- I don't know.
I really don't know what other people think
other than people would be saying I'm weird and [beep].
So maybe I might be marked for my imagination.
[melancholy instrumental music]
- [Interviewer] LaKeith, you are about to take
"Vanity Fair's" Proust questionnaire.
You will be asked 35 questions in rapid succession
in order to reveal your true nature.
Once a question has been read out,
you will have five seconds to answer before we move on.
Once we have completed all 35 questions,
you'll have a chance to reflect on
and even correct your answers.
If you understand and are ready,
please look into that camera and we will begin.
- All right. Let's go.
[melancholy instrumental music]
- [Interviewer] What is your idea of perfect happiness?
- I don't think that happiness can be perfect.
I think you need all the other things
in order for happiness to be a part of the equation.
- [Interviewer] What is your greatest fear?
- Suffering.
- [Interviewer] What is the trait
you most deplore in yourself?
- I'm very impulsive so I don't really like the fact
that I'm so impulsive, but it's also a gift.
- [Interviewer] What is the trait
you most deplore in others?
- Lying.
- [Interviewer] Which living person do you most admire?
- My mom.
- [Interviewer] What is your greatest extravagance?
- What does that mean? Extravagance.
I love jewelry.
- [Interviewer] What is your current state of mind?
- Stressed.
- [Interviewer] What do you consider
the most overrated virtue?
- Skin tone.
- [Interviewer] On what occasion do you lie?
- All the time. No, I'm just kidding.
No. [laughs]
When I'm acting, I guess. I don't know.
- [Interviewer] What do you most dislike
about your appearance?
- My beard's uneven.
- [Interviewer] Which living person do you most despise?
- I don't really despise anyone.
- [Interviewer] What is the quality you most like in a man?
- Honesty.
- [Interviewer] What is the quality
you most like in a woman?
- Honesty.
- [Interviewer] Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
- Uh, [beep].
- [Interviewer] What or who is the greatest love
of your life?
- My daughter.
- [Interviewer] When and where were you happiest?
- Probably when I was growing up in San Bernardino.
- [Interviewer] Which talent would you most like to have?
- Be able to sing.
- [Interviewer] If you could change one thing about yourself
what would it be?
- Nothing.
- [Interviewer] What do you consider
your greatest achievement?
- Being able to act.
- [Interviewer] If you were to die and come back
as a person or a thing, what would it be?
- I'd come back as Zoom, the app.
- [Interviewer] Where would you most like to live?
- Kyoto, Japan.
- [Interviewer] What is your most treasured possession?
- I got a necklace from my brother who died.
That's my favorite treasure right now.
- [Interviewer] What do you regard
as the lowest depth of misery?
- Poverty and addiction.
- What is your favorite occupation?
- Therapist.
- [Interviewer] What is your most marked characteristic?
- Most marked?
I'm not sure exactly what that means.
- [Interviewer] What do you most value in your friends?
- Honesty, loyalty.
- [Interviewer] Who are your favorite writers?
- Oh, that's hard.
I really like Ernest Hemingway.
Fuck, what's his name?
The guy who wrote "Fences."
Sorry, I forget his name, but he's fire.
And I love Tupac.
- [Interviewer] Who is your hero of fiction?
- Hero of fiction?
The Joker.
- [Interviewer] Which historical figure
do you most identify with?
- Malcolm X.
- [Interviewer] Who are your heroes in real life?
- My mom, my brothers, my sisters, my family.
- [Interviewer] What are your favorite names?
- Magnolia, and if I had a son,
I might have one coming soon [laughs]
I might name him King, or something like that.
Or Sonny.
- [Interviewer] What is it that you most dislike?
- It might be the government. [laughs]
- [Interviewer] What is your greatest regret?
- I don't have no regrets.
- [Interviewer] How would you like to die?
- However I'm a die.
- [Interviewer] What is your motto?
- Let me see.
What is my motto?
I don't really got one.
- [Interviewer] All right, that concludes
the Proust questionnaire.
- [laughs] That's gonna be the craziest
"Vanity Fair" interview [laughs]
- [Interviewer] What'd you think of those questions?
- They're cool. Yeah, it's cool.
I like it much better than a lot of this press.
They be asking the same question so that was cool.
[melancholy instrumental music]
- [Interviewer] You said your favorite occupation is-
- Therapist.
- [Interviewer] Why is that?
- When I grew up therapy was seen as something
that was like weird if you're doing therapy
or like anything that has to do with mental health,
but I think therapists are dope
'cause they give you the opportunity
to communicate and reflect.
And it really helps people a lot.
You know, I know some people
that would have killed themselves if it wasn't for therapy.
So I just think it's a real cool job to just like listen
and be able to be like professionally help somebody
who might be going through something.
'Cause everybody can't do that.
Like in my family, I might talk to people
but I'm not no professional
so I may not give them what they need.
But therapists do.
- [Interviewer] You said that-
- I don't think that happiness can be perfect.
