Sometimes you get a special feeling for a thing
and in this case, the character that I play,
there's a great novel called "Motherless Brooklyn"
and when I read it,
the character just cut right through me.
I really, really--
You read it like 20 years ago, right?
Yeah, it came out 20 years ago.
I read it. I couldn't get it out of my head.
I really, really was quite fixated on this character.
It's such an intricate story.
It is.
And it's so of the moment, too.
So congratulations on the script.
Thank you.
Because it's translated to be so relevant
to this moment.
Yeah, and it's funny the way it happens.
It's about things I think are very timeless,
timeless--
Themes
Themes.
Sometimes I think by looking at what's happened in the past,
you can distill the challenges of the moment
that we're living through now.
And I think some of what happened in New York
in the mid 50s is very different
from what we call the story of New York
that we're familiar with.
I called on my deep web of New York theater actors,
Bobby Cannavale and Bruce Willis and Cherry Jones.
The cast in this, right?
Yeah, it's incredible. And Willem Dafoe.
The den of the night.
Gugu, was it a dream for you? (Gugu laughing)
Yeah. This is my one import.
Yeah, the lone Brit on the set.
No, it was incredible.
I mean, I've been a fan of Edward's work as an actor
for such a long time.
So many incredible performances.
So this was a yes, like, from the get-go.
For me, it was all in the script.
There was so much there.
and then I did a bit of research into Harlem,
I'd never been to Harlem at that point.
I can't believe you've never been to Harlem
when you've been to New York City.
I know.
That's where all the great food and cool stuff
is going on. I know, I know, I know,
and the music, the jazz in this film is so rich.
Oh, it's so fabulous.
So yeah, it was amazing to research it.
I was very aware of Gugu's work.
I would like to say ahead of other people, even.
But I had to write a part to get her in the film with me.
Did that make you feel so special?
Very.
She's very much the--
(audience applauding)
Her character is sort of the figure of mystery
in the beginning.
I think it's nice
when an audience doesn't exactly know
who an actor is,
there's that special moment
where they wanna discover more about her as well.
See them unfold, exactly.
But she's also a character
that you really want to get to know more.
She's someone that like your character really pulls you in
on a human level.
Yeah, and she's complex.
She's a trained lawyer,
she is underestimated,
has to deal with racism
on a daily basis in the 50s.
You know, like Lionel, Edward's character,
who has to deal with people not really understanding
his Tourette's Syndrome.
So they kind of--
They connect.
Bond on that.
It's beautiful, oh my god.
The movie is also mesmerizing just to look at.
How did you do that?
I mean, it's all of Harlem
and they go in and out of buildings and neighborhoods
and it's like you're transported
in a time machine or something.
Look, we love those movies.
"L.A. Confidential", "Chinatown"
and even not in that vein,
you look at a film like "Out of Africa"
or something like that.
Why do those films transport us?
We have emotional relationship with the characters.
But I think a lot of times,
films that we really remember
it's not about the plot, per se.
It's that they work a kind of hypnosis on us.
They do.
There's that moment
about two or three minutes into a film,
where a switch flips in your head
and you just go, "This is all right."
It looks right, the music is right, the costumes are right.
The actors have adult gravity,
and I'm just in.
I'm in and happy to be here,
because when we get taken through that portal,
that's the magic of those old-fashioned movies
and we wanted to go for that.
I agree, it's the romance of it.
(audience applauding)
A really visceral world, completely encompassing, you know.
And New York is like its own character in the film
Oh, it absolutely is.
I mean, anybody who loves New York.
And for me, I've always grown up
on those iconic, cinematic movies.
So now you know your way around Harlem?
I do, a little bit.
And Brooklyn.
And Brooklyn. And Brooklyn.
Yeah, and Brooklyn.
(audience cheering and applauding)