-Thank you for coming on. I know you're losing your voice,
-[ Clears throat ] I'm gonna preserve it.
I'm gonna preserve it. -You are?
-Yeah. -It's kind of sexy raspy.
-It's like, you know, my sexy Harry Belafonte voice.
-It really is. Jaime, how's your voice?
-[ Raspy ] Well, you know --
-[ Laughing ] Oh, my God! You lost your voice, too?
-It's crazy. I don't know what happened.
-[ Laughing ] Oh, my God. You both lost your voice.
-Sound like Doc Rivers. I sound like Doc Rivers?
[ Laughter ]
[ Gasping ]
I was talking to Michael, and I caught it.
-Oh, my God.
Your new film, "Just Mercy" just premiered
at the Toronto Film Festival, and to a standing ovation,
so congratulations on that.
Thank you for coming to my show.
I know you just came right from there. I really appreciate it.
-Of course, of course.
-This is the first time you guys have worked together.
-Yeah. -Is that right? Yeah.
And what made you -- What drew you to the script?
Talk to me about -- This is based on a true story.
-Based on a true story of Bryan Stevenson,
a real-life superhero. He --
You know, he's dedicated his life
to the Equal Justice Initiative to the judicial system.
And when I first, you know, read the book
and I heard his Ted Talk, watched his Ted Talk,
I was almost embarrassed that I didn't know about this man.
I didn't know about his journey or his work.
So I just took that as a personal,
you know, kind of responsibility
to go ahead and get the story out to the masses.
And it's extremely important and so timely.
The story takes place between 1987 and 1989.
And it's still fighting the same issues --
We're still dealing with the same issues today
that we did 30-some-odd years ago.
So it's really relevant, and it's really important.
And, you know, we were blessed enough to get Jamie onboard
to play Walter McMillian. The --
-Jamie, you're fantastic in this.
-Incredible. Incredible.
-Jaime, you're incredible in this. So are you.
It's great, but, I mean, like --
[ Laughter ]
-No. -No, no, no.
-No, wait till you see it.
No -- There's no competition. Come on.
No competition. You're all on the same team.
-Now the audience is "ooh."
-Yeah, yeah. No, no, no.
-No, it was absolutely amazing.
And I've known Michael B.
since he was 8 -- probably younger than that.
The fact that he produced this movie,
the fact that he's brought this story to light
in a way to where -- You know how hard it is
to bring a autobiography to life as a movie.
And to watch his performance, especially in the courtroom...
-The courtroom scene, no, no, no.
-...where I guarantee you,
if you had haters before,
they will definitely be like, "Wow, he's done it all."
And he does a fantastic job.
And then to see the people in Toronto
stand on their feet and give...
-It was an incredible experience.
-...give this film a eight-minute standing ovation
was amazing.
-Talk to me about the courtroom scene,
because that's -- that is really, like --
-It was -- It was really intense, honestly.
Like, you know, you're in --
You know, we shot it in Atlanta, in Georgia.
And, you know, this takes place in Montgomery, Alabama.
And just the history, the -- just being in that courtroom,
you know, full of prejudice, full of racism,
you know, full of injustice.
And you have, you know, this packed courtroom.
And I'm getting my final, you know, arguments.
You know, his freedom, you know, rests on,
you know, whether or not I deliver.
And the pressure at that moment, you know, was -- it was a lot.
And it was probably one of the tougher scenes
that I ever had to perform.
But at the same time, it was one of the easiest,
because I had the support system of a phenomenal cast and crew.
And it -- And I think we did something good.
It's hard for me to take credit for that moment.
-Listen, no, he was fantastic.
And I know we don't -- We're limited in time,
but I just have to say this.
There was -- He wanted to get it so right.
At one point he was having trouble,
you know, fumbled a couple lines.
He said, "My bad." He was so gracious.
"I'm sorry. I apologize." And I told him, I said,
"You don't have to apologize for anything. You put this together.
