♪♪ ( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
>> Stephen: EVERYBODY, WELCOME BACK!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) WELCOME BACK, LADIES AND
GENTLEMEN!
MY NEXT GUEST IS AN ACTOR YOU KNOW AS M'BAKU FROM "BLACK
PANTHER" AND "AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR."
HE NOW STARS IN THE FILM "NINE DAYS."
>> IT'S ABOUT THE TIME THAT YOU SPEND.
YOU HAVE BEEN HERE A FEW DAYS, BUT YOU'VE LIVED EVERY SECOND
WITH HONESTY AND INTENSITY.
THERE'S NO SHAME IN THAT.
NOW, I WANT YOU TO THINK OF WHAT YOU SAW ON THOSE TVs AND PICK
A MOMENT TRULY MEANINGFUL FOR YOU.
I KNOW IT'S NOT MUCH, BUT IF YOU ALLOW ME, I WILL DO MY BEST TO
RE-CREATE THAT MOMENT FOR YOUR EXPERIENCE.
>> Stephen: PLEASE WELCOME TO "THE LATE SHOW," WINSTON DUKE!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ♪♪
>> OH, MY GOSH!
THANK YOU!
>> Stephen: HAVE A SEAT!
I HAVE TO TELL YOU -- >> Stephen: YES, SIR.
-- I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO THIS, LIKE, JAMES BROWN BAND
THING.
IS THAT OKAY?
>> Stephen: LIKE WHAT THING?
HIT ME ONE TIME, BOOM!
>> Stephen: JOHN, ARE YOU GUYS COOL WITH THAT?
>> LET'S DO IT.
>> Stephen: WINSTON, THEY'RE READY ANYTIME YOU WANT.
>> OKAY.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> HIT ME ONE TIME!
HIT ME TWO TIMES.
♪♪ HIT ME THREE TIMES!
♪♪♪ WHOO!
OKAY!
ALL RIGHT!
OKAY!
ALL RIGHT!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) I AM NOW PUTTY IN YOUR HANDS.
>> Stephen: YOU'RE KNOWN -- A LOT OF PEOPLE FIRST KNEW YOU
FROM PLAYING M'BAKU, THE LEADER OF THE MOUNTAIN TRIBE SYMBOLIZED
BY THE GORILLA.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: IS IT TRUE BEFORE
YOU PLAYED ABOUT ONE TO HAVE THE GREAT WARRIORS YOU USED TO LIE
ABOUT YOUR HEIGHT TO MAKE YOURSELF SMALLER?
>> ALL THE TIME.
>> Stephen: WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?
>> I'M 6-5 AND AND A HALF AND THE AND A HALF IS A LOT OF
DIFFERENCE.
I THOUGHT IT WAS SO MUCH FOR PEOPLE AND THEY WOULD THINK IT'S
INTIMIDATING.
I STOPPED SAYING THE NUMBER, AND SAY I'M THE ROCK'S HEIGHT OR
SOMEONE ELSE'S HEIGHT.
I WOULD TRY TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE IT WAS NORMALIZED BEFORE IT WAS.
>> Stephen: THINKING THEY WOULDN'T NOTICE HOW TALL YOU
WERE WHEN YOU CAME IN OR DID YOU ALWAYS JUST -- WERE YOU ALWAYS
THERE BEFORE THEM AND STAY SEATED?
>> MAYBE I'VE ALWAYS BEEN THERE.
>> Stephen: YEAH, MAY BE.
YEAH.
>> Stephen: DID IT ACTUALLY HELP?
>> NO, IT DID.
I WOULD SAY I'M 6-4.
>> Stephen: SO BORN AND RAISED IN TRINIDAD TOBEGO?
>> YES.
>> Stephen: THE NEW FILM, WHICH IS CALLED "NINE DAYS," THE
NINE OR NINE DAYS IS SIGNIFICANT IN THE CULTURE THAT YOU GREW UP
IN, IN WHAT WA I?
>> YEAH, SO IN MY CULTURE IN TRINIDAD TOBEGO, IT'S BELIEVED
WHEN A LOVED ONE DICE, IT TAKES NINE DAYS FOR THE SPIRIT TO MOVE
ON.
SO WITHIN THAT NINE DAYS, THEY'LL VISIT YOU IN A DREAM,
THEY'LL SAY GOODBYE, THEY'LL DO SOMETHING, AND, YOU KNOW, THAT
WILL BE LIKE THEIR WAY OF MOVING ON AND DETACHING FROM THIS PLAIN
OF EXISTENCE.
>> Stephen: GROWING UP IN TRINIDAD, WHAT WERE YOUR
INFLUENCES?
