'Rebel Ridge' Netflix Cast Interview with Aaron Pierre, AnnaSophia Robb and Don Johnson

this movie was um for a long time I haven't seen a movie where someone just continued to fight for something you know that they believed in even when it was not about them per se anymore you know they just kind of kept fighting for what was right um so I guess when you look down at the character especially of Terry um where did you pull that from Ain I guess to kind of keep going for something that someone believed in so strongly that's a really nuanced question and I appreciate it I think I think for me something I strive for in any role that I'm gifted the opportunity to engage with is I strive to always be learning and growing and evolving right until the final scene right and I think for me that's something that I was continuously discovering uh something that I was continuously uncovering while we were filming um personally I've had uh countless life experiences personal life experiences um where I've had to exercise patience I've had to exercise uh wherewithal uh durability endurance um and at times when I just wanted to uh stop give up and get into bed so I think I just really pulled on those uh in an effort to bring as much authenticity to uh Terry as I could um you know Terry Richmond himself in body's qualities that you know I I aspire to quite honestly um but I did my best to draw from my own personal life experience uh to bring that character to life yeah and and Anna Sophia the same for you you know summer's character she you know was an ally in an unexpected place you know very unexpected and then her fight was very much the same to where she was very vocal I need this job and was for you know her own reasons and even if so taken out of her grasp what was that like I guess to kind of find that strength to we even if at the end it was just something she might not get back but she just can kind of continued that fight I think this this script I didn't know that I needed this script I think as a as an actor and more importantly just as a person I think the time that it came into my life in the larger context of the world um and just finding characters who like you said keep going for what is Right despite the chaos around them and so for me seeing this character who who Jeremy writes every person they're so real they're so nuanced you know even the Sandy burn character they're making these choices because they think it's right they believe you know it's right nobody's just evil they're operating this way and it's Summer's realization that she could keep going or she could look up and realize the consequences of what it means to keep going down that path and only taking care of your own skin you know and she I think for me that is the way that I want to live my life those are the projects that I want to be involved in as a creative that are inspiring you know they're entertaining this movie is so much fun to watch it's a sweaty hot messy ride but at the end of the day you're also watching people make these real decisions that have real consequences and leaving going I hope that I'm come out stronger than when I was watching this movie and I felt that way in the process of reading the script of like if summer can do it if Terry can do it if they're putting their lives on the line I can do it in in in small situations and I think what's important about this film that Jeremy highlights is even an assistant Court Clerk even somebody who doesn't think they matter that much when they are an ally when they stand up for something that's right there is a whole domino effect that occurs and I think that that is a really important thing to walk out of this movie with is that you you as an individual choosing to do the right thing and seeing somebody in pain and stopping it makes a difference that that that is enough well you both did an amazing job of depicting you know perseverance and unexpected or places where no Prevail is made easy so thank you so much for the job that you did on screen it was a pleasure to watch and can't wait for everybody else to see it greatly appreciate it thank you so much now Don we have seen you in every possible I guess aspect of being um on the side of law enforcement whether it was Sun sunny in Miami Voss to Chief Sandy with Rebel rdge now how do you I guess um hold your on in these multifaceted roles of you know each side of law enforcement whether it's good or you know not so good on the corruption side yeah uh that's what attracted me to this part was the um was the the the morality the corruption the violence and the fact that the storytelling is so sophisticated and interesting not sophisticated that you can't follow it sophisticated in that it's multi-layered and it starts out to be one thing and then it just morphs right in front of your eyes to become something else and then it becomes uh another po POV and then it comes back and picks up the first uh concept and then you know and it kind of rolls in an unusual way that you rarely see and if a director is good enough like Jeremy son who can pull it off it is so satisfying now you started off as an un actor a young actor too and see you working with someone like Aaron what was it like kind of seeing someone at that brink of you know um coming into themselves to where they're in these roles that can kind of catapult their career at you know at that time that that you did as well you know I just I do this with all the actors I work with a lot of them appreciate it some don't I guess but um most do is that uh I just tell them what I know you know I just say let me tell you what I've learned and then you can pick and choose about what you want to do out of it you know I I try to stay out of the world of of lecturing or teaching or any of that nonsense um I I kind of assume that it's um I'm sort of the parent figure now and I learned as a parent CU I got Bunches of kids not Nick Canon world but but but but I'm not trying to make it you know making an industry out of it it just happened um what were we saying uh oh so I so I I I kind of figure that that um kids model they hear about 10 or 15% of what you say they watch a 100% of what you do yeah you lie on the phone to get out of going to a dinner thing or you know an event or something like that that's what you're going to get and so um uh I kind of feel that way as an actor too I I they're just going to model they're going to watch me and they're going to learn something and if they ask me I'm happy to to talk them through it now seeing someone that has such does have such an extensive career how do you go about you know picking these roles like you said this was a movie that um was easy to follow but we haven't seen a film I would say kind of in this realm almost since like The Equalizer to where you had someone that fought for the good of something that wasn't so much connected to him anymore after a while you know how do you go about picking these roles where you have a part to where you might not be so much the good guy in it but um it has depth to it but it's going to be easy to follow for you know the audience yeah um you know I'm mindful about how the the character is drawn and if the writer or in this case the writer director has uh has really thought this character through on like you know what what were the conditions and environment that brought him here you know um because basically that's what it is it's about DNA conditions and environment um uh and then you find yourself in a spot that is uh part of your part of your journey and stuff like that so I look for very human stuff flaws I look for human flaws I don't look for the hero I look for the hero with a flaw I look for the the the villain with the humanity in him um uh and um and those are the things that that interests me number one and and and and number two I think there there're the things that that are so satisfying for people to watch because there's an authenticity when you find those those things and and you have the ability to bring them together and exhibit them awesome well thank you so much it was such a pleasure seeing you on the screen and no matter what side of the law you're on it's great watching you Don I appreciate it so much you're awesome thank you thank you