Jeffrey Wright was born on December 7, 1965 in Washington, DC
where he was raised by his mother, an attorney, with the help of her
sister, a nurse, following the untimely death of his father when he was
still a baby. After attending a prep school, Jeffrey enrolled at Amherst
College, discovering his love for the stage on his way to completing
work for a bachelor's degree in Political Science.
Next, he earned a scholarship to NYU's prestigious film school, but
dropped out after only two months to pursue a professional acting
career. In 1994, the gifted thespian won a Tony Award for his
spellbinding performance as ’Belize’ in Tony Kushner's award-winning
Broadway play ’Angels in America.’
A couple of years later, Wright would enjoy his breakout role on the big
screen as the title character in Basquiat. The versatile scene-stealer
has since made innumerable memorable appearances, mostly as a second
banana in such flicks as Shaft, Ali, Syriana, The Manchrian Candidate,
Casino Royale, Lackawanna Blues and The Invasion.
As for his private life, Jeffrey is married to
Carmen Ejogo, the
Scottish-Nigerian actress he met on the set of Boycott, where they
played Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. The couple
lives I Brooklyn which is where they are raising their two children.
Here, he takes about his latest film, Blackout, recently released on
DVD, a drama revisiting the chaos and looting which erupted in East
Flatbush during the Great Blackout of 2003.
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Jeffrey Wright - The Blackout Interview
with Kam Williams
KW: Jeffrey, thanks so much for the time.
JW: Thank you.
KW: Well, there are a million things I'd like to talk to you about. Let
me start by asking you what interested you in Blackout?
JW: It was a film about my neighborhood, essentially. I live a
bike ride away from Flatbush in Brooklyn. So, it was an opportunity to
tell a story that was close to home. It was also an opportunity for me
to experience the blackout, since I was out of the country when it
actually went down. And I had heard nothing about this side of the New
York story. Where I was, it was all reported as Chianti and Kumbaya. So,
that things had gone down was news to me. In fact, when [director] Jerry
LaMothe first approached me about the project, I went online to see what
I could dig up, and couldn't find any references to it. But going over
to the neighborhood and talking to the folks about it, I learned that it
had been a very different story for them than had been presented through
the mainstream media. So, this particular story represented in many ways
how the lives and experiences of certain sectors of the American
population go unnoticed. And it allowed us, as actors, to shed light on
a story that might otherwise remain in the darkness.
KW: The picture shows how an already disadvantaged community's troubles
can be further amplified by a disaster.
JW: Sure’ sure’ I'll tell you, I've rarely been on a film set
that melted so organically into the location in which it was being shot.
Folks who happened to be walking down the street ended up in the movie.
While we were shooting in the barber shop, guys came in and got
haircuts. I even offered to cut a few, but didn't get any takers.
[Laughs] So there was an authenticity about it that was really special.
But at the same time, what I came to understand as well is that there's
a volatility in that particular section of Brooklyn which would only, as
you say, require an incident like the blackout to really spark
something.
KW: I think of you in the same light as the equally-underrated Christian
Bale, as two of the best actors never nominated for an Oscar. Whenever I
watch you at work, you're always quite extraordinary.
JW: Well, thank you. Some of it's okay.
KW: When did you develop an interest in acting?
bbbb: It wasn't until my senior year of college that I really
seriously pursued it, and I've been trying to escape the business ever
since. [Chuckles]
KW: Why did you leave NYU after only a couple of months.
JW: I had an opportunity to do a
Lorraine Hansberry play, so I took it. But I also left because I
felt that I would better serve my craft by actually getting out and
working, and digging my skills out of the boards of the stage, rather
than within the safety of the classroom.
KW: Do you prefer working on the stage? Obviously, making movies pay a
lot more.
JW: Yeah, that's an attraction of film work, but the stage is
satisfying in a different way. It's harder work, but most importantly,
you have more control over the final output on the stage, because
there's no one filtering what you do for the audience. There's a certain
freedom and fulfillment in directly communicating with the audience that
you don't find in film work. But they each have their own challenges,
and I derive enjoyment from both. But, yes, I think I have a preference
for the stage.
KW: You've played a lot of famous figures: Basquiat, Bobby Seale,
Martin Luther King, Sidney Bechet, and you’ll be portraying a couple
more soon in Colin Powell and Muddy Waters. How do you feel about being
tapped to do so many icons?
JW: Basquiat was iconic in certain circles, but relatively
unknown in larger circles. What was exciting about playing him was that
it could be an invitation to a larger audience to his work. So, that was
compelling to me. In the case of Dr. King, it was an opportunity to do a
piece about an icon, yes, but about an icon whose legacy was being lost
on younger folks. It was a chance to remind those who weren’t alive at
the time about his work and his life.
KW: Why haven't you relocated to Los Angeles?
JW: Why haven't I? Hmmm’ It's a nice place to visit. [Laughs] I
grew up in a one industry town, Washington, DC. Los Angeles is a
one-industry town, too, but the industry is a little too narrow. Also, I
have kids now, and Brooklyn, in my opinion, is a far superior community
to raise them in than L.A., just in terms of their being overshadowed by
movies and things like that. And there's a lot more to the world than
spotlights.
KW: Is there a question you always wished a journalist would ask you?
JW: That's a good question, but no.
KW: Are you happy?
JW: That's a good one, too. I used to say that ’happy’ was like
’lucky,’ kind of imaginary. But now that I'm married and have children,
I find that happiness is a real space. And I have to say that I am
happy, although I'm probably pulled in too many different directions
sometimes, and more stressed than I should be about things. But I'm
blessed with a beautiful family, and that's all I can ask for.
KW: It must be very challenging for an actor and an actress to be
married.
JW: Yes, a lot of drama.
KW: Thanks again for the interview, Jeffrey. I'm looking forward to your
landing that Oscar nomination in the near future.
JW: Well, Kam, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Related Links
Blackout (2007) - DVD Review by Kam
Williams
http://reviews.aalbc.com/blackout1.htm