Radha Blank, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Yup. Thank you for having me. I'm such a fan.
Everyone is a fan of yours.
I should be the one who's thanking you,
because I'm going to read a list of just some
of your latest achievements
and all the accolades that your film is garnering.
You have the New York Critics Best First Film Award,
the Sundance Directing Award,
the L.A. Critics Next Generation Award,
the Black Critics Rising Star Award.
Everyone has been showering you
and your film with so many awards,
I feel bad that I don't have an award.
-I should just give you one. Here. -Yeah?
I'm giving you the World Cup. Congratulations, Radha.
You have won The Daily Show World Cup Award.
Oh, my goodness.
Like, it has been quite a ride for you.
Are you just surfing on this wave of success?
I'm-I'm doing my best, Trevor.
I mean, it's weird because it's all happening
in a square, in a virtual world.
And so, many times, I'm not even present to receive an award.
Um, but, you know, I go on Twitter,
and that makes things all the more real,
just in terms of people
and their celebrations of the project.
But, um, it's-it's...
it's been interesting to celebrate anything
when so much crazy is going on in the world.
-Right. I can only imagine. -But I try to find a way.
I try to find a way.
Well, for those who don't know, your film,
The Forty-Year-Old Version,
-is truly, in my opinion, a cinematic masterpiece. -Oh.
And it's a story loosely based on your life
and your journey as a Black woman who's a playwright
struggling to make her name
in an industry that keeps blocking her out.
And it's heartfelt, it's funny, it's beautifully shot.
For you, you know, as the person who wrote,
directed and starred in this film,
I mean, I'm sure a lot of it was personal to you.
Uh, why did you want to, you know,
I think, be at the helm of all of those aspects?
Well, it wasn't something I was planning to do.
I just felt like, in order to tell a story in this way,
I had to take control, very much like my protagonist.
Um, things weren't going swimmingly well
for me in my career.
Um, I... unlike her, I have not choked a theater producer.
But I have felt the urge to choke many of the gatekeepers.
And, um, I had gotten fired off of a film job,
one of my first screenwriting jobs, and I just...
I felt like I needed to take my voice back.
And so, in order to not get fired, I decided
I would play every role so that I couldn't.
-You know what I mean? -I know exactly what you mean.
What's interesting is, this is a tale
about somebody doing their best to try and achieve their dreams,
-even beyond their so-called sell-by date, you know? -Mm-hmm.
And then, in telling that story, you have achieved that success.
Do you sometimes think about how surreal it is
that the film has ended up, in many ways,
fulfilling the central narrative of the story?
Yeah, I mean, every single day, I...
there are moments that happen that feel like
I'm actually in the film on my character's journey,
um, because, very much like my character,
I've had a lot of the same obstacles in my way,
whether people thought I wasn't, you know,
cover girl or lead material, or I didn't have a look,
or, you know, you hit 40,
and you should be put out to pasture.
I really do hope that the messaging of the film,
especially for Black women,
is that you don't age out of your passion,
-and if you have the notion to tell the story, do it. -Mm-hmm.
You know, take control. You know, follow the lead
of many of our D.I.Y. filmmakers, like Spike Lee,
you know, and-and find a crew and shoot that shit.
-Shoot that shit. -Can I say "shit" on the...?
I like that. You should put that on a shirt--
-"Shoot that shit." -Shoot that shit.
I think that's a fantastic slogan to go with.
Um, I would love to know what it's been like
for you as-as a creator.
You know, you've always wanted to break into Broadway.
-You always wanted to write. You are a playwright. -Yeah.
You wanted to break into this world, but it has felt like,
for many, not just yourself, that there are gatekeepers
who determine what stories should and shouldn't be told
and how they should and shouldn't be told.
And you've always bucked that trend
almost at your... at your detriment.
-Well... -In walking through that,
in telling this story... Yeah?
Well, you know, um, I feel like, while a lot of the people
in those positions are well-meaning,
they tend to cater to the audience.
There's always this kind of dance
in terms of what's being programmed.
And then when the Black plays show up,
it seems to be a Black story that caters to their, um...
their memberships' idea of what an authentic Black story is.
I mean, hence the song "Poverty Porn,"... -Right.
