Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist cast interviews with Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson and more

Wilson Mar from Black from TV hello folks Wilson how are you Taj I want to say happy early birthday because I know you won't be in Toronto this year no thank you thank you so much so you guys have worked together you guys have had your share of films with a big Ensemble but as I told well this is too big to fail you know so what was it like reuniting with a bunch of people you've worked with before saraji it was just amazing um it just um you know I keep saying I had these outer body experiences on set you know looking at the extras knowing that I was in that position before looking up at all these A-list actors dreaming of being that one day and here I am and knowing that I've worked with Kevin and Terrence these are greats these are a-listers these are the dream this is when I dreamt you know as a young hungry actor I wanted to be on these lists you know know and here I am on the list so dream come true 360 moment every day was just amazing pinch myself moment really very important piece of the puzzle she is um you got to you have to look back and just truly truly understand the moment and the opportunity and I think right now you know in success we're part of a story that can be told over and over again and the story I'm talking about is just showing how to collaborate you know uh premium Premier faces in our culture that have done so much that you know before we get to that end of road or that end of time in our career we all are finding ways to work together finding ways to check the box of um just camaraderie together and and hopefully create some valuable IP while doing it so this is an opportunity to restart a conversation and restart uh a moment that was once highlighted right like when you look at the times of old there's so many different versions of you know the crazy crazy Talent collaboration of color on the big screen or on TV so how do we put ourselves in position to do more of it um and create more of it this is it this is one of them and usually for me it's interesting when you see these big A-list um ensembles like this is usually in the realm of a comedy so for me it was it's really refreshing to see us in something uh dramatic and and serious and something that is um a historical moment that no one knew about you know when you're working with the Wardrobe Department we're talking uh period piece here you know how much of a say did you have as far as the look you wanted to be on screen you know whether it's the hairstyle or whether it's the outfits taji I usually let the people who were hired to do those jobs do those jobs I mean I'll give input if I don't feel comfortable or whatever but a lot of times when you allow these people to do their jobs they add they bring sometimes they inform other things to of my character that I didn't see so I don't step in all the way going hey I think it should look like this because these this is their job so you to allow these people to do their jobs and in doing so they will shed a light on your character that maybe you didn't you may have overlooked so I literally unless I don't feel comfortable or it just I can't pull it off but it is your job as the actor to take all of these pieces from everybody in the department and fold it in to what you've put in it's a it's a team effort so I can't tell properties how to do their job you know I may have a a suggestion hey do you have a such and such to help me with this but a lot of times you let prop do their job they will bring you something that will enhance your character th% 10000% you know Kevin your character has some humorous moments was that you a little bit going to the wrer goes okay I got a little be a little bit of me you know that the fans know me of as opposed to pay playing it straight up dramatic um no I mean I think everything you know when when I did have a moment of of humor or or you know uh some of the light yeah the light side of Storytelling um it was necessary for the character at that time right like I didn't I wasn't craving the world of Comedy from a Kevin perspective it was more about making sure the chicken man had a balance of kind of um aggression of excitement but at the same time some manipulation and control right like I think there was a a multi-layered um a multi-layer definition behind who he was so the personable moments if you notice they're not really that personable it's just like it's it's light within the mood like when I think the scene when we first go to where our gambling house is going to be and you see me interacting with Viv and then I go to another woman and then I talk to the lady across the street it's he's navigating in the space where I got a lot of personalities I'm dealing with but I need everybody to be on point I need everybody to be on the same page so that this night can be a big night so chicken man is trying to give everybody a piece of energy so that they feel like a valuable piece of that puzzle but at the same time Viv is on my ass looking at me in a different manner the neighbors looking at me like what's he doing what's going on I got one woman that's happy with me I got others that are looking for what to do and at the same time we got guys around that are by the way looking for Direction so he's constantly pulling a lot of strings within personnel and um I think just how you're doing it and how you manage it is where sometimes it presents funny but the funny only sets up the world of seriousness for the turn you saw come in chicken man's Journey but it's also an element that comedians bring to dramatic roles that I love um sometimes and I always told Kevin this I always knew he was going to blow I just knew it um something about him you can see the special the special people it's very special thank you T you're very special well folks did not fail this series did not fail I'm sure the is gonna get a kick out of it so congrats on this and I'm sure I'll talk to you down the road on your next projects take care thank you appreciate you you know I'm still I'm almost finished and I'm like I'm really really impressed well I've seen all youve work including terces and I have to say you know when you're work with a cast like this I always say don't mess it up because every time the casting notice was coming up I'm like this is too big to fail this is