Hello, Scott, how are you, Cynthia?
I'm wonderful, how are you today?
I'm very well, thank you very much. Very well.
Everyone's got better backgrounds and made today.
It's always the way.
Isn't that look at your lovely house?
It's not competitions competition, Scott.
It wouldn't be a close one if it was.
Let's say
congratulations on the show.
Thank you very much.
I'm sure there were many reasons to get involved with this,
but tell me about the first time you read the scripts
and what it was about them that that kind of spoke to you too.
Oh, yeah, definitely.
I mean, the script came to me, like all things, to my agent.
But as soon as I saw that this was a series that was going to be
based on a Walter Mosley novel, I immediately was more interested.
I'm always interested in things that are
from books just because they're such a, you know, rich place for you to pull from.
But Walter Mosley in particular, I am just such a huge fan and I thought, Oh, wow.
And I wasn't that familiar with this particular novel,
which I was surprised by, and it was different than, you know, sort of the
the mystery and detectives.
It was very different, you know, sort of vibe.
And I thought, Oh, how did I miss this?
So I was also excited about the opportunity to read the novel.
I then, of course, was drawn
to the opportunity to work with such a legend as Sam Jackson.
And then I also really was curious about working with Apple Television.
I've been really impressed with what they're doing.
Apple Television is, to me, a streaming service
that sort of like arthouse in its vibe there.
When they say
that there's an Apple original like... like it really is an original series.
They allow each thing to be its own thing.
It's not so much that this is a streamer that's like, this is what we do.
It's more so what we do is allow the project to do what it does.
And I love that.
I love that it's like this sort of arthouse space.
And I thought, What a perfect place for this series
and these people and these artists.
Yeah.
So I was drawn to just about everything, about this project.
What a trifecta of great material with a great partner.
And on a great network, you know?
So yeah,
And a bit better than that, you know?
Tell me about.
I mean, obviously, as an actor, you hope to get good parts
and you hope to be able to play them for as long as you can in a TV set.
You have a lot more time to
to delve into the mythology, delve into the kind of the history of the character.
How fascinate is that for you as an actor to be able to do that, particularly over
six, seven, eight episodes?
Oh yeah.
Well, curiously enough, it's funny that you say it over the time,
whereas I feel like six episodes in such a short series, you know, for
us here, you know, typically, you know, if it's or you're
looking at maybe 13 and then you're a series series, you no longer even.
So to me, if anything, I thought six episodes isn't enough.
I was very much, you know, like, this is it.
We're only going to do this in six, but it ended up being so beautifully perfect.
Yes, I think that what Sam knew, what Sam and Walter knew was that
this was not a story that could be told in a movie that needed more time.
But I think the six episodes ended up being just about exactly right.
And what I loved
is that if you are a fan of the novel, you're going to be very happy
and knowing that it does not veer from the novel very much at all.
It's so true to not only the novel's story,
but also just even the rhythm of the novel.
I was really curious about how they would manage
telling this story that exists in his mind,
but also then steps into a narrative place sometimes.
Also, I love that the characters
sometimes
I feel like a story that's really featuring
this is predominantly it's a black family, it's a black lead.
It's about a very southern family and a family from even more southern history.
So nothing about that.
The language of the piece was
sort of whitewashed or watered down in any way.
I love that it lives in its own vernacular.
It lives in its city and its time and its space in all of the places that it's in.
I just really enjoyed the authenticity
to each character, to each moment, but also to the novel itself.
Yeah.
And I mean, you get to work with Sam,
as you mentioned, such a legend, such a trailblazer for so many reasons.
Just give me a quick summary of of your time with him was like,
Oh, I mean, Sam is just a joy to work with.
He is an icon.
And yes, he's done, you know, 100 plus films don't even know anymore.
We stopped counting.
There's nothing the man can't do.
And yet in this role, he pulls out a performance that I think is
going to surprise everyone.
I it was a pleasure to watch him work.
It's to be around him is to be bettered by him.
He is such a sure he's a personality.
He is a person that he's still Sam, mother of Jackson, but
he is also such a professional actor.
And I think you really see in this project more than any that he comes
from the stage, you know, that he is a theater performer.
His attention?
The language to props, to technique,
to listening to his partner, which is so lovely for me
and to being aware of everything happening around him
while being so present in a moment, it's just all astounding.
He's just a joy to work with.
And it was really just, yeah, the pleasure of my career
to be able to learn from him.
I think in every moment I was very aware of the special
specialness.
Is that a word specialness
of that time?
I appreciate having all those beautiful, intimate scenes with him.
And I'm really pleased
in seeing those screeners
that again, like you said, the just the the what translates.
I love that the intimacy between them was captured,
so I'm grateful to have been able to experience it on camera
and on set, and I'm really excited that they captured on camera and are able
to gift it over to the audiences.
I hope that they'll see him.
Yeah, just in a different way.
He's he's just giving us such sensitivity and empathy,
and I'm really excited about it.
Yeah. Well, hopefully it goes really well for you.
Thank you so much for your time.
Absolute pleasure talking to you. Absolutely. Thank you.
Thank you, Cheers.