The Deliverance cast interviews with Lee Daniels, Andra Day, Glenn Close and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor

wi Al from Black froming TV here we are you're working with Lee Daniels again this is for your first time for you Glenn obviously when you read this script at what point did you say how far does he want me to go uh I didn't even know to ask the question really because it's one thing to read something on the page it's another thing to do it when you're on on the set and uh you know I really think as a especially in movies which I I think movies are one big rehearsal basically um you're there to to um especially with somebody like Lee you want to help him fulfill his vision and he had a very strong vision and um and Andre was so much a part of that um that uh it just it just carried me along this is your second time working with him what's different now um what is different uh just working with film in general I'm sorry you don't mean working with Lee um well well there's a lot that's actually the same cuz I love working with Lee I'm like that's my home and he just like she said I I love I love helping him bring his vision to life you know and that's I think that's just a huge part of acting for me I loved I mean this experience what was hugely different was just being on set with Glen Close and Mo'Nique and you know Anan new Ellis and and and and Demi Singleton Caleb mlin like these are just gargantuan talents and um just but they also were incredibly giving Spirits so I don't I think what was I don't know that there was much that was much different I think I went into this just as scared as I did the first movie you know and so like I couldn't do enough preparation and I was obsessively calling Le and talking to him about every detail of not just my character but the other characters too you know and just cuz it's also learning about like okay I need I need to know them like intimately and and and how do I support you know when I'm on set as well and so truthfully yeah I I can't think of something that was different other than the actual character it was a little harder for me to play her because she was a little closer to home so I had to deal with some unresolved things in my life in order to bring them to the character but but I was just I was just as terrified and you know what I mean feeling green and kind of like all right let's please please don't let me be terrible let this whole thing fall apart so yeah I mean it's pretty much the same in that regard as close how much say did you have in the makeup Department you know when they giving you the outfits you know not to spoil everything away but you know when you're in there and as the film goes along people go okay she is game um that's it's all a wonderful creative process it's very collaborative um I value a costumer as much as I value value a director you know I mean because in the beginning you spend all that time with him trying to figure out and they have a vision as well and I'm always very um wanting to hear what their vision is because I don't think my ideas are always the the most interesting um so that was a huge um influence on me the clothes that they that Lee and and his costumer um put on my body I mean that was a big beginning and it was a freeing incredibly amazing experience for me because I realized oh I get it I get it you know it's not about body shape it's about how you feel in your body and and you know the the clothes she wears sometimes you know she she obviously somebody who buys off secondhand racks you know she's not she can't walk into any store and have the money to buy what she sees but she puts these outfits together because they make her feel good and and um that you know that really for me was was the beginning of understanding who Alberta is I just want to say congrats on the performances you know people will get a kick out of seeing to both of you obviously this is a genre that not everybody's a fan of but they because of the talent involved they're going to show up we talk down the road Take Care thank you appreciate you wilon R from black wom TV here you are new genre for you yes you know what were the concerns you would have in trying to pull this off my concern were that I wouldn't be able to catch up with the pacing it's not a it's not this is not my world you know the idea of of uh Thriller is about where drama is and so was a whole different Rhythm it's a different dance so I was not worried about it uh with the acting I was worried about with the pce that was the concern and then there's a research obviously you just can't pull this off uh this is based on a story don't know how true it is obviously everybody's going to be looking at Google to see where did you get the story from how much did you research did you do in putting this together so that when people look afterwards they're going to say okay he got half of it right he got all of it right he did what he could it's uh it's not a true story it's based on a true story it's based on what actually happened to uh to this young lady and it it happened children were walking up the walls it's all documented it's in the court cases it's in um it's in the documentary it's she's talked about it openly the police have talked about it the judge has talked about it um so it happened so uh it's my interpretation of it because I didn't want demons to jump on me when I my mom didn't want demons to jump on me when I was doing it so I changed it I changed it made the mother white the grandmother white cuz I wanted to explore that world of uh what it was like to be biracial cuz we've never seen that before on screen before Glenn's character on screen before black people know her white people don't but black people know this woman so uh yes a lot of it is is based on truth but I did my own take on it it was important it's no secret you do great with actresses you know your your history says that but when you have Andre and anenu and Monique and glow Glenn you know you got these actresses in your movie how do you manage to try to put them all together and equal to balance you know balance it out so that everybody hasn't seen uh I don't think that anybody is looking for um any anyone's looking for uh like Anan new said she would have done craft services to work with me I was blown away by that you know so we're not looking to upstage each other no no one's looking to upstage each other they're just lesbians trying to trying to tell a story and uh and so no one's you know we're all sort of a lot of people a lot of that lot of their stuff was cut um some of it was enhanced um we're just trying to tell a story and they were all trying to serve my vision for Mo'Nique and Andrew who you worked with before for