too big to fail to fail you know so as a captain of the ship how do you try to balance him out and giving everybody including Terence a scene at least to shine in you think about that when you're constructing a project like this right and my job as a producer I always think of myself as like the general manager of a sports team I need to put everybody in a position to win right I can't I would never dream of of having the Talent somebody like a Terrence Howard or Sam Jackson teraj P Henson Kevin Hart but what I do want to do is put them in a position to do what they uniquely do and so I try to put them in the position I try to give them the material that they need give them the resources that they need as best as I can with my team and then get the hell out of the way that's the answer Wilson you put them in a position to win and then you back up and let them go to work it's interesting you say too big to fail this was a very big project it was a big project for me it was a big project for our studio Partners at the end of the day the audiences the audience will determine whether we we succeeded in our mission but I will tell you I haven't been this excited about a project in a very very long time and the reason for it is this cast that we put together but they wouldn't have come if you don't have the right material if you don't have the right subject matter so I got to give that props to our showrunner and Creator Shay Alana he did a great job right our incredible directors from Craig Brewer to Carl seatan to Tanya Hamilton like it takes a village as they say and this was the village all working and Rowing in the same direction and I'm proud of the outcome yeah but you got to have the patience that you have also cuz a lot of us as actors you know because we're so used to running a a fast race we were chomping at the bid I was calling will at least once every two weeks like what am I going to do something give me something to do man I'm sitting here I'm not doing nothing he's like it's coming it's coming first of all it wasn't every two weeks it was uh might have been every week or every other day Brother come on now I was I was I was I wanted to I wanted to get out there and display and everybody wanted to get out there and display and that you don't always find that on Films a lot of times people get in jobs and it's like this is a money gig okay everybody's not doing what they really need to do but this was something where everybody wanted to show out yeah everybody came with their guns fully loaded and couldn't wait to to to leave all of the lead on the floor but that's the best energy that you want I'm telling you now when you got that energy when you have folks when you got a Terrence Howard calling going give me more let let's talk about this character let's talk about adding layers like did that's when you know you got something special because Terence is Right sometimes actors will check out sometimes it's just a paycheck that wasn't the case here people were locked in locked and loaded and I think you'll be able to tell that when you watch the series Terence I gotta ask you know did you call well when it came to your hair hairstyle or was that you know did you talk to the wardrob department was like what yall got me looking like you know you know we are we see a bad hairstyle on TV in movies we call them out it's all over Twitter it goes viral like look what they will needs to go to jail for what he got Terence woring well I think that that that was me and Will's first kind of encounter because I had to do an interview that we were supposed to shoot on Wednesday and then but they they changed my days and had me working Wednesday and people came in from Miami to do the interview so I'm doing the interview in between shots on the show and I've never done an interview with in full dress you know so I was kind of nervous about that there's part of me saying okay you're not supposed to be doing this but I'mma do it I'm still I'm here I'm doing it but the response from everybody outside regarding the wig and it it actually I think brought a lot more attention to what we were doing with the show and the wig didn't look bad it looked great you kid me what I'm saying it looked amazing that was part of the problem Terence people couldn't stop talking about that damn wig cuz you look so damn good good they would even listening you were dropping facts and signs and they were like but did you see his hair damn he is late but sh shout out to Mona and our incredible hair team on our show because they did not mess around but they they co-signed having the wig they co-signed you know the idea of what Cadillac was like and I didn't get any push back there was nothing no push back on it and I felt creatively um appreciated and therefore it makes everybody do their very best you know you know job well done obviously the fans going to get kick out it watching it week by week I was you know so keep it going I will see you later down the road talk later good to see you Wilson thank you brother Mor from Black TV hello Mr Jackson how's it going oh hey man how are you good now you've had your shareff films where it's been big Ensemble but here and I told this to will goes with this cast is too big to fail you know but the good thing about about is a lot of you have worked together in the past you and Don you know you and Craig Brewer you know so like what's that feeling like when you're working with a set of people you've done work with before well all depends on whether you trust him or not and uh those are two people that I trust you know I I love working with Don he's a great scene partner uh good friend good golfer all those things so we have a lot in common and we work together very well it's a wonderful collaboration when we together Craig same thing you know I have no issues with Craig we're working with Craig and you know we've uh done a film together and I see him sometimes you know socially and otherwise so I like working with Craig and he's easy to work with um and he understands uh how we work and he's he doesn't interfere with the artistic process that we're we're uh trying to use when we're working now I know they have script supervisors on set but some of these cast members are saying oh no we refer to sand when it came to like is this the right setting is this the right time period in terms of because it's a period piece you know everybody's like looking