- What is the last film or TV show you watched
that made you cry?
- The last thing I was watching on TV that made me cry
was a episode of Good Times.
- [Keegan-Michael] Mm, which one?
- The episode where James dies
and they're having the funeral,
and Florida won't cry.
And every time they go and put the hand on her,
and she pulls away, it shoots through me.
And then they talk and then they put the hand on her again,
it just shoots through me.
Then when she goes, "Oh damn, damn."
Fall apart.
(laughs)
And seen it a million times too.
Sometimes I'll be like, oh, that episode is on.
Let me if it make me, fuck me up.
(laughing)
That shit work every time.
(laughing)
Forty years I've been crying.
(laughing)
(mellow music)
- "Dolemite is My Name" is about Rudy Ray Moore,
who gave everything that he could
to not only be a comedic recording artist,
but also be one of the first guerrilla film makers,
to make a movie called "Dolemite,"
and then went on to make six other pictures.
- [Interviewer] And you're seated next to the man himself.
There's been so much buzz about this return,
and last night was like, the official unveiling of that.
Eddie, what did it feel like to be in the room last night?
- The whole return thing.
Nobody leaves now.
Now they have all these cable channels
and satellite movie channels and social media.
You really can't leave once you're,
even if you wanted to leave you can't leave.
You're like, always, your image is always out there.
So it's the latest thing I've done.
But there is no return or anything.
You never leave.
- You feel you been here?
- Yeah, I've been making movies--
- Been here for years.
- For forty years.
You know I got, all that stuff is up.
It's always something on, so you know.
I was a big fan of Rudy Ray Moore
from the time I was fourteen, fifteen years old
I started watching him.
And when I got older I found out how, you know,
he was the catalyst, how he put his movies together.
He financed them.
And he put his records together.
He financed all of his stuff.
He became this inspirational figure,
'cause my career was the exact opposite of Rudy Ray Moore's.
Like, I really got in really easy.
And he took a whole different road,
so, he's got a really inspirational story.
- I am a huge Rudy Ray Moore fan.
I love the Dolemite films.
And to have this, like you just said,
an unveiling happened last night.
But to be able to have the potential
to unveil the story of this guy,
I was willing to do anything.
And then Eddie is my hero.
Eddie is my comedic hero.
I've style a lot of my life
and framed a lot of my career after him.
His work ethic, what he does, his style of comedy.
And so I thought,
it was just a no-brainer for me to be part of the project.
- That's a good one, man.
- [Interviewer] What is it like to hear that?
- That's nice to hear.
Yeah, to hear young actors and young comics
say stuff like that about you.
It's a good thing.
- I play the director.
(laughing)
The most important person in the movie actually.
- I would agree.
(laughing)
- No, Craig called me up and told me,
and said that he and Eddie had some discussions
about maybe me coming on board.
They thought that I could pull it off well.
And, you know, I was just thrilled at the idea
of getting the chance to work
with a cat who I consider is one of the masters in the game.
I already had respect for Craig,
so, you know, it just worked out wonderfully.
To be standing there, to be standing,
in front of this cat right here,
you know, or even behind him, or looking over his shoulder.
(laughs)
- Yeah, she brought an emotional thing to the character
that nobody even came close to and as soon as you saw her
it was, oh, she's the one.
- [Interviewer] Da'Vine, what is it like to hear that?
I know you trained at Juilliard, but probably nothing
can prepare you for--
- No, no, not Juilliard.
- Ooh. - No, no, no, no.
- Love Juilliard, but not Juilliard.
(laughing)
No, no, I trained at Yale.
- [Interviewer] Yale!
- I mean, it's still a top 5, but,
(laughs)
- Scratch 'em, just scratch 'em.
- But not Juilliard.
- [Interview] Yale, excuse me.
- This was like artists,
really like, work-shopping, you know,
getting in there and working at their craft
in a really kind of like, guerrilla, gritty way
of like, let's just bring all of ourself
and let's bring everything to the table
and then we'll have a myriad of things
to edit and have fun with.
But like, let's just rule out and play as much as we can.
And so that was where I was like,
oh, okay, cool, this is like an actor's playground.
(coughs)
Can I have some water, please?
(coughs)
I'm sorry.
- Kush.
(laughing)
- So many wonderful things about your country
that we have come to enjoy here.
(laughing)
- She loves Toronto, man.
(laughing)
She is loving Toronto.
(laughing)
T-O Baby.
(upbeat music)