Jeffrey Wright, ‘American Fiction’

0:13Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco, and for today's show I speak with actor Jeffrey Wright, lead star of American fiction, a satirical title that is also Cord Jefferson's directorial debut. The film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Wright. Here is my conversation with him.

0:44We sold your book. No. We believe Mr. Lee has written a bestseller. It's a joke. The most lucrative joke you've ever told. Now, is Stagg a pseudonym? Yeah. Mr. Lee can't use his real name. Is this based on your actual life? Yeah, you think some bitch-ass college boy can come up with that shit? No, no. No, I don't.

1:08Jeffrey, first of all, pleasure to be here. I loved American fiction. What an excellent film. Thank you. My first question to you, before you accepted the role or before you spoke to Cor Jefferson, the director, have you heard about the novel Erasure or have you perhaps read after you accepted the role? What was your relationship with the novel, first of all? I hadn't heard of the book and obviously hadn't read it. So my first introduction to the character and to the story was through Cord's script, which was just wonderfully drawn. I picked up the book and I read a bit of it and it was clear that Cord had reshaped it in his own image.

1:54The book is set in Washington, D.C., which is my hometown. and certain of the catalyzing moments in the book had changed in considerable ways. So the script was more useful to me. I read the book later in the process. There were certain things early that were helpful to me. There are these lovely moments in the book where Monk steps away from the first narrative and muses on things like fly fishing and the intricacies of outsmarting a fish or woodworking and the smell of cut wood and things like that, which are really kind of these lovely meditations and quiet, like solitudinous moments that told me something about, one, the peculiarities of his interests and also about his desire for a type of idealized isolation.

3:16but it was really Cord's script that I focused on more so and also in some ways the book of my life because there were these overlaps between Monk's circumstances and my own particularly as relate to his family and his family in crisis and what it implies for him and the position that he is asked to take in the midst of all that. And one thing that I was perhaps even surprised but positively about the film, I mean, of course, it's also a satire, but incredibly emotional. It is the portrait of a family. There's grieving, there's your brother in the film who's gay. So it's quite interesting. It's very much a portrait of a family.

4:05I'm not even saying a black family here as well. And I think that's quite special. I think some people might think it is a satire, But there's also quite this heavy emotional element to it. I think the satire in some ways is tragedy in disguise. And yes, the family for me was really or is the heart and soul of this film. And it's also in some ways a kind of response to the absurdity of the satirical aspects of the film in that while he's leading this double life and he's fighting against the outside perceptions of who he should be or who he is, He's leading in real time a kind of ordinary life that is extraordinary even in its ordinariness in that we don't often see it portrayed on film with characters such as these.

5:07Yes, it's a family of black folks, but it's a family that's messy and beautiful and functional and dysfunctional and loving in spite of itself. There's a universality to it and there's a welcoming quality to it for audience members. And our hope is that they find no matter what background or country for that matter that they come from, that they find something of themselves inside of it. It seems that that's happening and it's gratifying. You know, the thing that we're told often by the powers that be in America, you know, who have the hold the purse strings for films like this is that our films, films featuring black characters don't travel, don't translate outside of the quote unquote black community.

6:07But I think this film is a human story. And I'm looking forward to getting it out there so we can prove too often naysayers wrong. I think the film will travel very well, by the way. Tell us about the cast. I must ask this. I mean, you worked with Leslie Huggins as well, who played your mother. I mean, you were a massive fan of her. So how was it to play with her in the film? And, of course, the other actors. I mean, you have Issa Rae and Sterling K. Brown, Tracy Ellie Ross. Excellent cost. And Erica Alexander and John Ortiz and Myra Lucretia Taylor, who plays Lorraine, the caretaker of the family.

6:44And it was so wonderful. But Leslie is an absolute joy to work with. She, like all of us, was so passionate about this story and about being in this film. She's an absolute legend, absolute pro as well. and for example there's a scene that we filmed outside with her and you know she's you see the film you'll know and she's it was very cold we were near the ocean uh we were in you know Massachusetts in the early fall so it was it was not warm it was cold and it was at night and we had to do take after take and I was concerned you know that she not get sick but at the same time we that we get the necessary shots for the scene and I was calling up to cord our director because the crew was up on this seawall while we were you know we were by the water and say yes she's okay she can do another one and I'd say let's say Leslie you okay she'd you know yeah oh yeah she's fine, let's do another one.

7:58And then, you know, went on. And finally, I said, Leslie, do you think we can do one more? She said, yeah, of course, we're making a movie. And it was just so telling of who she is, just an absolute pro and totally committed to what we were doing. It's just, just wonderful to work with her. Wonderful. And Jeffrey, are you happy that a film like American fiction is finally kind of being done and getting so much attention? Let's be honest, I mean, it's been nominated for the Golden Globes. I have a feeling you've been nominated for many others, awards to come. How do you feel? Because, of course, the film talks about this kind of stereotype of black movies.

8:36But perhaps, I mean, hopefully this will change, right?

8:45Well, if our movie is successful, then maybe it cracks open the door for other movies that may, you know, have been considered not saleable or marketable or whatever term you want to choose. It's a bit meta that our film is receiving so much attention in this way, but we're little film. You know, of the films that have been nominated, I think our budget is smaller than all of them. and we're punching above our weight, I suppose. But while we were making this film, we got the sense that maybe we were doing something interesting. Certainly it was interesting to us. And, you know, maybe audiences will agree and we'll have opportunity or others will have opportunity to make more films like this.

9:36Jeffrey, it's been a pleasure. Thank you very much. Thank you.

9:50That was Geoffrey Wright from American Fiction, which is out now in the United States and will be released in the UK on the 2nd of February. The Monaco Weekly was edited by Steph Chungu. Thank you for listening.