at you like do we got it right the car the clothes the hair well I'm not that expert but you know there are other things that you know people uh can uh talk to me about like we would we would use some references or words or phrases and they would go what is that I said that's what they said at that time you know or they didn't get it you know or you know that's it but trust me is right you know so you know throughout the years with the films you've done you always make sure you do not look the same so when it comes to this one you know was it your choice as far as how to have the hairstyle or is it you know the the Wardrobe and the costume hair hair styling Department um the costumes were um the from the mind of the designer uh sometimes I had something to say about a color or a fabric or whatever but you know the style and cut and everything he did a lot of research he's very smart kid uh did a great job with the costumes uh the hair uh Frank's hair um I have a great hairdresser that I've had for a long time uh and makeup artist Jake uh Garber who does you know Wonderful um makeup for me he's done you know uh Stephen from D Jango and TM me gray and you know Nick Fury from time to time and Camille friend who's my hairdresser um she was the main hair person on Black Panther and uh what was that other big movie uh oh Hunger Games she did Hunger Games and all that stuff so she's like the and we talk and we communicate about what I want him to look like or how what kind of Afro I wanted him to have for the time period how long were The Sideburns what do we want to do and the white streak for me was just something that um popped into my head and I said it to Camille I said I just white stripe down his down his hair you know there there are there are people who have those um and uh we did it you know I'm also looking forward to now to we talk about something else yeah Before I Let You Go obviously Frank's a badass you know he doesn't show any fear was there anybody that you can think about that you can emulate who this character could be you know because he had no fear and his dealings and everything that's going on within the film I mean within the series um I looked at this as you know an homage to the black exploitation films that you know I saw before I got into Hollywood you know Black Caesar and uh Hell Up In Harlem all those things and having those kind of characters that you know uh they face life for what it is and you know you can't be afraid of it you got to just you know go into it and I look at Frank as that guy uh he has a strength uh of the stories of his ancestors that carry him uh and he believes that there's something in him uh that is invincible and is inevitable so you just go through it Mr Jackson it's been a pleasure the film did not fail the series did not fail I keep saying it's a film because it feels like a long film but it's a series that works you guys did great I will talk to you down the road thank you very much Wilson Mor from Black TV hello folks how's it going hello we've met before haven't we over the years over the years I remember you yes sir absolutely but Dex his you know you're I feel like you're the rookie in this group this cast which is too big to fail has worked with each other on a number of projects I'm looking at Don and he's worked with teraji he's worked with Sam I'm looking at your B you don't have that many connections up in here how did Don make you feel welcome I mean he didn't that's a lie there was a lot of hazing I made him get me coffee every day every day hey Rook Coffee no sugar yes sir Mr no it was it was really comes true I mean a I haven't had the opportunity to work along this side alongside this many black actors um yet alone with like a Black producer and will Packer who who goes out of his way to hire a diverse crew and so for me to step into this cast as Muhammad Ali to work with such Titans in their own right um it was absolutely a dream come true but a learning experience too like having all my scenes the majority of them be with Don was was a every single day was a new lesson as much as it was a new chance to like try something new so for you Don you know you you get to work along a lot of people but here you're working with Dexter you know and you know you're definitely older than who have seen Ali's fights you know did you guide him as far as no Ali would not talk like this not do that no no no no no no it was more it was more Dexter saying I don't know that Ali would do that he he he had full control and autonomy over his own character and characterization and not only that but you know we would look to Dexter to say like you're the authority on this like what would he do how would we do this beat and do this moment and you know nothing is some things are set in stone but but often there's a lot of malleability when you get to a set and people are trying to figure things out together and it was a collaborative situation but no one had to tell Dexter what to do Dexter is a pro and it was fortunate to do it in that space to have the creative license to work alongside your Idols but also now your peers to say does this work can we try this and they say yes son is your character the one person that doesn't have any flaws are we rooting for him to be the goody choose choose you know do little right guy I think having no flaws is a flaw I was about I was about to say but you say JD has no flaw yeah no I think JD is is flawed and I think that you know sometimes having that uh um we'll say goody T shoes to use your word um makeup means that you are inflexible and sometimes you need to be able to bend in order to get to do the things that you're trying to do um and I think that's what JD is struggling with he's trying to figure out how to to stay who he is how to actually stay on the right side of the things that he's trying to do both personally and professionally but also how to actually be effective and sometimes those things don't comport and that's what I think is is his challenge uh through this piece but that's that's what makes Don a master like your question right there you say you you saying that you don't really view as watching the show as a man who doesn't really view DD with flaws like Don does such a great job of articulating struggle on camera that makes you feel like even if he's making this decision you you support it anyway you know what I mean like when we have our standoffs