some years later what's the difference now in seeing working with them again with Andre and Mo'Nique and Mo'Nique uh there's no difference none at all they uh they completely trust me they jumped off the bridge with me and uh and that's the exciting part about working with actors that trust me you get the performances that you get I I can't you know you got to talk about The othera Supporting Cast you got Demi you know You' got Caleb and you've got I'm forgetting the other kid's name uh oh my God's he such yeah he's I I put him in Wonder Years my television show and uh and he was a guest spot and I said this kid is incredible so yeah of the day you know what goes into the projects you want to do right I always like to throw the dice up against the wall you know I don't I I don't like staying consistent you know just when they thought they nailed me and and sort of they thought they had me under with the butler that I wanted to jump into television to sort of shake that up a little bit and just when they thought I was into television I'd like to throw it over with ain't no mo I don't know whether you saw that play that was on Broadway uh and then uh so I don't and then so that was I want to stretch the muscle with with uh with it's terrifying walking in and doing a thriller for me I'm a cat from drama you know I don't know how to do that and so it was I didn't I didn't know that I could do it so I wanted to I but I can't stay in my Lane I have to I have to stretch I have to grow I won't be doing it again I will not be doing it again really you don't want to no no no because too it's too it took it took it took too much you know and you got to live with it and you have to uh no it's scary literally and figuratively it's scary Wilson you know uh I'm going to let you go but I want to ask because the people want to know what's going on with star is that just rumor it's not at all Jordan Cooper who wrote uh who wrote uh ain't no mo and also is um thank you for asking for that uh so many people love that show uh Jordan Cooper who wrote uh ain't no mo and also Miss Pat created Miss Pat is working with me on uh on that and uh hopefully we'll have it over at Onyx okay yeah I appreciate it I appreciate you weome out from black wom TV here you are another film what wi is to saying yes and working with this cast and Lee Daniels uh it was fun it was fun I had a blast I enjoyed myself I had a really good time you play these characters do you take stock if P if the character is somebody that's real here you are you're playing an apostle you know how much research goes into playing this type of character well a lot you know when I when when uh lee first started talking to me about uh possibly being in the film he you know he's talked about the work of this man Apostle Lewis and um then it when it was time to actually start shooting he was like I want you to talk to him you to sit down with him and so essentially you know Apostle Lewis just you know really conducted a course with me and taught me tried to teach me as best as he could how he does what he does because that's what he does he does these deliverances in real life he had me sit down with other black women apostles who do this in real life to see not just the act of doing what they're doing but how these black women come to doing this kind of work in a very male dominated space right um so and it was a lot I'm I'm a church girl I'm a church world right but I'm Baptist and we didn't do no casting out of demons in my church we didn't do that so you know I had to really we didn't we don't speak in Tong you know so I had to really work with him and he worked with me so that I could be hopefully believable and and what I was doing you've had your share of films where you've worked with a large Ensemble here you know the poster says it itself between you and Glenn and Mo'Nique and Andre and then you got the lead you know as the commander of it all what's that feeling like especially with the other cast with Demi and Caleb yeah you know I I my my work with them was just very intimate you know I I didn't I wasn't in a lot of the you know group scenes or anything like that um and I just loved you know I I just think Andra is you know one of the most honest actors I've ever worked with so I got to do things that were that were quiet with her and and just just invest in a space with her and take time to do that and the great thing about Lee is he wants that because he's trying to get something that he feels is is is is lived in and believable um and not manufactured so I was given the space to do that having said that is there anything you picked up with Lee from a directing standpoint and I go actors can never stop learning so is anything that you got from his direction that may help you along to whatever project you do next yeah you know what would you know I would do a scene and I felt I would feel like I bled I bled on the I bled I bled right and then he said come here and he showed me the Monitor and he go no you need to go further and I'm like what what do you want and he was right he was right so even now he's like I need he would say things I need you to dig deeper I need you to dig deeper and he would say that all the time so now the scene the movies a couple things that I've done since that I hear that voice I need you to dig deeper even though you feel like yeah I'm I'm doing the most but I hear that voice saying I need you to dig deeper I take it with me there's always a group that not really a fan of psychological thrillers you know they're like I ain't for me but when they see these names they're like what's going to be the selling point of seeing this movie where they can go in there like I'm going to see it because the girls in the movie yeah you know I think I think you know Monique said something I thought was very uh uh uh Salient to to your point is that you bring to it you bring to it what you bring to it right like I I you know someone could say oh it's a horror film but others other people will look at it and think that it is just it's a drama about this family it's a domestic drama about this woman trying to hold on to her family as she's struggling with addiction as she's struggling to pay her bills you know and I think I think any woman living in 2024 can relate to that you know that you you you trying to take care of your family you're doing the most and then here comes a demon haunting your house and that demon haunting your house could be something crazy and unexpected that happens to you in the middle of you trying to just live your heart life you know and I think people can Will Will relate to that hopefully I know I do best I can say is congrats again on another great roow a thank you I appreciate it good