- [Interviewer] That you need all the other things.
What are all the other things?
- Pain, misery, struggle, you know.
Muscles get strong when you use them, right,
when you work them out.
So I feel like struggle and all them bad things
make you be able to be happy, you know.
You don't even know what that is
unless you know that you could be not happy.
So I'll be thankful for the bad things
'cause then when I'm feeling good, I'm feeling good.
- [Interviewer] You said the person you most admire is-
- My mom.
- [Interviewer] Why is that?
- I admire my mom 'cause she been through a lot,
and she had a lot of us and she was able to raise us,
you know, without very much help.
So I just appreciate her strength and tenacity
and being able to just to pull through
all the stuff she'd been through.
She'd been through like 10 times more
than I've been through.
So I really appreciate her for that.
And that was the first person
that showed me some type of love, you know?
Yeah, so shouts out, Mommy.
- [Interviewer] And speaking of your mom,
you said when you were happiest was when you were-
- Growing up in San Bernardino.
- [Interviewer] What about that time was so happy to you?
- Because I was a kid, like everything was brand new.
And now I might reflect back on it and be like
yo, this wasn't the perfect conditions to live in
but when you're a kid it's just fun, you know.
Like even all the bad stuff was just fun.
Like all the stuff I went through is like worth it
at the end of the day 'cause it just, it was cool.
It was just all I knew, you know.
And I think as you grow up
you gotta have so many different responsibilities
and things that come into the awareness.
When you were a kid, it's just all about playing,
which is why I try to keep some of the kid in me.
You dig, like so.
But that was definitely when I was the happiest
when I didn't know that much about the world, you know.
- [Interviewer] Going back
to your most marked characteristic.
- I'm not sure exactly what that means.
- [Interviewer] What do you think people know you most for?
- I don't know.
I really don't know what other people think,
other than people would be saying I'm weird and shit.
So I might be marked in my imagination.
- [Interviewer] You said your hero of fiction is-
- The Joker.
- [Interviewer] Why?
- I think I like the Joker
because the Joker makes you have to look in the mirror,
flip everything on its head,
and like make you have to laugh at everything
that you thought was sacred.
You know, he kinda like a glorified troll
in making people see what they have to see in themselves
'cause ultimately you have to make the own decision
inside yourself for like who you wanna be
and what you wanna be.
But sometimes you don't know what that is
until somebody shows you.
And the Joker's just like, you know,
"You thought this was all so serious.
"Nah, that shit's funny."
You know what I mean? [laughs]
So I think that's a great trait to have and, you know,
and in some people's eyes, he's a villain.
But to me, it's kind of like hero characteristics.
- [Interviewer] You said the quality you most like
in both a woman and a man is-
- Honesty.
Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Have you always felt that way?
- Oh, I imagine it's something I always felt.
I mean, you know, when I was growing up,
the people I trusted the most did things that was crazy
and like, you know, made me not trust them.
And so I knew then that I respected honesty,
but it's just reinforced in my life as I grew.
- [Interviewer] And you said your greatest extravagance is-
- I love jewelry.
- [Interviewer] So do you have a favorite piece of jewelry
that comes to mind?
- Yeah, my brother.
I got my brother in a pendant who died.
He was killed.
That's probably my favorite one right now.
And then outside of that,
I got this little bust-down Cartier.
♪ Oh my grand-mama ♪
- [Interviewer] What about-
- Kyoto, Japan.
- [Interviewer] Makes it the place you'd most like to live?
- Yeah, I love Kyoto.
It's like feudal Japan.
It's really slow and just traditional.
Everyone does everything according to tradition,
and I love that, you know.
In Japan, wherever you go, people bow.
That's like a sign of respect.
I think it's a really cool one.
And a guy in Kyoto taught me how to make green tea.
And the first thing that he told me was not, you know,
get water or grab a cup.
He was like you sit down on your knees
and you put your hands at your side
and you just live in the moment.
And then everything else is methodical.
So it just like...
It was just beautiful that, you know,
he took care just to make a tea.
The cup was like his baby, you know.
And there's so many things that we overlook so much
and don't take time to give care to.
So yeah, I thought that was a beautiful thing.
And I just, I love the city.
- [Interviewer] You couldn't think of a motto
during the questionnaire.
- What is my motto?
- [Interviewer] Can you think of one now?
- As above, so below.
- [Interviewer] And what does that mean to you?
- Duality, polarity.
There's good and bad, bad and good.
You know, everything's a reflection of itself
and there's no real imbalance in the universe.
Think the only time you really get balance
is when you're dead, you know.
- [Interviewer] Are you a pretty private person?
- I kind of wear my heart on my sleeve.
Say what I feel, say what I think,
but, you know, at the same time, yes.
There's a lot of things that are covet,
hold close to myself,
mainly just concerning people I care about and my family.
- [Interviewer] And do you think that those questions
reveals your true nature
or anything you didn't know about yourself?
- Y'all got a little taste. [laughs]
[melancholy instrumental music]