you agree with JD at times and most people will agree with Ali you know so I think it's one of those things just the truth behind his performance Dexter how did you want to play from what others have done before to make it your own I did exactly what you said made it my own I don't think I can step into I had to understand that I was stepping into Ali's boots not Will Smith's not Ray fiser and etc etc etc etc right so like understanding Muhammad Ali to the best of my ability was my task and was my goal and also understanding that it's just this fight you know I'm building this guy I'm building the levity and everything that took this man get into this ring but these last three years of his life whether he's sitting down doing interviews or whatever what's that guy is like in 1968 to 1970 and that's the Ali that I really wanted to capture did you see Ali doing Ali yeah oh yeah see the greatest oh yeah of course it's saw the greatest the great I mean Ali if Ali could have played oi he would have so interview with Don Shield right now like you were 28 he's like no was it I'm doing it yeah I'm doing it guys he did a great job like I said this cast and this series is too big to fail best of luck on your next projects I'll talk to you down the road thank you wilon Mor black TV hey folks how's it going hey Wilson good to see you look at that hey are you know I said to everybody else this cast is too big to fail you know it's like we're watching every time new cast was being added I was like I'm a little nervous but the writers came through for y'all they gave y'all good enough Parts what's it like to be part of this and you know I'll start it is so amazing to be a part of this star studded cast and to say that I'm a part of it means a lot to me to be honest you know we all represent the black community in a pretty cool way and to tell this story I'm happy that we did and you know you know here you are you know obviously you're no stranger to being a a part of a a series that you know that's part of the past you did Soul Train you know did you have to grow your hair back or was that a [Laughter] wig uh I would love to say that I had to actually grow my hair back but no man it was a wig and and and shout out to to the to the hair Department who are award-winning they truly are Award winners and they have won awards and they'll continue to go on the win Awards they did an amazing job with all of us and they defined that look and they set that look and I remember you know being in the first hair test and I was like you know I want to just I think McKinley would have his hair like this and they're like yeah it's going to be a fro and I was like a I was like ah another one another one and then I said let me see it and then they showed it to me and I was like man it looks really cool it looks really good and they did such great work so it helped tell the story and it made my job easy you know whenever there's a heist movie you know that's dramatic not comedy that's dramatic you know it doesn't always end well without giving spoilers you know so you look at your characters you're playing when you first got the script did you go to the end it says okay do I make it out alive am I gonna get rich you know what part of the story am I belong in oh yes oh yes I think in order to tell the story right you want to know like where it ends up and that's all I will say for me you know think well you know we don't want to read too much into the character we supp be rooting for against your character you know I for me I would be rooting for Lena I would too yeah it's like that's the thing about this you don't know who to root for because we're all bad guys in someone's story yeah and that's life that's life that's not life I'm not a bad guy that's what you think it depends on who you talk to yes you know there's we're always the villain in someone's story yes whether or not we want to believe it sadly it's true yeah you know when you work with this cast you know and a lot of people have had you guys have had your share of work you know but when you're working you know with Sam and and Don and each of you have had scenes is there anything you're picking up from them or from the directors that you can take on to whatever project you do next oh so many things I think that I've had to say this answer a couple of times I'm going to say it again in the fact that like I read this book that I love so much by m oain it's called acting and film and in the film he says I mean in his book he says that all great artists steal but if you're going to steal steal from the best and so to have this opportunity that was what what really drew me to this project was because each one of these icons represents a lane and a direction for us to ascend to and so I felt like being in a space where you can watch it firsthand it's like free film schol free career advice free almost like Destination Planning so was it what was it like for me was to steal from everyone as much as possible anything that was good anything that was good sauce anything that was a good tool I was going to take it and try to add it to my toolbox to kind of hone in on what is my thing as it continues to unfold for you CL you know as I watched your work on screen you know you seem to be growing in different areas you know whether it be something that's setcom or very uh you know obv ly appraise this here this is something totally different that your fan base was going to see you in you know what more do you want to do as you continue to grow in this business I want to challenge and push myself I want to do things tomorrow that I thought I couldn't do yesterday that's what I want to do and I'm happy people will be able to see me as Lena in this light for sure and you do that you do that you truly do do that I sorry I just want to give you your flowers we we we bounce off of each other but I want to give you your flowers because you really do step in and recreate each moment each character to live independently so that when people see it they don't see Khloe Bailey playing a character they see an actor portraying a character who happens to be Chloe Bailey so you do that you truly do do that no for real you really do do that well said well done the series is ahead I hope more people continue to watch as we talk about it so I will talk to you guys down the road on your next project Wilson keep posting us man thank you we'll do Wilson R from