That requires me telling you all my business
Tell us your secrets! Tell us your secrets!
I'm wee Claire, this is BBC the Social and this is the brilliant, the brilliant
Winston Duke who plays Gabe and also Abraham, in Us.
Thank you for joining us. Thank you
So, Us invites the viewer to look at themselves and question
whether their actions are erasing others. And with the
conversations about representation and diversity
I feel like Hollywood’s had to do a bit of that and look
at its shortcomings, but do you think we’re there yet
what challenges do we still have to face in that area?
I feel it’s a conversation of self-interrogation
I think it’s always something that’s going to be necessary
and is an evolutionary conversation. Hollywood is definitely
taking a look at it because it’s, it’s being demanded
y’know a lot of people are fighting for it, people of colour are
fighting for it. Women are fighting for it when it comes to diversity
We’re asked to challenge the concepts of power and the
constructs of power, especially in that industry with the
Me Too movement. So, a lot is being done and it’s not
something that’s just happening organically. It’s very intentional
y’know people are fighting and bleeding for it y’know so, I think we
are there and we’ve been there for a very long time but y’know power
is such a messy thing, it’s often rarely seen but often felt
So it’s sometimes hard to prove, so it takes a lot to prove
And I read, or I watched an interview rather, where you said
that one of your greatest fears, one of them, would be not
to have an impact on the world. So, what impact do you want to leave on
the world and how do you think you’ll get there?
I think I’m actively doing that right now, which is curating
conversation. I want people to be in conversation with the
structures around them. With the things that make them who they
are, with perceived influence, and, or lack there of, y’know, I just
want people to question things. To pull back and say ‘let me look
at this from a different point of view’ because I think conversation
in the world is hard, y’know. Everything else can be easy
Y’know, if I wanted to use violence, violence is really easy
y’know? But discourse, democracy, that’s hard
Yeah, I love it, damn right. Now if you’re tethered shadow
came to visit you, what form do you think it would take,
what sins and darkness would come knocking on your door?
That’s, that requires me telling you all my business
Tell us your secrets! Tell us your secrets!
It's really hard for me to really imagine what that would look like because I’ve spent so much
time making sure that I have a voice, making sure
that I’m in touch with my mind and that I have the freedom
of choice, as much freedom of choice that I can
in all the avenues of my life, right? So, I think it would be
something that is a bit shocking and scary for me
and it’s not somewhere I’ve really gone to, what Winston
himself… It’s easier to do for Gabe Wilson
Yes. Now, the scissors play an important role in the film
metaphorically speaking.
So I wanted to ask you, what would be your
metaphorical weapon of choice? I think my art is my
metaphorical weapon of choice I think doing my acting
is my means of liberation my acting is my means of sparking change and
change in my life For me, acting opened a lot of
doors just for personal self-growth Y’know, I didn’t read as
much as I should’ve as a kid and once I started acting, I needed to just
fill the vessel and everything made sense after that y’know I
started doing anthropology more anthropology and archaeology work and really
digging into cultures and asking why on everything
that I came across And that opened everything for me.
So acting’s been my scissor. Now lastly, I’m still processing
the film, because it is crazy it’s amazing and you’re
excellent in it. But it’s crazy. Bonkers would be
the word. So if you could… that’s my word to
describe the film, bonkers. If you could describe the film
in one word, what would it be?
I would describe the movie as ‘subversive’
Nice, bonkers and subversive by the way
Winston you have been absolutely lovely
thank you for sharing your wisdom. Winston wisdom
Thank you so much Thank you, that was wonderful