If it take 30 minutes to say one of those lines, you do it."
That boy went away and came back, and he did the speech.
And the people, the extras, gave him a standing ovation.
People were in tears.
So kudos to you and the whole project.
-It must be fun to even be witness to that,
I mean, watch that happen.
-Oh, it was amazing. And then when he finished,
you know, I tried to -- I tried to talk to him.
I touched him. You know, he took off.
[ Laughter ] You know, the Spirit.
You know, black people know the Holy Spirit.
[ Laughter ]
Black people got the Holy Spirit, you know?
And I was like -- I was like, "Oh."
Walked off, I said, "Mm."
-We chase those moments, man.
-i mean, but it was --
you know, it was just really great to see his --
-What did you do after that? Did you just, like --
-I went in the -- the back of the courthouse,
and I just cried. I cried for a minute.
You know, honestly, as actors, you know, we chase those moments
where you just kind of get lost in the moment,
lost in what you're doing.
And that was one of them.
It was so real at that time that I just had to let it out.
And literally when I was, you know, behind the courtroom
and I looked at my phone,
he had already written me a paragraph speech
just basically telling me how good he thought I did.
And it meant the world,
because he's been like a big brother of mine for a long time.
-That's the best. He's a good dude.
[ Cheers and applause ] Jaime --
He really is one of the best.
-Yep. -Jamie, this means a lot to you
because you grew up -- Is it Terrell, Texas?
-Yes. Terrell, Texas.
And that's one of the --
in bringing Walter McMillian's character to life,
me growing up in a Southern city
where, you know, the racial component was definitely alive.
As a matter of fact --
I love my city. -Yeah.
-But there was a couple of things
where we're trying to evolve from.
Like when a guy by the name
of Barack Obama, President Barack Obama, became president,
our city somehow figured out
a way not to put him on the front of the newspaper.
And so that was -- if that gives you any indication
of where we were when it comes to racial things.
And even CNN went down and asked,
"Why didn't you put him on the newspaper?
And it was a matter of fact answer.
"Well, we run a newspaper, not a scrapbook."
So taking sort of that -- sort of that DNA
of what that is into this movie,
Walter McMillian knows that the racism that he's met with
is a matter of fact.
The black man living in two worlds
where he's -- he has to be one way at his house,
but he has to be another way when he's out
in, you know, white society.
And you'll see in the movie when he's stopped by the cops.
Everything that he tries to do --
And a lot of African-American males
have this going on in their mind when they're stopped by cops.
"I got to be -- I'm trying to be as perfect as I can
for this not to go wrong."
So bringing all of that to this character.
And you see in the movie it does go wrong.
It goes horribly wrong.
And it's --
It was really powerful even to see other people watch it.
We tested this movie in front of an all-black audience.
It tested at a 97. -Yep.
-And then we tested it in front of an all-white audience.
And we were, like, worri-- I wasn't worried, but it was like,
"Oh, my God." It tested at 98.
So it lets you know that people are engaged.
-Yeah.
-Michael B. brings a humanistic --
humanity to the film.
-To Bryan.
-Yeah.
-It's amazing.
We have an exclusive look --
Thank you for putting this together, too --
at a brand-new trailer for "Just Mercy."
Let's take a look.
-Tell me everything that happened.
-First time I visited death row,
I wasn't expecting to meet somebody the same age as me.
Could have been me, Mama.
-What you're doing is going to make a lot of people upset.
-You always taught me to fight
for the people who need the help the most.
Your life is meaningful, and I'm going to do everything possible
to keep them from taking it.
-You don't know what you into down here in Alabama,
when you're guilty from the moment you're born.
-You the lawyer?
-Yes, ma'am.
-Thank you so much for driving all the way out here.
Most lawyers barely make time to call.
-How many of you all were with Walter that morning?
-I can't believe you talked to all of my people
and said you're going to fight for me.
-I did.
-It mean a lot.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Michael B. Jordan. Jamie Foxx.