Black from TV hey sh how's it going hey Wilson nice to meet you yeah we actually met at marus Vineyard you know it's a good showing out there obviously you're ready for the world to see it this coming week you know you're when you're tasked to be you know the show writer with this big electric cast you know what are the pitfalls are not you know making it fail what are the pitfalls are not making it fail um we too big to fail at that point um way to say it that's basically it and also just personal responsibility of telling this story and being a citizen of being from a native of Atlanta I just it it was a personal Challenge and yeah you just got you got to get it done you know what I mean because we don't get we don't get a lot of opportunities to make this type of project so but when you got will Packer and Kevin Hart you know behind you that that that definitely gives you a little bit of gas in your tank and you could put this project together but when you can't it's what's not easy is putting this cast together so when you have this cast and we and a lot of us have seen them on the big screen you know to do for them to stand out take big rows small rows you know how do you try to balance it out with the writers so that one each each one has at least a scene that they can make an input in the series you just said it I mean what's important to me with all of these characters was that they all had at least one moment to cook um and some of them and honestly for most of that multiple moments because they're just that good they could take something that that was probably not a scene that was a cook scene and they can make it they can cook it and so for me it was just a being a fan even like the room our writer room we're all big fans of all of these actors and we've watched enough of their stuff specifically me to where I feel like I really understand their cadences I understand their rhythms I understand like the thing I've watched enough of their of their um movies and television to know like um kind of the thing that makes them specifically Dynamic and how I can connect that uh like if anything that was the driving force when trying to like really develop these characters once you get this cast in you kind of know what Don Cheeto brings to the table you know what Sam Jackson brings to the table so specifically with Sam when he came in as Frank we started to add more interesting elements uh to Frank to like add more to that character and actually make that antagonist not feel like a traditional antagonist he has dreams too just like chicken man and I think that makes him you can identify with him and a lot of that came just from H having Sam on a project cuz Sam is just such a smart actor and and such and he's an historian too you know I've seen you work with L life I know Nikki and Santana I've seeing God's country here you're you know as you your work as a showrunner how have you grown skill set wise being in its position those projects you mentioned kind of were like were like breeding grounds almost to get ready for this because even when you look at something like low life that was made with a cohort of of creatives that I I went to film school with and we would always just we would get together pull our resources and make stuff so I already knew kind of like already had producer um experience and even writer room experience cuz it was multiple writers we would work like a writer room and we would divvy up um different assignments so what I'm trying to say is those projects God's country the collaboration I had on God's country the collaboration I had on low life they prepare me to be a showrunner because it was very I wasn't just a writer I was a I was a producer in a lot of ways sometimes I was directing things sometimes I was acting in things so it was able it helped me to prepare to wear the multiple hats that you have to wear as a showrunner because that's really what it is wearing multiple hats and those experiences on those projects really diving in and kind of like getting you know getting dirty that helped me to prepare for doing this project at this level because it's the same skill set it's just different people and you obviously have to honor that if you're working with Sam you want to honor that but in terms of like the the the skill set the tool box the muscle memory it's all the same you know when you do a period piece like this it's important to get everything right because you know there there's going to be that watchful eye it looks for the little nuts you know cracks and they like wait a minute that car wasn't available to that year and so forth you know how important was it to have your script supervisor be on point and making sure everything is right with the time frame you you're working with it was extremely important but honestly it was again it was a family effort it wasn't just it was Sam being there and being being like Oh I was here 40 years ago yeah that ain't that that that doesn't that's not accurate you know what I mean or our hair and makeup Department was just amazing in terms of like attention to detail in terms of hairstyles and um and and wardrobe and our you know our our costume our wardrobe Department in terms of like what was fashion like down to like Okay so this fashion is from 1974 it's 1970 that ain't going to work so it was it was definitely like uh a team effort in terms of getting things right that was just filtered through the the script supervisor but a lot of that work was getting done and happening you know before we even got to set it was production design it was every Department having like detail to things being right and being and things being historically accurate and more specifically those people that will say like I'm related to some of those people I got my own family might come be like that that that ain't a real that house is not a house from Southwest Atlanta you know what I mean so it that me being from the city and also being very obsessed with detail and accuracy and bringing in people that were also kind of like wired that way really helped us to to tell the story in like the most authentic way possible you did one hell of a job you know I've watched it you know I'm sure the audience is gonna get a kick watching it episode for episode see how it plays out I hope to see you on your next project so congrats on this one we'll talk down the road take care all right brother appreciate you