Mr. Master.
Method Man done made The Daily Show.
- Are you kidding me? - Woo!
The Daily Show made it now.
Good to have you here in person.
Last time we spoke with virtual.
- Yes, it was. - Now you're here in the flesh.
I've always wondered this.
There are few human beings who have had careers as long
and as successful as yours.
But also careers that have spanned different worlds.
Some people know you from the Wu-tang Clan,
some people know you from Redmond and Method Man, right?
Yes.
Some people know you from How High?
Some people know you from The Wire.
Some people are just like, he's an Instagram sex,
like, you're a sex symbol on Instagram.
And on top of that, you're making movies.
Yes.
Like, does it ever dawn on you
how much you've done, how much you are doing,
how amazing your journey has been?
When I step out my door, yeah.
I love that.
It's pretty cool.
I wish these people could tell my kids this,
because I don't know if they know how
cool their dad is, you know.
But it's pretty cool to have a career this long
and to still be relevant and have options.
It's great.
And to still be enjoying it.
That's what I see in your eyes.
Yes, sir.
You enjoy every single moment.
You always hear these stories of musicians moving into film
and they try it out, but you always
hear these stories about how they're divas,
they're used to being rock stars.
When they get on film, they want the same treatment.
Yeah.
Everything I've heard about you from everyone,
it's almost like they know you're behind the corner
even when you're not, is positive.
Yes, sir.
Every single thing.
They go, this man is professional, he loves it,
he's courteous, he knows all of his lines, he's prepared,
he is the epitome of what people want Hollywood to be.
Congratulations on that, for real.
Thank you, sir, thank you very much.
Well, I think, I think the biggest problem
with some musicians or certain artists
who try to branch into acting is, they say things like,
I'll try it for a minute.
Right.
This is something a lot of actors study for years.
There are actors out there right now that you guys
probably haven't even heard of that are cutting
their teeth every day, every month,
every year, still working a 9 to 5 job,
but making those auditions.
So who am I to cut the line and not do the work, you know?
So, yeah.
I love that.
Yeah.
New film.
New film that's coming out on Paramount Plus
is, it's amazing story.
We saw the clip.
And I love how much this film ties in to your life.
Because this movie's a story of a talented young woman who's
trying to get into the rap game, and your character
plays a pivotal role in shaping her world.
I would love to know, when you first read the script
and when you first heard about this story,
and even when you were making it,
like were there parts of the journey that reminded
you of your ascent into rap?
Absolutely.
That's why the character I played is named Supreme.
That's why I wanted to play him as honest as possible.
I mean, of course it would be apparent that he would
supposedly be the villain in a story like this,
because artists, the one thing that we
like to hold on to when we do our art is our integrity.
And compromise is out of the question
if you're a true artist.
And Supreme comes across as someone that
tells you straight up and down, yes, you can still
be an artist, but you can compromise as well so we can
get this money, which is basically what
it is at the end of the day.
So we can get a better life, get your mother
a better life, this, that, and the third.
It's not exactly dangling a carrot in front of her.
It's just saying, I can make you better than what you are,
right or wrong.
You had periods like that in your life, I'm assuming.
Yeah.
You had periods where you could have
chosen a fork in the road. - Yes.
I mean, you know, like the Wu-Tang
Clan wasn't exactly the most like accepted
in terms of commercial.
Now you go everywhere, Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang, and people
have grown up with you. - Yeah, white people love us.
Exactly.
You can say it, you can say it.
You said it, not me, you said it.
But I wonder how you maintain that integrity.
Even when it was Red and Meth, like,
how did you maintain that?
How did you not go I will forgo what
I want to do creatively to maybe make more money
or become more famous?
Why did you not do that?
Well, I have a lot of people around me
that let me know when I'm full of shit.
And it keeps me pretty grounded.
Right.
Because you can smell it when you're grounded, you know.
And you know, where I'm from, every opportunity
that comes along is something like a blessing, you know.
And like I said, to be doing it this long
and for people to still trust me enough to work with me,
is just great.
And the grounded part is, I was born that way.
I'm a humble person at heart.
And I, thank you.
I like how they started, they're like,
no, no, I don't want interrupt you.
And I lean on family and friends as much as possible.
Yeah, and it shows, it really does show.
And I felt it even in this film,
because we've seen films that talk about a career.
We see films that talk about what
happens in life, in the streets, in hip hop,
whatever it may be.
But what I loved about this film
is how it came together, how you portrayed.
Because you say villain, but really it's villain
is always from a certain perspective.
- Absolutely. - You know?
And when I watch you on screen, I go,
ah, I don't like what you did, but I understand
why you're doing it.
I don't know how I feel about you.
You play this character with nuance.
I also have to give credit to the director--
Yes, sir, yes, sir.
--Sanaa Lathan, who directed this character with nuance,
this is amazing for her.
I mean, like Sanaa Lathan is a gem, you know.
- Yes, she is. - She's a legend.
Yes.
She hasn't gotten her due in so many ways.
And here she is, directing for the very first time,
and it's amazing.
How did that feel for you?
Man, as soon as I heard that she was the director,
I was like, I got to support my sister, let's go.
You know? And--
[applause]
Yes.
And uh, she did a fabulous job.
You know, she's not heavy handed when
it comes to the directing.
This is the result of having someone who was an actor
as opposed to just camerawork.
So she saw it from both angles.
And she walked us through it a lot.
I mean, we were prepared to the point
of being so prepared that our lead actress, Jamila
C. Gray, who did a great job.
[applause]
She had very little time to film the battle,
because you know how budgets are.
- Yeah, yeah. - Things of that nature.
And Jamila was on it.
And this is a testament to Sanaa's work ethic.
And like I said, she had a vision, and us as actors
took on the roles of trying to make that vision come to life,
as well as Angie's book, Angie Thomas, yes.
Well, can I just say, first of all, as I always
say to you, congratulations.
Thank you for being the epitome of what I would hope
to even try to be in life.
Well, thank you.
Somebody who enjoys what they do, somebody who crushes
it in everything that they do.
I appreciate you so much.
Whoo!
You know I love you, man.
Method Man, everybody!