The two stars discuss the challenges of portraying layered characters this series rooted in 1970s Atlanta.
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00:00My sister is an Aries. So she's very feisty and spicy. So I'm not even gonna lie to you.
00:07That's where I drew some of my inspiration from. Yes, she's a cute little girl. She's a woman, but
00:14she also has a lot of grit to her. And that's why I felt she was an Aries because she can't be messed
00:20with.
00:35So I'm actually glad I caught you guys like this. I wanted to ask,
00:39with so many different personalities on the set, what was the experience like doing this movie?
00:46Honestly, it was just like what you got a chance to like to walk into.
00:49That's exactly what it was. I mean, we had so much fun. And you guys do so many interviews,
00:54and you ask people that question. And sometimes people are like, it was fun. It wasn't fun.
00:58Is it real? For us, it really was fun. And when it was an opportunity for all of us to come together,
01:04when our scenes were always like kind of joined together on those days, we had so much fun, man.
01:09And it was fun. It was fun to play. It was fun to listen. It was fun to learn. It was just fun
01:12to be in the space. It was a party. It was. Yeah, I could tell. I could tell. So Chloe,
01:18how did you approach portraying the character of Lena in this film?
01:23How I approached portraying Lena, if I can be completely honest, how I saw Lena, I was like,
01:30OK, she's an Aries and my sister is an Aries. So she's very feisty and spicy. So I'm not even
01:39going to lie to you. That's where I drew some of my inspiration from. Yes, she's a cute little girl.
01:45She's a woman, but she also has a lot of grit to her. And that's why I felt she was an Aries,
01:51because she can't be messed with. And she definitely holds grudges and she reps hard
01:57for her family. So that is what I brought into Lena, for sure. I was rocking with the whole
02:02Aries component. But right. Lena's an Aries. The grudges. Very Scorpio of her.
02:09Maybe she has Scorpio mood. Scorpio mood.
02:14So you're talking about Zodiac. Yes.
02:19The character, I think, was very, very complex. You know, he was conflicted. I wanted to ask you,
02:25you know what I'm saying, what intrigued you about the character? What made you want to play
02:29McKinley Riders in this film? What you just said, man, I think, like you said, he was complex and
02:33he was conflicted. And I think the desire, as I continue to grow in my career, is to play complex
02:37characters. I desire to play characters where it definitely is in the words, it's on the page,
02:43but the audience gets to make the decision if they agree or disagree, right? Because I think
02:46that that is life, right? I think there's times where there's people that go through life and we
02:50will say, yeah, I do agree with them. And there's times we say, I don't agree with them. And what
02:53are we going to define as good or bad? So conflicted characters, complex characters,
02:59I just gravitate to them. I aspire to play more of them. And so this being an opportunity to step
03:04into that and if the audience has tracked my journey as an actor, there's opportunities where
03:08I've played some of that, but this was an opportunity to play even more of that.
03:12And I was really excited about that, which is to have the complexity
03:17in choices. So that was the attraction, was the fact that he had all of those cracks.
03:23So Chloe, for you, what was it like? This is a, I love period piece films too, you know,
03:28what was it like portraying the 70s in Atlanta? Like what was that experience like for you?
03:34It felt real. It didn't feel like we were playing a character, even though we were,
03:42but every time we stepped on that set, like that was my life. I am living currently in the 70s.
03:49And I'm sure back then they weren't saying, oh, this is history. This is the past. It just felt
03:54real down to the clothes, how our hair was like, you know, you've been saying the music in the
03:59trailer. Like, it felt like we were teleported to that time and we were just living there.
04:04It felt real. So for you sink, well, what, again,
04:08going back to the many personalities, like even Chloe and all the actors entertainers,
04:13is there anything in specific that you learned the most throughout this experience?
04:18Man, there's so much that I learned. I actually said this in a previous interview. One of my
04:22favorite books is this book by Michael Caine and it's called acting in film. And he said,
04:26one of his quotes that I'd always stick with me and always live by is like all a great artist
04:30still, but if you're going to steal, steal from the best. Right. And I think that's creating new
04:35artistry and redefining it. Rick Rubin talks about it in his book. I read a lot, but like
04:39Rick Rubin talks about it as well. And so you mentioned some great names. You mentioned Chloe,
04:44you mentioned Taraji, you mentioned Sam. I stole from everybody, right?
04:52I stole from everybody because I want to continue to grow and get better, but I stole
04:56out of flattery and inspiration. I was inspired, you know, but it was everybody, man. Like if I
05:02saw someone say, oh man, I like how, like I watched how she starts her morning. Right. And I think
05:08that's one thing to say to, for people to really understand, how do you start your day? Right.
05:12People that are big into manifestation, meditation, whatever, how do you start your day? And to watch
05:16Chloe start her day, that's why her day moves so fluidly. How she walks in with such poise and
05:22grounds herself to make sure, and then engages with people at the same time. Like that's the
05:27balance of modulation. So I'm like, oh, how can I steal more of that? Right. And then put that into
05:31my toolbox. And then it allows those processes of like, okay, transitioning into performance where
05:37she's not rattled. She's not rocked because literally she's started with a good compass.
05:42Right. And then moves through that. I watch how Taraji was able to always stay conscious and
05:47present by asking questions and making sure she knew what was going on. Right. I watch how, how,
05:53how Sam wants to live in it. Right. And I'm like, okay, I'm stealing from everybody. Cause my goal
05:57is to continue to grow and become an even better artist. The job is never finished. It'll never be
06:01done. I'll never know it all, but I'm gonna steal from everybody when I can. And if, and especially
06:06if it's good sauce, I'm gonna try to put it into the box. You know,
06:23all right. Thank y'all. Y'all have a good day. I appreciate you.