...um, where, you know, I'm kind of raising a lens
on the industry's celebration of Black pain.
Yes, there are always going to be gatekeepers.
And I do think we should call people out
when there are racist practices or things
that are keeping marginalized people
from getting on these stages.
But I say, don't wait on those people, you know, to affirm you.
You know, um, a good friend of mine...
Her name is Danai Gurira. You may know her as "Michonne."
She once said to me... Yeah, the zombie-slaying girl.
Um, she once said to me,
after I had been rejected by yet another theater,
she said, "Stop trying to make these people love you, Radha.
Go where the love is."
And so I think that, for the storytellers,
yes, it's great if we can get Marvel stories
or get the bigger studios to get behind our storytelling,
-but what do we do if they don't? -Right.
You know, we have to figure out ways to...
And I think that's great,
because We need independent filmmaking.
We need that to be a part of the landscape of storytelling.
Everyone can't do a Marvel film, you know?
When you look at your journey,
you spent a lot of time knocking on the doors of Broadway,
and yet, it seems like the film industry has-has...
has welcomed you with open arms in celebrating your project.
Do you see yourself now going fully into the world of film,
or do you see yourself coming back to Broadway
in some way, shape or form?
Um, you know, some of them theater producers,
um, they're calling me now. You know what I'm saying?
It's like, you would think I was on some SlimFast diet,
and I lost a little weight,
and now they're all up in my DMs.
But you know, I-I... I hope
there's an opportunity to tell a story there.
I think my voice tends to be... lean more
-towards social justice issues in theater. -Mm-hmm.
And I do want to tell those stories,
but I did this to break into the filmmaking business.
I know people think, because I'm in my own film,
that maybe this was my audition for other roles.
Actually, no. This is just me being strategic.
I knew I couldn't play 39 forever. You know what I mean?
Um, even though I moisturize.
Um, but I... I want to make film. I want to make film.
I want to compete, um, with major filmmakers of our time.
When... when someone is watching this movie,
they might ask themselves, "Okay,
"who is Radha Blank? Is she an actress?
Is she a filmmaker?" I found myself going,
"Is she an undercover MC?"
Because it seems like a joke in the film,
but I mean... you know?
Radhamus Prime has got some rhymes.
Tr-Trevor, I got bars.
-I mean, um... -(laughs)
you know, The 40-Year-Old Version is an origin tale.
Um, and I have always been an MC.
And, um, you know, I remember telling somebody
I wanted to do a movie about a woman who decided to become
an MC at 40, and their first inclination was to laugh.
And I kind of got offended by that,
because it's like, why is that so funny?
-Right. -You know what I'm saying, like...
why is it that Busta Rhymes, Ghostface
and-and all these other MCs can rhyme in their 40s, 50s
and 60s, some of them, um...
And-and why couldn't I get some of that?
So I am an MC and I will always be one.
Um, and I got some stuff coming up.
I got some stuff coming up for the naysayers
who think that is just a joke.
Um, but, yeah, I feel like
the culture, I'm the same age as the culture
-Right, right. -And why can't-- you know, I still have something
to say, I get that at some point, it was youth culture,
but hip-hop has involved, evolved to include people
from different parts of the world, different, you know, uh,
-uh, uh, kinds of lifestyles. -Mm-hmm.
And so, you know, I'm here to rep for the over-40 MC.
'Cause we-we do exist.
Yeah, album title Shoot That Shit.
Shoot That Shit, you know what I'm saying?
That's what it needs to be. A whole merch line--
And you got to come and do, you got to come and drop 16.
I'm coming through, are you kidding me?
You know, maybe a song called my, um, "My Growing Afro."
-You know what I'm saying? -Are you kid--? Man.
The flow from the 'fro?
-The flow from the 'fro! -You don't even understand
right now, Radha--what? The flow from the 'fro?
-Keeps warming the dome-- what? -Come on, Trevor, come on.
-Come on, come through, come through. -What?
Man, oh, man, you got, you got me-- you know what?
I'm gonna, I'm gonna go write rhymes right now.
-Please. -You get back to your press tour, you get back
to winning those awards. Thank you so much for joining me
-on the show, Radha. -Thanks for having me, Trevor.
This was awesome.