Film Courage: This is a tricky question but it’s up to you if you want to answer it,
navigating Hollywood agendas.
Sometimes what happens (and I clearly don’t have to tell you this.
I’m sure this has happened to you in your career) but something will happen with someone,
it won’t even be “burning somebody,” but they are offended.
And then they come back to you years later as if nothing had ever happened.
Like you’re great friends or they “friend” you on social media.
As a professional, how do you handle that?
Do you say “You know what?
It’s water under the bridge.”
Are there levels?
Some it’s water under the bridge.
Others it’s “Please stay over there [away from me] I think I’m good.”
Others it’s “You know what?
It was a misunderstanding.
I’m fine.”
Bill Duke, Actor, Director, Author, Producer: I think it’s both.
Some people you can forgive and forget.
Some people you cannot forgive or forget.
There are other people you can forgive and not forget.
So there’s people you can forgive and forget.
Forgive and not forget.
It depends on what they’ve done.
It if’s the kind of betrayal of a friend, but they not only...you in the back,
they held the object and twisted it a few times to make sure that whatever trust you had in
them was gone.
It’s not that you wouldn’t work with them again, it’s called trust but verify.
I had a martial arts teacher once give us lessons in terms of…the teacher said you
know “If a man wants to fight you, you run away from him as hard and fast as you can.”
And he said “But if he runs after you, and he catches you, you make sure he never chases
you again.”
He said “Revenge is a dish best served cold…”
Don’t shout, don’t scream, it’s like playing chess.
He said “Don’t be playin’ checkers in a chess game.
Play chess.”
It’s not about the outcome, it’s the process, too.
So betrayal happens all the time.
Betrayal, rejection and this is part of our industry, it’s that you…for the young
people coming up in this industry (Ben and I talk about this all the time) they come
in with dreams and hopes nice chests and behinds, faces, hair and bodies and muscles
and all that stuff.
And we were talking yesterday because Ben is going into the acting business, right?
[gestures to someone off-camera].
So I said “Look up the percentage of AFTRA and SAG actors in the Union (the percentage)
that work annually out of 100%” Guess what the number was?
20.
And out of the 20% how many made over $50,000 a year?
[Speaks to someone off-camera “A $100,000 a year”]
About 10% make over $100,000 a year.
Just deal with those numbers.
You are coming in here with hope and dreams, right?
Along with thousands of other people who look as good as you on the same day you’re coming.
They say don’t take rejection personally but…[exhales].
If you get rejected once or twice, you can understand that.
But suppose you’re rejected every other day for 9 years?
What does that do to you?
It creates something called pain.
Self-deprecation.
Self-doubt.
And a lot of people bury those things with liquor, drugs and I did that for awhile when
I first started because it was just so painful.
Thank God I found meditation.
But I see kids out here now in the street and they came here with hopes and dreams and
they’re…and when I say literally they are on the street.
It’s sad.
There’s hope.
I mean, there’s luck and hope, everybody should keep dreaming.
But they should understand the business, too.
And the good part about today is you don’t have to wait to be discovered.
You can put podcasts and webisodes up.
If it’s something relevant and you get 1 or 2 million eyeballs guess what?
They come to you.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, it’s been out for 10 years now, right?
It started out as webisodes.
Issa Rae, Awkward Black Girls, right?
Millions of eyeballs.
Has a deal with HBO.
TANGERINE at Sundance 2 years ago, a movie made with 4 iPhones.
Nobodies waiting.
“I’m waiting for them to see how wonderful I am.”
These guys got tired of waiting, man.
They said “I’m going to discover myself.”
And they did and guess what?
When they’ve got that kind of inner confidence and self-evaluation, something changed, something
happened.
And good for them.