WHAT DID YOU SEE IN ENTERTAINMENT OR PERFORMANCE
THAT YOU WENT, OH, I WANT TO DO THAT, THIS INSPIRES ME?
>> SO MUCH.
SO MANY IMPORTS ARE FROM AMERICA.
SO WE HAVE COUNTRY MUSIC, COUNTRY MUSIC IS BIG.
>> Stephen: REALLY?
YEAH.
IT'S ACTUALLY -- WE GOT ALL THE, LIKE, SHANIA TWAIN, I LISTENED
TO GARTH BROOKS AND ALL THESE FAVORITE THINGS.
>> Stephen: SURE.
AND THEN SOAP OPERAS.
SO "THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL."
>> Stephen: "YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS."
>> "YOUNG AND RESTLESS, AND" GENERAL HOSPITAL ."
EVERYBODY WAS IN LOVE WITH VICTOR ON "THE ONE AND RESTLESS"
AND EVERY GUY WANTED TO BE TOXIC LIKE VICTOR.
( LAUGHTER ) THE GUY EVERYONE REALLY WANTED
TO BE WAS A GUY FROM A SHOW CALLED "SANTA BARBARA."
DO YOU REMEMBER THAT?
>> Stephen: NOT ONE OF MY STORIES.
>> WELL SANTA BARBARA WAS A SHOW OF AN HISPANIC GUY WHO WENT BY
THE NAME CRUZ AND HE WORE TIGHT SKINNY FIT JEANS AND EVER SINCE
SKINNY TIGHT FIT JEANS WERE CALLED CRUZ'S.
>> Stephen: EVERYWHERE?
NOT EVERYWHERE.
BUT EVERY TIME YOU WEAR SOMETHING TIGHT, LOOK AT THAT
CRUZ!
( LAUGHTER ) >> Stephen: HAVE YOU EVER
PERFORMED OBSERVE A SOAP OPERA?
>> I THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN MY FUTURE AT ONE POINT.
>> Stephen: YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO SNEAK IN FOR A CAMEO.
>> TRINIDAD IS LIKE A SOAP OPERA.
THE WAY THEY FIGHT, THE NEIGHBORS, THEY'LL COME OUT OF
THEIR HOUSE, PULL OUT A MACHETE AND SCRAPE IT ON THIS GROUND AND
BE, LIKE, IF YOU CROSS THIS LINE, I WILL KILL YOU!
AND THEN EVERYONE DIES.
IT'S COMMUNITY THEATER.
AND THEN, LIKE, TWO DAYS LATER, YOU FIND OUT THEY'RE JUST
COUSINS.
( LAUGHTER ) HIT ME ONE TIME!
♪♪ BOOM!
>> Stephen: THE NEW MOVIE IS CALLED "NINE DAYS."
>> YEAH.
>> Stephen: WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
O SHORT AND SWEET, NINE DAYS IS ABOUT A MAN IN THE AFTERLIFE
TASKED WITH THE JOB OF INTERVIEWING SPIRITS FOR THE
OPPORTUNITY TO BE BORN, AND THE INTERVIEW PROCESS TAKES PLACE
OVER NINE DAYS.
>> Stephen: AND YOU'RE -- I AM THAT MAN.
I PLAY WILL AND THE STORY IS INSPIRED BY THE DIRECTOR'S OWN
PERSONAL STORY, HIS UNCLE SUICIDED AT THE AGE OF 50, AND
IN HIS FAMILY ALL HE WAS TOLD WAS DON'T BE LIKE YOUR UNCLE,
YOUR UNCLE WAS WEAK.
SO AS HE WENT THROUGH HIS OWN MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, AND
DEPRESSION, HE LOOKED INTO HIS UNCLE'S LIFE AND HE WROTE THIS
STORY TO REDEFINE THE NARRATIVE OF HIS UNCLE BECAUSE HIS UNCLE'S
LIFE WAS ESSENTIALLY REDUCED TO THIS ONE ACT, NOT A FULL LIFE,
JUST THIS ONE ACT OF PAIN.
AND HE SAID, I WANTED TO REWRITE THE LIFE BY GIVING HIM ANOTHER
LIFE IN THE AFTERLIFE SO HE COULD DEAL WITH THAT, SOME OF
THOSE SHADOWS, AND THAT WANT CHARACTER IS WILL, AND I PLAY
WILL.
>> Stephen: WELL, WINSTON, LOVELY TO MEET YOU.
>> ABSOLUTELY, PLEASURE.
>> Stephen: "NINE DAYS" IS IN THEATERS NOW.
WINSTON DUKE, EVERYBODY!
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK!