'Rebel Ridge' Interviews with Aaron Pierre, AnnaSophia Robb, and Don Johnson

[Music] better shake your booties for black girl NES better shake your booties for black girl nerves thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me I appreciate it of course how you doing doing good good good good so Erin I'm gonna start with you I really enjoyed watching you navigate these scenes as Richmond in this film it it looked like the scenes was out of a Call of Duty video game at times um so how much weapons training did you have to go through while working on this film wow I I actually had a considerable amount um and in addition to that we had uh individuals and professionals on set who are have an extensive experience and knowledge about these things so I really really got into the training um and had really insightful and patient teachers um you know sometimes I would get it right on the first take and it meant we could go home early and other times we had to wait until take 12 for me to do the thing with with the with the Swagger and the Charisma and the Rhythm and also in the correct manner right so um it it was all a wonderful learning experience uh and and um you know very grateful to those who imparted their knowledge on me to do so but I have to say you're kind of like a superhero in yourself like the the stuff that you have to do in this movie is so unreal like any actor would be very intimidated to take on what you took on and Aaron just grabbed it he was like yes I am in you trained so hard you did so many stunts by your like not by yourself there was we had an incredible team but like with your own physical body you put it out there on the line it was crazy it was very exhilarating to watch everybody on set would get pumped up when there were action scenes it's true I appreciate you thank you thank you that's a lovely compliment and it's it's it's the truth because as I mentioned before in my question like watching the scenes it really looked like it was like from a video game and and I would love to see you do some video game stunt work uh because it was very me too yeah it was just so intriguing in that way so um as a gamer I just I really appreciated that thank you so much so Anna Sophia for you you know summer inevitably ends up being Richmond's Ally in this journey when they first meet um and summer she's interested in helping him at that first meeting so what is it that she sees in Richmond at that first start that others don't I think I think Summer She we learn more about her character throughout the film it's you know like an onion the the layers get pulled back and I think she after their first meeting she she's had tough times in her life and I think like can see recognize like and she she's in that position because she wants to help people and I think that is also the beauty of a civil servant of maybe what our government should be aspire to be is that is to help people and that's I think that is true to her core um and so when she's doing her job she's doing her job but in her mind I think her job is to help people and she also knows that nobody else in town is really going to give two cents about somebody who is just passing through and I think she takes it upon herself to you know I think she takes pride and and going the extra mile I don't think she has any idea at the beginning what she is in for and then as she becomes embroiled in the circumstances it becomes one of those situations where when you see corruption do you turn a blind eye or do you head do you face it head on and so um she chooses to do something about it but I think she also chooses to do the right thing because of Terry you know I think because of that relationship because of that trust that they build that's how they're able to to go forward indeed and Aaron back to you a personality trait that I picked up on your character was that in really stressful situations he has a great deal of restraint would you say that that's a fair assessment of your character I think that is a very observant assessment on your part and I appreciate you uh you know garnering that from me I that was something that I really wanted to achieve uh with Terry you know um and I worked you know extensively as we all did with Jeremy to bring these characters to life and their respective qualities and something that I really wanted to achieve with Terry was I wanted him to be the type of individual who is in the room and wouldn't say a word but you are you are fully aware he's there without him even saying anything and I how that would manifest itself in these uh High Velocity high pressure situations is that he operated with a certain uh Collective and calm um about him so that was something that we really hoped to achieve and uh who knows if I achieved it you'll tell me but you know that was what we strived for anyway I think you did I picked up on it so I think you did well well Aon Anna Sophia thank you so much for taking the time to speak to black girl nerds I really appreciate the conversation I can't wait for people to see this because I was dialed in from the beginning to the end so incredible incredible thing thank you thank you so much hi Don how are I'm good I'm excited about this interview oh and I'm excited to talk to you you know one of the things that I find so interesting is what is up with police Chiefs and small towns hey man it worked on you because um you know it's it's something that's very pervasive and even though this is a fictional story there's a real there's a number rather of real life Sandy burns out there well let me let me let me just step in because there uh in in our movie it was a device because what you learn what you learn is that it wouldn't have mattered what color that person coming into town was cuz Sandy burn was going to take the money for a greater purpose than himself and so far from it uh the the tropes of a southern Sheriff are all over the place but the content of the movie is anything but a racist Trope facts I I agree with that completely and my question to you is what is the reason for why a guy like Sandy chose to take that path in his career why not The High Ground in the moral path instead of this corrupt path you went well you have have you ever heard that people don't leave the area where they're born uh they go further than like 50 miles have you ever heard that expression not not in that way but I yeah I have heard those okay so here's here's s Sandy Burns world is a 50- milei radius and if he doesn't do what he does they all go out of business if you drive across America you'll see small town after small town after small town a vacant and B bankrupt and out of there Sandy Burns is Robin Hood that's who Sandy Burns is now he has a rather violent way of of getting to that point and you know it's fair in his mind doesn't matter who it is but given the uh given the nature of uh the the conflict between uh uh this country it sucks you in that way and then the CL Ness of Jeremy son is to say okay now I got you now watch what I'm going to do with you and he proceeds to not only take that story and turn it but shift the point of view and I don't know how many movies you've watched but most of the movies I've seen when you start a movie on a point of view you better stick with it if you want to come out alive but when he when you can change a movie and change its point of view and then come back and grab the the the the narrative that you started to to uh um give in the first place uh that is nothing short of Genius it I love the direction that he gave both you and Aaron in this film and you guys had some really great scenes together and your characters go head-to-head with this really great Woody banter in dialogue and I wanted to know was all of that scene work on the page or did you guys do any kind of improvi uh improvisation well I uh thank you for asking that that's a good question um I improvise a lot um and I take what's on the page um because I I I make the Assumption unless you're unless you're filming Shakespeare or or you know molier or or Jana or one of the classics um I take the material that's in front of me and I assume that it is a a a um a group of ideas and words that you're invited to participate in the realization of making them seem real and so a lot of the times I'll go into a scene I'll learn the intent I'll learn the content and the intent of the scene and then I will start to play with it to make sure that that content and that intent is crystal clear and sharp love it this was such an incredible film I really loved your performance I can't wait for everybody else to see this thank you so much Mr Johnson for taking the time to speak the black you're so nice you're so nice and I you know I'm a big fan of you guys oh that is so great to hear thank you I told you I was looking forward to this interview you take care all right bye C byebye shake your booties for black girl nerves better shake your booties for black girl nerves