- I'm Krista Smith, host of The Corner Booth.
And I am here celebrating "Dolemite Is My Name"
with Wesley Snipes and Keegan-Michael Key.
- Dolemite is my name!
(mechanical whooshing)
- You know karate?
- No, but I'm a fast learner.
I can learn how to chop me a mutha, yeah!
- Cut!
- Was he good as Shaft?
(funky music)
(mechanical whooshing) (slow jazzy music)
- Well, Eddie has called you
one of his favorite actors.
- Wow. - And also
one of the most versatile. - He said that?
- Yes he did.
And one of the most versatile actors working today.
So tell me a little bit about
how Eddie talked you into this.
Like, how you came to be in this movie?
- It was easy.
You know, I had a conversation with Craig.
We went to dinner.
And he told me what the idea was.
I was like, look, whatever it is,
so I can get a chance to work with one of my heroes,
meaning Eddie,
I am down 1000%.
- And what about you, Keegan?
- I couldn't wait to talk to Craig about it.
And then, we Skyped.
Nothing as refined as going to dinner.
- You'll get there.
(laughing)
In due time, baby.
In due time, man.
- And he said, so what do you know about Dolemite?
And then two hours later,
he was like, okay, this might work out.
(laughing)
And I just thought,
what a perfect piece of casting.
To have my hero play one of his heroes.
To get to, it's this wonderfully layered piece.
I'm still kind of in a little bit of a dream state.
That I got to do scenes with a person
who inspired me to do what I do for a living.
- And there's a exorcism.
- God damn it, an exorcism.
- Yeah, you know, that whole,
"Your mother sucks cocks in hell!"
They love that shit!
That's they favorite dish right now.
- What was it like working with Eddie,
When you're calling action?
'Cause you have Eddie Murphy playing Rudy, playing Dolemite.
- It was very trippy.
You get a chance to see a master at work.
And being such a huge fan of him,
I was tripping on the fact that I'm standing close to him,
watching him do what he does.
And then we actually have one scene,
where we kind of got dramatic.
It was a surreal moment.
Almost like an out-of-body experience for me,
because I'm in character,
doing a dramatic scene with Eddie Murphy.
And my mind said, (snaps)
Oh, Wes, you're doing a dramatic scene with Eddie Murphy!
(Keegan laughs) He's doing the drama,
and you doing the comedy!
- [Keegan] Hey, what's funny is funny.
(group laughing)
- You play the real-life characters, obviously,
D'Urville Martin and you are Jerry Jones.
How did you guys find Dolemite?
Or Rudy Ray Moore?
Did you know about him?
- I wasn't a super Dolemite fan,
because I was much more of a church boy.
We didn't do that sinning thing like y'all.
- Right, right. (laughing) - Like y'all folks did.
We didn't do that.
And this opportunity came along,
and I was just like, how cool that would be,
to be in something that Grandma would've spanked me for,
just for listening to, (Keegan laughs)
back in the day.
- And that's D'Urville Martin.
- I'm offering you a role in my new motion picture.
- You think you could just walk up here and hire me?
No!
- Did you go back and watch any of the movies?
- I watched them all.
To refresh my memory.
And also pick up little tones of how they talked
in those days, you know, that style of acting
is very different from the style of acting we have now.
- I'll kill Dolemite! (gun cocking)
(funk music)
- No sweat, turn this sucker out!
(gun firing)
- What about you, Keegan?
- I watched Dolemite for the very first time
when I was 19, the 90s.
- You remember that, huh?
- I remember, 'cause I remember it was in a room
with a bunch of my classmates.
About 15 minutes, 20 minutes in the movie,
we're all like, what is happening?
(laughing)
And then I got obsessed with him,
and made sure I tried to watch the rest
of his body of work.
- That was an education.
- Oh, definitely, yes. (Wesley laughs)
Don't do this.
(grunts) (groaning)
- What planet is this cat on?
- What's so interesting about this,
about the real-life character of Rudy,
is that he believed in himself so much,
you're just shocked that there's no shame,
no embarrassment, no second-guessing.
It was just like this, kind of,
ignorance is bliss, in a way.
And do you think that Rudy's in on the joke at all?
- I don't think so.
His superpower was his earnestness.
I don't think it ever occurred to him
the quality, or the punches missing by a foot.
(Wesley laughs) Or dudes jumping into trunks,
Or, you know, I don't think any of that occurred to him.
(scuffling) (rattling)
(grunting)
- What was it like to watch Eddie do Dolemite
during the filming of that karate,
that's purposely bad. - It was a riot.
(Keegan laughs) It was a riot.
I love it, I love it.
You know, it was authentic.
- Is there any angle that you could shoot
where it looks like he's actually kicking him?
- There's no such angle.
(yowling)
(all laughing)
- When you're shooting, are you allowed
to break character at all,
and laugh at certain things that happened?
How do you manage that, when you're around
so many funny people?
And you're keeping up with the funny people?
- That's the challenge.
- And you got Mike Epps. - That is the challenge.
- And you got Craig Robinson. - Craig Robinson.
- And you got Titus, you have this whole crew.
- That is a challenge.
No, you gotta imagine that for me,
considered a dramatic thespian,
I'm tripping over the fact that I'm acting
with all of these great comedians.
- Also, just love watching D'Urville's,
the indignant nature, just like,
How, how?
Remember, you said, you said,
"How the warden gonna go and let him,
"how does that make sense?"
It's like his head was gonna explode!
- You forgetting that the warden
is working with the Governor!
- Thank you! - Who gives a shit?
How's it make any sense?
- Because the Governor is friends with Queen Bee!
- And it was just, the vibration that you're getting
from the other actors, who are so committed.
- That's what's fun about it.
It's just like, it reminds me of watching Carol Burnett.
When they were at their best, you know?
And they're creating magic.
But they're realizing they're creating magic,
while they're making mistakes.
That's the beauty and fun of ensemble acting.
- And what do you hope people take away
from this film?
I mean, to be part of a movie about a legend
that not everybody knows about.
- "Dolemite Is My Name" is a really,
truly American story.
It really is.
- It's a testimonial to perseverance.
And to having a vision.
And pursuing that vision at all costs.
And that, yes, your dreams can come true.
- Use this as a blueprint that allows you
to make your dreams come true.
- Film's fantastic.
Thank you so much for-- - Thank you, Krista.
- Stopping by the corner booth.
- Thank you. - Absolutely,
it was a pleasure.
- You might wanna work on, you know,
the service around here, I mean,
- I know. (laughs) - we been waiting.
- And we had water, and they took it.
- A plate, a napkin up in this bad boy for a minute here.
- Some cutlery, I don't know.
We got the best seat, but no food!
(twinkling musical tones)