family member. But I know
06:01she's like, can I see it again?
06:03Aww.
06:03Aww.
06:04Try to come in and get her and take her to the movie.
06:07I was like, I'd love to see it with you.
06:09It's so cool.
06:09I'd love to see it with her too.
06:11Yeah.
06:12Coleman, come on. You can make that happen.
06:14Let's do it.
06:14Yeah. I wanted to share that.
06:15Yeah.
